Floor Statements

As if in executive session, I ask consent to move to proceed to Executive Calendar No. 343, and I make a point of order that the nomination was not properly reported.

As if in executive session, I ask consent to move to proceed to Executive Calendar No. 351, and I make a point of order that the nomination was not properly reported.

Mr. President, I understand that there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and I object to my own request, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stands adjourned until 10 a.m., Wednesday, September 10; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of Calendar No. 115, S. 2296, the National Defense Authorization Act.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Whitehouse.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 126, S. 1038.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 3; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 115, S. 2296, the National Defense Authorization Act, postcloture; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings and that all time during recess, adjournment, and leader remarks count postcloture on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 115, S. 2296.

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

Madam President, I rise to support commonsense legislation that will bring transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Currently, the inspector general of the Fed is appointed by the Fed Chair. This is highly unusual, and it means that the inspector general has no independence from the management of the Fed and is susceptible to influence. This is an unacceptable arrangement. I think we all agree that inspectors general cannot do their jobs without independence.

Democrats who are objecting to this commonsense legislation today have made inspector general independence a priority for years, and rightfully so, until today. Think about that. Democrats are saying they are OK with being complicit in the mismanagement of the Fed that we are seeing today. We are witnessing unprecedented mismanagement of the Fed.

The Fed overrun--and it was just discussed by my colleague from Ohio--it has overrun its budget for its building renovation by at least $700 million, and Chair Powell appointed the inspector general who is now tasked with examining this fiasco. Do we expect the Fed's inspector general to do anything other than immunize the Fed Chair from further scrutiny and say everything is on the up and up?

I won't have any confidence in the Fed's IG and its findings until that person has statutory independence from the Fed Chair. The Federal Reserve has grown too powerful, too insulated, too comfortable, and they are operating in the shadows. And this is the minimum we can do to start getting this independent Agency some scrutiny. They don't even respond to FOIA requests.

You can't get an answer. That place is Whac-A-Mole. If you try to talk to the Fed Chair about something, they will put it on the Vice Chair for banking supervision who will put it on the presidents of the Federal Reserve banks who put it back on the White House who put it back on bank supervision who put it on the lawyer for bank supervision. This place is a ping-pong ball when it comes to trying to get an answer to a question. It has become a giant black hole of unaccountability. It is time for change.

This is a commonsense change that my colleague from Florida is proposing. It is the right approach. I am proud to partner with Senator Scott to move this legislation forward, and we will keep trying.

Thank you to the gentleman from Florida for his tireless advocacy for common sense.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I want to echo the remarks that were just made by my colleague from Ohio and add a couple of things. Not only do we as a Senate have an opportunity to prevent a nominee from being confirmed into office by our own vote and our own scrutiny and our own vetting of nominees, but we have the opportunity, in this case, to turn an Agency that was created for independence that has now become independently disassociated with the very people it is designed to help govern and help rein

them in with a Senate-confirmed inspector general.

Now, we have proposed other ideas that have not been accepted yet, but that should be considered, if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle won't accept this one.

One of the reasons I like the Senator from Florida's idea here is because it is such a strategic, narrow way to try to get some independent eyes at the Fed. Other ways that I had considered, and that we could still consider if this idea is unacceptable, is to make the Feds subject to FOIA. We could confirm all 12 of the regional presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks so we have a say in who they are and any number of other provisions that give the people of this country some oversight over that entity, the Federal Reserve, that has become so independent that it thumbs its nose at working for and with the American people.

Look what happened in the way banks were supervised in the last 4 years. Choke Point 2.0 brought about a government-caused failure of two banks. Those banks were not insolvent. The Federal Reserve and the FDIC pushed them into insolvency because they didn't like their customers. That was it. They didn't like it that banks were providing banking services to digital asset companies, to Melania Trump, to the children of the now-President. They targeted those people. They debanked those people. Government did that by threatening the financial institutions that had them as customers, saying that the safety and soundness of the institution was going to be subject to scrutiny if they continued to bank digital asset businesses, the Trump family, and others.

