Floor Statements

Mr. President, now on the economy, Donald Trump's erratic decisions-- yes; no; maybe; this country; that country--are creating havoc in the economy, and we are starting to see dark clouds hanging over our economy because of Donald Trump and his whole team's erratic performance when it comes to the economy.

Listen to this: For the first time, CNN's polling shows that a clear majority--56 percent of the people--disapprove of Donald Trump's handling of the economy. Some of his pundits say he won the election because of his performance on the economy. Well, if now 56 percent of people disapprove, he is not in very good electoral shape now or in the future.

This week, forecasters say that thanks to Donald Trump's chaos and tariffs, the odds of a dreaded recession have started to crawl up. One J.P. Morgan report puts it, alarmingly, at 40 percent--40 percent chance of recession already. Trump is in office 2, 3 months. There was no chance--little chance of a recession the day he took office, and now it is up to 40 percent according to J.P. Morgan.

Household debt is also growing. The average household credit card debt surpassed $10,000 for the first time since 2009. People are starting to fall behind on their car payments at the highest rate in decades.

Donald Trump promised an economic boom during the campaign, but 2 months into his Presidency, Trump is already backtracking and telling Americans they should be OK with ``pain'' and ``disturbance'' with the economy.

Donald Trump tells Americans: You should be OK with pain and disturbance with the economy. That is pretty rich coming from a billionaire who said he would bring cost down on day one and doesn't have to suffer when prices go up, wages stay flat, or be fired and not have any income.

Donald Trump knows his policies could wreck the economy, but he is doing it anyway. Why? Same thing as Social Security. Why are they doing all these crazy things that Americans don't like? One reason--one reason alone: tax breaks for billionaires, the North Star of the Republican Party's goals.

Mr. President, funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path drafting their continuing resolution without any input--any input--from congressional Democrats.

Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass.

We should vote on that. I hope--I hope--our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, Elon Musk confirmed what many of us have been warning about for a long time: Republicans are getting ready to gut Social Security and Medicare.

Let me repeat that. Elon Musk confirmed what many of us have warned about: Republicans are getting ready to gut Social Security and gut Medicare.

Here is what he said during an interview with FOX Business. The richest man on Earth repeated again a bevy of lies that entitlement programs that tens of millions of people rely on are riddled with fraud and abuse. That is a pretext to slashing, but it is false.

He added that ``most of the Federal spending is entitlements''--that is true--``so that is the big one to eliminate,'' meaning Social Security.

Let me quote Elon Musk again: ``That is the big one''--Social Security--``to eliminate.'' It is rare to hear Republicans tell the truth about their plans so directly.

What Elon Musk is saying is that sooner or later, Republicans are going to target people's Social Security and Medicare benefits.

The outrage that the richest man in the world would tell millions of seniors who depend on those checks each month that it is fraud, that it is waste, is outrageous. He doesn't have any idea the harm it would do, and it isn't fraud. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans know that the math on their billionaire tax cuts will not work without going after these benefits, and all they care about is cutting their taxes further--outrageous.

As America begins to hear this, America is going to realize what a bad bargain Donald Trump was in the election. It is another awful reminder that under Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Republicans, billionaires win, American families lose.

There is something truly rotten about the Republican agenda when a multibillionaire--the richest man in the world--is allowed to lie so casually about one of America's most sacred programs in order to justify taking benefits away from hard-working Americans. Few programs have done more good, have helped more people, have been more popular than Social Security has for nearly a century. Few programs are as beloved by Americans as Social Security. Americans, of course, support eliminating waste, but they do not want to see their Social Security benefits get taken away.

How is Elon Musk trying to do this? He is using the oldest trick in the book: shamelessly lying about Social Security--just as Donald Trump did in his State of the Union Address, where he listed hundreds of people who were born 120 years ago and couldn't show a single one was getting Social Security.

Musk is shamelessly lying about Social Security, claiming it is riddled with fraud, in order to justify taking benefits away from seniors and retirees. He ignores the very bold, plain fact that the Federal Government already conducts an audit of Social Security every year. It is a legit audit, not a partisan audit. It has been done during Trump's Presidency and Biden's Presidency. What did it find? Less than 1 percent--1 percent--less than 1 percent of all payments from 2015 to 2022 were made in error.

