Floor Statements

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 1.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 6.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

And finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, February 13, be waived.

Madam President, now, for my remarks, first and foremost, I begin today as happy as I could possibly be. Last week, my daughter Alison and her wife celebrated the birth of little Henry-- their first child, my third grandchild.

The tie I am wearing today is the very same tie I wore on the day my daughter and her wife got married. The last time I wore this same tie on the floor of the Senate was the day the Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate. So it is not only a great tie, but it is a really great day, and it symbolizes a whole lot.

I want to thank everyone for their messages of support. I am pleased to report both moms and the baby are doing just great. He is such a little cutie.

Few things put this job in perspective quite like being a grandparent. I have often said that after my first grandkid Noah was born--it was about 2 weeks later--I took a bike ride through the wetlands near Coney Island. It is on the southern shore of Brooklyn. The Atlantic Ocean laps up on it, and it is beautiful. I love that ride, but 2 weeks after Noah was born, as I was riding, it hit me like a bolt: Will Noah one day get to enjoy this beautiful, beautiful bike path like I have? Because if the ocean rises even a few inches, this bike path will be gone.

Having grandkids like that reminds you of what we are fighting for: a better life for them, a better globe for them, a better world for them. It is a motivation unlike any other.

Well, I could go on, but suffice it to say that today Chuck Schumer is one happy grandparent, and I am grateful for everyone's kind words over the past few days.

Madam President, now, on another subject, over the weekend, U.S. forces shot down three unknown objects that entered U.S. and Canadian airspace that were deemed to pose a potential threat to civilian aviation. At the moment, we only have preliminary details. I have scheduled for Senators to receive a briefing tomorrow on what we know and do not know about where these objects come from and what threats, if any, they pose to the United States.

So that is tomorrow. I believe, and my office can check me on this, it will be at 10 a.m., but we will send a notice out so people can check the time.

I commend President Biden and all our servicemembers who acted quickly to shoot these objects down before they endangered American aircraft or civilians. Unlike the balloon shot down last week, these objects demanded a swift response to ensure they didn't get in the way of commercial jets or pose any other risk on the ground.

The American people can rest assured that our defense and intelligence Agencies are focused like a laser to determine where these objects came from and what their capabilities were.

And while there is still plenty that we don't know about this past weekend's events, in the case of the Chinese balloon, we do know now that is was not the first time Chinese surveillance balloons entered U.S. airspace. It has been confirmed that three balloons flew over the United States during the previous administration without detection. China's deployment of these balloons is brazen.

I bring this up to emphasize that this issue is bigger than any one administration and should be free from partisan sniping.

Congress is going to conduct a careful, bipartisan examination of these various incidents and also look into why U.S. authorities didn't find these Chinese surveillance balloons sooner. My friend Senator Tester has been taking the lead in this effort. I want to commend him for his leadership.

And so as we recover the items shot down over the weekend, I once again commend the President, and I fully support the Senate taking a thorough look at finding out why it took so long to find these balloons. It is something we must do because, as I mentioned, three of them occurred during the Trump administration, and the authorities knew nothing about them.

I, finally, want to thank our servicemembers for their excellent work, and Congress is going to work in the coming weeks to get the full story of what happened and how we keep the American people safe.

Madam President, now, on the debt ceiling, last week, President Biden distilled the sharp contrast between the Democratic and Republican approaches to the debt ceiling. And in the days since that, Republicans have made that contrast even sharper.

Democrats have been clear about our position--very clear, crystal clear. We must raise the debt ceiling cleanly, in a bipartisan fashion, without blackmail or brinksmanship or hostage-taking.

House Republicans have taken a different and far more dangerous approach. Rather than affirm the need to raise the debt ceiling together, House Republicans are trying to force the rest of the country into a perilous game of chicken, threatening to withhold their support for lifting the debt ceiling unless everyone agrees to spending cuts first.

But to this day--to this day--despite more than a month of questioning, House Republicans won't answer one question: What cuts do they want? Where is their plan?

House Republicans, where is your plan?

I say to House Republicans, enough with the games. Show us your plan. You say you want cuts--well, what are they? You have an obligation not only to show us but the American people what they are. These could be quite dangerous to tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of Americans.