That was government targeting--targeting--Americans. That was our government turned against our people for no good reason, and there is no way to get scrutiny of the Fed because they don't have an independent IG. They are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. We don't have sufficient oversight of them. We have got to get oversight over the Fed.

And I want to applaud my colleague from Florida for taking the initial step that every other Agency is subject to: an independent inspector general.

So I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are objecting to this measured, commonsense matter, for heaven's sake, come up with a solution because the Fed is an unaccountable, run-amok place that is not responsive to the American people.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, one of my favorite annual events in Wyoming is the Wyoming State Fair, held each year in Douglas. The Wyoming State Fair is a big deal in my State and always one heck of a good time. It represents the culmination of the various county fairs and brings together folks from all over Wyoming to see the best of agriculture in our State, eat some delicious food, and celebrate some hometown pride. As a rancher myself, I love nothing more than spending a day viewing some prize-winning livestock and witnessing the future generation of agriculture in Wyoming truly shine.

At the heart of the State fair is what I believe to be its marquee event: the induction of new members to the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame. This year, it is my distinct honor and privilege to welcome Juan Reyes of Wheatland, WY, into this prestigious group. I am so pleased by his selection as there are few who deserve this honor more.

Juan's journey to Wyoming is nothing short of remarkable and inspiring. It began in a place that could hardly be more different from Wheatland or Tie Siding, WY--Covadonga, Cuba. There, Juan and his family faced a heartbreaking decision that no family should ever have to make: sending their young children away to a foreign land while their home and way of life were threatened by Fidel Castro's regime.

As an 11-year-old boy, with a little more than the clothes on their back, Juan and his sisters were sent to Florida as a part of Operation Peter Pan, where they spent the next 8 months living in a refugee camp along with other orphans who also made the journey. From there, Juan and his sisters were taken to Colfax, in Washington State, where they were able to live with a family who had a wheat farm and a few cattle. There, Juan was able to receive some good exposure to working on the farm by helping the family out, and eventually, his parents from Cuba were able to come to Colfax and work on the farm as well.

After a short stint in college in Washington, Juan visited Laramie, WY, and, like many before him, decided that he found where he wanted and needed to be. He ultimately transferred to the University of Wyoming, and it was probably one of the best decisions he has ever made, because it was there where he would meet his wife and where he would lay the foundation for his ranching operation.

Juan's first foray into ranching was not easy to say the least. He and his wife became partners with John Milor who owned a ranch in Tie Siding, WY, and Juan was set to manage the operations. While Juan and his wife had experience with cattle, they did not have experience with cattle during the brutal winters and at the altitude which can top 8,000 feet, which is pretty close to a mile and a half and, needless to say, is considerably different from Washington State or Cuba for that matter. This elevation proved especially challenging as many of the cows became susceptible to pulmonary artery pressure, which ultimately took the lives of many cows and caused significant financial hardship for his family. Not to be discouraged, Juan decided to look for solutions to his problem. After some research, he was able to find a unique breed of cow called Amerifax, which had characteristics that helped them withstand the climate and elevation.

Juan and his family decided they wanted to find another location where they could raise more cattle and have a less challenging winter and chose to purchase 483 acres in Wheatland, WY, not too far from Tie Siding and just up the road from Cheyenne. There, his family was able to find immense success and has grown to a 7,000 head feedlot and 1,000 head of cattle. His success over the years had allowed him the luxury of purchasing the MR Angus Ranch, where he worked with John Milnor in Tie Siding.

A lot of folks would probably consider these accomplishments to be worthy of the hall of fame, but Juan did not stop here. Juan has made countless contributions to agriculture in Wyoming through not only his expertise, but through his membership on numerous boards and organizations. These include the Albany County Stockgrowers, the Wheatland Irrigation District's Board of Commissioners, the University of Wyoming Ag College Advisory Committee, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Angus Association, where he at one point served as the president.

