Floor Statements

The CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation is one Peter Marocco, known to all of us, who watched how DOGE came in and tore up most of our foreign assistance organizations.

Yes, an individual pled guilty today to a $12,000 bribe. No, that is not the reason to shut down abruptly and end the process that has gone on since 1980, by which this organization--which has long enjoyed bipartisan support--makes grants at a very modest level to dozens of African organizations and countries using matching funds from private donors and other countries.

The SFOPS bill, of which this is a part, already addresses concerns about the ongoing investigation. This organization, which I have visited in the field over the last decade, has a long and strong record of delivering results. This one event today being misrepresented by this entity leader, who is a DOGE individual who has locked out all of the employees of this foundation and prevented it from functioning, should not lead to its closure.

Motion to Table

I move that it be tabled, that this amendment, Lee No. 4286, be tabled.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, when we began this year's appropriations process, the task before us seemed almost impossible. It has been many, many years since we have completed the full appropriations process, and there were lots of challenges in a divided nation and a divided Congress.

I just wanted to briefly, this evening, as we conclude this process in the Senate, take a moment and thank the chair and vice chair of the full Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins and Senator Murray. They and their staff made the impossible real.

The bills that just passed through this body and headed now to the House will save lives and change them--will fund hundreds of billions of dollars of positive and valuable activity on behalf of the people of the United States.

The subcommittee for which I am responsible in this Congress as the ranking member is the appropriations for the Department of Defense and for Intelligence Communities. The chair is Senator McConnell. I have truly enjoyed working with Senator McConnell on the very complex, challenging, and urgent issues related to our national defense, to our intelligence community, and to the future of our Nation.

Senators, as we all know, don't do anything on their own, even on our best days. So I wanted to take a moment and thank all of the staff and the clerks who worked tirelessly, who stayed up for weeks on end, who dealt with ridiculous crises deadlines, who negotiated and renegotiated in good faith across the aisle to achieve this result.

I want to thank in particular the folks who make the SAC-D subcommittee work--of course, principally, Rob Leonard, my clerk, and Rob Karem, who is the clerk for Senator McConnell; but in addition: Gabriella Armonda, Dylan Byrd, Rachel DaPieve, Laura Forrest, Abigail Grace, Megan Handal, Cole Hodge, Brigid Kolish, Alexa Lorick, Ryan Pettit, Todd Phillips, Kathryn Plunkett, Kim Segura, Tom Shaffer, and Elise Stebick.

If I missed anyone, count it as my fault, not the staff who helped me assemble that list and the following.

I just wanted to also thank a number of the clerks of the subcommittees with whom I worked: Evan Schatz, of course, who is Senator Murray's chief clerk; John Righter; Jo Eckert; Jen Becker; Alex Carnes, whom I am particularly thankful to for his Johnny-on-the-spot assistance all times, including on this evening's vote; and Mike Gentile.

There is more work to do. The next 2 weeks will require us to listen to each other, to work hard, and to hammer out more accountability and transparency for the Department of Homeland Security to help make sure that we meet this moment.

But at the end of the day, as someone who is proud to be an appropriator and to have the opportunity to deliver more than $150 million for my little State of Delaware, across dozens and dozens of targeted appropriations, and then, more broadly, through all of these different subcommittees, to help fund critically needed investments in medical research, in university research, in the volunteer fire service, in law enforcement, in education, in infrastructure, it is important that this body do its principal job.

The power of the purse is something that--going back to old England-- we fought for hundreds of years to wrest away from Kings. When we began this process, it was not at all clear to me that this article I body would succeed in exercising the power of the purse, but today, we have. And for that, I am grateful.

More than anything else, I am grateful to the incredible and talented staff who have made this easy by their hard work.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay my respects and to honor the memory of an incredible Delawarean and a genuine hero.

``I am anxious,'' he wrote, ``to begin a life of service and commitment to making Delaware a safer place''--a safer place ``to live, [to] work, [to] visit, and raise a family.''

Delaware State Police Corporal Ty Snook wrote those words before he left the police academy, and it laid out his hope, his vision for service.

I am anxious to begin a life of service and commitment to

making Delaware a safer place to live, work, and raise a

family.

Delaware State Police Corporal Grade One Ty Snook wrote those words as a cadet late in his time in the police academy, and it laid out his vision for the life he lived committed to protecting and serving the people of my home State.

Two days before Christmas, Corporal Snook volunteered to work an extra shift at the DMV. He was working to make some extra money for his wife and young daughter, and he was volunteering to protect people so that they could make it home to their families in the rush before Christmas. He never made it home to his. A gunman walked into the DMV and, from a blind angle, shot and killed Corporal Snook--his last act, pushing a DMV employee behind him, shielding their life with his own.

What makes a hero? Someone whose instinct is protection. Someone whose service is about loving others, even when faced with mortal pain and fear. Corporal Snook's family and friends knew a hero, but his last actions were not all that he was. He was a father to Letty, a husband to Lauren, a big brother to his brother Josh, a big brother to his sister Kassi, a son to Matthew and Karen, a friend to so many.

He was a person with a big heart and a big personality who was always the center of attention and fun but who dedicated his time to celebrating the successes of others and mentoring others. A standout athlete, he was a Delaware wrestling champion. At Saint Mark's, he improved and improved and improved in his wrestling and then went to the University of Maryland on a wrestling scholarship, a D1 school, a great program.

