Floor Statements

Mr. President, on DeepSeek, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 into orbit in 1957, it ignited a space race between the two world's greatest powers, and America won.

Yesterday, we faced a similar inflection point between China and the United States. This time, the prize is not like Sputnik landing on the Moon; the prize is something so important--artificial intelligence.

The recent news from DeepSeek is being called AI's Sputnik moment for America. DeepSeek unleashed something few could have imagined--an AI chatbot that runs more efficiently and was developed at much lower cost than U.S. AI chatbots. Within hours of DeepSeek's announcement, their AI chatbot was the No. 1 downloaded free app on Apple's app store.

DeepSeek's announcement makes it all but official: China is catching up with the United States on AI. It is a wake-up call that Congress desperately

needs. If America falls behind China on AI, we will fall behind everywhere--economically, militarily, scientifically, educationally, everywhere.

China's innovation with DeepSeek is jarring, but it is nothing compared to what will happen if China beats the United States on the ultimate goal of AGI--artificial general intelligence. We cannot, we must not allow that to happen.

This is precisely why I made AI a top priority in the last Congress, with American innovation as my North Star, and I will continue to do so. What we do now on AI--the actions we take, the ways and amounts we invest, the innovation we spur--will definitely define the next decade of this technology.

I hope our bipartisan efforts on AI, which made some progress last year, will continue in an even more robust way this year. I stand ready to work with Republicans--this should be bipartisan--to pass legislation and make the investments necessary for the United States to win.

Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Mr. President, on RFK, Jr., tomorrow, Robert F. Kennedy will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on his nomination to become the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. I cannot recall a nominee more dangerous to the health of Americans than Mr. Kennedy.

HHS is an Agency that depends on science, evidence, and impartiality to ensure the well-being of over 330 million Americans. They ensure we eat safe food, purchase reliable medications, oversee Medicare benefits, and improve the use of lifesaving vaccines.

Mr. Kennedy, however, is unprepared. His positions have shifted from month to month, moment to moment. He is neither a doctor, nor a scientist, nor a public health expert, nor a policy expert of any kind.

When I met with him, he would not answer many questions directly, saying he would defer to the President, who also is hardly a health expert.

In fact, Mr. Kennedy has made a living not by promoting public health but by actively fighting it. He is the face of the modern anti-vaccine movement, responsible for spreading fringe and outright false beliefs about vaccines.

Of course, tomorrow, we will hear a very different Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He will pretend as if he has now found religion on vaccines or that his words have been twisted unfairly or that he has never intended to say he is anti-vaccine. Nobody should believe this eleventh-hour conversion of Mr. Kennedy on vaccines. Instead, he should be held accountable for the misinformation he has spread for decades.

He must answer not only for spreading wild vaccine conspiracies but also for spreading many other outrageous claims over the years, from saying anti-depressants cause mass shootings to saying AIDS might not be caused by HIV and claiming COVID spared certain ethnic groups.

In fact, Mr. Kennedy should answer for the many conflicts of interest he holds with the anti-vaccine movement. According to his financial disclosures, he has made millions by recommending clients to law firms suing vaccine makers. In fact, this was the primary source of his income this past year.

A quote from the Wall Street editorial board--certainly no friend of Democrats'--said it best:

The risk is high that Mr. Kennedy will use his power and

pulpit at HHS to enrich his trial-lawyer friends at the

expense of public health and medical innovation.

That is not some liberal publication; that is the Wall Street Journal editorial board.

Donald Trump promised to bring a golden age to America on day one, but if Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, it will be a golden age for pseudoscience and possibly even self-dealing in our government.

Madam President, I have spent decades watching the International Criminal Court with a critical eye.

From the beginning, even when I was in Congress, I was certain that the ICC would display the same anti-Israel bias that permeated the U.N. and other international organizations. Unfortunately, I believe subsequent years have proven me correct.

