Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 934, submitted earlier today.

I know of no further debate on the resolution.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I now would like to ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 46.

I ask further that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I understand that the Senate has received the House message to accompany S. 709.

I ask that the chair lay before the body the House message to accompany S. 709.

The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 709) entitled

``An Act to improve performance and accountability in the

Federal Government, and for other purposes.'', do pass with

an amendment.

Motion to Concur

I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 709.

I know of no further debate on the motion to concur.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the Senate on December 18, 2024, by the President of the United States:

Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (Treaty Document No. 118-2); I further ask that the treaty be considered as having been read the first time; that it be referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I have three requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

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

Madam President, I am grateful to stand here tonight.

I ask unanimous consent that floor access be granted to my communications director Jeff Giertz, the father of two amazing daughters and whose Christmas card was so moving to me. He should be home with them at this late hour, but I hope you will give him permission to be on the floor without objection.

And to my chief of staff Veronica Duron, who does not have two beautiful daughters but who has a lot of plants that need watering, she should probably be home doing that, but I would like to get her permission to be on the Senate floor as well.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today momentarily, that it recess until 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 19; further, that all time during adjournment, recess, morning business, leader remarks, and consideration of the House message to accompany S. 4367 count as postcloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 82.

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

First of all, I am going to come out to the aisle because this is ``doing the Sherrod,'' when you get far away from your desk. I literally think, if the leash were long enough, he would have opened the door and taken a couple steps out and come running in and down the aisle.

(Laughter.)

I stand today with a similar start because there was this moment in the cloakroom when I was a new guy in the Senate, and I talked about Tester saying to me very loudly in the cloakroom: I didn't think I was going to like you when I first got here.

Then Sherrod chimed in right away--and you will remember this, Sherrod--and said: I didn't think I would like you either.

Now, I didn't care about Jon Tester because I don't like Jon Tester.

(Laughter.)

But I really cared that Sherrod Brown would say that, at one point, he didn't like me. But I knew he liked me when he said it, because when I came to the Senate, he surprised me. He did something I never expected. I had great experiences when I first came here--friendships, colleagues stepping up--I see my chairman here--putting me under their arm, but Sherrod did it in a way that really surprised me.

He said: Hey, Cory. I want to work with you on something really important.

And I thought of all of these big issues in the Senate. Is it Social Security? Is it lowering prescription drug prices? I thought: What are we going to do for America?

Sherrod Brown blew me away.

He said: I want to fight for fair wages for the cafeteria workers who work in the basement of the buildings we work in.

Immediately, it floored me.

I started working in this place in 2013--and I will never forget--it was the least diverse place I had ever worked. I came here, and on one of the first nights I worked past 10 p.m., I left out of the employees' entrance. I saw the line of employees walking in, and they were mostly Black and Brown people. When I went to the basement to get something to eat in the cafeteria, the cafeteria workers were mostly Black and Brown folks. They didn't have a Senator living in Washington, DC, but Sherrod was someone who stood up for their dignity.

Sherrod, I have been struggling all week because I feel emotional, like losing you. I had this poem that kept coming up over and over again--it is really short, and I know you know it--but I did not understand why this was the poem, and I want to try to explain it to you. It is a poem by Langston Hughes. It is entitled ``I, too, sing America.''

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

[Because] tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

[And] nobody'll dare

Say to me,

``Eat in the kitchen,''

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed--

I, too, [sing] America.

Sherrod, I have served with you for 11 years, and the thing I love the most about you is you see people. You see the folks who others walk past and don't even affirm their humanity. And you just don't see people; what you have shown me time and time again from my first week as a U.S. Senator is that you see the folks who are the most important to the very idea of America--the idea that people have sweat for and cried for and bled for. To me, that is the definition of what it means to represent people, all the people.

So I end with this, and it is a moment from American history because I know you are such a nerd.

(Laughter.)

You, frankly, just never fit my image of what I thought a Senator would look like. You are frumpy, and you are disheveled--and the only person who has messier hair than you is Bernie, for crying out loud.