That, Mr. Musk, is not what fraud looks like.

He cherry-picks data to suggest that tens of millions of dead people are getting checks. This is a lie.

To be sure, this isn't just about Elon Musk's rhetoric. The assault on Social Security is taking shape in practice. DOGE has already taken over the Social Security Administration Agency and has free access to the private data and benefits of tens of millions of Americans. The Trump administration has already begun to fire 7,000 staffers, which means local offices will shut down, customer service wait times will explode, and the risk of delayed benefits will skyrocket.

So I ask my Republican colleagues: Are you all fine with this?

Are they fine with Musk calling Social Security one giant scam? Let's find a single person here on the Republican side who starts rebutting Musk once and for all when they know he is doing what the American people hate and is not telling the truth.

Do our colleagues agree with Musk's lie that hundreds of billions of dollars in outright fraud has compromised Social Security?

Mark my words, if Elon Musk and DOGE continue their attacks against Social Security, if the President continues his attacks, which he made in the State of the Union, sooner or later, benefits are going to be delayed, mistakenly halted, and the political uproar from Americans from one end of the country to the other--red, purple, and blue--will be immense.

And more trouble for the Trump administration--the Trump economy. Donald Trump promised Americans a golden age on day one. Well, today is day 50, and Americans are wondering, scratching their heads, where is this golden age? You can't find this golden age in the inflation numbers because inflation has gone up under Donald Trump, from groceries, to retail, to cars. He campaigned prices will begin going down on day one. That is by the wayside, that is for sure.

You can't find this golden age in the stock market either. We know the stock market is Donald Trump's favorite measuring stick. But right now, because of him--his actions, his erraticness--his own actions have plunged markets and therefore people's retirement accounts into chaos. Yesterday, the Dow fell by almost 900 points, 2 percent. The S&P 500 plunged

2.7 percent. The NASDAQ Composite fell by 4 percent.

Why is this happening? One of the reasons is the President's tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but the other is pure chaos--no stability, no certainty for businesses, total confusion in the economy. One thing businesses tell us: They want certainty, and they want stability. One thing they are getting from Donald Trump: uncertainty and chaos.

By starting this foolish and chaotic trade war--on again one day, off again the next day--Donald Trump has singlehandedly poured a bucket of ice water on the economy. Trump thinks he can just yak: Oh, I am for it, and then the next day, I will say I am not for it. But businesses can't plan that way. If they think there is a chance he will come back and do it, they don't plan, they don't buy, they don't go forward.

Businesses right now are in a state of total confusion. They have no idea what Trump is going to do next. Is he going to impose tariffs today? tomorrow? next month? How big will they be? What countries? What products? Every day, you hear a different answer on something that is so important to the American economy and the world economy.

American consumers are also anxious. If you don't know what tomorrow will bring, you are going to spend less today.

Donald Trump himself knows that tariffs will hurt working families. When asked on FOX Business about the possibility that his tariffs could trigger a recession, he refused to even downplay the possibility it could happen. This was a rare moment of truth from Donald Trump. He said: Yeah, my tariffs can cause a recession. And then he seemed to say with his body language: Who cares? Amazing. The guy who said he would lift the economy not only is beginning to cause the beginnings of an economic downturn, but he seems to be proud of it. Wow. Is that what America bargained for? I don't think so.

When Donald Trump says there is a ``period of transition,'' it is just gibberish. What Donald Trump means when he says ``period of transition'' is that ``I will hurt you slowly, not all at once.'' It means ``Yes, my tariffs will raise prices on the American people.'' Donald Trump knows his tariffs could wreck the economy, but he is doing it anyway, all so he can use the income from tariffs to pay for tax cuts for billionaires--his North Star.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, for the 119th Congress, I ask that the Democratic cochair of the Senate NATO Observer Group be Senator Shaheen and, at her recommendation, the following Democratic Senators participate in the group: Senators Merkley, Coons, King, Booker, Van Hollen, and Rosen.