He knew how to make everyone feel at ease and to laugh, how to help others by showing them the way. He stood out for his mentorship of others, celebrating his teammates' victories and successes and improvement as much as his own.

His sister Kassi said: Ty always did the right thing.

And his brother Josh said: All I ever wanted was to be more like him.

His brother Josh also serves in the Delaware State Police.

Corporal Snook is from a remarkable family, a family driven by service and

love and courage, and they are today suffering through pain no one should know or endure. But they are so like every other law enforcement family in our Nation, for when a member of law enforcement puts on their badge and their gun and goes out to serve, the heart of those who love them goes with them. Their children, their spouse, their parents, they wait anxiously to hear that they have returned home safe at the end of the shift.

Corporal Snook also saw and built strength in his second families: brothers and sisters in the Delaware State Police. He was an FTO. He was a field training officer for 20 State troopers, a remarkable number. Because he was such a good mentor, he was committed to the next generation of our State's troopers.

In our State of neighbors, a loss of one is a loss to all. But at his funeral service, his memorial at the University of Delaware, there must have been a thousand people present--law enforcement officers from every State in our country, hundreds and hundreds from all of our major agencies, in our State, in our region, and hundreds of us honored just to be in the room from our community.

In what was a powerful and moving service, nothing struck home as much as the powerful words of Lauren, his widow. Lauren said:

God does not waste suffering.

And she had one ask of all of us who heard her words:

Tell the people you love that you love them. Say the words.

Make the call. Leave the voicemail. Because you never know

when it will be your last chance to say that.

Lauren's words were incredible and powerful. Anyone seeking to hear the strength and the heart and the conviction of the law enforcement community--and in particular spouses--should go and watch Lauren's words. They were incredible.

Lauren, your words found a home in my heart and in the hearts of all who heard them, and I wanted to just bring Ty's memory--Corporal Snook's memory--to this floor of this Senate and to reference your incredible service and sacrifice and remarks today so that your love, your determination to support and remember and celebrate your hero could travel further, could touch the lives of more who need and deserve to hear about you, about Ty, about your family.

Senator Blunt Rochester and I have introduced a resolution in the Senate honoring Corporal Snook's life and bravery so that we can do our small part to ensure his legacy remains and travels further.

To Corporal Snook: I want to come back to those words you wrote so many years ago as a cadet, and I hope you know that you succeeded, that you fulfilled your mission and your dream, that you made Delaware safer, that you served with honor, that our State was blessed to have you for the time we did. Better to live your life as a hero, better to live your life honorably, better to live your life loving and being loved by others than to live a long and peaceful life that amounts to little.

I want to leave you with some words from the Gospel according to John, the 14th Chapter, 27th verse:

Peace. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do

not give to you as the world gives you. Do not let your

hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.

I am so grateful for the service and sacrifice of Corporal Ty Snook of the Delaware State Police--a peacemaker, a hero, someone who deserves to be a legend in our national law enforcement community.

May the God of love welcome you into His arms.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to speak briefly in gratitude today.

Yesterday, Dover Air Force Base once again had the honor of receiving the remains of three Americans who died in service to our Nation: SGT Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, of Des Moines, and SGT William Nathaniel Howard, of Marshalltown--both Iowans, both servicing in the Iowa National Guard--and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a resident of Michigan, originally an Iraqi, who served alongside American troops for 4 years during the war in Iraq and who has become a nationalized American citizen. All three were killed in a tragic incident in Syria. All three served bravely. And all three were welcomed home with the dignity and respect that all who serve our Nation and fall in service to our Nation deserve.

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

Mr. President, today is the anniversary of the election of President Trump in 2024, and, today, the shutdown of our Federal Government is officially the longest it has ever been--36 days--because we can't come to agreement between our parties and our Chambers. In fact, the House isn't even at work and hasn't been for weeks because Republicans won't work with us to ensure access to healthcare.

We are in a dangerous and unsettled place here at home, but we are also in a dangerous and unsettled place abroad and around the world. My role in appropriations in this Congress is as the senior Democrat on the subcommittee that funds all of our defense and intelligence. Given that role, wherein I have worked with Senator McConnell, the chairman, to write the bill that we should be moving forward that would fully fund the security apparatus of the United States, I wanted to come to the floor for a few minutes today and talk with my colleagues and our Nation about what it is that actually keeps us safe at home and abroad.

For my entire life, we have relied upon the U.S. military. We will soon celebrate Veterans Day next week, and all of us should thank those who have served or who are serving. We have relied on them to be something that we often take for granted--nonpartisan, nonpolitical, an all-volunteer, professional, career military. For that to be sustained--for the folks to continue to step forward, to raise their right hand, and to swear to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic--we need a nation that supports our warfighters; for it is our warfighters who answer the call to serve and to defend no matter what party is in charge, to respect and obey the chain of command and to execute all lawful orders.

I think we rely on the best equipped, the best trained, and the most professional military in the world and, in partnership with them, a global network of alliances. We are the envy of the world not only because of our weapons--the most advanced and sophisticated weapons systems--but because we have the best trained, the best respected, and the most supported military in the world. That additional factor is something stronger than envy, which is respect.

I have traveled over my 15 years here on the Foreign Relations Committee to dozens of countries on literally every continent and have seen directly the respect that other armed forces around the world have for our military--for its civilian control, its professionalization, its training, and equipment.

