Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, this past weekend, Jews across the country and around the globe celebrated Rosh Hashanah, bringing in the new year with hope and excitement for what is to come. Now we are just days away from the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, when we take time to reflect on the year ahead and atone for actions we have taken in the past year.

The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most sacred and widely observed time in the Jewish calendar. This is a time we all come together with family and friends and loved ones, a time for reflection, for gratitude, and for celebrating the traditions that connect us to one another and the generations before us.

Unfortunately, for too many American Jews, the High Holidays are now also bringing something else: fear. While Jewish families are preparing to hear the shofar and gather around their holiday tables, synagogue leaders and their congregations are asking themselves questions that no one should ever have to ask before they go to worship, before they go to pray, before they go to a sanctuary. They are asking: Is our place of worship safe? Do we have enough security? Are our doors secure? Do we have enough cameras? What happens if someone targets our congregation? What if there is an active shooter? Do we know all the exits? Do we know what to do? Do we know where to go? These are the questions that no one who goes to worship should ever have to ask in this country, and yet it is a reality for too many Jewish communities today.

Of course, if you look at the data, these fears are not unfounded. According to a recent ADL report, 2025 was the third highest year for anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since the ADL began collecting data, and physical assaults against Jews were higher in 2025 than ever before.

The FBI data has shown that Jewish Americans were the target of nearly 70 percent--70 percent--of religiously motivated hate crimes in this country in 2025 despite making up just 2 percent of the population.

This data corresponds to horrific incidents we have seen on news reports this past year, including a historic synagogue in Jackson, MS, being firebombed and Jewish congregations defaced in Austin, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Hot Springs, AR; and Oak Park, MI. And in West Bloomfield, MI, a man drove his car into a building housing a synagogue and a preschool and then opened fire--opened fire.

I wish I could say these were isolated incidents, but I can't. These incidents are part of an alarming trend. Jews in America are facing the kind of hatred that reminds us that anti-Semitism is not something of the past. It is not something that we only read about in history books, though they have shown us what happens when anti-Semitism is allowed to take hold of a society.

I recently returned from Poland, where I visited the Auschwitz- Birkenau Memorial and Museum. The preserved grounds of the concentration and extermination camps stand as a testament--a sad testament--of what can happen when hatred is allowed to reach its most evil form. It happened after years and years of increasing discrimination, violence, and marginalization that went unchecked--went unchecked.

There are countless lessons of the Holocaust, but one of the strongest ones is what can happen when ordinary people look at hatred with indifference. The Holocaust did not only happen because of the Nazis, but because of the millions of people who also kept silent in the face of dehumanization and prejudice. They kept silent, and this indifference allowed for the murder of 6 million Jews, as well as millions of others.

This is why we must recommit ourselves to relearning these lessons and not allowing hatred to go ignored in our country today--in our country.

So during the August State work period, I also met with rabbis from four congregations in Southern Nevada to discuss how they are preparing for the High Holidays. They all shared the same concern: physical safety of their congregations, of their congregants, of people who come to worship, from the newborn all the way to the oldest senior citizen.

We talked about the security preparations they have to make during this time of year and the costs that go along with them. We talked about the fear that comes with knowing that a place of worship can become a target in an instant--we all know this--and the burden that falls upon synagogue leaders and volunteers to protect their place of worship, their congregants, their families, and their friends.

And it is a burden I know all too well. Before I came to the Senate, I served as president of the largest Reform synagogue in Nevada. I know exactly what it takes to prepare a congregation for High Holidays, and I know that security plans have become an unfortunate and expensive part of that preparation.

In fact, security costs are usually the largest portion of a synagogue's budget now--the largest portion of the budget because they have to pay for hiring guards, installing barricades, adding bulletproof glass to windows, reinforcing doors, and metal detectors.

You have to walk through a metal detector and screening to get into my synagogue now.

According to a recent study from the Jewish Federations of North America, the Jewish community spends an average of $1 billion a year now--$1 billion a year now--on security. It is a record high--billions of dollars just to worship safely.

So think about that for a moment. In the United States, in 2026, we have Americans who have to worship behind locked doors and bulletproof glass, protected by armed guards, just to be with their family and friends and pray.

Imagine if you didn't feel it was safe to go worship, gather together.