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

Mr. President, well, last night, reports came out that President Trump is preparing to sign an Executive order to abolish-- end--the Department of Education as soon as today. If this report is true, this would be one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken--and the main victims of this decision: American children.

This right here is why every single Democrat said ``hell no'' to the nomination of Linda McMahon. This is why we did it. Linda McMahon is an Education Secretary who personifies nails on the chalkboard. I have never heard before of a Secretary who wanted a Cabinet job solely for the purpose of detonating the very Agency she seeks to lead. I have never heard of an Education Secretary who wants to give every teacher in America a rotten apple. But this is where we are.

These are not just metaphors of the moment. They are the perils of the present. This would be horrible for our schools, our school leaders, our families, and the children Secretary McMahon is supposed to serve. The blast radius of this order will harm nearly every child, every teacher, every family, and every community in the country.

Don't forget: Defunding education means property taxes will go up to make up the funding gap. Homeowners are about to get blindsided by the toxic brew of seeing their property taxes go up while seeing the quality of many schools that depend on funding go down.

But nobody--nobody--will suffer more from Donald Trump's decision than our kids. Almost 90 percent of the students in America attend public schools, and they will suffer because of what Donald Trump is doing. Why?

The Department of Education is a lifeline for public schools across the country. It is particularly strong in rural areas because there is not much choice. There is one school in the town.

With Federal funding, many rural schools will vanish and some schools will crumble at the foundation, literally. Education is the best investment for turning a struggling community around. With good schools and without the funding to support these schools, our children will be hurt, our country will be worse, and the notion of the American dream will fall by the wayside.

Rural schools will be particularly hard-hit because rural communities often only have one school in the area, and if that disappears, the communities will deteriorate. Kids with special education needs will be left out in

the cold. Public schoolteachers already worked to the bone will be thrown into chaos; class sizes will explode; job training programs will vanish; school districts will be at the mercy of State budgets that are already struggling to fund education; and the albatross of student debt will become insurmountable for tens of millions of Americans, many of whom come from working families.

Every single one of us wants our schools to do better, our students to perform better, and eliminate wasteful spending. Education reform is necessary, but to make things better--to improve education--you do not use a chain saw. Using a chain saw will make things worse because it doesn't discriminate between the funds that are needed and the funds that may be necessary or should be redirected.

Erasing the Department of Education in the blink of an eye is not what education reform looks like. Donald Trump should immediately reverse course before he causes irreparable harm to our students and our classrooms.

Again, let me just repeat that you do not--you do not--hire a Secretary whose purpose--whose very purpose is detonating the very Agency she seeks to lead. That makes no sense.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

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

Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. President, last night, Donald Trump subjected the American people to a deluge of falsehoods, misrepresentations, and outright lies. What Americans heard last night was easily the nastiest, most divisive, most partisan, and most dishonest Presidential address in American history.

In a speech that lasted almost 2 hours, Donald Trump spent over 10 minutes falsely ridiculing and delegitimizing Social Security, following DOGE's lead alleging this program, which serves tens of millions of Americans, is a scam. They seemed to be preparing to go full steam ahead to take benefits away from you, the American people.

It is amazing. Tens of millions of Americans depend on that check, that Social Security check, to buy food, which is becoming more expensive under Donald Trump; to pay for prescription drugs, and they want to repeal the laws we did that made them cheaper for the average American; and so much else. Calling it a scam, ridiculing it with false information, and cutting 7,000 out of Social Security offices shows you where they are headed: to hurt Social Security, one of the most sacred programs in America.

Why are they doing this? Why would they do this? So unpopular. Only for one reason: The motivation of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party is tax cuts for the billionaires. That is their No. 1 goal, and they will twist America in knots, hurting people--many people, millions of people--to get it done.

Trump also lied about his plans to eviscerate Medicaid and lied about his plans to cut taxes for billionaires while making working Americans pay the costs.