I grew up in the shadow of the Vietnam war. It was raging as I was a young man. I still remember being in elementary school, with classmates who had older brothers in combat. I still remember, as Saigon fell, when I was in middle school, and as the POWs, including our former colleague, John McCain, were released from years of imprisonment, being shocked at the way some returning veterans were treated--disrespected-- and at how there had been a real loss of a sense of respect and appreciation for those who served.

Over the years, our Armed Forces have earned their way back to a place of deep and broad respect in the hearts of the American people. Over the years that I served as county executive, I went to ceremony after ceremony as units of the Delaware National Guard deployed over and over, and then, often--9 months or a year later--as we would welcome them home at wonderful homecoming celebrations, I saw deep and broad support and respect for the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States.

Tragically, I have also had the opportunity, along the flight line of Dover Air Force Base, to welcome home America's fallen, to get to know the families grieving over their loss, and, this year, to be joined by Members of the House and Senate as we have welcomed home our fallen heroes who died serving us overseas. The difference in tenor, in respect, in affection for the men and women of our Armed Forces over the arc of my lifetime--from the 1970s during the Vietnam war to today--has been striking.

Today, as I rise to speak on the 1-year anniversary of President Trump's election, I just wanted to look back and reflect on how, in that year, he and Secretary Hegseth have set us on a course that risks losing again all of that accumulated good will, all of that respect. I want to talk about how they have weakened our alliances, politicized our military, dulled down our military readiness, and brought us closer to needless, even dangerous, wars of choice--all of that leaving us weaker and less safe as we confront the most dangerous world since the end of the Cold War.

President Trump is a master of distraction. So you don't ever have time to step back and look at the bigger pattern. It is amazing how many times a day the topics change. Are we talking about the tearing down of the East Wing or the planning of a new ballroom or the renewed threat to invade a country in Africa--apparently, Nigeria, this week? It is a constant, unending smorgasbord of tweets and greatest hits designed to prevent us, with its blizzard, from ever seeing any pattern. One year after his election, I wanted to take a few minutes and show that pattern to you today.

In his first 10 months as President of the United States, President Trump has fired or pushed out more than 15 of our most senior admirals and generals, starting with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Chief of Naval Operations--fired because they were somehow considered DEI hires or too woke, which is something I find to be utterly without foundation in their service or in the opinions of others who served with them in the Armed Forces.

He hijacked the 250th anniversary parade to celebrate the history of the U.S. Army and turned it into a birthday parade for himself.

More recently, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth gathered all of our most senior military leaders from around the world for a speech here near Washington, at Quantico, which was a massive national security risk, just so they could give political speeches about grooming and about using the military against the enemy within--pulling these decorated and seasoned men and women from core jobs, literally around the world, of protecting America against our adversaries on the frontlines, to be props for a highly political speech.

In unprecedented decisions in modern times, the President has federalized the National Guards from California, from Illinois, and from Oregon over the objections of Governors and has deployed them into cities over the objections of mayors who say: We can deal with the challenges of crime. If you want to send us Federal resources, we would welcome your sending us additional Federal law enforcement, like the ATF and the FBI.

This administration also mobilized the Marines to go into Los Angeles. All of this takes away our military from

their central missions and training for partisan political ends.

This brings us to a second key pillar of our national security--the best trained and equipped military in the world.

Secretary Hegseth, at the beginning of this year, supported a full- year continuing resolution for the Department of Defense for the first time ever. Senator McConnell and I, as the chair and ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, were struck at how much harm that does. We are on the verge of doing it again for a terrible second year.

Ask any senior military leader. It makes it impossible to plan, and nothing requires more stable, certain long-term funding than designing and building the next generation of fighter aircraft, building and deploying nuclear-powered submarines, recruiting and training the world's best military and then equipping them with things on land, air, and sea that make them the most lethal Armed Forces on Earth. We can't do that if Secretary Hegseth continues to support full-year continuing resolutions.

It is also important that our warfighters be respected because they know they have the support engagement of the American people on difficult and dangerous missions--something that is lacking when they refuse to fully brief, support, and engage the Senate of the United States--a challenge that is happening right now.

We need a plan, we need preparation, and we need clarity to Congress about what is going on in the Caribbean and what preparations are being made with regard to Venezuela.

I have no objection to the idea that we need to work together to strengthen the interdiction of drugs coming to the United States, but this body, given the Constitution and our role, deserves to be consulted and included so that we can build consensus, common agreement, to support a plan of action so that our warfighters, the men and women of our Armed Forces, know we have their backs. That is the best way to send them into harm's way.

All of this is built on another of President Trump's broken promises. He ran on lowering costs, making America healthy again, and avoiding new foreign wars. On the campaign trail, I often heard that was one of his most popular promises.

Since then, the threats to start new wars with friends and allies and foes alike have been dizzying--Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Panama, Colombia, and Nigeria. Our President tosses these things off casually, but in a meeting I had earlier in his term with leaders from Denmark and Greenland, they were alarmed, frightened, and concerned about how a trusted NATO ally could threaten to seize Greenland--a seemingly casual remark that was then reinforced and repeated over and over.

I am worried that we are now sleepwalking into a war with Venezuela and an effort to overthrow Maduro, all while leaving the People's Republic of China free rein to run roughshod over the Indo-Pacific, while they massively increase the scope and scale of their aggression.

Let's be clear. There is no love lost between me and Maduro--a brutal dictator--but we should have clarity about how and why we might use our Armed Forces.