One of Juan's unique and impressive passions is his ability to train border collie dogs for the ranch life. In Wyoming and across our Nation, border collies play an important role in keeping livestock on task and together, and Juan has built up a national reputation as one of the best when it comes to training them. His success with the border collies led him to be a founding member and president of the National Cattle Dog Association and to serve as a member of the American Border Collie Association.

Juan is currently living what many would consider the American dream. He has done so much for Wyoming, and I really can't emphasize enough how happy I am for him to be inducted this year into the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame. Juan will be joining the likes of a select few who have done so much for agriculture in our State. His legacy is something to behold and appreciate. I tip my hat to him.

Mr. President, I rise to express my opposition to the amendment proposed by my colleague from Oregon and others.

I appreciate their concerns about ethics and transparency in government, but this amendment would inflict serious harm on American innovation and competitiveness. For that matter, it applies to the adult children, directly or indirectly, of elected and nonelected officials. It goes too far. If we had passed something like this in the early days of the internet, we would have sent a clear message that America is closed for business when it comes to digital innovation, and that is what we risk doing now. That is the last thing we want to be doing. The irony is this amendment would actually harm our government's ability to understand and regulate digital assets effectively.

If we are serious about ethics in financial products, let's focus on real solutions in all financial products, not just digital. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment.

Point of Order

Mr. President, I raise a point of order that the pending amendment violates the Byrd rule, section 313(b)(1)(D) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Motion to Waive

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

Mr. President, today is a day I have been working toward for over 4 months. After months of intense negotiations, we are minutes away from passing the GENIUS Act, Senator Bill Hagerty's legislation that will be a first step toward modernizing the American payment system and integrating digital assets into the U.S. economy in a responsible way.

I want to congratulate my friend Senator Hagerty for this achievement and thank him for his incredible leadership on this bill. He has been a true ally of the digital asset industry, and I am so proud to have worked with him on his GENIUS Act over the past few months.

Since 2017, Wyoming has been on the forefront of digital asset policy, long before it was popular or politically expedient. In Wyoming, we recognized early on what the rest of the country is beginning to understand: that digital assets are a force for good and that you can have both responsible innovation and consumer protection side by side.

The GENIUS Act protects the dual banking system and gives stablecoin issuers a real choice between State and Federal charters, preserving the innovative spirit that has also made States like Wyoming leaders in this space while also ensuring we have robust oversight when necessary.

This legislation is also about economic security and opportunity. It protects the U.S. dollar's role as the world's reserve currency by ensuring that dollar-backed stablecoins remain strong and reliable. Most of all, it ensures American consumers and businesses can participate in the digital economy with confidence and security.

The sobering reality is that even while we have been negotiating, other nations have been hard at work offering their own frameworks and encouraging the digital asset industry to call their respective countries home. America's role as the global financial services leader is a privilege, not a right, and we must innovate to compete with other nations that want to attract American businesses.

This is only the first step. Congress must pass comprehensive market structure legislation in the coming months that draws the line between a security and a commodity and creates a pathway for digital asset exchanges to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Working on this legislation has begun in earnest, and in the coming weeks, the Senate will begin to hold hearings and release draft legislation on this critical topic. I look forward to working with Chairman Scott, Leader Thune, and Senator Tillis on getting market structure done this year.

I am proud to deliver on President Trump's promise to lead the most pro-digital asset administration in our history. He understands that making America the crypto capital of the world isn't just good policy; it is an economic imperative. This legislation proves that when we work together, we can craft solutions that protect consumers without sacrificing innovation.

The time for hesitation has passed. The time for leadership is now. I want to thank Leader Thune and Chairman Scott for their unwavering commitment to getting this critical piece of legislation across the finish line. I want to thank my colleagues and our staff for the absurd number of hours that we spent in windowless rooms over the last weeks to bring this bill to the finish line.

It is not too late for America to show the world that our Nation doesn't just adapt to change; we lead it. Let's get GENIUS passed and secure America's financial future.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.