Floor Statements

Mr. President, yesterday, I joined with House and Senate leaders for a briefing with Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth, Attorney General Bondi, and other officials about what comes next in Venezuela and beyond.

For 2 long hours, we heard yesterday from the administration. And what we heard was little more than wishful thinking and no real answers. We got no clear answer to any of the four questions I have been asking the administration for days:

First, how many troops are we going to commit to Venezuela? Are there any limits? No answer.

Second, for how long would we be committed to running Venezuela? No answer.

Third, how much is this all going to cost? They said they had no cost estimate.

And fourth, what country is next? Is Colombia on the table? Are we going to invade a NATO ally like Greenland? Where does this belligerence stop? I was very troubled--very troubled--by their answer on this as well.

Sitting in yesterday's briefing, it is clear the administration pulled the trigger on step 1 of their plan in Venezuela without figuring out how they are going to follow through on steps 2 to 10.

How do you enter a country and remove its leader by force without knowing anything about what happens after?

The current Vice President for Venezuela now says she may cooperate with the United States, but her grip on power is weak. She has many rivals in government, and her reputation for steadfastness and honesty leaves much to be desired. And all of the remaining regime leaders in Venezuela are so corrupt that it is naive for the administration to think we can rely on any of them to maintain stability.

Now, this is how we get into endless wars. The administration has a 1-day plan on how to get rid of Maduro but no idea of what happens after. It is what happened to us in Iraq. Yes, this is how we get into endless wars: a 1-day plan to get rid of Maduro but no idea what happens after. Look at history. Look at Iraq. Look at so many other places. This is what leads to endless wars.

And last night, Donald Trump added to the fires of confusion once again.

He was asked who exactly is in charge in Venezuela, and he simply said, ``Me.'' Donald Trump. A lot of macho going on there.

How the hell does Donald Trump expect to exert direct control over Venezuela? We have so many problems here at home--people who are struggling to make ends meet when the economy is slowing down and costs are going up. Yesterday, Donald Trump even suggested we might spend up to 18 months in Venezuela rebuilding its oil infrastructure. And that is probably a low estimate according to most experts. Most experts think it could take easily longer than that, the Venezuela oil fields are such a mess. And are you kidding me? How are we going to spend 18 months and potentially tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money in Venezuela at a time when people here at home don't even have basic healthcare?

There are also reports that Stephen Miller might be heavily involved in the governance of Venezuela. I asked about this at our briefing, and the answers were very troubling. This is the same Stephen Miller who yesterday went to CNN and asserted that Greenland rightfully belongs to the United States and nobody will fight the U.S. military over Greenland.

What is going on here? What kind of venture is this?

The language Miller used comes right out of the 1930s, directed by a senior official of the United States against a NATO ally. God help us and the future of world order.

Donald Trump has opened a Pandora's box. We have to take seriously that, after Venezuela, he may attack other nations without warning-- maybe Colombia, maybe even a NATO ally like Greenland run by Denmark. All the while, how does any of this belligerence in Venezuela or Greenland put America first?

How does any of this help people here at home pay the bills, pay for their healthcare, put a roof over their heads, pay for their groceries or their energy bill? The American people voted for Donald Trump to put America first. That is what he campaigned on. A lot of his most hard- right supporters voted for him because he was ``America First.''

Well, ``America First'' means focusing on healthcare costs and all kinds of rising costs here at home, instead of using taxpayer dollars to build up the oil fields in Venezuela. It means helping American farmers instead of bailing out Argentinian farmers. It means bringing manufacturing back to our shores instead of giving critical chips away to China.

It means helping people pay their rent, pay their mortgage, pay their energy bill, instead of launching an attack on foreign countries and putting our troops in danger.

Mr. President, on Epstein, it has been 18 days--18 days--since the administration was required by law to release the full Epstein files to the American public, and it has been 15 days since the administration has released any documentation on Jeffrey Epstein.

Now, the Department of Justice says it has released less than 1 percent of the files--less than 1 percent in 18 days at 2\1/2\ weeks. Are you kidding me? They say they were preparing well in advance, and they have only gotten 1 percent done?

It is deliberate stonewalling of the American people, what Congress and the American people are demanding. It is an outlandishly naked attempt to hide the truth and defy the law. People across America are wondering, scratching their heads, and asking, What the hell is Donald Trump hiding? His Justice Department is so adamant about slow-walking everything.