Are House Republicans going to put Social Security and Medicare on the table in exchange for the debt ceiling?

Well, last week, Republicans erupted like wild hornets during the State of the Union when President Biden pointed out the obvious: that many within

their own party have been very open about wanting to target Social Security and Medicare, Rick Scott being among them, and he was the leader of the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee.

But listen to this one. If you think this is just a few people, a few dangerous people, doing this, dangerous on Social Security and Medicare, that is, the Republican Study Committee, which includes a majority--a majority--of House Republicans, at least half--this is not some fringe group but half of the entire House conference--released a budget last year that proposed raising Social Security retirement age, cutting benefits to certain recipients, and even privatizing some parts of Social Security.

Let me say that again because this--I don't know if it has been reported, but it is astounding. The Republican Study Committee, including a majority of House Republicans, released a budget just last year that proposed raising the Social Security retirement age, cutting benefits to certain recipients, and even privatizing some parts of Social Security.

And almost as if to prove President Biden correct, Senator Johnson of Wisconsin reacted to the State of the Union by going on the radio and calling for annual votes on Social Security, calling it a Ponzi scheme.

Let me say that one again too. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, Senator Johnson, last week, openly called Social Security a Ponzi scheme before bemoaning the failed attempt to privatize the program during the Bush administration.

A, it is an incredible example of how out of touch MAGA Republicans are from average Americans, and, B, it shows that this idea that Republicans don't want to cut Social Security is not at all clear, no matter what Speaker McCarthy says. There are too many in his ranks who either are calling for it now or have called for it in the recent past. We Democrats are not going to stop fighting until this plan, bubbling up in Republican quarters even now, to cut Social Security, to cut Medicare is dead--D-E-A-D.

So it brings us back to the $64,000 question: Are Republicans going to target Social Security and Medicare?

Until Republicans actually show us their plan, we simply can't take them at their word that Social Security and Medicare won't be touched because the record over the last few years clearly shows that many of them are open to doing just that, cutting it.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I have one request for committee to meet during today's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committee is authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Madam President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceeding.

Finally, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 57 until 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 14; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Mendez-Miro nomination postcloture; that at 11:30 a.m., the Senate vote on the confirmation of the Mendez-Miro nomination, and that following the cloture vote on the Jenkins nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that at 2:15 p.m., if cloture has been invoked on the Jenkins nomination, the Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination; further that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, first a little housekeeping business, and then we will get to the statement.

First, I understand that there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

In order to place the bill on the calendar, under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceeding.

Mr. President, I want to begin by offering my prayers to everyone affected by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Over 6,000 have been reported dead. It is just awful--awful. You see the pictures, and you ache. We stand ready to help however we can.

Tonight, President Biden will come before a joint session of Congress and deliver his State of the Union to the American people. It is a chance for all of us to hear directly from the Commander in Chief about the tremendous progress we have made as a nation, the challenges we have overcome in recent years, and how Democrats are keeping our promises to make the lives of the American people better.

I expect the President will make the case clearly and convincingly that today the United States is far better off than it was a year ago. Inflation is coming down; wages are going up; gas prices have eased at last; unemployment is near record lows; and the pandemic, after causing so much suffering, so much destruction, no longer dominates our lives. Our work is not finished, but today we can confidently say America is headed in the right direction thanks to President Biden's leadership and thanks to the work of a strong, unified Democratic Party in Congress.

As Americans listen to President Biden, I am confident they will see the glaring contrast between Democratic unity on the one hand and Republican chaos on the other. Democrats remain laser-focused on delivering our people-first agenda. Every bill Democrats passed last Congress was written with average Americans in mind, from the American Rescue Plan to the infrastructure bill, to the Inflation Reduction Act, to gun safety, marriage equality, and so, so much more.

Let's just take one example out of many. It is an important example but just one. Senate Democrats worked very hard to deliver a $35 insulin cap for every American on Medicare, but, of course, we want to go further. We tried to get it for everybody before reconciliation, but the reconciliation bill only allowed us to pass, in the IRA, an insulin cap for some Americans. When

an amendment was offered to add everybody in, unfortunately we did not get enough Republicans to vote for it. But this idea deserves new life and bipartisan cooperation in this Congress, and I look forward to hearing more from the President tonight.