Last, a key pillar to our security for the last eight decades, since the end of the Second World War, has been a remarkable global network of powerful alliances. I have long said that one of our key advantages over the People's Republic of China is our network of trusted and deep alliances.

China has nervous neighbors and client states. President Trump is putting all of that at risk. Our adversaries are increasingly aligning. Russians are using Iranian drones, North Korean soldiers, and Chinese technology and funding to help carry out their brutal war of aggression in Ukraine. Meanwhile, our alliances are fraying.

As I mentioned, the President threatened to invade NATO allies like Canada and Denmark and kicked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of the Oval Office but rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin; held up crucial arms deliveries and sales to nations that rely on us for their security--from Ukraine to Taiwan; and put at risk our commitment to article 5 and to collective security that have been at the heart of NATO since its founding.

The tariff deals our President has imposed on some of our closest and most trusted allies--allies that have free-trade agreements with us, like South Korea--have put them profoundly on the back foot as they look and wonder whether they can count on our security agreements.

All of this means that over the past year, President Trump has steadily hacked away at the pillars of our military that protect our Nation, making it less stable, making it more likely that the trust and confidence the American people have in our warfighters will crumble.

This is a critical and concerning, even alarming picture from which he is trying to distract us.

The Nation we had a year ago was strong, secure, and moving in a positive direction. Today, I am gravely concerned about the constant distraction and the threats and moves against our allies, our partners, and the ways in which we have undermined our warfighters.

So what should we do from here? Pass our bipartisan appropriations bills. Put on this floor, pass, and get to the President the Defense appropriations bill that I have worked so hard on this year and all the other appropriations bills and move us out of this cycle of rescissions, reconciliation, and continuing resolutions and back to reliable, steady, bipartisan support. Strengthen our alliances. Reassure our nervous partners. End this recklessness with tariffs that is an on again-off again regime where these taxes, these tariffs, add to Americans' bottom line in a disastrous way and destabilize trust and confidence from our partners and refocus on training and preparing for real wars, not culture wars. This is how we keep our Nation safe.

Just a few days ago, I was up in my father's hometown of Boston and drove through Lexington and Concord, where 250 years ago this year, our forefathers took up arms against the Crown and began what was a long- shot fight, a revolution for liberty and independence for our Nation. We have to remember all who have taken up arms and served our Nation.

I am from a family of veterans. My brother, my sister-in-law, my father, my uncles, my great-great-grandfather, and back to the Revolution, members of my family have stepped forward and served.

For all who have done the same, who have signed on the dotted line, up to and including their lives, committed their willingness to sacrifice, we owe them nothing less than the full measure of devotion that says we will support them. That support requires engagement and trust from this body, engagement and trust with our allies, and the support that our service men and women deserve.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I would like to commemorate the visit to the United States of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the second-largest Christian Church in the world which boasts 300 million faithful. The Ecumenical Patriarch is also the spiritual leader of more than 4,000 Delawareans who are Greek Orthodox Christians. Delaware's Greek community has a long and vibrant history, and it is an honor to mark the Ecumenical Patriarch's visit.

During his visit to the United States, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the Templeton Prize: a recognition of someone who has dedicated themselves to affirming the spiritual dimension of life. The Ecumenical Patriarch received this award for his remarkable leadership working to foster an ``ecumenical imperative'' to care for creation, in which he has brought together religious, scientific, and world leaders to advocate for greater care for our planet. The Ecumenical Patriarch joins a long list of powerful advocates for change who have received this award, including my good friend Jane Goodall. The Ecumenical Patriarch's receipt of the Templeton Award builds on his previous accolades, including his receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal: the highest award that Congress has to offer.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's commitment to fostering dialogue for the betterment of the world is admirable and an example that we should all seek to follow. His All-Holiness is a tremendous leader in the world and for many in our country, and I look forward to continuing to support his efforts to strive for peace on earth over the years to come.

Mr. President, I am grateful to my colleagues who have spoken this evening about the critical answer we should be giving to the question: Who is my neighbor?

I know of no faith that teaches that we should take food away from hungry children, from the seniors and the disabled and the veterans in our communities, so that we can hurt our political opponent. But, sadly, that is what our President is doing.

My foundational faith rests in the Gospels. One of the best known parables told by Jesus is the ``Parable of the Good Samaritan.'' And lots of folks know the ``Parable of the Good Samaritan'' but maybe don't know exactly what it teaches. So let me just take a moment.

Jesus is asked: What are the most important parts of the law?

And he says: Recite what the law teaches.

He is asked: What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?

And he says: What does the law teach?

``Love the lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind'' is the answer, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus says: You read correctly.

Then, being a lawyer--I always love that part--seeking to justify himself, the questioner asks the next question: But who is my neighbor?

And Jesus tells one of the most radical, challenging, and disruptive of his parables. You have to think about it in the context in which it was given. Some of the most respected people in the society he was from are exemplars, characters in this parable.

A man is going down the road and is set upon by robbers and is beaten and injured and lying on the side of the road. And a priest--one of the most respected religious leaders in ancient Israel--a priest is walking down the road and turns and passes on the other side.

And then a Levite--part of a tribe of Israel that was known for their holiness and for their descent from the priestly class--he also walks by on the other side.

And it is a Samaritan--a member of a community, a tribe, a faith that was considered abhorrent to the ancient Israelites--who stops, who puts the wounded man on his donkey, who cares for him, who takes him to an inn, who treats his wounds and leaves money, and says to the inn keeper: I will come back and pay you whatever is required for his care.