Let's be very clear about what the Justice Department is doing and what I warned would happen. They are using every trick in the book to ignore the will of Congress and to ignore Federal law. Every single Member of Congress, with one exception, spoke in unanimity: The administration must release the truth about Jeffrey Epstein--no dodging, no obfuscation, no hiding. It has been 18 days, and what does the administration have to show for it? Less than 1 percent of the truth. It is unacceptable.

The American people won't stand for it. And the Senate is going to take every action available to ensure that every shred of evidence that must see the light of day comes out. Jeffrey Epstein's victims deserve no less. The American people deserve no less.

Donald Trump, why are you hiding the truth about Jeffrey Epstein from the American people?

Thank you to my friend Senator Kaine of Virginia for his good words, and I thank Senator Padilla for organizing this floor block, and all of my colleagues who have come to the floor today. I see Senator Peters is waiting.

Why are we here to speak on this difficult and somber day? Because 5 years ago today, down to this very hour, the temple of democracy was turned into a snake pit of mob violence. Its windows were smashed. Its offices vandalized. Lawmakers and our staffs--everyday citizens who love their country and work here every day--hid beneath desks and feared for their lives.

Nearly 140 police officers were injured as 5 people lost their lives. It is like yesterday to me. I was sitting right at this desk. I had just known on January 5, the day before, that I was becoming majority leader because we had won the seats in Georgia. And I am sitting there and looking at something, and all of a sudden, I feel a hand on my collar. It was Michael Lanczycki, the head of my security team. He said: You are in danger. We have got to get out of here. I looked up at my desk, and I saw Pence being rushed off the platform.

We went out the door. We made a right turn. We opened another door, and we were within 20 feet of these hooligans, one of whom recognized me and said: Let's get him.

Because of the bravery of the Capitol Police officers, nothing bad happened to us, but it was a horrible day. Five years later, I want to thank my detail, but all the members of the Capitol Police, the DC Police, our servicemembers, and all the first responders who helped us. You are heroes. On that day, you were the first line of defense for democracy--the first line of defense for democracy.

And it is shameful and cowardly today that the Trump White House has tried to rewrite history. Countries fail when they don't learn from their history, and yet to blame the Capitol Police force for creating violence is sickening. How could they do this? On the one hand, they say they love police officers, but right here they blame those here.

They were our heroes, the Capitol Police officers. And the only ones who caused violence were the rioters, egged on by Trump. So we thank our heroes. We also mourn those who perished in the days and weeks and months after the attack, especially the first responders.

And, of course, the anniversary here on January 6 comes at a bitter and complicated moment. Donald Trump is now back in office. How we could have let somebody who did this, hidden by all the propaganda and lies that he and his allies in the media and his allies in politics propagated, is just incredible. It is confounding. It makes you worry about democracy.

His pardons make a mockery of the rule of law. And on his very first day, he pardoned every single convicted insurrectionist--very first day as President.

That speaks loudly as to who Donald Trump is, the lowness of his character, the lack of any honor. And, sadly, too many of our Republican colleagues remain silent in the face of this obvious evil. Too many have tried to rewrite history. Too many are trying to turn the criminals into martyrs. We were here. I heard one of them say it was a tourist excursion. We were here. It was no tourist excursion. It was no tourist excursion at all.

And while the insurrection lasted just a day, the attack on democracy lives on. There are people, young people here, who may be susceptible to the same kind of propaganda because they think it happened once and the people who did it were heroes and were pardoned.

So this is dangerous, not only at this moment but in future moments and days and months and years ahead.

And that fight against democracy lives on in the threats against free and fair elections; the threats against workers--election workers, poll workers; threats live on in Donald Trump's very own Justice Department, which has tried to get its hands on State voter data, and it has abandoned any fight against voter discrimination.

And, of course, Donald Trump continues to plug in election deniers within the people's government. He makes them heroes. It is making night day, turning black into white, white into black.

The attacks are not over but neither--I want to assure the American people--is our fight to protect the democracy we love. The way forward is clear: We must speak the truth. We must fight the lies. We must never relent on speaking what happened on January 6 in the face of the hurricane of lies that comes from Donald Trump and, particularly, so many of his media allies.