While the ICC has undeniably done some good work, including going after President Putin and addressing atrocities in Darfur, their anti- Israel bias has taken over and become too much to ignore. Last May, 7 months after Hamas's horrific attack on Israel, the ICC made a shocking announcement. Instead of going after terrorist organizations who ordered the murder, rape, and abduction of innocent Israelis, the ICC's prosecutor chose to equate those ungodly actions with the justifiable response of the Israeli government.

I know that is hard to comprehend, so I will say it again. Last May, the ICC equated the Hamas terrorist organization with the Israeli government, betraying an anti-Israel bias that cannot be ignored; a bias that is deeply rooted, sinister, and which fuels the anti-Semitism resurging across the globe including here in America, the country I love. It is hard for me to comprehend even today.

And that false equivalence, I believe, is the reason we are here on the Senate floor considering an ICC sanctions bill. The ICC bill is one I largely support and would like to see become law. However, as much as I oppose the ICC's deep bias against Israel and as much as I want to see that institution drastically reformed and reshaped, the bill before us is poorly drafted and deeply problematic. It will have many unintended consequences that undermine its primary goal.

The bill, as drafted, would enable sanctions against American companies who have contracts to support the ICC's technology functions. These American companies do not make investigative or prosecutorial decisions. These American companies' employees do not recommend nor bring cases. These American companies do not demonstrate the same anti- Semitic bias that the ICC does.

But the work of those companies does defend the ICC's computer network against Russian hackers who would like to expose witnesses who have shared information about Russian atrocities. A small fix--a small fix--could have been made to protect the work of those companies, but the Republican majority refused to make such a fix.

The bill, as drafted, would also allow President Trump to arbitrarily sanction the heads of state of our allies. They all called and complained about that part because their countries are members of the

Let me thank Patty Murray for her leadership on this issue.

It is becoming clear--it has become clear already, but it is even clearer today--a pattern is emerging from Donald Trump's Presidency, a pattern of lawlessness. He has pardoned insurrectionists. He has fired many of the government's independent watchdogs. And today--or last night--he froze billions, perhaps trillions, of Federal grant funding to hospitals and fire fighters and seniors and Head Start. Under Donald Trump, it is already clear: It is a golden age--a golden age for lawlessness.

Today, Democrats will seek passage of a resolution that talks about one aspect of this lawlessness: We simply condemn pardoning rioters who attacked our Capitol Police officers on January 6.

My colleague Patty Murray, who has done such a great job on this, read the whole resolution. How the heck can anyone object to a resolution that says we should condemn pardoning those who assaulted police officers? Where is the law-and-order crowd? Where are the people who talked about defunding the police? How do you think every police officer feels when one of their brethren is assaulted and then they are pardoned, and their own Senators, who represent thousands and thousands of police officers each in their States, won't even stand up for their fellow officer?

I just hope our Republican colleagues don't block this resolution. All of us, every one of us--it doesn't matter if you are Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative--every one of us should be able to agree that people who attack police officers don't deserve Presidential pardons. If Republicans stand in the way of this resolution, what an awful message it sends to our own Capitol Police whom we see every day, who work so hard to keep us safe.

Let's be clear. The people who invaded the Capitol on January 6, whether engaged in violence or not, committed a very serious crime. I saw them. I was within 20, 30 feet of them. Now, because of fear of President Trump, the party on the other side says: Never mind.

One of the worst days in American history. There is no gray area here, particularly when it comes to people who attack police officers.

By handing out these pardons to convicted criminals, President Trump is effectively saying: You want to attack our brave police officers? That is OK.

Pardoning lawless rioters is not, not, not what Americans want the President to be prioritizing. They want to

see answers to problems that impact them: inflation, good-paying jobs, a better future. They sure as hell don't want to see OMB taking away monies that have been lawfully allocated that they desperately need in so many aspects of their lives.