And then Jesus says: Who was acting like a neighbor?

To which the lawyer properly says: The one who had mercy on him, on the victim.

Righteousness requires us to view and treat as neighbor those who are on the margins of life. It was Senator Hubert Humphrey, I believe, who said: The true test of a nation is how it treats those at the dawn of life--its children, those in the shadows of life, the disabled and infirm, and those in the twilight of life, the seniors.

And yet President Trump, today, in defiance of two Federal court orders, has been saying that he will refuse to distribute SNAP benefits promptly and fully.

I believe, last night, in a Truth Social post he said, ``SNAP benefits''--and I am skipping the attacks on his predecessor, ``will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government'' and not before.

The larger point is that SNAP, which is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which feeds millions of hungry Americans, is being used as a weapon, as a tool in this moment to try and leverage the hunger of millions, to put pressure on us, as a Senate, to reopen.

It is shocking that President Trump would say out loud his intention to defy court orders and to use whether or not to feed hungry children as leverage.

In my home State of Delaware, where I have heard from the head of our food bank, from the heads of lots of local organizations that care for and support seniors and children and veterans, 11 percent of our State is on SNAP--48,000 children and 4,700 veterans. Nationwide, 20 percent of all of our children are on SNAP.

It is critical to the health and safety and development of children so that they can hear the teaching in the classroom over the grumbling of their bellies.

The Food Bank of Delaware shared with me the story of a young mother whose doctor had said she had to stop working because her pregnancy was so far along and, as a result, had to leave her work at a chicken processing plant and, today, desperately needs SNAP, these benefits, to feed her four children.

What answer does President Trump and my colleagues give to the question: Who is my neighbor? On whom will they show mercy?

The answer apparently is not America's children, not veterans, not working parents, not seniors and people with disabilities.

In my home State, I am grateful for a Governor and leaders in our general assembly who have stepped in to fill the breach and to provide these SNAP benefits temporarily. But they cannot do so for long.

I believe, in the richest country on Earth, it is a shame--it is a horror--for our children, our seniors, our disabled citizens, our veterans who rely on this program to go hungry just so we can continue fighting in this Chamber. It is long past time for my colleagues and our President to answer the question ``Who is my neighbor?'' in a way that includes all Americans and does not cut them off from this vital and needed support.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I have a brief question for this body before I proceed to my motion: What is it that keeps our Nation secure? It is millions of Armed Forces, Active-Duty Reserves, National Guard, civilians supporting them, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, the intelligence Agencies; they are keeping us safe now, like all Federal employees, not knowing when they will get another paycheck.

Our military is less than 1 percent of our Nation. That is how many people sign on the dotted line up to and including their lives to keep us safe. They put their lives on the line to secure liberty and security, and I am grateful to the thousands serving today at Dover Air Force Base, the Delaware National Guard, and throughout our Armed Forces.

They and their families deserve the same devotion to them that they are providing to us.

I come from a military family. My father, brother, sister-in-law, uncles all served in the Army, and my father long said he first really understood what it means to be an American when he was responsible for others and others' lives when deployed.

Taking care of them is our sacred obligation. So while we keep fighting for better healthcare, more affordable healthcare for all Americans, my bill will pay our Armed Forces now.

It will pay Active-Duty, Reserves, National Guard, Coast Guard, civilians at the Pentagon, and intelligence Agencies, and give those who keep us safe, often at great sacrifice, a small piece of security in return.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3079 introduced earlier today; that the bill be considered read three times and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I want to convey my thanks, my gratitude to the chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, my colleague and friend from Kentucky. We and our staffs have had a genuinely constructive and positive process in appropriations this year.

Frankly, overall, the Senate Appropriations Committee has worked well. We have passed out of committee a significant number of major bills by big bipartisan margins--26 to 3 in the case of our bill and the Labor, Health and Human Services bill. But there is a stark contrast between the real progress we are making on appropriations and the lack of progress on addressing the core issue of can Americans afford their healthcare.

Of course, I want to move ahead and appropriate, as my colleague from Kentucky has indicated. Of course, we need to do our job and appropriate, for this body to carry out and to continue its core article I responsibility. But part of what has got us to this moment is a vote earlier this year on the Big Beautiful Bill in July to destroy healthcare for millions of Americans.

We need to find a path forward toward ensuring that millions of Americans do not lose insurance through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, something that will raise insurance costs for everyone and that will increase ER wait times in my State and in every other.

This Saturday, 20 million Americans will see how much their premiums go up. And if the calls that come into my colleagues are anything like the calls I am getting, there will be then an accelerated motion toward resolving this issue and moving forward with appropriations.

I will close by just citing one conversation I had yesterday.

I spoke with a small business owner from Delaware. Her name is Jan. She is a stage IV cancer survivor. She is a small business owner.

She told me yesterday that, without the Affordable Care Act, she would have died 10 years ago because insurance would have dropped her. And if her rates double, she will need to close her business of 30 years.

This is one of many stories of entrepreneurs and families, of veterans, of servicemembers, of constituents that have reached out to me.

There is an urgency about reopening the government--yes, I agree--and an urgency about finding a path forward on healthcare. We should be negotiating both now.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to address the moment that we are in here in the U.S. Senate. We are about to proceed to a vote on a motion that the majority leader has laid on the floor.