To protect democracy, to speak the truth, to reveal and expose the lies, this is our moral obligation as Members of this institution and as citizens of this democracy.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, early Saturday morning, as we all know, U.S. forces apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Both of them are now in U.S. custody.

First, I will say this: Maduro is a tyrant. Nobody mourns what has happened to him. Under his watch, the people of Venezuela have suffered immensely. But now the crucial question is, What comes next for Venezuela and, more importantly, for the United States?

Nobody really seems to know. The administration's story keeps changing by the hour. Even after Secretary Rubio spent all day Sunday trying to clean up Trump's mess, the President went right back to repeat that the United States will now apparently run Venezuela for a while.

On and on and on. No plan. No clarity. Only chaos.

Ironically and dangerously, the chaos Donald Trump has engendered in Venezuela leads him on, in his mind, to think he should try the same thing in Colombia, in Iran, and even in Greenland.

But the danger in Venezuela is only beginning. Donald Trump has opened a Pandora's box, and things can get out of hand very quickly. And if Donald Trump tries to do to Colombia and Greenland what he did to Venezuela, the disasters and consequences could compound exponentially, as bad as Venezuela alone is going to be. Whenever our country has gotten involved in this kind of regime change and nation building, American families pay the price in blood and in treasure. That is what happened in Iraq, for instance.

The American people did not sign up for this kind of military adventurism when they voted for Donald Trump. They wanted a President focused on America first, focused on lowering the cost of living, lowering healthcare costs, lowering grocery prices. Just like Donald Trump broke his promise to release the Epstein files, he is now breaking his promise to end American involvement in the endless wars.

I warn my Republican colleagues: The backlash from the MAGA base on the war in Venezuela will be swift, fierce, and thunderous, just like it was with the Epstein files. And if the Republicans go along with Donald Trump on Venezuela, Americans will pay the price in blood and in treasure, while Republicans could very well pay the price politically.

In the meantime, the next step for Congress is clear: We must stop Trump's folly by invoking the War Powers Act. Later this week, I will join Senator Kaine, Senator Schiff, and Senator Paul in forcing a vote on our War Powers Resolution, a bipartisan measure that will affirm Congress's authority on matters of war and peace when it comes to Venezuela. If there was ever a time for Republicans to step up to the plate and stand up not just for the authority of Congress but for

our national security, our safety, that time is now.

Separately, this afternoon, leaders of the House and Senate will meet with senior administration officials to ask questions about what is going on in Venezuela--try to get to the bottom of it--and what the plan is moving forward. An all-Senators briefing is also being organized for later this week. I demanded these briefings immediately after the strike on Saturday.

The administration owes Congress and the American people some pretty basic answers to many important questions--most importantly: What the hell does Donald Trump mean when he says the United States now intends to ``run'' Venezuela? Does this mean we are now in the business of nation building Venezuela? Are we going to put troops on the ground? How many? Where? And how much will it cost? How long will this go on? These questions should be answered to the Congress and, more importantly, to the American people before the administration attempts anything akin to so-called running Venezuela.

Frankly, we also know why Senator Rubio misled Congress so blatantly over the past 4 months. On three occasions, I asked Rubio whether or not the administration was seeking regime change in Venezuela. Three times the answer was no. We never really believed him in the first place, to be candid. But if Secretary Rubio wasn't straight with us about Venezuela, what else is he not being straight with us about now? What else is he not being straight with the American people about now? For example, is an attack on Colombia now on the table? What about Iran or Greenland?

How is any of this putting America first? The simple answer is that it is not.

If you are a family of four in New York and your healthcare premiums just doubled on January 1, what are you supposed to think when you read in the paper that Donald Trump is spending billions attacking Venezuela? If you are struggling to keep a roof over your head, if you are falling behind on your mortgage payment, what are you supposed to think when Donald Trump says we are going to ``run'' Venezuela for a while?

The American people did not sign up for another round of endless wars. They want Donald Trump to focus on the problems here at home: on healthcare, on housing, on energy, on groceries. But Donald Trump's promise to keep us out of foreign entanglements is now as worthless as his promise to release the Epstein files.

He promises his base one thing on the campaign trail and does the exact opposite once he is in office, and it is the American people who will pay the price.

