Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 118, S. 843.

Mr. President, in a few moments, I will ask for unanimous consent to pass S. 843, the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act.

The bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act, which is coled by Senator Cornyn of Texas, will provide funding for the incredible institutions that are leading rescue, recovery, and rehabilitation efforts for the endangered and threatened sea turtles that become stranded along on our coasts and in our bays.

Our current rescue efforts are largely volunteer and underfunded, forcing stranding networks from Cape Cod to the gulf to shell out to keep our shelled friends safe.

This legislation tackles this pressing issue by making sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation activities authorized for dedicated funding under an existing program.

Unlike marine mammals, sea turtles don't have a designated program in statute to support their rescue, despite facing similar stranding challenges.

Right now, turtles require rescue, but without this bill, their rescuers don't have the resources required to save them.

This bill addresses a gap in our Nation's marine stranding system and solves it.

I thank my colleagues for the bipartisan support on this legislation, especially my long-time partner Senator Cornyn and again ask for unanimous consent to pass the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be considered and 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, the Republican majority, representing the views of the President here on the floor of the Senate, are trying to engage not in a save-democracy but a steal-democracy movement. That is what this entire debate is about.

It is about a great fear which the Republicans have that because of their healthcare policies that are raising the price of healthcare for Americans across our country, because of the anger which Americans have, the dramatic spike in the price of oil and gas and home heating oil, that voters are angry across our country, that voters across our country are angry at the lies and the price for food across our Nation, that voters are angry, that there is a dramatic spike in the concern which Americans have about the arresting and incarceration of innocent citizens in our country who have no previous criminal records--all of this is a part of an attempt by the Republicans to steal the election of 2026.

They are afraid that they are going to go to the minority, that they will lose their power, and they know that the only way they can win now is if they steal the election. So this should not be called the SAVE Act; it should be called the Steal Act because they are going to try to suppress the votes, especially of Black and Brown citizens in our country. They are going to attempt to make it very difficult for them to vote, and then, as a result, they are hoping with their fingers crossed that they can win a very narrow election in 2026 in our country.

So democracy is on the line, and the SAVE Act--misnamed--is a direct attack upon our abilities to have free and fair elections in our Nation.

They want to make it very difficult for people to be able to register to vote. They want to make it very difficult for people to be able to actually vote on election day. That is their goal. Their goal is to suppress the vote, not to make it easier to vote in our Nation.

Rather than working with Democrats on this issue, they are just going ``my way or the highway.'' They are just

going in a direction which tries to save the Republican majority this year. The SAVE Act is to save the majority for the Republicans that is right now in serious jeopardy.

Even today, we see that the latest news is attacks upon further Iranian natural gas fields, which is leading to a further spike in the price for oil and gas and home heating oil in the United States of America. People are being shaken upside down at the pumps in our country. People are now paying upwards of 90 cents or a buck more for a gallon of gasoline. That is going to mean, over the course of a year, $400, $500 more out of the pockets of every American family.

It is a tax. This war that is illegally and unconstitutionally being run by Trump in the Middle East, in the Persian Gulf, is a tax first on Americans, who will have to pay for that war in higher taxes, and then, as they hit the pump or pay their home heating oil bill or their natural gas bill or their electricity bill, they are going to pay another tax in terms of the higher price they have to pay on top of the price for lost lives. That is the highest price of all. And those lives are being lost in the conduct of an illegal war.

It is all now coming back to our homeland. It is all coming back to the price of oil, of electricity, of natural gas, of home heating oil that every American family is going to have to pay.

The only way to solve this problem is to end that war because as the price of a barrel of oil goes from $70 a barrel to $80 a barrel to $90 a barrel to $110 a barrel, that then gets translated at the pump into $3.40 a gallon, $3.80 a gallon, $4 a gallon, $4.20 a gallon, and it is just going to continue to rise and rise and rise as long as this war continues.

So it is absolutely imperative that Trump end this war because families at home are paying the price. It is directly translatable into every single product which is purchased in our country, from food, to the price of airline tickets, to the price of transporting on trucks every single good across our country. That gets built into the price for everything that people are going to be buying this year.

So all I can say is that is what we should be debating on here. We should be debating that war. We should be debating the impact it is having on our economy.

The stark difference between the priorities of both parties is on display here on the Senate floor right now.

The Republicans are trying to suppress the vote so that voters are going to have a more difficult time in reflecting their views on election day this year on this dramatic spike in home heating oil, gasoline, electricity, and natural gas prices in our country. They don't want people to be able to easily vote on them.

They don't want people to be able to easily vote on the fact that 22 million Americans have seen a dramatic spike in their premiums for their healthcare insurance in our Nation.

They don't want it to be easy at all for people to be able to vote on the price of food or the effect which naming the head of the World Wrestling Federation to be the head of the Department of Education is having upon children's ability to get access to the education they need in every city and town in our Nation, the destruction of the Department of Education. That is cascading down into every community as well. That is reducing funding and requiring communities to talk about raising taxes at the local level.

All of that is what we should be debating out here on the floor, and what the Republicans are saying is: No, we want a debate about suppression of the vote--reducing the number of people who can easily access the ballot box this fall in order to express their views on all of their policies.

So that is really why we are here today. We are here in order to witness the Republicans' lack of priorities, their lack of focus upon the issues which the American people care most about--gasoline prices, electricity prices, natural gas prices, home heating oil prices--as they watch every day this dramatic rise in those prices as a result of the war in the Persian Gulf--the war illegally declared by Donald Trump--with an escalation again today.

Every time they hit all of those energy facilities in the Middle East, we pay the price. Every consumer, every family pays the price at their kitchen table as they try to figure out their payment of the bill that they are responsible to pay for their family for energy in our country.

So that is what we should be debating, and it should be an all-out debate. We should be having hearings on this issue. We are not having those hearings. We are not having that debate. The only thing the Republicans want to talk about is the suppression of the vote-- especially in minority communities and especially in the States that have the highest probability of electing Democratic Senators and House Members this year.

That is what this is all about. It is why Trump tried to cut a deal with Minneapolis on the day that Alex Pretti was murdered, and the White House, his administration, said to Minnesota: If you give us access to your voting rolls, then we will negotiate with you on pulling ICE out. Then they sent Tulsi Gabbard into Georgia just to try to grab all of the election materials at Fulton County--all as a prelude to, as the President says, the invocation of the Insurrection Act, which means the activation of the Marines and the Army in order to be deployed on election day in 2026 to suppress the vote. And we know where he wants to do that--in the States that they are most afraid of losing this year to the Democratic Party.

When he talks about the nationalization of elections, of course it is in complete violation of the U.S. Constitution, which gives that power to the States.

So we are heading towards a constitutional crisis later on this year. Donald Trump is a walking, talking constitutional crisis roaming around the Oval Office every single day trying to figure out how to avoid any accountability, any checks and balances that would be imposed by the U.S. Congress or by the Supreme Court upon his actions.

That is where we are right now. That is the status of the United States of America, and that is why Democrats are going to be standing up and making this case to the American people that they are trying to suppress the vote in order to protect all the impacts which their misbegotten policies have had upon American families in our country. They are living with the consequences economically at home.

Republicans today, by their actions, with their attempt to pass their ``Steal the Election Act,'' are trying to make it very difficult for the American people to make the Republican Party accountable.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, in a moment, I will ask unanimous consent that the Senate pass the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA 2.0, bipartisan legislation that would finally update our children's online privacy law for the modern internet age.

More than 25 years ago, I passed the original Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. At that time, the internet looked very different than it does today. Only birds tweeted 25 years ago. TikTok was the sound that a clock made. But one thing that has not changed, children and teens deserve privacy, they deserve safety, and they deserve protection online.

Unfortunately, Big Tech's business model has evolved far faster than our laws. Today, the largest online platforms collect enormous amounts of personal data from the users, including from children and from teenagers. That data fuels an advertising machine designed to keep young people clicking, swiping, and scrolling for as long as possible.