(Laughter.)

But there are five words I think I want to say to you in my final farewell to you in an official capacity, standing in the aisle that you so defined. And it is a simple story from history after Lincoln gave his second inaugural address: Malice towards none and charity towards all--the ideal that you live that there is no us and them. It is just us.

Lincoln retired to a reception afterward, and it was crowded. And people were pulling at him and trying to get his attention, and he was pushing through the crowds, looking for one person who almost didn't get into the reception. This guy had to be recognized by someone because he was Black and was pulled in to be allowed to be at this incredible reception. The President pushes by him. The historians say it was the Governor of Rhode Island who was trying to talk to him, but he kept pushing towards this man.

And he said to this man: My friend, what did you think of my speech?

This man, regal in stature, humble in spirit, looked at him and said: Mr. President, you should attend to your guests.

And President Lincoln is said to have waved him off and said: No. I want to know what you thought of my speech. I need to know, my friend, what you thought of my speech.

This would be the last time in American history that these two men would ever speak because Lincoln would soon be assassinated. These were the last words that they exchanged. And if you allow me these five words, I just want to say to you, in my last farewell to you after your farewell speech, as Frederick Douglass looked at Abraham Lincoln and simply said:

It was a sacred effort. It was a sacred effort.

Your 18-year career here was a sacred effort to see everyone in our great country as an American, to affirm their humanity, to affirm their dignity, and to elevate our highest virtues.

Thank you, my friend.

Mr. President, I would like to rise and join some of my colleagues in speaking about Ben Cardin, but I perhaps want to take a little bit more of a personal approach to sharing my thoughts about my departing colleague.

I don't know if he remembers this, but I was elected in a special election, and I came here plopping down, sworn in on the auspicious day of Halloween. And I knew I had to meet my colleagues, so I started the process of going to their offices. They took me to meet everybody from John McCain sitting in his office, obviously, to Harry Reid who was here then.

But my journey to go see Ben Cardin was different than any of my other meetings because we sat down, and he asked me about myself, and before I knew it, we were talking about Judaism.

Now, it was an amazing conversation to me because I did not realize how deep his faith was, how knowledgeable he was of the Torah, something I have been studying for decades as a non-Jew, and I found this incredible connection to him around the principles that he spoke about at the top of his speech, principles of hesed, principles of tzedakah, this idea of living a good and moral life. But what was amazing to me over these last 11 years that I have been at the Senate is that maybe some joking from time to time about Judaism, but we really haven't had much of a Torah discussion as we did on that very first day. He has never invited me to a minyan; he and I have never prayed together. He never talked to me about his religion. I have traveled around the whole world, but that first conversation was the most we ever talked about his religion and his faithfulness.

But what is amazing to me is even though we haven't spoken about it, as someone who knows and loves the religion, I will say I have seen it in him every single day. In my faith, there is a theologian that says: Everywhere you go, preach the gospel, but only sometimes use words.

I am a big believer that before you tell me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people; before you preach to me how much you love your God, show it to me in how you love all of God's children; before you tell me about your passion for your faith, show it to me in your compassion for other people.

This has been the beauty of serving with my colleague Ben Cardin because I have seen through the work and the dedication and the labors and the attention to detail and the leadership how deep his integrity is and his alignment between his beliefs and how he conducts himself in the world.

And so in honor of that, Ben, I am going to try to do something that I am sure has never been done in the history of the Senate is I am going to say good-bye to you in a d'var Torah. Now, maybe there has been a d'var Torah on the Senate floor, but I am confident in the history of America there has never been on the Senate floor a d'var Torah given by a big Black goy.

And so here it is. There is a moment in the Torah where Moses, a great leader, has been given the 10 Commandments, but the Jewish people are worshipping a golden calf. We all know the story of him crumbling, smashing the tablets, but what I didn't know until I started studying Judaism and doing Torah studies on Fridays, I didn't know there was a moment where God said: OK. I will destroy these people and give you new people to lead.