Mr. President, there was more truth in 10 minutes of Senator Elissa Slotkin's rebuttal than in 2 hours of Donald Trump's long-winded, self- serving diatribe. Senator Slotkin did an outstanding job last night dismantling Donald Trump's nonsense with clarity, with facts, and with some desperately needed common sense. I am so glad I asked her to deliver the Democratic response because she knocked it out of the park.

Now, when Donald Trump wasn't lying, he was distracting. He talked again about renaming the Gulf of Mexico. He talked about renaming mountains. He said that he was a better President than George Washington. What a bubble this guy is in. What planet is he on? For a moment, I wondered if Donald Trump was utterly clueless of the disaster his administration has been under his watch.

The one thing Donald Trump did not mention last night was a real, serious plan to bring down costs--the No. 1 thing Americans wanted to hear most. Instead, Donald Trump doubled down on his plans to send costs skyrocketing by starting a trade war with Canada and Mexico.

Let's be very clear about this. Donald Trump's tariffs are a tax on working- and middle-class families. The average American household could see an extra $2,000 a year in expenses. Tariffs mean the cost of pretty much everything would go up, not just cars, although he could destroy the car industry--remember, about 40 percent of the parts that are in American cars come from Canada--but also housing and groceries and food--beef, dairy, eggs--and the cost of furniture and smartphones and laptops and fertilizer for farmers. Even going out to dinner with friends will be more expensive because of Donald Trump's tariffs.

Tariffs will slow growth. They will erode profits. They worsen unemployment and inequality and wreak havoc on supply chains that tens of millions of people and businesses depend on.

Let's be clear. The administration has obviously not thought through these tariffs. They seem to be changing their plans by the hour. Even this uncertainty is extremely harmful to the economy. It makes it impossible for businesses to plan ahead. It depresses spending, slows growth, and eats away at consumer confidence.

Yes, there are certain tariffs--particularly against China, which is competing with us economically in unfair ways--that might make some sense, but these have been unthought through. They are creating chaos for the economy. That is the one thing that the tariffs are accomplishing--chaos for the economy, stock market plummets.

Why are they doing this? Well, it is not different here than Social Security or Medicaid. Why is Donald Trump hell-bent on starting a trade war when virtually every expert knows the casualties of a trade war will be families and consumers? The reason is very simple--one reason he and DOGE say that Social Security is a scam: They want to take away people's benefits to pay for billionaire tax cuts. That is the whole ball game.

I can't think of a time where any President ridiculed Social Security the way Donald Trump did, and I can't think of a time where someone was more chaotic and deleterious on tariffs than Donald Trump was.

What they are seeking in return is the greatest transfer of wealth from working families to billionaires in the history of America. They want to take Social Security benefits away from you, the American people. They want to take healthcare away from you, the American people. They want to take away education and medical research and infrastructure and basic public services. Why? Well, it is pretty expensive to give tax cuts to the wealthy and elite, but that is what they are doing. That is what a transfer of wealth looks like to the average American--taking so much away from you, the things you need and depend on.

But Donald Trump and Republicans forget one thing: The American people aren't just going to roll over and let Republicans ruin this country. Democrats and, frankly, all Americans of good will, regardless of party, are organizing and mobilizing to defend healthcare and Social Security and the livelihood of American families. Americans are organizing in public, and Republicans have seen these frustrations at townhalls. That should be the first clue that they should drop their terrible agenda. When a lead Republican in the House tells Republicans ``You better cancel your townhalls,'' they are running away from their policies and priorities.

We are organizing online. I set up a call with some of the leading activists, people who have been out there on the frontlines protesting in New York last week. I thought about 500 people would get on the Zoom; it was 3,000. I met with 3,000 on Zoom--a turnout exceeding all expectations--to talk about how to defend healthcare, defend public services, stop tax cuts for the very wealthy, and make people's voices heard in the halls of power.

We are organizing in the courts. New lawsuits are happening every single day. Since just March 1--that is 4 or 5 days ago--at least 35 court rulings have come down halting or pausing some of the administration's worst abuses. The courts are one of the best tools available for protecting the rule of law and preventing the worst abuses of the administration.