Mr. President, now, on cost of living, if Donald Trump refuses to focus on the one thing Americans want most, which is to lower the cost of living, Democrats are happy to do it for them. As we begin 2026, Democrats enter the new year on our front foot. The cost of living will remain the No. 1 focus for this week, this month, this year, and beyond.

The tip of the spear for so many people when it comes to costs, of course, is healthcare. It is now January 5, 2026. For tens of millions of people, the reality of sky-high premiums has now been locked in, thanks to Republicans who let the ACA premium tax credits expire last year. Millions more no longer have healthcare at all. Many others have switched to lower quality plans and can no longer see the doctors they have gone to for years and years and years or afford the medicines that their children have been taking to cure deadly diseases. Parents without insurance now don't know what to do if their kids get sick.

Every Democrat in the Senate voted to extend the premium tax credits at the end of last year. And a number of Republicans--a small number, unfortunately, of Republicans--in both Chambers say they want to do it. But instead of listening to the vast majority of Americans who want these tax credits rendered, Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson have sided with rightwing extremists who are happy to see these credits die. The result: higher premiums, more uninsured Americans, greater uncertainty for the people back home--especially people, actually, in the red States.

Democrats will not relent on the issue of the cost of living, of how difficult it is for Americans to pay the bills for things they need. The topic is not going to go away anytime soon. In fact, it will only grow in intensity over the year.

But, as everyone knows, healthcare is not the only part of the story when it comes to lowering the cost of living. In the coming weeks and months, Democrats will lay out cleanly and comprehensively how we can lower costs for the American people on a number of different topics-- from health to housing, to groceries, to childcare, to energy costs, and beyond.

In the coming weeks, for example, I will work with a number of my colleagues, including Senator Warren, on the many options we have to help Americans pay for housing. We also need to look at lowering grocery costs. We need to end Donald Trump's destructive tariffs. We need to help families afford daycare. These are the things that Americans care about, not invading Venezuela, not attacking Colombia, or dreaming of invading Greenland.

The Democrats are focused on the things that matter to the American people, and we will focus on these like a laser--the high cost of living; affordability. Just like Democrats are dialed in on healthcare and brought the Nation's attention to this important issue, we are also focusing on costs as they relate to housing and groceries and energy and childcare and so much more.

We show the contrast that, while Donald Trump and Republicans are spending all of their time on foreign wars, on ballrooms, on private jets, Democrats are the ones focused on helping people pay the bills for the things they need every day to live their lives decently.

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.

Mr. President, last night, Donald Trump gave a speech about how supposedly great his first year has been. So, of course, his speech was short because there is really not much to say about how great Trump has been.

For 18 minutes, the President, last night, tried to convince Americans the sky is green and that trees can walk. He yelled at the camera and said that things are somehow going great even though costs are up. He said he is doing a great job in office--all of which is, obviously, false. And the American people didn't buy it.

It was clear, in watching the speech, that the President didn't want to be there. The only thing Americans saw last night was a very rich President trapped in a bubble, forced by his advisers to give a speech he didn't want to give. It is like your cousin who can't sit still for a Christmas photo, only this is the President of the United States.

Our country is in a lot of trouble right now, but instead of giving Americans a plan on how we will lower their costs, Donald Trump played the blame game. That is so typical of him. Instead of solving a problem, which is what a good President is supposed to do, he just points fingers at other people, and that doesn't do a bit of good to get the American people back on the right track. It is never a good sign when the President begins a speech by saying, ``I inherited a mess,'' because that is just another way of telling people: I don't want to be responsible for any of this.

Again, President Trump's speech showed he lives in a bubble--a billionaire bubble--completely disconnected from the reality that everyday Americans are seeing and feeling. People are feeling squeezed harder and harder every day, and Donald Trump, last night, took a victory lap.

Now let's talk about one of the most important issues for Americans when it comes to costs: healthcare.

Last night, Donald Trump offered exactly zero solutions for how we are going to lower Americans' healthcare premiums. He kept blaming Democrats. He kept saying the healthcare crisis is not his fault.

But here are the facts--the immutable facts--Donald Trump: No amount of finger-pointing, lying, hyping it up, or patting yourself on the back is going to undo the fact that the American people are going to pay a lot more for healthcare come January 1.

On January 1, the ACA enhanced premium tax credits are going to expire because Donald Trump chose to let them die.

Even our Republican colleagues have told us time and time again that if Trump would do something here and support an extension of the tax credits, as we Democrats are fighting for, then maybe they would be able to do something. But he doesn't.