And we can't ask these communities to shoulder that burden alone. This is exactly why I have always supported fully funding and reforming the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

This program helps synagogues and other houses of worship and other at-risk institutions make critical security improvements for the safety of their congregations. It is a lifesaving program that helps the Jewish community and other religious communities, as well, that are at risk of violence. It helps them offset the cost of keeping themselves and their families safe, which is why I introduced bipartisan legislation to nearly triple the funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and to improve it, to make sure that the money actually gets to the communities that need it.

My Jewish American Security Act, which I introduced with Senator Lankford and a broad bipartisan coalition of Senators, would also create a new Department of Justice grant program to help State and local law enforcement increase security around at-risk houses of worship.

And these additional protections, well, they mean the difference between walking into a synagogue and thinking about prayer or walking into your synagogue and looking for the exits and thinking about what your escape route might be. These additional protections are about making sure that a child can walk into a preschool or a Hebrew school and think about learning, not about an active-shooter drill. And they are about making sure that our houses of worship remain what they are supposed to be: places of faith, places of community, places of peace.

I often say that anti-Semitism is a canary in a coal mine; it is a warning sign. When hatred against one community is allowed to grow, it threatens all of us. So we cannot wait for the next attack. We cannot wait for another synagogue to be targeted, and we cannot wait for another family to be afraid just to walk through the doors of their own house of worship anywhere. We have to act now. We have to act now, before it is too late.

And as Jewish families gather together in the coming days for Yom Kippur, they will reflect on the year behind them and the year ahead. So please let us all commit ourselves to doing everything that we can to make sure that those families can worship safely and in peace.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, tomorrow, the Judiciary Committee will vote on Todd Blanche's nomination for Attorney General.

There are a number of reasons the members of the committee should oppose Todd Blanche's nomination--from his willingness to enable Donald Trump's worst instinct to his role in helping to create Trump's corrupt slush fund to pay out to January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers here in this Chamber and others. Yet there is one reason that stands out far ahead of the others--that of his complete and total mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell case.

Former Trump Attorney General Pam Bondi told the House behind closed doors that Todd Blanche, as her Deputy, was responsible for how the Department handled the Epstein files. Under his supervision, the Department of Justice promised the release of Epstein's client list, claiming there was a list they compiled for Pam Bondi and sent to Pam Bondi, only to backtrack and refuse to release the document for months.

It took Congress passing an overwhelmingly bipartisan, veto-proof Federal law to force the release of these materials. Even then--even then--the Trump administration and specifically the Department of Justice, under Todd Blanche's management, delayed their compliance with this law.

When files were finally released, the identity of many perpetrators-- not victims--were redacted, raising serious questions and concerns about who the administration was trying to protect. They redacted perpetrators, not victims.

As the White House and Justice Department tried to manage the fallout from mishandling this case, Todd Blanche was purportedly in the Situation Room with senior Trump administration officials working on a public relations strategy--well, on behalf of the President.

According to the New York Times, one of the options was to have a Justice Department lawyer interview Ghislaine Maxwell in order to get her to clear Donald Trump. Well, Todd Blanche apparently offered himself up to interview Ghislaine Maxwell and strangely raised the possibility that Maxwell's lawyer ``might expect something in return for her candor,'' according to the Times. A convicted sex trafficker wishes something in return from the President of the United States.

White House Counsel then laid out the possibility that Ghislaine Maxwell might be pardoned or have her sentence reduced. You heard that right. There literally was a serious discussion at the White House to pardon or reduce the sentence of Ghislaine Maxwell just in order to get her to say nice things about Donald Trump. And mind you, this is the same woman--the same woman--who facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's horrific abuse of underage girls over many years, year after year, hundreds of young women.

Our justice system worked as it was supposed to. Maxwell was found guilty by a jury of her peers. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her crimes. That is why it was odd when Todd Blanche, in a highly unusual step, personally interviewed Maxwell. And days later, she was-- whoop--magically, magically transferred to a minimum security prison. Imagine that.

That is not the only thing that is odd. Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney, who Todd Blanche calls a friend, said that Maxwell wanted a pardon from Trump in exchange for her public testimony that would help Donald Trump. At the same time, Trump has refused to rule out--refused to rule out--pardoning her.

Trump has said:

I'm allowed to do it.

He has even gone as far as saying:

I'll take a look at it. I'll speak to the DOJ.

This is our President. The President said he would speak to the DOJ, which would now be led by his former lawyer Todd Blanche.