I am the senior Democrat on the subcommittee of Appropriations that writes the bill that funds our national defense. I have worked well and closely with Senator McConnell in this undertaking this year. I am about to vote no on proceeding to take up the House Defense bill, which may surprise some of my colleagues from both parties or my constituents or folks who are wondering: What the heck is going on here? So I wanted to take a few minutes and speak to this moment, my vote, and hopefully our path forward.

Americans care deeply about security--about the security that comes from knowing that you and your family won't suddenly be bankrupted by unexpected healthcare costs, the loss of health insurance, and the security that comes from knowing that millions of highly skilled, trained, and dedicated American men and women are on the line around the world, shoulder to shoulder with our allies, defending America's security and that of the world, and we need a path towards addressing both.

The Federal Government is currently shut down. It is shut down because we can't come to an agreement here in the Senate, with the President, and with the House to deal with the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits that make it affordable.

Letters are about to go out in my home State of Delaware that will tell folks who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act that their rates are going to go up dramatically--in many cases, more than 100 percent--because of expiring tax credits.

Well, what has that got to do with national defense? Bluntly, the process here in this Senate, the process with our President, and the process of spending or not spending appropriated funds has destroyed a lot of the trust that is essential for the Senate as a body to work, for the Congress to legislate, and for our Federal Government to reopen.

In the last Congress, I was the chair of the subcommittee that wrote the appropriations bill. Roughly, $32 billion went to USAID--an Agency that no longer exists. Some of you may remember DOGE--an Elon Musk-led effort to get into and tear up and, in the case of USAID, to tear apart our longstanding, decades-old, U.S. foreign assistance program. It did a lot more damage than just that.

In many ways, the actions that began in January and picked up speed in the spring caused alarm and concern by many of us in the Senate that we have an OMB Director and an administration willing to violate bipartisan agreements from the last Congress, commitments to spend money, and contracts and agreements with partners and allies around the world and across many different areas.

In fact, just yesterday, a Federal district court judge in California ruled that the reductions in force--the layoffs, the RIFs--announced by the administration during this current shutdown were illegal because they were targeted and partisan.

So many things have happened this year that it is tough to keep track, but the combination of them has led to a reduction in trust between our two caucuses--trust that is essential to having an understanding and an agreement to move forward.

Let me be clear about this year's appropriations process. It was positive from when we started in March-April to when we concluded on the committee in July and voted out eight strong, bipartisan bills. The Senate appropriations process for at least eight of the bills--the biggest bills--was constructive and bipartisan. In fact, the bill that I worked on closely with Senator McConnell was voted out of the committee by 26 to 3. So, too, were other key bills that deal with housing, that deal with education, and that deal with healthcare. They came out of the committee 26 to 3 and are ready for action on the floor of the Senate. Yet we are not proceeding to them today.

There are four bills remaining in committee that are unaddressed, and the committee should focus on them, take them up, and work them through. There are three bills that have already passed the Senate and are all but done being conferenced with the House.

What I have heard from my Republican colleagues is that Leader Thune is trying to move ahead with a process that would put the Defense bill, the Health and Education bill, the Housing and Transportation bill, which we call Labor-HHS, and T-HUD--very compelling names, I know--he wants to put together a package of many of these bills. Well, if that is the intention, we need communication between our leaders and our caucuses.

We have had a positive and productive process in Senate appropriations this year, but the leader's motion to go to the House Defense bill was not expected, was not discussed, and was not clear to my caucus as to what happens next. So it is with some real regret that I will vote no today but will continue to talk with my colleagues about how do we move forward.

I want to take a moment and just speak to the Defense bill that we have worked so hard on and that came out of the committee with such strong bipartisan support. It would provide a better quality of life to the men and women of the American military and their families. It would invest, in total, $852 billion in our national defense--expanding shipyards, expanding munition production, creating stockpiles of critical weapons that we know we need for the future, investing in cutting-edge technologies--and would reject some of the Trump budget cuts in aid to Ukraine, to Taiwan, and to our Baltic allies, who are making positive progress in key areas.

Our work together on this bill has generally been a positive experience between Senators and our staffs. Our challenge was the Department, and it was the Secretary and his budgeteers, who often appeared at hearings and meetings without their homework done, without the details ready, without a budget ready to go.

Some of you may have forgotten this, but a principal focus of the administration and the majority here during this same time was the so- called Big Beautiful Bill and trying to put $160 billion onto the Defense Department not through regular order and not through the usual budget processes but through this one-time infusion of cash.

Senator McConnell and I historically haven't agreed on much, but we certainly have agreed on this in hearings and in speeches: If we are trying to invest in the future of our Armed Forces, whether it be new planes, new ships, new systems, or new technology, doing it with 1-year money is unwise and unsound.

We need to get back to regular order. We need to get back to a reliable and predictable appropriations process. In order to do that, we need bipartisan agreement that rejects severe cuts; that restores funding for programs like the NIH and the CDC, which is done in the bipartisan Labor-H bill; and that rejects cuts to WIC and rural housing, which is done in the Ag bill. We need to move these bills forward.

The way we move these bills forward is by linking arms and making it clear: We reject rescissions. We want to appropriate beyond just defense. We want a broader package and to have clarity from our President, the House, and the Senate about how we address the imminent health security crisis that confronts millions of Americans and, for today and tomorrow, keeps our government shut down.

Americans care about security. We care about security for our families from healthcare costs, and we care about security for our Nation from the threats that are greater than at any time in my adult life.