Organizing is not easy. It takes persistence. But it works. It makes change happen. It is the cornerstone on which democracy is founded.

Donald Trump's exhausting speech is now in the rearview mirror, so Democrats will keep fighting every day to protect this precious democracy and hold the line against Donald Trump's attempts to rob American families of their livelihoods, taking so much away from the average American family and giving it to the very, very wealthy.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I want to note that we just learned that the Trump administration is getting ready to cut nearly 80,000 employees from the VA. Slashing nearly 80,000 VA staff is a benefit cut by another name. No one should think this doesn't dramatically hurt our veterans who have served us so well.

This staffing cut is a betrayal of our promise to our servicemembers--a betrayal to the promise of our servicemembers. It is going to mean longer wait times, fewer appointments, and ultimately less healthcare for our veterans. It is outrageous.

No one in America bargained for this, and Democrats are going to fight this tooth and nail, working with our veterans service organizations to fight these awful, unfair cuts that take out the desire to give tax cuts to billionaires on our veterans who served us so well. This is just one of the most outrageous things they have done, and there is a long list.

Ukraine

Now, another outrageous thing that is happening with the Trump administration is what is happening in Ukraine.

First, I want to thank my colleagues for bringing these five resolutions to the floor. I thank Senator Sanders for taking the lead on this issue, Senators Bennet, Van Hollen, Durbin, Blumenthal, and Welch. Let's start by speaking some much needed truth.

Three years ago, Vladimir Putin brought war and destruction to the people of Ukraine. He started the war, not any mythology that comes from Donald Trump or our Republican colleagues. Vladimir Putin started the war. Full stop.

His tanks and airstrikes have obliterated homes and schools. He is slaughtering civilians as a way to try and win territory in Ukraine. He has kidnapped children. The people of Ukraine did not ask for this war. President Zelenskyy did not start this war. Putin did. That is the truth of this lie after lie after lie that comes out of the Trump administration. This is one of the most egregious.

The people of Ukraine have struggled. President Zelenskyy has led them valiantly, risking his own life, and now the nerve of Donald Trump and others to say Zelenskyy started the war.

Donald Trump is trying to rewrite history and gain favor with Vladimir Putin. He blames Ukraine for starting the war, and now he is shutting off, halting, military aid that Ukraine desperately needs on the battlefield--desperately needs--and we need to restore it.

He has frozen critical intelligence sharing between our countries. He has allowed Putin to launch cyber operations against us, here in the United States. That jeopardizes the privacy of American citizens.

He has frozen intelligence sharing between our countries, and he has brought President Zelenskyy to the Oval Office, only to lecture and insult him in front of the whole world.

Guess who was laughing as he watched. Vladimir Putin.

To side with Putin is to put America at risk. My Democratic colleagues will make that clear over the next several hours. To side with Putin is to betray the values that define America, values our troops have died for in battlefields across the world, from Gettysburg to Normandy, to Iwo Jima.

The Senate must respond. Democrats and Republicans have done so before. I worked with then-Leader McConnell to get Ukraine desperately needed aid. And today's resolutions affirm very basic bipartisan ideas that, hopefully, still remain with our Republican colleagues--that the U.S. Senate stands with democracy, stands with the great people of Ukraine, and against the dictator--the brutal dictator--Vladimir Putin and his war crimes.

History is clear--perfectly clear. Appeasing autocrats is like putting out a fire with kerosene. In the long run, it will only make autocracy more powerful and the citizenry of America less safe. That is why today the Senate must speak in one voice, Democrats and Republicans together, and pass these resolutions.

I hope that is what happens, and I yield the floor to my colleague from Vermont, who has led the charge on this so important an issue.

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

So, Mr. President, tonight, Donald Trump will address the Nation before a joint session of Congress. This will be the fifth time Donald Trump speaks from the House Chamber, and by now, the American people know just what to expect.

They can expect Donald Trump to launch a deluge of mistruths and falsehoods. But tonight, we won't hear one peep from Donald Trump about his broken promise to bring inflation down on ``day one.'' We won't hear one syllable about how Donald Trump's policies are making inflation and the costs that average American families pay worse.