It is frankly horrifying that Trump would entertain the idea of clemency for even a second--even a second--for a convicted sex trafficker. That alone should be enough for the Senate to speak up with one voice and affirm that there should be absolutely no pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell--not now, not ever. That is why, earlier this year, I introduced a resolution doing just that. But given that Senate Republicans are poised to soon confirm Todd Blanche to lead the Department of Justice, the time to bring this resolution is now.

Earlier this month, the Senate passed a similar resolution saying there should be no Presidential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, so we have already set that precedent here in this Chamber. So let us now send a message to the White House and the Department of Justice right now that there should be no pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell. There should never be a pardon for someone who helped a monster--a monster--abuse underage girls for years. That is why I am requesting that we pass my commonsense resolution today saying just that.

Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 608.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I am so pleased that we could find unanimous agreement on a resolution against a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell. If Republicans advance Todd Blanche's nomination tomorrow in the Judiciary Committee, this is the least they can do to make their opposition to a Maxwell pardon clear.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak once again about a crisis that demands the ongoing attention of the Senate: the disturbing rise in anti-Semitism in America.

Across our country, Jewish Americans are continuing to face unspeakable acts of hate, threats, violence, and discrimination that are happening at record levels. Unfortunately, this is not anything new. In fact, for more than a decade, anti-Semitism has been on the rise. It is setting record numbers year after year, particularly since the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

According to an ADL report, 2025 was the third highest year for anti- Semitic incidents since the ADL began collecting data, and physical assaults against Jews were higher in 2025 than ever before. So I want everyone to just think about that. Physical assaults against Jews were the highest since ADL began tracking this data nearly 50 years ago.

FBI data--well, it has shown that Jewish Americans are the target of almost 70 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes in this country despite making up only 2 percent of the population. Think about that-- 70 percent of crime against 2 percent of the population.

Just this past year, a historic synagogue in Jackson, MS, was firebombed. Jewish congregations were defaced in Austin, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Hot Springs, AK; and Oak Park, MI. In West Bloomfield, MI, a man actually drove his car into a building housing a synagogue and a preschool and then opened fire.

Even beyond these specific incidents, we are witnessing worrying trends in how Americans are thinking about Jewish communities.

Last week, the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate released a poll that found that nearly one-third of people 18 to 44 viewed Jews as a ``threat to the unity of American society''--2 percent of the population a ``threat to the unity of American society.'' Let that sink in.

The same poll found that one in eight young adults said Jewish people ``cause problems in the world,'' and around one in five younger Americans did not consider slurs against Jews to be harmful to Jewish people.

I really wish these findings were hard to believe, but for many around this country, they aren't surprising. For some, they will point to the war in the Middle East and U.S. policy in the region as a driver of these spikes in anti-Semitism. And, of course, we can and we must have frank, open discussions on how the United States should handle our foreign policy. But we cannot stand idly by and allow these disagreements to become excuses for turning a blind eye on attacks towards Jewish Americans.

When we return from the August State work period, it will be September and the High Holidays. High Holidays--well, they will be in full swing. From Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, this is the holiest time of the Jewish year, and many Jews, including those who may not go to synagogue any other time, will be preparing to attend religious services in observance of these important holidays. But it is the unfortunate reality that these holidays are now marked by a palpable fear because large gatherings make communities vulnerable to attacks.

Sadly, what should be a season of reflection and prayer, worship and renewal, is a source of, now, fear and anxiety for far too many American Jews. As a result, one in four Jewish Americans has skipped Jewish events and Jewish religious observances due to the fear of being targeted. It is not right. It is not right. They don't go to temple for fear of being targeted. Something must be done.

Before I came to the Senate, I was the president of the largest reform synagogue in Nevada, and I know firsthand the preparations that synagogues undertake to keep their congregations safe--especially during the High Holidays. No one should have to worship behind a barricade. No one should have to go through a police check and police surrounding your entire building in order to go pray. But as anti- Semitic harassment and violence continue to be a real threat, heightened security measures are a fact of life for Jewish communities. Every synagogue leader in this country has to think about hiring professional security, installing cameras, doing everything they can to protect their congregation. Security is the largest line item on a budget now.

This heavy burden isn't only an emotional and logistical one; robust security comes with a steep financial cost.

There is a highly successful Federal grant program at FEMA that helps at-risk institutions, including houses of worship like synagogues, churches, and mosques. Well, it helps them to make the security upgrades they need so Americans can worship peacefully and safely.