Very soon, Americans are going to feel the benefits of our agenda in their daily lives. Implementation is going to be a top priority for Senate Democrats in the months to come. Not everyone has the time to follow what happens in Congress day by day, but when we actually start doing things, implementing the bills, oh, it gets out.

Just look at my home State of New York. After we passed infrastructure, many people didn't hear about it. To others, it was a line in the newspaper--oh, they have a bipartisan infrastructure bill. But last week, when the President came to New York to celebrate Gateway, you could feel the exaltation and excitement in the city. That is going to start happening again and again everywhere, in every State, in every community, as these large bills that helped American families are implemented and people see the actual results in their communities.

So let me say it again. Democrats are proud we stuck together and delivered on an agenda that lowered costs, lifted America out of crisis, and helped lay a foundation for future prosperity. Our MAGA Republicans cannot claim the same. On the very first day in the new majority, House Republicans passed a bill not to help average Americans but, rather, that helps the ultrarich so they can avoid paying their fair share in taxes. The bottom line is, these people who are going to be added to the IRS are going to focus on all of those who are much richer than the average American but pay at a much lower rate. But the Republicans couldn't go for that. Those are the people they want to represent. Then they hardly stopped there. In just 1 month, the MAGA House majority has doubled down on their war on women, tripled down on their asinine national sales tax proposal, and Republicans continue to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to their radical agenda.

In the coming months, nothing will require more cooperation and serious-mindedness than lifting the debt ceiling. I was glad to work with both Presidents Biden and Trump to lift the debt ceiling over the past couple of years. We did it without political blackmail, without brinkmanship. But Speaker McCarthy and many of his House MAGA Republicans are taking the debt ceiling hostage and basically saying: Our way or the highway. Agree to cuts or we won't lift the debt ceiling.

That is not going to work, plain and simple. History shows that those who try to threaten their way to an agreement end up losing.

If Speaker McCarthy is insistent on spending cuts, which we Democrats will strongly oppose, he has an obligation to take the next step and actually say what those cuts are for. We will oppose tying the debt ceiling to these types of cuts. The debt ceiling is debts we have already incurred and should be paid without brinkmanship, without adding things to the agenda, which risks a great deal for the American people.

So what are the Republicans asking for? They say they want cuts. What are they? Are Republicans going to ax Social Security or Medicare? We think it is not enough for the Speaker to just say he doesn't want to make those cuts, because Members of his own party, including some of the very MAGA Republicans he followed in the first week of his session, are saying otherwise, and they have shown--some of them--that they can get their way in the new majority. Speaker McCarthy needs to prove he won't cut Social Security and Medicare by showing us the plan, his plan.

What about funding for national defense? Our military just shot down the Chinese spy balloon. Are Republicans seriously thinking about cutting defense on some bogus claims of fighting a ``woke agenda''? What the heck does that mean?

Republicans, show us the specific cuts. Show us the plan.

What about families and children who rely on nutrition aid? The chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee recently said they are still looking at cuts to SNAP benefits at a time when children are hungry and groceries are far too expensive. This is from the party that cut taxes for billionaires and mega corporations back in 2017. If making sure hungry children have enough to eat is part of the ``woke agenda,'' then we sure don't have the same definition.

Look, I know it is not easy for this new majority. The 20 or so extremists who dictated the House rules package can now thwart whatever proposal the Speaker wants to come up with if they feel the cuts don't go far enough. So I am gravely concerned that things will be very, very hard for the Speaker to manage, if he can come up with a plan at all.

All this brings us back to what Democrats have been insisting on from the very beginning: No brinkmanship. No hostage-taking. Let's lift the debt ceiling together. Let's pay the debts that Democrats and Republicans, including Donald Trump, already incurred without ultimatums.

Tonight, I expect the President will make this very clear to the American people, and it will be the responsibility of House Republicans to show that they take the debt ceiling seriously before they create an unprecedented crisis that will wreak havoc on every single American.