These ads are big business for Big Tech. In 2022, the major Big Tech platforms earned nearly $11 billion from U.S. users 17 and under. This model has real consequences for the well-being of our young people--$11 billion.

And we are facing a youth mental health crisis in this country, driven in part by social media platforms.

I have said these statistics on the floor before, but they bear repeating. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in four teenage high school girls in the United States seriously considered suicide in 2023.

At least one in eight high school girls in the United States in 2023 attempted suicide. Among LGBTQ+ youth, the number is more than one in five who attempted suicide in 2023.

Congress has a responsibility to respond. COPPA 2.0 does exactly that. It brings our children's privacy law into the 21st century and gives young people and their families meaningful control over their personal information.

First, COPPA 2.0 bans targeted advertising to children and teenagers. The days of building detailed behavioral profiles on young people in order to serve them manipulative, hyperpersonalized ads--that era must come to an end. That is what we are talking about in this legislation here today--ending that era in our country.

Second, the legislation creates an ``eraser'' button, allowing children and teens and their parents to delete the personal data that platforms have collected about them.

Third, COPPA 2.0, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0, establishes strong limits on the collection of personal information from minors. If a platform, for example, does not need a child's or a teen's data to provide the service, it should not be collecting that data in the first place.

These are simple, commonsense protections, and they have broad bipartisan support.

I am very, very proud to have worked over the last 3 years with my friend Senator Cassidy from Louisiana on constructing this legislation and moving it to the floor here today. He is a physician, and he is someone who believes in preventive care. That is what this bill is today. It just avoids much of the harm that otherwise will be imposed upon teenagers and children in our country.

I also want to thank Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and many other Members in this body who have helped move this legislation forward.

This effort has also been driven by parents, by advocates, by young people themselves--families who have experienced firsthand the harms that can result when online platforms prioritize profit over the safety of children.

Passing COPPA 2.0 today would represent the single most significant update to children's online privacy protections in a quarter of a century. It is long overdue. We know there is a crisis, and it would send a clear message that Congress is prepared to stand up to Big Tech and put the interests of kids and families first.

I would be remiss if I did not note what is happening across the Capitol

today. Even as the Senate works in a bipartisan manner to strengthen protections for children and teens online, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is marking up a weaker partisan version of this legislation. That proposal strips away key protections and undermines the strong bipartisan compromise that Members of this Chamber have worked for years to develop. The children in our country deserve better than a watered-down privacy bill in this online era. For kids in our country right now, online access is like oxygen for them. It is all day. It is every day. Yet we haven't updated the safety protections in 25 years.

I urge my colleagues in the House to set aside partisan differences and take up the Senate's bipartisan bill so that we can finally deliver meaningful online privacy protections for children and teenagers across our country. Young people and their families have waited long enough. That is what we will be voting on right now.

With that, I yield to my partner and my friend in this effort, the Senator from Louisiana, Senator Cassidy.

I thank my friend for his consistent support in protecting teenagers and children in our country.

With that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 304, S. 836.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments 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 with no intervening action or debate.

With that again, Mr. President, I thank Senator Cassidy. It is a historic day. We have begun this process on the Senate floor today with protections in place, which has been long overdue for teenagers and children in our country. Again, it is the ongoing assault against their privacy and undermining their mental health. So I thank everyone who participated in this, especially my friend Senator Cassidy.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, the military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel are a reckless escalation of an illegal war. Americans do not want another endless war in pursuit of regime change. Americans want to fix the affordability crisis here at home. Americans want to fund healthcare, not endless warfare. Americans want to reclaim the tax breaks for billionaires and millionaires to spend it on healthcare and education and environmental protections in our country. This war is not helping America; it

is hurting America. This war is built on lies about nuclear threats, and those lies are now costing American servicemembers' lives.

Senators got a classified briefing from the administration yesterday, and it confirmed what we already knew: This is an unnecessary and illegal war--of choice--by Donald Trump. Iran posed no immediate threat, and there is no plan to end this catastrophe.

President Trump said yesterday that he started this war because ``he had a feeling''--Donald Trump ``had a feeling,'' he said, that Iran was going to attack. There is no evidence--zero--to back this up. He has presented no evidence to back up his feeling, and that is outrageous. We should never ever start a war based on a feeling but only on facts. Donald Trump is risking the world on his whims and on his feelings.

There was a time for diplomacy and for Trump to seek congressional approval. Instead, this war will be a wrecking ball through the Middle East and must be stopped.

Any war should have the support of Congress and the American people. Trump's war has neither. This attack has not been approved by Congress and holds dangers for all Americans.

If Trump does not stop this war now, Congress must. I look forward to voting later today to support the bipartisan War Powers Resolution to stop this illegal war.

Let me be clear: This is a crisis of Trump's own creation. Iran's nuclear program was under control, thanks to the 2015 nuclear deal which severely limited Iran's enrichment program and was working to prevent Iran from producing a nuclear bomb. But Trump tore up that deal in 2018 and then bombed Iran last June. Trump claimed then that the attack obliterated Iran's nuclear program. If it did, why is he attacking now? Was he lying then or is he lying now? He was lying at some point in this process. Either it was obliterated or it wasn't.

A diplomatic solution remains the best way to permanently and verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The more Trump bombs Iran, the further we get away from diplomatic deals. We are going backwards.

Now, with the death of the Ayatollah--a terrible, repressive leader who no one will miss--there is a power vacuum in the country and more chaos. There is no guarantee that there will be a change of regime at all or that whoever replaces the Ayatollah will be any better. In fact, the replacement could be much worse than the Ayatollah.

Trump clearly sought regime change in Iran, but it is unlikely we will see it without sending ground troops, which we should not do. History teaches us that air wars alone do not force regime change. In Venezuela, we removed the leader but did not change the regime.

The future of Iran should belong to the Iranian people. I stand with them. Before the attacks, they showed extraordinary courage by peacefully taking to the streets to demand change.

As much as we all want to help and support the Iranian people, this is not a moment to impose solutions or shape outcomes from the outside, but that is what Trump is trying to do.

I left yesterday's classified briefing understanding that Trump had absolutely no plan for this war or its endgame. It is not clear at all as to whether or not their goal is to engage in regime change or not. It is not clear at all when they plan to end this war and what their goals are that will end the war. And it is very clear that they have no idea what the successor government will look like in Iran.

They are making this up as they go along in Trump's Oval Office. I know that because they clearly had no evacuation plan for the scared Americans who are now struggling to leave the region, many without answers still as to how they get out of the region. My office is doing everything we can to help Massachusetts residents who are abroad in the Middle East trying to get home. We are hearing that the State Department has no plan to help them. This is a dangerous and reckless approach to war, and these families do not deserve to be in the crosshairs.

I am pressuring the State Department to act quickly and decisively to help bring these families home safely. It is day 5, and it is unacceptable that they still do not have a clear plan in the Trump administration as to how to evacuate all of these Americans who are caught in this Middle Eastern conflict. There was no plan.

The best way to protect people in the region is to end this war and end it right now. President Trump is completely out of control, and Americans have already lost their lives because of it. We need to end this illegal and unnecessary war now, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.

No war with Iran.

I yield the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. President, I am so happy to come to the floor today to reopen the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. These programs deliver more than $4 billion to thousands of innovative small businesses across our country every single year.

But for nearly 5 months, these programs have been shuttered. That never should have happened.

In September, I came to the Senate floor seeking unanimous consent to pass H.R. 5100, a bipartisan bill sponsored by the chairs and ranking members of the Small Business Committee and House Science and Technology Committee to temporarily extend these programs while negotiations continued. Unfortunately, my motion was blocked and the programs abruptly shut down.

As a result, the smallest SBIR and STTR companies were hurt. Important research and development was stalled, and jobs were lost.

While I am glad to have come to an agreement, I am disappointed at the suffering that was caused by the longest shutdown in the program's history.

But we did ultimately come to an agreement. That is what we bring to the floor here today.