And what was amazing to me, astonishing to me, about this story from the Torah is you would think that devotion, this fealty to God, that whatever God says goes, but Judaism struck me when I started studying the Torah as a strange faith that all of these major figures get into fights with God, whether it was the incredible story of Abraham arguing with angels about defending a city, Sodom and Gomorrah. But in this moment, what Moses said to God was:

(English translation of statement made in Hebrew is as follows:)

If you destroy these people, then erase me from your book. I want no part of you, God.

I have watched you for 11 years. And like that ideal of Moses, despite all of the imperfections of humanity, despite our faults and our foibles, despite the tragedies we have wrought unto ourselves, you have shown that leadership of Moses, not accepting the world's happenings as God's will but standing up and standing in the breach.

You have, through your work, both here in America and across the globe, you have been one of those people who has defended the weak, who has protected the vulnerable, and who has championed the best of humanity.

Yes, you have preached the gospel, my friend, but you have more profoundly dedicated your life to its work. There is an ideal in Judaism that we should all be dedicated toward tikkun olam, to healing this world.

I believe there is a God in Heaven. I share your sense of faith, and I believe at the end of this chapter of your life, God is saying: Well done, my good and faithful servant. And I know God is not done with you yet, so as you go on into the world, I simply say, as your brother, yasher koach.

Thank you.

(Applause.)

Mr. President, I appreciate being recognized right now. But I would be remiss if I let Jon Tester leave the floor without telling some of the truth about this guy.

All the niceties here are making me a little nauseous. I want to set the record straight and say for the record, for the rest of the history of this country going forward, that I want it to be known that I do not like Jon Tester. So I want a rebuttal. I need to clear the record. He has had his piece, and I want my piece.

I came to the Senate as this kind of naive guy. I did not think the Senate would be like what I experienced. I got here in earnest. My idea for who a Senator was, was very set in stone. I watched great movies about the U.S. Senators. I saw ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'' And then I met Jon Tester, who is more like a combination of John Belushi and John Wick go to Washington.

I didn't know Senators cursed until I got here and met Jon Tester. I think, if I remember the exact first quote that Jon Tester said to me, it was: Booker, I didn't think you were much. I thought you were a big hole--and there was a word in between that--but now I realize you are not a big hole; you are really not that big. This was the beginning of a relationship.

(Laughter.)

I have to say, I was the guy who played college football. I have some scars still from running into the likes of Junior Seau. But I literally wear physical scars because of my hitting Jon Tester.

My mom said: I think you finally got an answer to the question of what happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object.

Literally, he invited me to play basketball with him once. I have played some rough-and-tumble hoops before. There is a court here on the Senate grounds. What he did to me on that basketball court is illegal in six States. I have video evidence that I was planning--you know, he has cited the speech and debate clause protects what Senators do when they are in their official capacity, but now that he is leaving the U.S. Senate, I will be filing charges against this man.

(Laughter.)

Jon Tester is mean. He is cantankerous. He is ornery. He is rough. He is truly a son of a gun.

Now, despite the fact that, again, I do not like Jon Tester, I have learned a heck of a lot from him. I was the mayor of a city, an urban place, and I hadn't gotten to know farmers in my State yet, but I came here and I met a farmer. And despite our issues and the tension between the two of us, he was willing to sit down with me and--perhaps more than any other Senator in my experience here--take the time to help me learn the urgencies about America's farm system.

You see, what I learned about Jon Tester is he doesn't give a damn who you are. Will you work with him to advance the causes of his State? I realized that, despite the fact that I do not like Jon Tester, he loves the people of Montana. Look, I hear him complain about this place, complain about how it works. But I watched him and learned from him about how you fight here to get things done; that it is not about people or personalities; it is about fighting for causes and the communities that you care about.

So Jon Tester taught me a heck of a lot. In fact, some of the things I feel most passionate about about the American food system were things that he taught me. And what he showed me was that, in this Nation, whether you live in rural Montana or urban New Jersey, we share common cause. Jon Tester showed me that we still have a common American fight and that this place still needs people who don't care about partisanship, who don't care about camaraderie, who don't care about the formalities, but just care about fighting for people.