So this morning, let's start with that here, starting with tariffs. Last night, for the first time in decades, the President of the United States imposed 25 percent tariffs on nearly all goods coming from Canada and Mexico.

What does this mean for the American people? What do Donald Trump's tariffs mean for the American people? They are going to pay more. Everyday

costs are about to become more expensive. It means, according to the CEO of Target, to take one example, consumers could see higher prices within days. This is not something 6 months out. That includes everything: the price of gas, produce, cars, cheese, dairy products, coffee, even chocolate.

American farmers will pay more for fertilizer, which means food prices go up. New furniture will become more expensive, as Canada is a major supplier of lumber. Refrigerators, washers, microwaves, laptops, smartphones, clothing, and shoes all will likely see increases.

Hold on to your hat, Mr. and Mrs. America. When you bring it all together, the average U.S. household could see $2,000 in increased expenses a year, and that is a conservative estimate. Let me repeat that. The average American family--$2,000 more out of their pockets, their hard-earned dollars that they are struggling to stretch. And now another added increase, all that didn't have to happen, because Donald Trump is imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

It has been clear that in the past, when applied intelligently and precisely, tariffs can be a useful tool against adversaries that engage in unfair trade practices that harm American workers. The tariffs against China years ago are one example of this. But the situation today is completely different. It makes no sense to start a trade war with America's closest trade partners because the casualty of that trade war will be consumers and American households.

So let's get it straight: Donald Trump's tariffs are a tax on working Americans to the tune of $2,000 or more a year.

Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? Well, he says fentanyl, but less than 1 percent of the fentanyl that comes into the country comes from Canada.

It is one of the ways they can close that budget hole when they take huge tax breaks for billionaires. This is another place--another place--where Donald Trump and the Republicans are raising your costs so they can cut taxes for billionaires. It is unbelievable. I don't think this is going to be seen very positively by the American people.

Now let's talk about 1 month into the Trump administration. So, on his first day in office, Donald Trump promised a golden age was coming over the horizon. But when Donald Trump speaks tonight, his promise of a golden age will feel like ancient history.

So this morning, let's talk about Donald Trump's many broken promises. As a candidate, Donald Trump promised, ``When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one.''

``Grocery prices will come tumbling down,'' he said, when he gets elected.

Instead, what has happened? Inflation has gone not down but up. Gas prices were 2 percent up from the previous month. Chicken, pork, beef-- all more expensive. Eggs, 15 percent higher than last month.

And what is Donald Trump's solution to all of this? The Secretary of Agriculture said yesterday Americans should just buy their own chickens to lay their own eggs. Is he serious? This is the Agriculture Secretary? Americans should buy their own chickens to lay their own eggs? Whom are they kidding?

As a candidate, Donald Trump also said, ``Vote Trump and your incomes will soar. Your net worth will skyrocket.''

Now, to be fair, if you are a billionaire, he is telling you the truth. But if you are not rich, Donald Trump and Republicans' signature legislation is to cut Medicaid and Social Security and other programs by hundreds of billions of dollars in order to pay for tax breaks for the billionaires club.

Let's look at another claim by Donald Trump:

The next economic boom will begin the instant . . . Donald

J. Trump has won 4 more years.

That is his quote. He said:

The next economic boom will begin the instant . . . Donald

J. Trump has won 4 more years.

Well, let's look at what has actually happened. Last month, consumer confidence took its biggest nosedive in years. Retail sales dropped unexpectedly by 0.5 percent. Unemployment filings hit their highest levels since last fall. The S&P 500, one of Donald Trump's favorite measuring sticks, has erased all the gains this year, and now Donald Trump has started a trade war with our closest trading partners. That is not what an economic boom looks like.

This is economic anemia created by Donald Trump's own policies.

I could go on because there are so many people being hurt and such policies of foolishness. Donald Trump promised to take care of veterans. Yet DOGE tried to fire hundreds of critical staffers from the VA, including crisis hotline staff and funding for cancer treatments. Housing costs are up. Electricity bills are up.