More than 40 years ago, Congress created the SBIR Program to serve four purposes: one, stimulate economic innovation; two, use America's small businesses to meet Federal research and development needs; three, to foster and encourage participation by minority and disadvantaged individuals in innovation; and, four, to increase private sector commercialization from Federal research and development.

Ten years later, Congress created the STTR Program to promote collaborations between small businesses and research institutions.

And since the creation of the SBIR and STTR Programs, 33,000 American small businesses have won more than $77 billion in awards.

In my own home State of Massachusetts, more than $9 billion in SBIR and STTR funding has been won by more than 2,600 small businesses in Massachusetts. It has been the engine of growth out on our tech belt.

The SBIR, STTR Programs have been overwhelmingly successful in supporting innovative small businesses and their technologies. This is just great news here. Data shows that 60 percent of all awardees in the past 5 years are first-time winners. The SBIR Program has returned anywhere from $22 to $33 for every $1 spent by the program that is pushed into our economy. And through SBIR and STTR funding, small businesses have created cutting-edge lifesaving medical breakthroughs. In fact--this is an unbelievable number--one out of every eight FDA- approved drugs is linked to the SBIR and STTR Programs.

SBIR funding ultimately led to the creation of a drug to treat COVID- 19 infections, a medication that treats HIV infections, new treatments for Alzheimer's disease, a continuous glucose monitoring device for type 1 diabetics, and even the world's smallest heart pump--SBIR, STTR.

These programs have also led to the creation of technologies we take for granted, such as GPS, wireless communications systems, and even self-automated vacuum cleaners.

Simply put, the benefits of the SBIR and STTR Programs touch our lives far more than most people realize. It has unleashed a cornucopia of innovation that now is a part of every American family's lives, and we must keep this program funded and going.

The American people deserve to have access to the most innovative technologies. Our brave men and women who defend our freedom deserve to be equipped with the best available technology to keep themselves and all of us at home safe as Senator Ernst said. Our families and our friends who are battling illnesses deserve access to the most effective breakthrough treatments that innovation can offer.

For the Federal Government to continue investing in the most innovative technologies, SBIR and STTR funding must continue to be based purely on the strength of an idea, the best ideas our country has. That is the spirit of Darwinian paranoia-inducing competition, which is the heart of our system in our country.

So now, after 5 months of the programs' lapse, I am proud that the chair and I have negotiated a bipartisan agreement that does not automatically eliminate any small business from the program. Unlike previous proposals that would have automatically kicked out more than 50 successful small businesses across 20 States and severely curtailed hundreds of small businesses, this reauthorization would allow small businesses to continue innovating and creating groundbreaking technology for our country.

In an attempt to preserve quality proposals, this legislation requires each Agency with an SBIR and STTR Program to place a ceiling on the number of proposals that any small business can submit. The ceiling must be placed in one of three categories: one, a proposal limit per fiscal year; two, a proposal limit per solicitation; or, three, a proposal limit per topic.

This language provides Agencies the flexibility to administer these programs in a manner that best promotes innovation.

I recently met with Agency officials across the administration, including at the Pentagon, to ensure this language would not hinder the development of cutting-edge technologies to protect our country. I received assurances from the Pentagon--the largest awarding SBIR and STTR Agency--that the provision would be implemented on a per-topic basis and no company would be unfairly targeted. That means any small business can take their best shot at solving any problem the government--the NIH, the Defense Department--poses, and Agencies can secure the most innovative solutions.

I will continue to hold this administration accountable and fight to maintain the merit-based nature of these programs.

This reauthorization also includes several new improvements for the SBIR and STTR communities.

The bill retains the bipartisan 2022 foreign due diligence program, which requires Agencies to create a process to communicate with small businesses if they have been flagged for a foreign risk, and explicitly ends the blacklisting of companies. This transparency measure allows small businesses the opportunity to address any foreign risk they pose, likely unknown to them.

Two, the bill expands direct to phase II authority to the Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This will fast-

track clean and cutting-edge technology.

Three, the bill preserves STTR Program funding for universities and research institutions.

Four, the bill directs Agencies to train contracting officers so that SBIR-STTR technologies can more effectively transition to commercialization.

Five, it allows any unused fiscal year 2026 funding to be carried over so that no SBIR or STTR funding is lost as a result of the program's lapse. Therefore, that funding can be used next year.

Finally, the bill reauthorizes the program until 2031, giving some stability, some reliability, some certainty to small businesses, which they need after a tumultuous 5 months.

Throughout this process, I knew any agreement had to have broad support, and that is why it was so important to get input from all stakeholders and receive assurances from the implementing Agencies. So while this legislation does not include every improvement--I would like to see or make programs permanent--it is a bipartisan product that resulted from a negotiation between the chair and myself as the ranking member.

The agreement now immediately reopens the programs so that we can once again stake our position on the world stage, empowering our most nimble companies in our country and our nimble allies around the world in the innovation ecosystem to partner with our brilliant small businesses to make the technological breakthroughs to put us at the cutting-edge of world leadership.

I thank you, Mr. President, and I thank you, Madam Chair, for our work together.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today because, once again, the sitting President of the United States has threatened something antithetical to our democracy, something patently unconstitutional and unlawful, something that should give every single American pause. Donald Trump has now suggested that he might nationalize our elections. Trump has suggested that the Federal executive branch should take over elections, which, under our Constitution, belong to the States.

So let me be clear. This is not a policy disagreement. This is not a gray area. This is not a novel constitutional question. This is, flatly, outright, unquestionably, unconstitutional. The Framers could not have been more clear. Article I, section 4 of the Constitution places the times, the places, and the manner of Federal elections in the hands of the States, not in the hands of the President, not the White House, not in an Executive order. There is no clause in the Constitution or law on the books--none--that allows a President to commandeer State election systems--no emergency power, no implied authority, no ``because I just say so.'' The President's role is to faithfully execute the laws, not to rewrite the Constitution when the facts or the voters displease him.

Yet here we are. Donald Trump's dangerous threat rests on a familiar and thoroughly discredited premise that American elections are rigged, fraudulent, or illegitimate. That claim has been examined exhaustively and has been rejected everywhere it has been tested. State election officials--Republicans and Democrats alike--certified the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Courts across the country rejected claims of widespread fraud. Federal judges appointed by Presidents of both parties dismissed these cases for a lack of evidence.

There was no stolen election. There was no massive fraud. There was no justification, then or now, for the Federal seizure of elections. To suggest otherwise is not really wrong; it is reckless. And it is exclusively intended, ultimately, for the President to take over the elections in November of this year so he can rig the elections so that Democrats cannot win the House and Senate. That is what is at the heart of what the President is trying to do.

What is most alarming is not just that Donald Trump spoke those words, but that so many congressional Republicans have refused to say plainly what the Constitution requires. Silence in the face of an unconstitutional power grab is not neutrality. It is acquiescence to the undermining of the U.S. Constitution. Our system of government depends on elected officials who are willing to say no, especially to a President of their own party when the Constitution is at stake.

The Founders divided power deliberately. They placed elections close to the people. They rejected centralized control because they understood that democracy cannot survive when the Executive controls the ballot.

That principle is not optional. It is structural. It is foundational. It is what the Founding Fathers built into the system to make sure that we did not have a King, that we did not have a Monarch. They built it in this way so that the representative government would be selected at the local level, that the elections would be conducted at the local level--no taxation without representation.

They were fighting to create a House and Senate. They were fighting to put checks on King George. They were fighting to make sure that ultimately no latter-day King George--King Donald--could emerge that would then seek to impose his will on the people.

And that is why we have a Senate. That is why we have a House of Representatives--no taxation without representation--ensuring that each community, each State, has their own representatives selected in elections conducted by the voters in that State, by the leaders in that State.

And if the President were to attempt by order, directive, or coercion to nationalize or commandeer State-run elections, that action would be unconstitutional; it would be illegal; and it would be without effect. It would be a violation of the Constitution.