Our Capitol Police deserve nothing less than our full and steadfast support for everything they do to keep us safe. The very least--the very least--we can do for them as Senators is to come together and declare that those convicted of attacking Capitol Police officers--we say clearly with one voice, let's hope--that these people do not--do not--deserve a pardon.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, first, I thank my friend from Rhode Island. He has been laser-like focused on corruption. Whether it is the Supreme Court, the executive branch, or anywhere else in the government, he has done a great job.

Mr. President, I just finished doing a little TV taping to the people of New York to tell them how evil, how horrible this plan that Trump has put into effect will be.

The plan will shut off billions of dollars, maybe trillions of dollars. For what? For things average working families need. They will be less safe because police will be cut and fire will be cut. Their kids will be less educated because schools will be cut. In places where there is a school tax, like Long Island and Westchester, it could make your taxes go up. They will be less safe because food inspectors who keep our food safe could be cut. It will go across the board. Housing will become more expensive. We desperately need housing. Everything. This is going to affect everything. The radius will expand and expand and expand of what Donald Trump can do.

Make no mistake about it, Project 2025 proposed slashing everything-- cut, cut, cut--all to give one thing: tax breaks to very wealthy people. This is Project 2025 by another name. It is the same stuff. They couldn't call it Project 2025 because when the public found out about that, they were outraged.

Well, make no mistake about this, President Trump. When the public finds out about this, they will be outraged.

I got on TV tonight and asked my constituents--particularly those in Republican House and Senate districts--to call their Congressmen and Senators and tell President Trump to drop this evil plan, which will hurt them so badly.

The fact that Mr. Vought will be head of OMB, which is the Agency that is in charge of all of this spending, is frightening. It is like putting the fox in the chicken house, and all the chickens, which are the average American taxpayers, are going to be susceptible to the sharp fangs of Mr. Vought.

By the way, speaking of chickens, here is another little reason-- there are so many. Right now, the price of eggs is through the roof-- $5, $6 a dozen. It was $2 a year ago. It was $4 in November. Why? Because there is something called bird flu that is killing off millions of chickens. When you have fewer chickens, you have fewer eggs--fewer hens, fewer eggs--and fewer eggs means prices go up.

But there is a program. We actually, when we were still in charge in November, put $300 million into the budget to help our farmers deal with bird flu, with avian flu. It helps them get the PPE they need. It helps them isolate the diseased chickens because you need to build different types of facilities. It helps them learn what to do. That could be cut. That could be cut, and the price of eggs will go up to $8 or $10.

All of these things have an effect in one way or another on average working people.

How about all the hundreds of thousands of workers who have now gotten jobs in clean energy? It is a great thing. For the first time-- good-paying jobs with a future for so many people could be gone out the window if this plan goes into effect.

Now, I know that a court has stayed this until Monday. America, don't be fooled.

Trump and his henchman Vought will keep at it and keep at it and keep at it until Project 2025 is implemented, even though they don't call it Project 2025. He will go to a different court, maybe in a very conservative, red district. They will do whatever they can to continue to squeeze the middle class, cut the things that the middle class needs, and then--and then--cut the taxes on the wealthiest people in America.

Any organization--we have heard--I have heard hospitals are worried in not providing the care that they need. Head Start is going to close. What do the parents do? The Agencies that deal with mental illness, they depend on government funding. So much--so much--is at stake.

In my State, we are getting thousands of calls: How is this going to affect us?

And even if the cut hasn't come through yet, people are worried. And they say: We better save money for a rainy day and cut back on this and cut back on that.

It has frightened people. Now, maybe that is what Trump likes doing: frightening average middle-class folks. But it is really a terrible thing to do.

Meals on Wheels--that is a hot meal every day for people who don't have food--in danger. Rural hospitals and community health--in danger. New York subway maintenance and mass transit throughout the country--in danger. Money for housing--in danger. Everything. Everything.