That is why we need to robustly fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. In fact, authorizing $1 billion for this program--nearly three times the current funding level--is the key component of the Jewish American Security Act. It is my comprehensive, bipartisan bill with Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma to address anti-Semitism and threats to the Jewish community.

But this program can only help institutions if grant money is actually accessible and if there is enough money available to the applicants who need it all across this country in communities large and small. Unfortunately, many institutions had less than a month to apply for grants through the NSGP this year. Sometimes they only had days to review the program, develop proposals, and gather the necessary documents and supporting assessments. In past years, the application window had been as long as 80 days.

So that is why, in addition to making this historic investment in NSGP, our bipartisan bill would make important reforms to streamline how the program is implemented and allow grant funding to be used to hire security services so that the program truly matches the needs of the congregations it is meant to support.

And it won't just stop there. Our bipartisan Jewish American Security Act would also create a new Federal grant program to support local police who protect at-risk houses of worship. You know, I often say: Anti-Semitism is the canary in the coal mine. It is a warning sign--a warning sign--for all other forms of hate and discrimination to come.

Tackling anti-Semitism sends a strong message that we do not--will not--tolerate hate and discrimination in our country, in the United States of America. And if we don't draw this line now, if we don't stand up, if we don't

say, ``Enough is enough,'' then when will we? Who is next?

The Jewish community is the canary in the coal mine. We must draw the line. We must pass this bill. The Jewish American Security Act is so critical to our safety and security.

When will we say, ``Enough is enough''? Let's hope it is now.

Thank you.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of Senator Cortez Masto, Senator Padilla, Senator Schiff, Congressman Kiley, and Congressman Amodei to celebrate an incredible milestone for Lake Tahoe, the crown jewel of Nevada and California. In 1997, Nevada Senator Harry Reid and California Senator Dianne Feinstein spearheaded the inaugural Lake Tahoe Summit. This event brought together Federal, State, regional, and local leaders, the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, scientists, environmental advocates, and economic interests to address the deteriorating clarity of Lake Tahoe's waters. It marked a defining moment in bipartisan collaboration to protect one of the Nation's most iconic and treasured landscapes, and this year, we are celebrating 30 years of that partnership.

Lake Tahoe is an amazing natural wonder. It is the oldest freshwater, permanent lake in North America, and the third oldest in the world at 2.3 million years old. It is also the second deepest lake in the United States, plunging to a depth of 1,645 feet, with waters so clear that objects can be seen at depths exceeding 70 feet. The Wa;i.;iw (Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California) are the original stewards of Lake Tahoe, and the Lake continues to hold great significance as their ancestral, current, and future home. Straddling the border of California and Nevada in the Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe is a national treasure that we are all so proud to protect.

Following the inaugural Tahoe Summit hosted by Senators Reid and Feinstein, the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, or EIP, was created to restore Lake Tahoe's water quality and strengthen the region's environment and economy for future generations. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and more than 80 partners collectively known as Team Tahoe have worked together to guide and implement the EIP; today, the EIP is one of the Nation's most successful conservation and restoration programs with more than 900 projects implemented across the areas of watersheds and water quality, aquatic invasive species, forest health, sustainable recreation and transportation, and science, stewardship, and accountability.

Lake Tahoe is an irreplaceable natural, cultural, and economic treasure--a jewel of the Sierra--whose protection is both a solemn responsibility and a profound privilege. The 30th annual Lake Tahoe Summit will be a celebration of Lake Tahoe and the power of public- private partnerships that benefit the lake, economy, and community. The Tahoe Federal delegation, State and local officials, members of Team Tahoe, and the public will come together at this event to celebrate the progress made over the last 30 years and commit to solving the challenges of the next 30 years. I am so honored to be hosting this year's event that will recognize the incredible legacy of my dear friend Senator Reid, and I look forward to continuing that legacy with my fellow colleagues as we work to protect this special place.

Mr. President, at a time when hard-working families across this country are being squeezed by skyrocketing costs, you would think that the President of the United States and Washington Republicans would be focused on finding ways to help people afford their groceries, access affordable healthcare, and keep communities safe.

In fact, that is what Donald Trump himself ran on. He promised he would lower costs ``on day one.'' That is a quote, ``on day one.''

Instead, now that he is in office, Trump is completely fixated on his corrupt slush fund where he would give your tax dollars--your tax dollars--to his political allies.