Now tens of millions are going to see their insurance premiums double on average. Four million people will lose insurance because Donald Trump let it happen, and he is there, sitting in front of the TV camera, patting himself on the back--unbelievable. Millions more with private insurance will see their premiums go up because Donald Trump let it happen. Our emergency rooms are going to be even more overrun. People are going to be kicked out of nursing homes. Rural hospitals will close. And there is Donald Trump congratulating himself on how great he is.

Look, because of Republicans' total inaction on healthcare, huge damage has already been done, and nothing we do after January 1 can undo so much of that damage. As I have said before, the toothpaste is out of the tube.

However you want to say it, the point is this: Because of Republicans, it is now impossible, sadly, to prevent people from having to pay hundreds, if not thousands, more on their premiums next year. It is going to start January 1.

Even if we can figure out a way to stop the bleeding next year--that is a very big ``if''--Republicans are still in shambles and have no plan themselves. For too many people, it is going to be too late because Republicans chose to let these ACA tax credits expire. They had an easy opportunity to join us in our 3-year, clean extension of the ACA credits, and they refused.

Well, Americans heard none of what they wanted to hear last night during Trump's speech--nothing about how he will lower premiums, nothing about how he will lower their cost of living, nothing about how Republicans could have fixed this crisis but didn't. Donald Trump kept playing the blame game. Many a President has tried to do that--all with disastrous results. People want solutions; Donald Trump gave them none.

Democrats, meanwhile, are not going to stop fighting to lower people's premiums, and we are not going to stop fighting to lower costs across the board and help Americans pay for the things they need and avoid those moments on Friday night when families sit around the kitchen table and say: How the hell am I going to pay this bill? I don't have the money for it. I need what the bill has asked me to pay for.

Look, we Democrats will not stop fighting to lower costs and help Americans pay for the things they need. These will be our watchwords in 2026: lower costs and lower healthcare costs in particular.

That issue ain't going away, Republicans. We are going to keep on it and on it and on it until maybe you join us to really solve the problem.

Republicans, healthcare is not going away. People need help to afford premiums, and Democrats are going to keep fighting and pushing this issue for all of 2026 and beyond.

Mr. President, on the CR, Democrats want to get our work done to finish the bipartisan appropriations process. Our goal is a bipartisan bill that funds the government through fiscal year 2026.

Republicans worked for over a month and just yesterday gave Democrats a list of their cleared amendments, one of which has no text.

While I don't expect we will need quite as long as Republicans took, it will still take some time for us to work through our amendments so that we can finish the minibus in January.

Democrats are working in good faith to finish the process. As we have said, our goal is a bipartisan bill that funds the government through 2026, and we are working in good faith to finish this process. It is not easy. Obstacles always remain. No side is going to get everything they want. But a bipartisan agreement is the preferred outcome for the vast majority of Senators, Democrat and Republican.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), and the Senator from Massachussetts (Ms. Warren), are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, tonight, President Trump will address the Nation on what he claims is a speech on his supposed victories this year.

President Trump can say whatever he wants on camera, but the reality is for Americans across the country that costs are up, unemployment is rising, the holidays are more expensive and stressful than ever, and tariffs are taxing people to no end.

If Donald Trump had any shred of honesty and self-respect and self- insight, he would look into the camera tonight and say to the American people: I have failed you.

I mean, just last week, Donald Trump seriously suggested the one way families can lower costs is for parents to buy their kids fewer toys. What kind of Christmas is that? Donald Trump is like the Grinch--just with a lot more bronzer.

Now, today, Senate Democrats will hold a special caucus lunch to roll out a new initiative to lower costs for the American people and show precisely how Donald Trump and Republicans have made life far more expensive for Americans.

This morning, a report came out that Americans will pay 13 percent more on energy costs than they did last year. In part, why? Because Donald Trump and his obeisant Republicans cut out the cheapest way to get new power and new electrons on the grid--solar energy. They cut it out in obeisance to the oil industry. It was disgraceful.

That is what is wrong with this government--the corruption. The oil industry promises Donald Trump that Harold Hamm will raise him a ton of money, so Trump cuts out clean energy, and these guys went right along with it. The cost of groceries is up. Rent is up. Housing foreclosures are up. Healthcare is about to soar through the roof while Republicans refuse to do anything about it. John Thune said he doesn't want to extend the ACA tax credits at all. And Americans will pay the price.

Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies and the Republican Senators just don't get it. They don't understand what it is like to struggle to pay for groceries or struggle to keep a roof over your head. They don't know what it is like if your car breaks down and you don't have enough money to fix it and you wonder, how am I going to get to work?

Donald Trump, after all, calls affordability a hoax.

Well, if anything is a hoax, Donald Trump, it has been your promise to lower costs on day one.

The biggest hoax on affordability was Donald Trump's promise to lower costs on day one.

So, today, Democrats are going to come together to do precisely what Republicans refuse to do, fight on behalf

of the American people to lower their costs. We are going to focus on five major issues: healthcare, energy, housing, groceries, and Donald Trump's tariffs. When Americans think about lowering costs, these are five things they think about most, and these are the issues that will be our focus.

Senate Democrats will focus on these five issues like a laser. We will come back to them again and again and again, in the coming weeks, just like we came back to healthcare, over and over and over again, this fall. And the American people know who is on their side when it comes to healthcare costs.

Americans are tired of feeling like the cost of living is a constant crisis. Americans are tired of hearing Donald Trump call their struggles a hoax. Americans didn't sign up for higher grocery costs and more expensive healthcare, but that is what the Republicans and Donald Trump have given them in just 1 year in office.

So Democrats will show the American people another way forward, a way focused on lower costs, more prosperity, and an agenda focused on the working- and middle-class families of America--not the billionaires, not the special interests, not the huge lobbyists who seem to dictate what the Republicans do.

U.S. Coast Guard

Mr. President, on the Coast Guard swastika, earlier this week, the U.S. Coast Guard enacted a policy downgrading the swastika from its list of recognized hate symbols.

Can you believe it? Can you believe it? The swastika is no longer a recognized hate symbol?

They did this just after the horrible shootings in Sydney and so many other shootings--anti-Semitic shootings--and activities that have been plaguing America.

The new policy of the Coast Guard is shameful. It is dangerous and another troubling instance of the Trump administration normalizing the threat of Nazism and White supremacy.

This policy has all the markings of a dog whistle. It is a ``stand back and stand by'' in the form of an office memo. Not 4 days ago, 15 Jews were slaughtered in cold blood--a beautiful picture of a little 10-year-old girl celebrating the first night of Hanukkah--and a day later, the Trump administration chose to soften its stance against Nazis and swastikas.

Can you believe it? Can it get any lower? Can it get any more insensitive? Can they be any more in a bubble than they are in?

And for the millions of American men and women who served in the Coast Guard, this is an insult to them. How about the Coast Guard members who served during World War II and fought that swastika? Why was this policy change even necessary at all? Why did the administration go out of its way to soften its policies against swastikas of all things?

Today, Republicans will attempt to confirm the Commandant of the Coast Guard by unanimous consent, before the end of the year. If he is to be the head of the Coast Guard, this new nominee must reverse this egregious policy, and I am asking him right now: Change that policy now.

Let's be very clear. If you are a Jew, if your family gave their lives to fight the Nazis in World War II, if you are a minority in any way, there is nothing, nothing potentially divisive about a swastika. It is just about the most unmistakable hate symbol in existence.

Now, this is part of an emerging pattern on the right. Young Republicans were texting about gas chambers. Trump officials were talking about having a Nazi streak. Tucker Carlson interviews Nick Fuentes, and Donald Trump refuses to condemn Fuentes. Yesterday, JD Vance took to social media to suggest that anti-Semitism only exists because of immigrants.

Where has he been? Does he know the history of anti-Semitism? What an ignorant statement from Vance. Sometimes you think he must know better, but he doesn't. He just plays along with the rightwing, sucks up to them.

And now, according to the Trump administration, swastikas no longer count as hate symbols within the Coast Guard. This is exactly why I introduced my resolution condemning Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and neo-Nazism. Neo-Nazism is no longer a fringe or theoretical threat. It is real. It is growing. It threatens our democracy, and every elected official must condemn it forcefully.

Healthcare

Mr. President, now, on healthcare, there is breaking news this morning--good news--that the discharge petition in the House got the necessary 218 signatures to move forward.