And let me be clear about one final point: Such a brazen attempt would not merely be unlawful; it would also be impeachable. A President who seeks to seize control of elections is attacking the constitutional order itself, and that is precisely the kind of abuse of power for which impeachment exists, not as a partisan weapon but as a constitutional safeguard against the usurpation of the electoral process in our

country by a would-be King, Donald Trump.

That is what they were protecting against. They anticipated, in drafting the Constitution, the emergence of Donald Trump, the emergence of someone who said we should nationalize the elections, the emergence of someone who said that he could invoke the Insurgency act in order to put marines--an army--on the streets of America during election times in order to serve the will of the President so that he would not have the checks and balances of the leaders of the other party being able to control the gavels to be able to subpoena him.

So in a moment, I will seek unanimous consent to pass my resolution expressing the sense of the Senate on these indisputable points. President Trump cannot nationalize our Federal elections. Our Constitution prohibits it.

Our Constitution was established in order to make sure that a President cannot subvert elections at the State level. And if he tried to, he would be committing an impeachable offense against the Constitution of the United States, and he would have to have been tried then in the House and the Senate on that impeachable offense.

This resolution draws a bright line. It affirms what should never need reaffirming, that elections belong to the States, the Constitution belongs to the people, and no President--ever--stands above either.

The Senate should speak with one voice on this question tonight. The Constitution demands the Senate speak with one voice tonight. Democracy requires that the Senate speak with one voice tonight, that it is an impeachable offense to nationalize elections which the Constitution requires be conducted at the State level.

So with that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 605; that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Reserving the right to object.

The objection we just heard to my resolution proves exactly why this resolution that we should be debating is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that President Trump does not, in fact, nationalize--or attempt to nationalize our elections.

And this unanimous consent request is not about the SAVE Act. It is not about voter registration policy. It is not about partisan election administration debates. It is about something far more fundamental: whether the President of the United States may unilaterally nationalize elections that the Constitution places squarely in the hands of the States. Those are separate issues and no amount of legislative deflection can change that.

The SAVE Act that the gentleman from Florida is speaking to right now is a policy proposal, one that many of us oppose because it would impose rigid documentation requirements, disenfranchise eligible voters, burden State election officials, and do nothing--nothing--to address a problem that does not meaningfully exist.

But today, the resolution I am bringing out is not about that legislation. It is about constitutional limits on Presidential power. No act of Congress--the SAVE Act or otherwise--would give a President authority to seize control of State-run elections. That power does not exist; it cannot be created; and it cannot be exercised by Executive fiat.

So let us not confuse the issue, and let us not allow anyone to dodge it. The President suggested nationalizing elections. That suggestion is unconstitutional; it is illegal; and if acted upon, it would be grounds for impeachment. The Senate should be able to say that clearly without diversion, without delay, and without changing the subject.

I urge my colleagues: Do not silence or allow procedural maneuvering to excuse an assault on the very Constitution itself, and that is what the motion from the Senator from Florida is intended to achieve, and therefore, I object.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Patricia Harrison, president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as she concludes her service at the close of a historic chapter for public media in America.

Throughout her tenure, Ms. Harrison ensured that CPB's investments strengthened service to local communities and delivered lasting public value. In Massachusetts, those investments supported some of the Nation's most trusted and innovative public media organizations: advancing education, journalism, and civic engagement.

Under her leadership, CPB supported PBS LearningMedia, expanding online access to high-quality, free educational resources for students, educators, and families across the Commonwealth and the country. CPB also backed children's programming produced in Massachusetts that reflects both educational rigor and creativity, including Work It Out Wombats!, Ruff Ruffman, and Molly of Denali, helping young learners build critical thinking skills while seeing themselves reflected on screen.

Ms. Harrison also championed Massachusetts-based journalism and documentary storytelling that informs our democracy. CPB's support enabled nationally recognized programming such as FRONTLINE, American Experience, and NOVA, as well as impactful storytelling like ``My Home Is Here: Stories from Rural America'' and ``American Veteran,'' which elevate voices often overlooked in national discourse.

Across education, civics, journalism, and cultural storytelling, Patricia Harrison led CPB with integrity, accountability, and a clear commitment to the public interest. Her legacy is deeply felt in Massachusetts and across the Nation.

Mr. President, I rise today because the United States, once again, stands on the brink of a dangerous and unnecessary war, one that neither the American people nor the elected representatives whom they sent here to Washington have authorized and one that risks yet another endless conflict that will drain our coffers and cost American lives.

President Trump took military action against Venezuela without the express consent of Congress. The Constitution is clear: The power to declare war belongs to the people through their elected Representatives in Congress. That authority is not optional; it is not symbolic. It is actually a pillar of democratic accountability when it comes to matters of war and peace, to life and death.

The Senate has now spoken with a clear bipartisan voice: Trump must end his dangerous and illegal military action in Venezuela now. This Senate must speak with a bipartisan voice, especially if there is no prior congressional authorization. It must stop today.

If the Trump administration believes military force against Venezuela is necessary, the Constitution provides a clear and lawful path forward: go to Congress and make the case to the American people. If President Trump cannot make that case, then he has no business launching military strikes, killing civilians, and putting American servicemembers in harm's way.

Even after yesterday's classified briefing from ``Secretary of War Crimes'' Pete Hegseth, we all left with far more questions than answers: What will this unending occupation cost the American people? Why did the administration, led by Secretary Rubio, lie about regime change? Which is next: Greenland? Cuba? Colombia? Mexico?

But one answer is perfectly clear: the answer to the question of why Trump and Rubio did this. It is obvious. This is not a war for the Venezuelan people. It is not a war for democracy. This is an illegal war for oil. It is a coup for crude on behalf of big oil companies in our country. It is just like ``The Godfather Part I.'' Trump made Venezuela an offer it couldn't refuse. Capturing Maduro is the head in the bed. We are holding their country hostage for the foreseeable future until Venezuela gives up its resources. We are stealing their oil at gunpoint.

Trump told Big Oil CEOs that he would help them if they paid his campaign $1 billion just a year ago, and he has already given them countless tax breaks and nearly unlimited access to our public lands and waters, killing wind, killing solar, killing all-electric vehicles, killing anything that gets in the way of the agenda of the oil and natural gas industry in our country, and now--now--he is giving them Venezuela. We know he told oil execs before and after the invasion about his plans for Venezuela, not Members of Congress and not the American people.

He said to the oil companies: Get ready. Something is going to happen.

So the oil companies knew, but the American people did not. The President would not brief the U.S. Senate before the invasion. Secretary Rubio said that you can't trust the U.S. Senate, but they trusted oil companies to know; that they should get ready and that something was going to happen. On top of that, he is promising these very same oil companies that stand to get rich by selling the oil that they will get reimbursed by the American taxpayers whom they already charge through the nose for their products.

This war is not for the American people. It is for oil CEOs to profit off of instead of the American people. Chevron's stock? It is up. Americans' stock? It is down. Their bill will be paid by everyday Americans during the days to come as Trump tries to get us in a new war without end.

The Trump administration must immediately halt further military strikes in Venezuela, whether it is at sea or on land, and come to Congress if it believes force is justified. If President Trump cannot make his case to the American people and our elected representatives, then he has no business using military force and putting American servicemembers in harm's way.

So it is absolutely imperative that the Members of the U.S. Senate go on record. We are going to uphold our constitutional obligation before we commit our military to further operations in Venezuela. We must put them on record before they commit our military in Greenland. We must put them on record on the Republican side before our troops--our military--are committed in Cuba or in Colombia or in Mexico. This body must go on record. We must reclaim our constitutional prerogatives that are built into article I of the U.S. Constitution. That is the job which we must do, and that is what the American people expect from us.

Mr. President, I want to thank Dan Ohlstein for all of the great service which he has given to our country.

With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Daniel Ohlstein, a fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the rest of this month.

Mr. President, 5 years ago, Donald Trump incited a vicious MAGA mob to storm the U.S. Capitol with one goal: to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election.

Fortunately, Trump and his gang of violent extremists failed in their mission to undermine our democracy that day, but make no mistake, Donald Trump continues to bear direct responsibility for this disgraceful attack, an attack that forever scarred our political system and scarred our Nation.