If there is any golden age to be had under Donald Trump, it is a golden age for lawlessness; it is a golden age for billionaires and their club. It is not a golden age for Americans who work hard every day to live an honest life to make ends meet. But I doubt we will hear any of that from Donald Trump tonight.

Finally, I am proud to welcome seven New Yorkers to tonight's joint meeting of Congress. These New Yorkers are examples of some of the very people whom Donald Trump promised to help but whom he has left behind.

First, I am honored to welcome Emma Larson, a 12-year-old middle school student from Long Island with a rare genetic disease which has been treated thanks to NIH-funded research. Emma was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy as a 1-year-old. At the time, there was no cure. Her parents were anguished. But thanks to research at an NIH- funded lab in Cold Spring, NY, Emma received a breakthrough drug that changed SMA's prognosis.

Emma's story shows why NIH funding is lifesaving, and we should stand up against efforts to slash funding. Imagine slashing funding to NIH, which helps people like Emma live, so you can give a tax break to billionaires who are already doing very well, thank you.

I am also proud to welcome Alissa Ellman, a disabled Army veteran recently fired from the VA in Lockport, NY, in Western New York. Alissa served honorably in Afghanistan and was diagnosed with a rare cancer associated with toxic burn pit exposure.

Even while receiving treatment, she wanted to work; she wanted to serve her fellow veterans. She got a job at the Buffalo VA.

But guess what, last week, Alissa found herself locked out of her computer and later found out DOGE eliminated her position. This woman served in Afghanistan, got sick after serving our country, working in the Veterans Administration to help other veterans. All of a sudden--no word, no notice--locked out of her computer, and found that DOGE eliminated her position.

Is that the golden age? For whom? Alissa is 1 of 2,500 VA employees who were fired by DOGE, putting the care of our Nation's veterans at risk.

Tonight, I also welcome Tiffany Ramos from Rome, NY, who worked at the USDA office in Syracuse and was fired from her job helping rural farmers and businesses across Upstate New York. Tiffany is just one of many USDA employees fired with no notice despite years of service, leaving farmers across America wondering who is left to help.

It is amazing. These people worked hard. There was nothing against them. They didn't get a notice saying: You didn't do this, this, this; you can improve this way, this way, that way. They were just fired. It is cruel. It is heartless. It is nasty. It is lacking knowledge and fact-based, and it hurts America--in this case, our farmers.

I am also proud to welcome two Medicaid recipients, Jessica Martinez and Ana Medina Garcia. Jessica and Ana are both cancer survivors who depended on Medicaid to afford their medication and receive treatment.

And, finally, it is truly my honor to welcome Oran Neutra, mother of Omer Neutra, and Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen. As we all know now, Omer and Itay were tragically murdered by vicious Hamas thugs right on October 7, the day of the massacre, the day of the invasion of Israel.

In the case of Omer's family, it wasn't until a year later they learned he was murdered by Hamas on October 7--how cruel. Hamas let them worry. I met with them numerous times: Is our

son alive? Is he dead? Is he OK? Is he wounded? Viciousness of Hamas-- the viciousness.

As for Itay, he was taken hostage and tragically murdered by Hamas on the border of Gaza on October 7. After months of fighting for his return, Itay's family learned that he was also murdered that terrible day.

This is the depths of Hamas' cruelty. For months, they refused to even acknowledge that Omer and Itay had been murdered. They kept these families in anguish, in the dark. What a horrible feeling to wonder if your child is alive or dead. Hamas knowing it, dangled cruelly the possibility of maybe they are alive when they weren't.

The families wondered over and over again: Are our children alive? Are they dead? And, of course, tragically, their worst fears happened. What Omer and Itay's family have endured is beyond comprehension.

I am inspired by their perseverance, by their resolve to keep calling for the safe return of remaining hostages, even though their loved ones are gone, and for the return of the bodies of their loved ones, which is essential by Jewish law.

There is no time to waste. I will continue working for as long as it takes to finally bring every last hostage and the remains of the hostages no longer with us home to us. It is an honor to welcome all my guests to the Capitol.

I yield the floor.

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