And so, Mr. President, we Senate Democrats are doing all we can to stop this--not just today, not just tomorrow, but in the long-range plan. But we are also urging Americans to call their Senators, call their Congressmen--particularly Republicans--and get them to tell President Trump to stop it--cut this out, cut out these cuts--because you are going to hurt us. The only people who will get hurt by this are average American middle-class families, and that is just about everybody.

I yield the floor, and I thank my colleague from Illinois for taking up the cudgels here.

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

Madam President, I want to open with a few words on the announcement from China by DeepSeek.

Today's announcement from China has been called AI's ``Sputnik moment'' for America. This announcement is precisely why I made AI a top priority in the last Congress and will continue to do so. Our competitors are going to use every single opportunity to overtake the United States' lead on the technologies of the future, particularly AI. And if Congress does not lead the way, we are going to fall behind.

So I hope our bipartisan efforts on AI, which made some progress last year, will continue and even in a more robust way this year.

Madam President, next, on the price of eggs, earlier today, I was in Upstate New York at two beloved family-owned diners, Alton's near Buffalo and Jines in Rochester, to call for an all-hands-on-deck approach to stop the spread of bird flu and prevent higher egg prices.

Far too many families across New York and across the country--far too many--have been shell-shocked by higher egg prices as more bird flu outbreaks continue to happen, but so far, it seems President Trump has not enunciated any plan to address the bird flu outbreak. He spent his first week pardoning insurrectionists and firing government watchdogs instead of focusing on things ordinary Americans care about, like the price of groceries.

The President owes the American people some answers. What is he going to do about the price of eggs that has been exacerbated by bird flu? When hundreds of thousands and even millions of chickens die, they lay fewer eggs, and when there are fewer eggs, the price goes up.

The problem is reaching crisis levels. In November, a dozen eggs cost approximately $4 in a grocery store in New York--already too high. It used to be $2 a year earlier. Now that same dozen eggs costs $6, and experts believe that the price of eggs could increase as much as 20 percent more this year if outbreaks continue, meaning that the same dozen eggs would be $8.

Every day, we hear about the spread of bird flu. Last week, farmers on Long Island had to slaughter 100,000 ducks--Long Island is one of the duck-producing capitals of the country--in response to another outbreak.

So, President Trump, what is your plan to stop the spread of bird flu?

The more bird flu spreads, the higher egg prices will go and the less money there will be in people's pockets for rent and gas and other expenses. We need some action.

Now, luckily, we have some resources available. Last year, I helped secure over $300 million in Federal funding ahead of the new administration to keep the government laser-focused on ending the bird flu crisis. Should the $300 million prove insufficient, I will keep working in a bipartisan way to push for more Federal resources in the upcoming budget negotiation.

One thing is certain: We have a lot of budget cutters out there, none with a sharper ax than Russell Vought. The Trump administration and Mr. Vought should not try to impound these congressionally approved funds, because we know Mr. Vought wants to impound in many, many places and not spend money where it is needed.

This is a small but classic example of how the Federal Government's action, not inaction, can get your prices lower. Real action--spending the $300 million we put in the budget in December and more funds if needed--can reduce bird flu. The Department of Agriculture knows how do it. It can help farmers reduce the bird flu in their flocks and get our prices of eggs back down again.

Let's get to work. The money is there and ready to be used. We need the Federal Government to work overtime with experts in the coming months to keep the outbreak in check and keep grocery prices in check for families.

Madam President, on the IGs, last Friday, while most Americans were asleep, President Trump conducted a midnight massacre of many of the Federal Government's nonpartisan, independent watchdogs. The President did not notify the Congress of his decision as is required by law. The President did not offer any substantive explanation for these firings. Instead, the President simply said these positions were ``terminated-- effective immediately.''

This is a chilling, potentially unlawful decision by the President. It is a reminder that if there is anything President Trump fears most, it is accountability. He likes to talk about one thing and then another and then doesn't like to be held accountable. When people stand up to President Trump, when people present him with facts and evidence that he doesn't like, his solution is to fire them and replace them with loyalists. I fear that this is what will happen here.