And so I am grateful for that, but I still don't like Jon Tester.

(Laughter.)

I used to come by his office. And I just want to look at his staff right now and tell them: God bless you. I mean, the HR claims you could have probably filed against this guy are extraordinary, and it shows me your loyalty to him because sometimes I would walk in there, and there was, like, full combat staff games being played. I mean, I couldn't believe it. I mean, what was being tossed around that office sometimes was extraordinary.

But the fact that somehow he bred extraordinary loyalty from his staff members, dedication, work ethic, and people that delivered real results, in this place that is often hard to get things done, is a testimony to you and how much, in his office, he bred a sense of commitment to country. And so I thank you all for that.

And being now that there is no limit on what I can say and get off my chest, I want to thank his chief of staff Dylan

because, unbeknownst to you, we would break into your house often, sir. When you were back in Montana, yes, I have been in your home and done things in that home that will be in my next book.

(Laughter.)

Dylan, I can't get you fired because you are leaving anyway now at this point.

I want to end by saying this: I have stories to tell about Jon Tester. I have charges to file about Jon Tester. I have a lot of language that has been expanded in my vocabulary because of Jon Tester. And I thought that I would come down tonight and write an original poem. I was very excited about the chance to rhyme ``Jon Tester'' with ``Uncle Fester.'' I thought it would be great. I had this incredible poem that I wanted to read. But I, instead, want to end with this poem.

I watched Jon Tester do something that was extraordinary. He chose to run again--a guy that I knew how he felt about Washington but decided to do something recklessly audacious. Most Senators, when they see the odds are against them and their chances of winning are slim, they decide to retire. Jon didn't go quietly into the night. He ran an election.

And so many people on both sides of the aisle actually believed that if anybody can win in a State that Donald Trump won by 20 points, where there are probably as many vegans in Montana as there are Democrats, he chose, because of the love of his State, to run again, run an election. And by golly, the people I saw pouring their heart into this fight--it was extraordinary.

It was an election to me--and in talking to Dylan on so many days-- that was one of the more exciting ones because I really felt like he was from a movie like ``Braveheart'' or the men in ``300'' in Thermopolis. He was running one of the most extraordinary fights in this place. And because the world believed that--oh, my God--Jon Tester could pull off the greatest upset in American politics, he drew fire into that State. You talk about campaign finance reform. Literally, tens if not well over $100 million that would have probably gone to Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, everybody was pouring into this fight. He drew so much fire and went down in an election, to me, that was a testimony to his character.

So instead of reading an original poem, I just thought I would read a poem by a man that I have known all my life. And now I have to say this poem most describes the man I don't like, Jon Tester. It is by a guy named Rudyard Kipling. It is entitled ``If.''

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing

theirs and blaming it on you; if you can trust yourself when

all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too;

if you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or being lied

about, don't deal in lies, or being hated, don't give way to

hating, and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; if

you can dream--and not make dreams your master; if you can

think--and not make thoughts your aim; if you can meet with

Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the

same; if you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken twisted

by knaves to make a trap for fools, or watch the things you

gave your life to, broken, and stoop and build `em up with

worn-out tools; if you can make one heap of all your winnings

and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and

start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about

your loss; if you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to

serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when

there is nothing in you except the Will which says to them:

`Hold on!'; if you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

or walk with Kings--nor lose the common touch; if neither

foes nor loving friends can hurt you; if all men count with

you, but none too much; if you can fill the unforgiving

minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run, yours--

Jon Tester, yours--

is the Earth and everything that's in it, and--which is

more--you'll be a Man, my son!

Mr. President, I have served with a lot of people in a lot of levels of government. Jon Tester is a man and one of the greatest ones I have known.

I do not like Jon Tester, but, God, I love the man. Thank you.

(Applause.)

Did I miss that? The Senator from New Jersey.

Will the Senator yield?