We cannot, and we must not forget, what happened on January 6, 2021. That morning, my colleagues and I started the day in this Chamber, ready to fulfill our constitutional duty to ratify the electoral college votes that would elect Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States, a peaceful duty undertaken by Congress after every Presidential election since 1789.

But by the afternoon, the peaceful transition of power was obstructed by armed rioters sent to us by Donald Trump. Trump's vicious mob forced its way into the Capitol Building armed with firearms, bear spray, and baseball bats. The rioters beat U.S. Capitol Police officers with flagpoles bearing the American flag itself.

They blinded officers with chemical sprays. They smashed windows and caused millions of dollars in damage to our temple of democracy. They hunted for lawmakers in the Halls of this building. They called for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence. For several hours, American democracy hung by a thread.

Those people came into this Chamber. They desecrated this Chamber. They went through the desks of the Members of the Senate here. They hung from the walls of this Chamber. They did the same thing to the House of Representatives. They were looking for House and Senate Members that they could capture.

And our Parliamentarians, they actually took the electoral college votes out of the well of the Senate and whisked them off to safety, and we thank the Parliamentarians for their courage that day.

The insurrection, however, resulted in the deaths of several of our officers here and injuries to more than 140 members of law enforcement, who were here trying to protect the Members, trying to protect the building, trying to protect the electoral college votes.

Just this morning, I spoke to a Capitol Police officer who stood shoulder to shoulder with Officer Brian Sicknick on January 6. He was with Officer Sicknick who collapsed in the Capitol after being assaulted by insurrectionists and, tragically, passed away the next day, trying to protect this institution, trying to protect democracy.

And to this day, the brave officers who defended Congress bear the scars, physical and mental, of that dark day. And thanks to these brave officers, the rioters were ultimately pushed out and lawmakers returned that night, as I could sit at this desk after 9 p.m. that night to return so that we could, in fact, ensure that Joe Biden was certified as the President of the United States, as the winner of the 2020 election. And democracy, though bent and battered and bruised, was not broken. That is what we are remembering here this evening.

But today, we confront something that perhaps is even more sinister than the heinous violence that occurred that day. Today, we face the systemic attempt by supposed leaders, by Trump and rightwing MAGA Republicans, to erase and rewrite the truth of January 6, whitewashing the violence of the riot and calling it a ``day of love.''

I invite everyone in this Chamber and across the country to watch the footage of that day, to ask the colleagues and families of those law enforcement officers who were hurt and killed that day if they see January 6, 2021, as a ``day of love.''

On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned the January 6 criminals en masse. He gave amnesty to the insurrectionists, rightfully charged with and legitimately convicted of assaulting law enforcement with dangerous weapons in this building as they protected democracy.

And as one of the first official acts of President Trump, as he came back into power in January of 2025, President Trump chose not to lower costs for the American people or to end Putin's war in Ukraine in 1 day, as he promised, and instead on his first day in office, Donald Trump chose to betray the brave law enforcement officers who protect us day in and day out. He chose to erase the crimes committed that day for his personal political benefit.

He chose to send the chilling message that political violence in his name would not only be condoned, it would be rewarded. Trump and his rightwing MAGA supporters hailed those who carried Confederate flags and symbols of White supremacy as patriots. That is gaslighting on steroids. The true patriots are our brave Capitol Police officers who fought on the frontline and held the line for as long as they possibly could. The true patriots are the Americans that stand up for democracy and speak out against authoritarianism. The true patriots are Americans who refused to bend the knee to wannabe Kings.

Trump will continue to lie about what happened here on January 6, 2021, but the video, the texts, the personal messages from that day do not. We all saw what happened that day. We all heard what happened that day. We cannot and we must never forget what happened that day.

January 6 was not an isolated incident. It was the first page in Trump's authoritarian playbook. It marked the start of Trump's sustained attack on our democracy, on the legitimacy of our elections, on our government institutions. In just the last year, Trump has unlawfully imprisoned international students for their speech. He has exacted revenge on his political rivals. He has deployed troops in our cities to do his bidding. He has ignored court orders. He has engaged in unauthorized and illegal acts of war. And now, Trump and MAGA Republicans have set their sights on the 2026 election.

They are rigging the system in their favor by peddling lies and misinformation, by enacting partisan gerrymandering schemes and by restricting access to the ballot for millions of Americans. Five years later, Donald Trump remains laser focused on sabotaging our free and fair elections in the United States of America. This President has no regard or respect for the Constitution. This President has no regard or respect for the rule of law. This President has no regard or respect for our most sacred values as a nation. He is testing our democracy day in and day out.

And in the face of this historic test, every American must denounce the actions of those who chose to subvert our Constitution on January 6. Every American must condemn those who continue to side with lawlessness and authoritarianism over the basic principles of American democracy, equality, freedom, and the peaceful transfer of power.

Every American must stand up and say no to this wannabe King. On the 250th anniversary of our country's founding, a founding that began in Massachusetts, on Lexington Green and in Concord with ``the shot heard round the world,'' we are once again saying we will stand up for democracy. Our future demands it. We ourselves must summon the courage to fight to protect a democracy that began 250 years ago. We must show the same courage to take on a king, a dictator, a despot in the same way that those minutemen and women 250 years ago displayed their courage.

Those great patriots, they did create a Constitution under which we live here, but that is now under assault. So it is up to us to stand up--and by the way, to redeem the courage of all of those police officers, all those law enforcement officers who gave their lives and their own personal health in order to protect this institution. That is what we remember today, and we must never forget it.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I was prepared to come to the floor today to seek unanimous consent to pass H.R. 5100, a bill to temporarily extend the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs until September 30, 2026.

However, because Senator Ernst is unavailable to state her objection to the bill, I have decided not to call for unanimous consent at this time.

I want to express my condolences to Senator Ernst, a combat veteran who served in the Iowa National Guard, for the tragedy in Syria that killed two and injured three Iowa National Guard members.

The bill I would have brought to the floor today would have re-opened the SBIR and STTR programs, which have been shut down now for more than 70 days. The bill was unanimously passed by the House, led by the Republican chairs of the House Small Business Committee and House Science Committee.

Since the SBIR and STTR programs closed their doors, I have heard from hundreds of small businesses across the country that are being forced to lay off employees, cease critical research, and may soon have to close their doors for good. Passing H.R. 5100 is not just a matter of policy; it is about whether small innovative companies can survive. This is the only real path that will immediately reopen this program while we continue to negotiate. Each day the program is shut down, the further behind our innovation economy falls.

The fate of this program lies in the hands of six negotiators: the chair and ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee, the chair and ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, and the chair and ranking member of the House Science

Committee. Five of these six negotiators agree that the best path forward is to temporarily extend the SBIR and STTR programs, to keep them running while we continue to negotiate reforms and a longer reauthorization. We have been working to try and find a path forward for a long-term reauthorization and will continue to do so, but we have yet to find a solution that does not irreparably harm innovative small businesses, nor have we found a solution that meaningfully addresses foreign due diligence concerns. The SBIR and STTR programs have produced technologies that have changed Americans' lives: the world's smallest heart pump, new cancer therapies, Alzheimer Disease treatments, GPS, and Qualcomm wireless communications systems.

I am disappointed that these programs have been forced to shut down, ending funding for the most cutting-edge technologies being developed by our most nimble allies, small businesses. I am disappointed that a company in Pennsylvania may have to cease scaling their patented brake technology due to the lapse in the programs. I am disappointed that a company in Virginia producing the next generation of energy technologies is being forced to put their research on hold until these programs are re-opened. And I am disappointed that a company in Texas must put its progress towards unlocking unprecedented spacecraft maneuvering for our Agencies on hold.

Just because we are unable to come to a long-term solution today does not mean we should decimate a critical part of our innovation ecosystem by keeping these programs closed. In May, I introduced a 52-page bill with my long-term vision for the programs. I want to provide small businesses with the certainty they deserve by making the programs permanent, ensuring we do not watch the clock hit zero like this again.