Purging the government of its independent watchdogs begs an obvious question: What is the President trying to hide? What does the President not want the American people to see? Does the President want to avoid accountability for the impoundment of congressionally approved funding? Does he

want to hold up foreign aid as blackmail without getting caught? Does he want to eliminate the scrutiny of improper government contracts? An independent inspector general could prevent many of these abuses.

An inspector general's job can be boiled down to two words: ``transparency'' and ``accountability.'' That is what President Trump is apparently afraid of, but it is something most Americans want to have in their government.

Madam President, for all the talk President Trump does about standing up for law and order, he spent the first few days in office doing the opposite--pardoning lawless rioters who invaded the Capitol and attacked police officers on January 6.

Today, I am joining all 47 of my Senate Democratic colleagues in introducing a resolution condemning the pardoning of individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police Officers on January 6. Senator Murray will seek the passage of this resolution this week. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us in condemning these pardons. Many of them saw the violence of January 6 firsthand. I did. This should be an easy resolution to pass.

By handing out these pardons to convicted criminals, President Trump is effectively saying: If you want to attack our brave police officers, that is OK. You are exonerated.

The President is saying: Do you want to try to thwart our democracy? Fine by me.

The President is saying: Do you want to break the law and engage in political violence? Be my guest.

One individual who received a pardon--listen to this--one individual who received a pardon was convicted of seditious conspiracy. A few days after the attack, he said:

[His] only regret is that they should have brought rifles.

That man is being pardoned. What a disgrace.

To repeat:

[His] only regret is that they should have brought rifles.

And President Trump pardoned him. Who could believe that? Who could believe that in America, that would happen? A few years back, no one would have even imagined. That is in some ways how our country has deteriorated, with President Trump doing what he is doing.

The people who invaded the Capitol on January 6, whether they engaged in violence or not, committed a very serious crime. There is no gray area here, especially not when it comes to people who attack police officers. The pardons must be condemned by the Senate, and Democrats will try to do that through our resolution this week.

Madam President, on nominations, this week, three of the President's most controversial nominees will testify before Senate committees--Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert Kennedy, Jr. All three nominees have deeply troubling backgrounds and equally troubling views. If Pete Hegseth's nomination process was any indication, these controversial nominees can expect to face immense scrutiny from both sides of the aisle and from the American people.

Americans deserve to know: Will the Trump administration strengthen our health and security or strengthen big drug companies and pseudoscience? Mr. Kennedy's hearing will give us answers.

Also, we have to know from Mr. Kennedy: Does he want to eliminate lifesaving vaccines that have saved the lives and health of so many--so many--millions of children in the United States and around the globe?

Americans also deserve to know: Will the FBI focus on public safety and the rule of law or focus on Donald Trump's personal grievances? Mr. Patel, in his hearing, will give us answers.

Americans need to know: Will the Trump administration protect us from foreign adversaries and deal in truth and facts when it comes to classified intelligence--if there were ever a need for a fact-based Agency, it is the intelligence Agencies which gather information to keep us safe--or will these Agencies be turned to give shelter to conspiracy and misinformation in our intelligence? Ms. Gabbard's hearing will give us some very important answers here.

The people entrusted to oversee matters of public health and law enforcement and classified intelligence should be beyond reproach. Their qualifications should not be in doubt. But President Trump seems to have chosen three deeply unqualified, deeply untrustworthy individuals to these positions. Like Mr. Hegseth, it is hard to imagine that they are the best for the job or even close to it.

Mr. President, last night, Senate Republicans entrusted the most powerful military in the world to someone with no experience, terrible judgment, and serious flaws of character. This is a deeply troubling moment.