Let's find a path toward working together to address them.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I am asking why we are here--why we are here on the floor of the Senate as the hours tick down to the end of the Federal fiscal year and the shutdown of the Federal Government.

I have served here 15 years. I have seen my share of shutdowns, and I know how much they hurt, how much they hurt the men and women of our military, Federal law enforcement, folks who serve and protect our country at home and abroad. And they should not have to wonder when or if they will get paid.

A shutdown isn't good for our reputation abroad and our cohesion at home.

I have always worked to find some path, some deal, some way to keep the government open, and I have talked to a dozen colleagues in recent days about this fight and about tonight.

This is about healthcare. This is about my party saying: Enough is enough.

We know that if you have healthcare, everything else can work itself out. And if you don't have your health, almost nothing else matters.

President Trump ran on making America healthy again, on reducing prices, on making life easier for the working people of our country and their families. And, instead, what we have seen is decision after decision, action after action by President Trump and the Republicans in Congress that raise prices--raise prices on healthcare, on insurance, on drugs, on medications. Whether it is the tariffs being imposed on prescription medications or the decision to end subsidies that keep health insurance affordable, or it is laying off thousands of researchers working to help cure pediatric cancer or address ALS or do research into HIV AIDS--decision after decision that moves us in

the wrong direction, that makes us sicker, poorer, and more divided.

I am usually one of the first to walk across the aisle and say: Let's find a solution. Let's find a way out of this. And I have been doing that in recent days, talking with colleagues. But I can't see a way forward if we can't change direction and, together, say to the people we serve: We want to help with your healthcare. We want to stop the cuts to NIH and CDC. We want to reduce the increases in health insurance costs. We want to help you and your family.

In my home State of Delaware, emergency room wait times are too long. And as millions of Americans get thrown off of health insurance, they are going to go to the emergency room. And those wait times will get longer and longer for all of us.

Next month, we are going to find out how much health insurance premiums go up. For some Americans, they are going to double. But for all of us, they will go up.

Healthcare is getting costlier, and Americans are getting sicker. So why am I standing on this floor tonight saying I am not voting to keep this government open? Because enough is enough.

There are ways we can and should work together to change direction, to put on the floor the bipartisan health appropriations bill that will restore tens of billions of dollars to the NIH and CDC, that will stop Trump's cuts to American healthcare and insurance and research. There is a path toward reforming and extending the Affordable Care Act that both parties should agree on.

But, folks, if you are listening, your Member of Congress needs to hear from you, needs to know that you want us to work together to reverse course and end Trump's tragic cuts to healthcare.

If my colleagues don't get those calls, they won't change direction. If they don't change direction, we won't reopen this government.

Make no mistake, we have Republicans in control of the House and Senate and the White House. If they want to find a way forward that reduces the harm to Americans and our healthcare, we can. And I will be one of the first to extend my hand to find that path.

But if we don't change direction, we shouldn't reopen this government because Americans have taken too many hits already, too much additional cost, too much in cuts to healthcare research, too much increase to health insurance costs. This is a fight about America's healthcare, and we are fighting for you.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be permitted to speak prior to votes: myself for up to 10 minutes, Senator Cantwell for up to 10 minutes, Senator Murray for 5 minutes, and Senator Schumer for 5 minutes.

Mr. President, ``Jesus wept.'' ``Jesus wept.'' Most of us who grew up in Bible-believing households know this is the shortest verse in all of Scripture and, in some ways, the most powerful--one that haunts me. ``Jesus wept'' in John, the 11th chapter, 35th verse, because he had come too late, seemingly, to save the life of Lazarus. He wept because someone he knew and loved had died, and it had caused such harm and loss to his family.

Today, we are doing something on the floor of this Senate--my Republican colleagues are doing something on the floor of this Senate-- that I believe would make Jesus weep.

In Luke, there is a moment in the 10th chapter where a lawyer--and it is always a lawyer--comes to test Jesus and, in trying to justify himself, presses Jesus with questions.

What must I do to gain eternal life?

Jesus says: What does the Scripture teach?

He says: You should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. The second commandment is like unto it. You should love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus says: You have read well. Do this, and you will gain eternal life.

But the lawyer, hoping to be justified, says: But--but--but wait. Who is my neighbor?

And what follows is the well-known ``Parable of the Good Samaritan,'' where the righteous, the priestly, the respected, the powerful walk on the other side of the road when they encounter someone who has been set upon by robbers: not my problem, not my neighbor. But in the ``Parable of the Good Samaritan,'' it is this person, a Samaritan, from a disfavored ethnicity--someone outside the circle of concern to the ancient Israelites--who does the right thing.

This parable would have been shocking at the time that it was preached by Jesus. The idea that the good neighbor was the outcast, the unexpected would be something that, frankly, would have been a surprise. So although today ``being a good Samaritan'' is a common term, it is important to know the history.

We are taught as children that we are to see all as our neighbors, not just those who live next-door, not just those who look like us or speak like us or pray like us, but the widest possible definition of ``neighbor'' is what we are called through righteousness to see in the world. What a difference it has made because our Nation has, for decades, embraced the cause of being present, of caring, of making lifesaving differences to young mothers and children, to widows and orphans, to the imprisoned, to the hungry, to the refugee, to those fleeing oppression, to those seeking relief from authoritarian governments, for those seeking a better way.