I want to increase how much Agencies are required to allocate for these programs to maximize our innovation potential. I want to strengthen our commercialization efforts through allowing direct to phase II authority for all Agencies, as well as better data collection, better training, and specifically designated commercialization officers. I want to increase the number of new entrants by reauthorizing and codifying new programs that aim to reach underserved populations. And, like all of my colleagues, I want to make sure that our technology never falls into the hands of our adversaries.

That is why I want to continue the bipartisan foreign due diligence program enacted in 2022, which has already successfully identified and mitigated foreign risk in its short period of implementation. If it were just up to me, I would want my bill to pass tomorrow. However, I understand that is not possible. That is why I have joined the four House negotiators in supporting a temporary extension while we figure out the long-term path forward that not only preserves our innovation ecosystem but supercharges it.

As a long-time champion of the SBIR and STTR programs, I will continue to fight to protect the innovation ecosystem and the small businesses that support it.

Mr. President, I rise to acknowledge the leadership of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual head of more than 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. As the 269th direct successor to the Apostle Andrew and the 270th Ecumenical Patriarch, he represents a centuries-old tradition of faith, service, and moral guidance that has shaped communities around the globe.

His All-Holiness recently visited the United States, where he continued a tradition of engagement with U.S. leaders. While in Washington, DC, he participated in meetings with bipartisan congressional leaders in the U.S. Capitol, reinforcing the long- standing friendship between our country and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

While in the United States, His All-Holiness was honored with the Templeton Prize, joining a select group of global figures recognized for their spiritual vision and commitment to faith and leadership. His presence in our country highlighted both the continuity of Orthodox Christianity and the enduring need for moral and spiritual leadership in the modern world.

Mr. President, today, I rise in support of the legislation that is going to be considered here on the Senate floor tomorrow to extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits so that we can lower the healthcare costs for 22 million Americans.

Those Americans get that protection today. If the Republicans do not vote for that protection to be continued tomorrow, then 22 million Americans and their families are going to see a dramatic rise in their healthcare bills beginning the end of this year. This threat is looming over those families. It is 22 million Americans.

By the way, it is 10 million Americans who either own small businesses or work in small businesses. So we are talking about Main Street America. Ten million of the 22 million people actually work for small businesses in America, so for them, this is going to be a bill that they are going to be receiving in the mail. And we are talking Main Street America. We are talking Republicans turning Main Street into ``Pain Street'' for 10 million small business employees and owners.

Tomorrow is the Republicans' opportunity not to see this dramatic rise, this skyrocketing price, be passed on to them. It is going to be devastating to them. These are not rich people, these small business workers and owners. They go week to week. They go month to month. These aren't big businesspeople; these are small businesses. They are Main Street people, and they are about to get crushed. That is the vote that the Republicans are going to cast tomorrow.

It is going to lead to a $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $10,000 a year increase in the premiums they have to pay for the coverage for their families. It is going to be devastating to those families.

The very fact that President Trump and the Republicans are only just allowing a vote on continuing these critical tax credits just 2 weeks before all these families have to make their decision--it is only 2 weeks to go, and then they have to send the check in to get the coverage for January 1. So the Republicans have waited until 2 weeks left to go.

In Massachusetts, it is December 23. That is the last day, and people have to send in the check to cover. It is 2 days before Christmas. Can you imagine 22 million families all trying to figure out how they are going to write that check for a dramatic increase in their healthcare 2 days before Christmas? That is what the Republicans are setting up across our country--22 million people who are all going to have this financial bomb go off on their kitchen tables. It is going to make it harder to buy presents. It is going to make it harder for these families actually to plan for 2026. And it is all because these Republicans aren't willing to do it.

Honestly, it just shows how unserious the Republicans are about addressing affordability for families at the kitchen table. The cost of living in this country is skyrocketing. And it is not just the healthcare bill for these 22 million people; healthcare across the country is skyrocketing--just skyrocketing. Instead of trying to deal with it, the Republicans are doing nothing--nothing--to solve the problem.

It is no surprise because the Republicans have harbored an ancient animosity toward all these Federal healthcare programs. The Republicans voted no on Social Security in 1935. They voted no on Medicare. They voted no Medicaid. They voted no on the Affordable Care Act. Today, they are trying to destroy the vaccine regime we have in our country. They are withholding by the billions research on cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson's, and other diseases that need more research. They are pulling back the funding for that. That is what they are leaving as a legacy for families this Christmas in our country. Ultimately, health is the first wealth. That is what Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great Massachusetts poet, said. That is what the Republicans are now trying to loot on behalf of their billionaire buddies, because all the money is just going to be shuffled off to billionaires.

So this is without question just a continuation of their efforts. They tried to stop Medicare. They tried to stop Social Security. They tried and they failed to kill the Affordable Care Act. Now they are trying to eliminate the tax credits that help people afford their health insurance.

In Massachusetts, for example, it is 60,000 small businesses and their owners who rely on these tax credits to afford health insurance for themselves and their families.

Here is what Trump says. Trump says affordability is a ``hoax.'' He is saying to these families: What you are now saying is a hoax.

He has called affordability a ``con job.'' But the only hoax, the only con job is Trump and the Republicans repeatedly promising a cheaper alternative to the Affordable Care Act and instead offering nothing--absolutely nothing. That is where they have been.

The Affordable Care Act went on the books in 2010. For 15 years, they have been promising that they would have an alternative.

There used to be a television show, ``Perry Mason,'' and he was a lawyer. He always had very difficult cases, and in the final 5 minutes of each one of the shows, Della Street, his great associate, would show up with the critical evidence that would then solve the case.

Well, it has been 15 years, and we have been waiting for the Republican Della Street to show up with the paper, with the document that is going to solve this healthcare crisis that the Republicans, with crocodile tears, year after year say that they care so much about. And they are not going to show up with a plan.

There is a great play, ``Waiting for Godot.'' Of course, at the end of ``Waiting for Godot,'' Godot never shows up. And this healthcare solution that the Republicans have been promising for 15 years--it is not going to show up tomorrow. As a result, 22 million Americans are going to lose their coverage. They are going to have to pay exorbitantly higher prices for their healthcare coverage than they have to pay today.

So this week, Trump, in a self-grading exercise, graded his economy an A+++++. That is five pluses that Donald Trump gave himself. But I think

most Americans right now are giving him an F. Why? I will tell you simply. The cost of groceries is up. The cost of electricity is way up. The cost of housing is way up. The cost of healthcare, because of Republicans, is way up, and they are even going to complicate it more tomorrow.

They are going to have their own scarlet letter for the next year that they are going to have to walk around with--an ``H'' for healthcare--on their forehead, because they are just going to be branding themselves, as opposed to providing the healthcare for all these hard-working families across our country.

And when the backbone of our economy, small businesses, can no longer afford their premiums, they will make tough decisions about hiring, about growing, or even closing their doors for good--turning, again, Main Streets all across our country into ``Pain Streets.'' And it is all going to be in the mail in just the next 2 weeks, right before Christmas.

To me, it is almost unimaginable. It takes Scrooge, and it gives a whole new meaning to it in terms of what they are about to deliver as coal in the stockings of 22 million American families. They were expecting a lot more, and that is not what they are about to receive.

And so despite the fact that these costs are going up under the Trump administration, despite the fact that they plundered a trillion dollars from Medicaid, just back in July, to give a tax break to CEO billionaires, despite the fact that reckless tariffs are decimating our small businesses to the tune of $38 billion a year, somehow, OMB Director Russell Vought wants to fund the Department of Defense at more than $1 trillion. Pete Hegseth declared it would be the Defense Department's first trillion-dollar budget.

They are so proud. More nuclear weapons, more capacity just to blow up the whole world. They are very proud of that. They are very proud of the trillion dollars that they are now stealing from Medicaid, from the healthcare of every family that needs it. They are very proud of the tax breaks by the trillions that they are giving to millionaires and billionaires in our country.