Mr. President, I rise to object. I will not let this man go quietly into the night. I would ask for unanimous consent to force him to stay in the Senate, but like all of my unanimous consent requests over the last 10 years, none of them have ever passed.

Case in point.

I didn't necessarily expect to speak, but I found myself sitting there getting sad and angry that we are losing Mitt Romney, first of all, because we have--obviously, to the naked eye--so much in common: I am Black, and Mitt Romney is Black adjacent. Mitt Romney is a man of great personal net worth, and I am a man of great personal net girth.

The reality is, the more I served with Mitt Romney, the more I found myself hoping to have more in common with him. I have watched somebody from this seat for years now give a master's class in what I believe America needs most. I ran for President because of this drive and this feeling that our Nation was becoming too tribalistic. I watched time and time again from this seat a person who put aside the desires for partisan adoration for a deeper conviction to stand up for our Nation. I watched a man not confuse tribal celebrity with leadership significance. I watched time and time again and saw it with my own eyes him being harassed in airports and being scorned for taking principled stands that he saw as the best way to try to hold our country together.

I disagree with him, even though I see him now from one of his colleagues getting great approbation for a moment I remember when I was a mayor watching him run for President where he was asked what the great national security threat is, and he said Russia. At the time, many people made fun of him, and I now have been in classified briefings with him and other Senators where his wisdom in perceiving a threat was not only appreciated, but I literally saw in a classified briefing people applaud the insight of the man.

But I disagree with him now. I disagree with him because, to me, the greatest threat to America, despite other comments that have been made here, including from one of my esteemed colleagues yesterday who said it was our national debt, I think the greatest threat to America is our inability to come together as a country, because when Americans are united, there is nothing we can't do. We can beat the Nazis. We can send someone to the Moon. But, indeed, the greatest calling of our country right now is to put more indivisible back into this one Nation under God.

I have sat here for years now, and I have watched, perhaps, someone show with clarity of purpose that I have got to be what his faith and mine call for: Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the people who stand in the breach. Blessed are the people who heal, who try to weave together the torn threads

of our great Nation back into a mighty whole.

This body is lesser, is lesser with this loss. When I heard the news that he wasn't running again, I wasn't happy for him and his family. And I know his values start with that core of faith and family, but I do worry about this body. I do worry about our Nation. The one thing that gives me hope is the light that he has shined into this place will endure. And perhaps many of us, as he departs, will try our best, despite the forces that pull us apart, to pick up the work that he has left behind to do more to affirm a principle that he clearly has kept centered in his eyes, as is in the center of the aisles of this great institution, which is those words from a dead language: ``e pluribus unum.''

Mitt Romney, thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being someone who has inspired me to be better. And thank you for being a great American patriot.

Hear! Hear!

(Applause.)

In my capacity as the Senator from New Jersey, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the order of September 25, 2024, I be recognized to ask consent to modify that order.

In my capacity as the Senator from New Jersey, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding the order of September 25, 2024, that when the Senate adjourns today, it next convene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 1, and not convene at 1 p.m. on Tuesday as previously ordered, and that all other provisions of the September 25 order remain in effect.

I object.

I object.

Madam President, the sharing of nonconsensual intimate images online is harmful and unacceptable. It is a serious problem that is affecting too many Americans. Many times, it is impacting our young people, and we need to do more to ensure that digital platforms are not used to harass and harm.

We need ethical guardrails for emerging technologies including generative AI. This means laws that protect people from harassment and hold wrongdoers accountable, but do not have unintended criminal consequences.

I had hoped the junior Senator from Texas would work with me rather than using Senate procedure to create the false appearance of partisanship. He used personal attacks and half truths to politicize the serious issue of online sexual harassment. I have and will continue to work with my colleagues to combat the issue of online sexual harassment. I look forward to finding solutions to address the proliferation of nonconsensual intimate images online.

Online sexual harassment and so many other issues that impact Americans, from public safety to reproductive care to failing power grids, are urgent and it is our duty to address them. However, taking to the Senate floor with veiled threats is not how we should operate in this deliberative body. We are here to work together and to find solutions together.