We are all God's children. And from childhood, we are taught that the Golden Rule, which appears in virtually every religion--``Do unto others as you would have them do unto you''--is the very foundation of the goodness of America: that we care for each other as neighbors and that we care for the world as neighbors. Yes, we are the most charitable, giving, philanthropic, engaged Nation on Earth. Yet all that we do in foreign aid is less than 1 percent of our total Federal budget.

Months ago, when Elon Musk and DOGE began roaming about the Federal Agencies of our government, their first target was that that delivers disaster relief; that helps feed the hungry; that helps welcome the refugee; that helps stabilize countries going through turmoil. They laid off thousands. They shut down programs. They canceled billions. Yet, here today, we are at it again. Republicans are proposing even deeper cuts. I want to talk about one area of the many that will be cut, I fear, later today: disaster assistance.

Our Nation was riveted as we watched the tragedy that unfolded in the Texas Hill Country, where a raging river killed dozens and dozens of innocent children. Do you know, around the world, when disaster strikes, it is the Americans who show up first? It is the Americans who show up with relief, with assistance, with skill and talent and ability. It has been this way for decades, and it should be this way still.

I was on a bipartisan trip to the Philippines just a few months ago with Senator Ricketts, and I was struck to learn that the Philippines, of all the nations on Earth, is the most prone to natural disasters. They value our partnership, our alliance. We have been security partners for decades. There are many Filipino Americans, and there is a close and deep relationship. But in meeting with their national leaders,

their elected leaders--their Senators and their Ministers of their Cabinet--they said: You know, it makes an incredible difference here in the Philippines. Every time there is a typhoon, an earthquake, a volcano, it is the Americans who come. It is the Americans who deliver the aid, who help us help ourselves with training and equipment and support.

Do you know, in the excess of DOGE's deep cuts, they fired and laid off most of our experts who were capable of delivering world-class disaster relief?

We saw the consequences with an earthquake in Myanmar just 3 months ago, where the few remaining folks who did this work were laid off as they were deployed, and, instead, the response was led by the Chinese. We are driving nations into the open arms of our adversaries. We have long been known as a nation that sought to be respected, admired, believed in, and embraced not for the example of our power but by the power of our example; that when there were dread pandemics killing millions, America showed up.

One of the positives of this day is that my Republican colleagues have recoiled from fully shutting down PEPFAR, and that is a positive. One of the best things we have ever done as a nation is to save 27 million lives across the world who otherwise would have been lost to

Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 2856 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, it was Ronald Reagan who said America is great because America is good. My amendment would restore $496 million of international disaster relief funding by removing it from this rescissions package.

This money doesn't just save lives in countries around the world when they suffer earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and natural disasters. It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies, and helps us compete with China.

Two months ago, I visited the Philippines on a bipartisan codel and was struck to learn it is the most disaster-prone country on Earth. Today, they are giving us access to nine new military sites. They are one of our strongest treaty partners in the region.

And why? When I asked their leaders, they said because America helps respond to disasters.

Mr. President, $496 million, 0.01 percent of the debt Republicans have just added to our Nation in the last 2 weeks, and this money is implemented by Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, and the World Food Programme.

I ask my colleagues to support it.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following motion to recommit for the bill H.R. 4 be placed in the Congressional Record.

Motion to Recommit With Instructions

Mr. Coons moves to recommit the bill H.R. 4 to the

Committee on Appropriations of the Senate with instructions

to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting

any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes

that--

(1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and

(2) would prohibit the Director of the Office of Management

and Budget from authorizing the use of amounts from accounts

that are not subject to rescissions made by the bill for

activities funded by accounts that are subject to rescissions

made by the bill.

I have a motion to commit at the desk.

I ask for the reading of the motion to be dispensed with.

Colleagues, the ugly truth about this so-called Big Beautiful Bill is that it will kick 17 million Americans off their healthcare. This bill cuts almost $1 trillion from Medicaid and other healthcare programs by tying people up in redtape.

Republicans will tell you they are trying to improve Medicaid, but the truth is, they are not. It is cruel and dishonest to bury parents, kids, and seniors in paperwork and then blame them when they lose their healthcare, all to further rig our Tax Code for the very wealthiest.

This week, I met with 30 nurses from Delaware. Their patients couldn't come to DC, so they did. They care for seniors and newborns, families, and the disabled. And their ask to us: Don't take healthcare away from tens of thousands of Delawareans and millions of Americans.

Colleagues, support this Coons amendment to eliminate cruel and unnecessary redtape and allow Americans to keep the healthcare they need and deserve.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Motions to Commit for the bill H.R. 1 be placed in the Congressional Record:

Motion to Commit With Instructions

Mr. Coons moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee

on Finance of the Senate with instructions to report the same

back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which

the Senate is not in session, with changes that--

(1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and

(2) would remove provisions stripping individuals in the

United States of the Federal benefits to which they are

entitled, by methods including but not limited to the

creation of new administrative burdens and paperwork

requirements.

Motion to Commit With Instructions

Mr. Coons moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee

on Finance of the Senate with instructions to report the same

back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which

the Senate is not in session, with changes that--

(1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and

(2) would cause the bill to not increase the deficit for

the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2034.

Motion to Commit With Instructions

Mr. Coons moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee

on the Judiciary of the Senate with instructions to report

the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day

on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that--

(1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and

(2) would apply the conflict-of-interest requirements

established under section 208 of title 18, United States

Code, to the President and the Vice President.