But when it comes to just making sure people in our country, this Christmas, don't see a dramatic spike in the price of healthcare for them and their families, they are going: Sorry, I don't have any money.

And there is good reason. They are giving it to the Defense Department. They are giving it to millionaires and billionaires. Of course, they don't have any money.

Somebody has to pay for it, and the bill is going to be one that 22 million American families write to get their healthcare coverage for January 1, and it is going to be a skyrocketingly higher number than it was just this week.

So Donald Trump and his congressional Republicans, they just can't seem to find anything to help working families and grandma and grandpa, but they can find it for the billionaires. They can find it for the defense contractors.

And you want to talk about waste and fraud. Just look at the defense budget. You just look at it. It is just loaded with waste and fraud, but they aren't going to look there.

They are looking at the pockets of ordinary families in our country, and they are going to tip them upside down and shake the money out of their pockets, 2 days before Christmas, and make them pay more money in order to get the health coverage that their families need.

So the Republicans just care more about ``wealthcare'' than they do about healthcare. They care more about caring for the wealth of the richest than they do about the healthcare for every family in our country.

And at every opportunity, Republicans are looting healthcare from families and small businesses in order to pay for tax breaks for people who already have too much. They are robbing the American people, and they are asking the Democrats to drive the getaway car--that we should be voting to take away healthcare from ordinary families to pay for these tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

But let me just say right now, the Democrats refuse to be accomplices to this healthcare crime of destroying Americans' lives and their livelihoods and their health.

The consequences are real, and they are happening right now. In the face of skyrocketing premiums, 10,000 people in Massachusetts have already dropped their affordable care coverage for next year. That is unbelievable. And there are going to be tens of thousands more who will be following them. That is just in Massachusetts. That is already double the number of residents who typically drop coverage in a year.

And in Massachusetts, they have 2 more weeks to figure out whether or not they can afford this healthcare coverage next year, and the same thing is going to be true in 49 other States in our country and in the District of Columbia.

They are going to have to decide if they are going to keep their coverage at all, and for those who do keep it, it is going to skyrocket. And we don't know yet the final number of how many people are trading their good insurance for junk plans that have cheaper premiums but also have unaffordable deductibles. But we do know that working families will suffer while billionaires rake in the dough with great healthcare. You never have to worry about the billionaires and their healthcare. They are, in fact, giving money to build new wings on hospitals--they have so much money--to make sure they and their families get the care they need at that hospital.

But it is going to be unaffordable for the families who are going to be left behind right now. Those families are going to be heading for emergency rooms. They are not going to be getting the kind of help that they need with their family's healthcare.

So Trump told families, last night, they should ``give up pencils'' to deal with his affordability crisis, but Americans just can't give up health insurance when these tax credits expire.

Who is going to suffer from Republicans' dogged opposition to lowering healthcare prices?

I am just going to tell you a few brief stories in Massachusetts-- people like Jeffrey. Let me tell you who he is. He is a small business owner who is seeing his premiums increase by $8,400 next year. His wife died of cancer a decade ago, and by the time she passed, his family's medical bills had topped $1 million. They would have been crippled by debt without the affordable care insurance policy, which they were able to receive through the ACA plan. But his bill is now going up $8,400. Jeffrey doesn't have that money.

Second is people like a couple out in Western Massachusetts, whose annual premium is doubling, from $15,000 a year to $30,000 a year. They are going to owe $1,000 more a month for their health insurance, which is going to be bigger than their mortgage. Do you hear what I am saying, Republicans?

For this couple, health insurance is going to double and be bigger than their mortgage. Is that really what you want to say to families across our country, when we have a plan in place already that protects them and gives them the healthcare which they need for their families?

I give you a third one, people like a small business owner in Auburndale, whose premium is more than doubling to over $19,000 next year, and she cannot afford what she calls a ``painful blow to my budget.'' So she is just going to opt for a cheaper plan with less healthcare coverage for herself. She shouldn't have to make that choice. We already have a plan in place that protects her. She shouldn't have to go down in the amount of protection which she is receiving.

And then we go to Jeff. Jeff lives in Natick, and Jeff has stage IV lung cancer. And Jeff right now pays $30,000 a year to get the drugs which he needs. Do you know where his bill is going to, as of December 31, in just 3 more weeks? I am going to give you a second to think about it.

His bill is going to $300,000 a year, and Jeff does not have $300,000 a year for his stage IV lung cancer drugs.

By the way, even as I am telling these stories, there are 22 million of these stories that are all about to unfold a couple of days before Christmas, when people have to figure out how big that new check is that they have to write to get the coverage which they need.

I will just tell you one final story, which is Laurie. She is from Truro. The premium for her and her husband is

going from $6,000 a year up to $26,000 a year. And Laurie and her husband can't get coverage through an employer and are a few years from qualifying for Medicare. So they are in kind of a black hole. They are going to be left out in no man and woman's land, OK. That is where they are going to be.

And they are going without insurance next year. That is the decision they are making. And they are hoping--they are hoping with fingers crossed--that neither one of them is going to have an emergency next year.

Well, that is the Republican plan for Laurie and her husband: Just cross your fingers. Pray that no healthcare catastrophe hits your family for a year--because they cannot afford $26,000 a year, up from $6,000 a year.

So the Republicans are asking Americans to trade their health insurance for hope, but hope is not a healthcare strategy. The only thing that gives hope to families is the actions that are taken to ensure that they have access to the healthcare which they need, and they are not going to take any action on the Republican side.

And so Laurie and her husband are just going to forgo health insurance next year because their $26,000 a year is just not affordable for them.

So I will just tell you, in conclusion, what Democrats are going to offer tomorrow. It is going to be a simple, straightforward extension of the healthcare tax credits these families depend on, so that families like this don't have to rely on hope alone.

And my Republican colleagues, they are going to have a different plan. Instead of lowering people's premiums, they are going to give everyone $1,000 for their healthcare expenses. And that sounds nice in theory, but you already heard the stories of the people who are, right now, trying to figure out what they are going to do on December 23, because they actually are not going to be allowed to use that money-- the $1,000--to pay for their health insurance premiums. They actually are not going to be able to use it for that purpose.

So how is this Republican so-called healthcare plan going to help someone who works in a hardware store, who owes $12,000 a year in premiums, and has a $7,500 deductible? How does that $1,000 help anyone whose premiums will be $19,000 next year? How does $1,000 cover $19,000, which would have been covered? How does that $1,000 help a senior couple paying more for their insurance than for their mortgage?

That is not a healthcare plan. That is a ``they don't care'' plan, and that is what the Republicans are offering them--a Republican ``we don't care'' plan for 22 million American families, 2 days before Christmas. That is their plan.

Their ``Make America Sick'' agenda does nothing to help the 337,000 residents of Massachusetts who are going to be confronting skyrocketing premiums next year--22 million people across the whole country. The only people that the Republicans' plan will help are the millionaires and billionaires who already have the money to afford their premiums, and, yes, their donations to Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans to protect those billionaire tax breaks.

That is their plan. The ticking healthcare timebomb that Republicans are setting off, that Democrats have been warning about all year long, is about to go off. In Massachusetts, you have got to write the check by December 23, and that check has to be written all across our country to make sure you are covered on January 1.

And this is as families are trying to get ready for their Christmas celebrations. There won't be any celebration in those homes. They are going to be trying to figure out how to balance their budgets. They are going to be trying to figure out how to deal with all that money that is now going to be spent for that healthcare that they did not have to spend this year.

So this is going to be an absolute disaster for families, and it is avoidable. And the Republicans can avoid it, but, instead, Trump and the MAGA Republicans have traded away healthcare for tax breaks for corporations. And it is the cruelty--the absolute cruelty--- of the Trump administration, which knows no limits. And just in time for the Christmas holidays, ``President Grinch'' is stealing medication from dad, inhalers for grandma, insulin for children, toys right out from underneath the tree.

So it is absolutely essential that we vote to extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. We must listen to the American people who are begging us to help lower costs. Tomorrow, we can do that on the Senate floor.