It shows that the demand by the American people for Congress--the House and the Senate--to extend the ACA premium tax credits is undeniable. Yet Republican leaders inside the House and the Senate are making it clear that they are opposed and will be responsible for healthcare costs rising through the roof.

Yesterday, Leader Thune admitted:

We're not going to pass anything by the end of this week.

That is a clear admission of failure--a failure to govern, a failure to lower costs for the American people.

The damage has been done, no matter what happens, because, at this point, Republicans have made it impossible to prevent many Americans from paying more on their monthly premiums on January 1. And Republicans can't even say they tried to stop it.

House Republicans, meanwhile, are on the warpath to vote on a rightwing healthcare sham bill, one that doesn't extend the ACA credits a day, doesn't lower premiums, and does absolutely nothing to help people afford coverage.

So let's be very clear. There is only one reason--one reason-- Americans' premiums are going through the roof starting in just 14 days: It is because Republicans--Trump, the Republican Senate, the Republican House--chose for it to happen.

Venezuela

Mr. President, on Venezuela, yesterday, President Trump announced ``a total and complete'' blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela--another dangerous escalation with no clear plan whatsoever. Donald Trump has offered precisely zero explanations-- zero--to the American people for what he is trying to accomplish in the Caribbean.

Most Senate Republicans, meanwhile, appear to have no interest in doing any congressional oversight in a serious way of the administration's military buildup. We have had no serious public congressional hearings on the threat of military conflict off the coast of Venezuela, no public testimony from Defense officials on this issue.

Where are Senate Republicans? Where is the oversight?

The purpose of hearings is to challenge an administration when it may well be going off course, and they certainly seem to be going off course in Venezuela.

Donald Trump talks one way, then another. I have asked some of our leaders: Where is the limit to how far they will go? No answer. Could this be getting us into an endless war?

The American people fear that above most other things, maybe all things. That is why we need oversight, and the Senate Republicans are nowhere.

Meanwhile, the briefing we had, yesterday, with Secretary Rubio and Hegseth was utterly disappointing. The administration walked into the room totally empty-handed. They gave us no real answers about what the objective is in the Caribbean. Hegseth also refused to give Senators full access to the video of the September 2 strikes.

The same, same lack of transparency that is affecting the September 2 video is affecting our whole policy in the Caribbean and with Venezuela--no oversight, no plan, no discussion with either the Senate, the House, or the American people. That is what leads to trouble--big trouble.

Let's be very clear. Donald Trump does not have the authority to use military force to carry out his current plans in the Caribbean, without authorization from Congress. If Trump acts without congressional authorization, the Senate stands ready with a bipartisan resolution-- led by Senator Kaine, myself, Senators Paul and Schiff--preventing the unauthorized use of force.

Tribute to German Vazquez

Mr. President, finally, let's say good-bye to German Vazquez--a very special good-bye to one of the Senate's unsung heroes, German Vazquez, who will retire soon, after 28 incredible years of service.

The public may not know German, but every single Senator knows him. You see his face, and you smile. You

can always find him near the Chamber, working as a doorkeeper, at the elevators, or up in the Gallery. No matter the role, he is professional, warm, and a positive presence that makes the Senate come to life.

He has been wonderful to our staffs, as well--kind, steady, and generous in the way that matters every day in a place like this.

So, German, on behalf of all of us in the Senate, thank you, thank you, thank you. Godspeed on your next adventure, and we wish you and your family all the best.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, this morning, the American people got more proof that Donald Trump's policies are a disaster to them. This morning's jobs report shows the unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in November. That is the highest level since 2021, the highest level in 4 years under Donald Trump's leadership--or lack thereof, more appropriately.

This is what Donald Trump's so-called golden age looks like in all its ugly glory: higher costs, more tariffs, and the highest unemployment rate since COVID. And make no mistake, this unemployment number didn't just come out of the blue. It didn't just come because of external forces. This high, awful unemployment number--the highest since COVID--is a consequence of Donald Trump's failures, his reckless tariff agenda, his draconian cuts to basic services like healthcare, and his refusal to listen to Americans who are already struggling to pay for what they need.

Donald Trump can try and spin these job numbers all he wants. That is his nature. That is what he does. He doesn't care about the truth. He just cares about his own ego. But Americans aren't buying his fantasy. They are fed up with his agenda, and the damage is beginning to set in.