Our troops deserve so much better than Pete Hegseth. Our country deserves so much better than Pete Hegseth. His flaws were obvious to both sides from the start. Given the deeply concerning information we know about Pete Hegseth and the immense importance of the job he now has, I hope--I hope--for the sake of our troops and the good of our country that he can eventually grow into the job.

Senate Democrats will insist on vigorous oversight of the Defense Department.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote on the nomination of Kristi Noem. I am voting no today.

There are obvious and bipartisan solutions to fix the mess at our border and to greatly improve our immigration system. Those solutions include the bipartisan border security bill we introduced last year with Senators Lankford, Murphy, and Sinema; and, even better, a comprehensive reform package along the lines of the bipartisan compromise of the Gang of 8 from 2013. These are real solutions that would solve our immigration problem, and Kristi Noem seems headed in the wrong direction.

I will vote no.

Mr. President, yesterday in the dark of night, President Trump fired at least 12 independent inspectors general at important Federal Agencies across the administration. This is a chilling purge, and it is a preview of the lawless approach Donald Trump and his administration are taking far too often as he is becoming President. These dismissals are possibly in violation of Federal law, which requires Congress to have 30 days' notice of any intent to fire inspectors general.

These firings are Donald Trump's way of telling us he is terrified of accountability and is hostile to facts and to transparency. Inspectors general can be vital for keeping the government honest. They are the ones who tell the truth and shed light on bad behavior, and we all know that there is nothing Donald Trump is more afraid of than someone who is independent. But President Trump, all too often, has an aversion to the truth, and when someone confronts him with truth and facts, he fires them and replaces them with loyalists.

We are a fact-based society--or we have been. If we lose that, we lose the core of America. And Donald Trump's decision to fire 12 of the Federal Government's independent watchdogs is a glaring sign that it is a golden age for abuse in government and even corruption.

When Government Agencies disobey the law in the next year and there is no independent IG to keep them in check, Donald Trump could well regret this action.

Mr. President, now, on Project 2025, does anyone here remember when Donald Trump claimed he had nothing to do with Project 2025? Remember, last year, Donald Trump seemed to go out of his way to distance himself from the wildly unpopular Project 2025? Now, 1 week into Donald Trump's Presidency, that has all gone out the rightwing window.

Under Donald Trump, it is the dawn of a golden age for Project 2025, and this should infuriate working people from one end of America to the other.

Here is a Bloomberg news headline from yesterday:

``Trump's Early Actions Mirror Project 2025 Plan He Once

Dismissed.''

In fact, according to Bloomberg, more than 30 of the 47 initial Executive actions announced by the administration come directly-- directly--from Project 2025.

Let me repeat: More than 30 of the 47 Executive actions announced by the administration come directly from Project 2025. Project 2025 is officially Donald Trump's policy playbook.

Less than a week into his term, President Trump has gone after Medicare savings for drug costs and the cap on out-of-pocket spending for medications.

Where do you find those ideas? Well, they are right out of the 2025 playbook.

President Trump also signed Executive orders that would eliminate good-paying jobs in clean energy and opened the floodgates for big oil companies. Where do you find that? The Project 2025 playbook.

And even though President Trump said he wanted to leave reproductive care to the States, his actions tell us he was not telling us the truth. He pushed policies barring doctors from sharing information with patients about healthcare, including abortion, and is pushing anti- choice beliefs into the doctor-patient relationship here in the United States and across the globe.

So when Donald Trump threatens to roll back cost savings for prescription drugs or threatens jobs, he is making life easier for the big corporations and more expensive for average people. And where do these ideas come from? These and many, many more come from the 900 or so pages of Project 2025.

So no matter how much Donald Trump tries to convince people he had nothing to do with Project 2025, the truth has now come out. Project 2025 is the Trump agenda, and, unfortunately, it seems very likely we are going to see more of these awful proposals, in the weeks to come, from Project 2025, right into the Trump administration.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley), the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla), the Senator from Michigan (Mr. Peters), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock), and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Wyden) are necessarily absent.