I implore the Republicans to vote to extend these tax benefits for 22 million American families. Please do it for them.

This is going to be terrifying for 22 million people. It is going to be a terrifying Christmas for these families, and it is going to be a terrifying reality next year, when they have lost their health insurance or they cannot afford their health insurance unless they do so at the expense of all the other things which their families need.

So we have to vote to avert this crisis. We need some Republicans to join us--not many, but just enough with a conscience this Christmas to make sure that they are protected.

I just close, once again, by urging my colleagues to vote yea on our bill to protect those 22 million families.

Mr. President, this past Saturday marked 50 years since the passing of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975.

Before IDEA, children with disabilities were often institutionalized or excluded from classrooms, deprived of the support needed to achieve their God-given potential. IDEA changed that by guaranteeing every child, regardless of ability, the right to a free and appropriate public education.

The IDEA said that every child--every child--is worthy of reaching their full potential and that the Federal Government ought to provide the resources to make that possible.

Massachusetts, the birthplace of public education, first passed a State law, section 766, which established the high legal standard that would be adapted

and expanded federally as IDEA. I was proud to vote for that bill, section 766, as a State representative--one of my first votes in my career. That bill then became the law for the entire country.

In the decades since the IDEA became Federal law, students, parents, educators, administrators, and support staff have worked tirelessly to deliver the promise of a world-class education to millions of students with disabilities. But far too many students with disabilities are still waiting for their shot at a meaningful education.

The Federal Government committed to funding 40 percent of the cost to school districts of implementing the IDEA, but Congress has never fully funded special education. Right now, the Federal Government is only covering 12 percent of the tab, and that is unacceptable.

Now President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon are threatening the very foundation of public education. They are slashing education funding, stealing from children to give tax breaks to CEO billionaires and millionaires. It is Robin Hood in reverse. They are trying to destroy the Department of Education. When the Department first opened its doors, fewer than one in three students with a disability graduated from high school--only one in three. Today, that number is over 70 percent of kids with disabilities who graduate from high school. But instead of fighting to make that 100 percent, Trump and McMahon are attempting to send education for students with disabilities back to the Stone Age.

In their ``Big Ugly Bill,'' Trump and the MAGA Republicans doing his bidding also slashed Medicaid, which covers over $8 billion of school- based health services delivered to students. Medicaid funding is the fourth largest Federal funding stream for public schools.

Two weeks ago, I visited the Campus School in Boston, which is a school for students with complex disabilities and extensive support needs. During my visit, I met Natalie, a middle school student, and her mom Julia. Natalie has Dup15q syndrome, which causes serious developmental, behavioral, and medical needs, such as frequent seizures. Natalie requires 24-hour caregiving support.

Natalie's story demonstrates how crucial the IDEA is and how devastating Trump and MAGA Republicans' cuts will be to families around the country.

In April of 2023, Natalie and her mom moved to Massachusetts to seek out a safe, accessible education for her, which she was not receiving in her home State. The implementation of IDEA and outcomes for students with disabilities vary dramatically across State lines. Now Natalie is receiving the support she needs to flourish. Her school has set up an individual education plan with goals for her academic achievement, occupational therapy, communication, and motor skills. Her home school district is able to access funding from the State of Massachusetts, the IDEA, and Medicaid to cover Natalie's educational costs.

Her school pays $18 million each year to allow students like Natalie to receive the highest quality and best-fit school placements out of district. In turn, her school receives $1.7 million from IDEA funding and $500,000 in Medicaid funds to offset those costs--around 10 percent. If this Federal funding is jeopardized, the school, Natalie, and her peers, their educators, and their families will have no idea how to continue providing the level of education that these students not only deserve but are legally entitled to.

That includes the nurses, the teachers, the occupational therapists, and the school staff who work with Natalie. It includes the assistive technology that Natalie uses to communicate. Federal health and education funding give Natalie her voice. It also includes the transportation that Natalie receives to and from school each and every day.

Natalie's disability does not preclude her ability or deny her the right to receive an excellent education. At school and at home, Natalie radiates joy because she is given the support she needs to flourish. Every student with a disability is worthy of that same support, inclusion, and joy.

Natalie's mom Julia, with whom I spent a couple of hours talking, is among the strongest amongst us. Natalie's mother navigates a world that is not yet designed for her daughter to thrive without ceaseless advocacy and effort. Yet Julia says what keeps her up at night is thinking of the thousands of children just like Natalie who don't have the extensive support that her daughter has. I will tell you that Julia needs that help. It is 24 hours a day. She needs that help that is going to be slashed.

There are millions of students across America who are still fighting for what Natalie has and what is promised by the IDEA: an education that allows them to thrive. Because of Donald Trump, Linda McMahon, and MAGA Republicans, that promise is moving further and further out of reach.

At the same time, the education that Natalie currently receives is under threat. Natalie, her mom, her teachers, her school administrators--they all want to ensure that Natalie receives a world- class education, but a vision without funding is a hallucination. If the Federal funding and protections backstopping education for students with disabilities stop flowing, as insufficient as they may be right now, we will see a nationwide regression. We cannot let that happen to Natalie or to any child in our country. They deserve our Nation's support.

As we look ahead to the next 50 years of the IDEA, our moral obligation to students with disabilities must not waver. We must, finally, fully fund the IDEA. We must forcefully reject the Trump administration's continued attacks on public education. Ultimately, we must make sure that every child in America--no matter what State they live in--is given the opportunity to excel and to thrive.

This anniversary is a call to action. Children are only 25 percent of our population, but they are 100 percent of our future. We must fight for them every single day. Natalie's is a story that all of us must be aware of.

Mr. President, I also rise today to oppose the effort to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to permanent, irreversible damage from the Big Oil industry.

This effort to overthrow the Biden administration's Record of Decision for the management of the Arctic Refuge through the Congressional Review Act process will sow chaos, create legal uncertainty, and put the refuge into limbo. But we do have some certainty. Republicans know this will put our last most wild place at risk. It will put the rare caribou, polar bears, and wildlife that call the refuge home at risk. The Gwich'in people have said over and over that it puts their way of life at risk.

But this vote would also put business and legal certainty at risk-- years of confusion, lawsuits, and paralysis all from this unnecessary resolution. And for what? This fossil fuel fiasco has been rejected time and time again by insurers, major banks, and oil and gas companies. They have said they won't finance development in the refuge. They are even paid to get out of leases. Two failed lease sales, one of which was held under President Trump, should have been the end of this political theater, but they persist. And even before drilling, any fossil fuel exploration in the refuge will leave scars that will last for generations.

Instead of tackling our affordability crisis, instead of fighting the climate crisis, instead of protecting healthcare programs or fighting for the needs of special education students, this is what Republicans want to work on--an attempted favor for Big Oil executives.

This CRA resolution would jeopardize the Arctic Refuge--the greatest intact wildlife refuge in our Nation. It would jeopardize our chance at a livable future, and it would jeopardize the Gwich'in people's way of life.

Our public lands belong in public hands. Yesterday, the President of the United States, with the auto industry of our country standing behind him, signed a new resolution saying that we are not going to try to increase fuel economy standards in our Nation. Do you know what the consequence of that is? They want to just put a big gas station up in the Arctic Refuge, and we will just start drilling for more oil because we don't want to make our vehicles more efficient. We are going to cede the future of all-electric vehicles

to the Chinese and just pull out of the race rather than compete with them. At the same time, they are saying we will drill; that we will drill for oil in the most precious part of our national public lands. It is an absolute disgrace.

We are a technological giant. To give up on our ability to be able to make these vehicles more efficient is a death sentence for the most precious and vulnerable areas in our Nation. It is completely and totally irresponsible, immoral, and it is going to wind up with scarred oilfields all across these refuges that, unfortunately, were completely and totally avoidable.

Yesterday, President Trump signed, in many ways, the death warrant for all of these precious areas in our country because he pulled out of the race to increase the fuel economy standards--where we put the oil in the vehicles that we drive.

I yield the floor.