So how did we get here? Donald Trump sued his own IRS and Treasury Department to try to get $10 billion--your tax dollars--for himself. But then, of course, he was so kind that he agreed to drop his lawsuit against his own government--our government--as long as it set up a slush fund of $1.8 billion to pay out to his allies, supporters, and even January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers.

Understandably, the American people strongly oppose this corrupt attempt to misuse their tax dollars. So the Justice Department had to come out and claim that the fund is dead.

But Donald Trump has made it perfectly clear that he still wants his slush fund to move forward so he can pay January 6 rioters who beat up police officers at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. I was here, and, frankly, I don't trust his cronies to put an end to it. It is unbelievable.

Whether it is $1 billion for a ballroom, $1.8 billion for a slush fund, Trump is focused on himself, not on the hardships of our communities--your communities--our families, not on the hardships people are facing.

Our families are struggling to put food on the table. Our families are worried about losing their healthcare. Our police departments are struggling with staffing shortages. That is why Congress has a responsibility to put an end to this wasteful slush fund, once and for all.

So I have introduced a package of three bills that would make sure the slush fund can never happen and would instead redirect that $1.8 billion to programs that actually help hard-working families and keep our communities safe.

My first bill would permanently block the slush fund from being created, and if the Trump administration still moves ahead with it, it would direct the funding to SNAP, the food assistance program that Washington Republicans have gutted to pay for their One Big Beautiful Bill.

So in Nevada alone, nearly 55,000 people lost SNAP benefits between July of last year and January of this year. And as a reminder, 40 percent of SNAP recipients in Nevada are children--are children. Children are going hungry because of Trump's cuts to pay to billionaires.

That means nearly 55,000 Nevadans now have to worry about how they are going to afford groceries at a time when groceries and gas prices are just going through the literal roof.

Now, imagine how many families $1.8 billion could help feed. Imagine how many parents could feed their children with that kind of money instead of paying January 6 rioters and Trump's allies.

And in my State, that kind of money could restore SNAP benefits for all 55,000 Nevadans--55,000 Nevadans who lost their benefits for more than 15 years.

I could feed those families for 15 years.

Mr. President, so I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged, and the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4705; further, I ask consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, if my Republican colleagues want to make prices lower, they can start by removing tariffs and not entering into unnecessary wars, but I want to get back to the issue at hand, which this slush fund. The slush fund, if it is truly dead like some say, then why not pass my bill?

Why not make sure that it is gone for good? What are Republicans so afraid of? And so if feeding hungry children isn't Washington Republicans' priority, there is another chance for them to do the right thing for our families. Because last year, Washington Republicans gutted--gutted--Medicaid and took healthcare coverage from millions of Americans in need so that they could give more tax breaks to billionaires, people who need it the least.

They gutted healthcare for families to give tax breaks to billionaires. And as of January of this year, nearly 170,000 fewer Nevadans were enrolled in Medicaid compared to 2023. That means fewer people seeing a doctor, fewer people getting preventive care, fewer people being able to afford treatment or the medication that they need, fewer people getting the care they need for their children when they are chronically or terminally ill. It is cruel, and the money that Trump wants for his slush fund could pay for more than 2 years of Medicaid coverage for every Nevadan who lost it because of these Republican cuts for payouts to billionaires.

So instead of rewarding Trump's political allies, we can help families get healthcare because nothing is more important than your health. Nothing.

A diagnosis can change your life in an instant, and I want people to be able to afford their prescriptions. I want people to be able to take their children to see a doctor. A diagnosis changes your life, and they took away healthcare.

And so a much better use for taxpayer dollars, that is what I want to do. I want to put it back into those Nevada families who are struggling with those life-altering diagnoses that we are all so very afraid of. And that is what my second bill aims to do. It will permanently block this slush fund from being created.

And if the Trump administration finds a way to move ahead with this, my bill would redirect the $1.8 billion to Medicaid, to help those mothers that I talked to, those parents, again, with sick children, to help those taking care of their family members. It matters. It is caring. And what they are doing and what they did to cut Medicaid is cruel.

Mr. President, so I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged, and the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4703; further, I ask consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, the objection is truly a shame because people will suffer and people will be damaged by poor health and some may lose their life from lack of care.

So my Washington Republican friends, they won't agree on funding SNAP and feeding those hungry children in Nevada for 15 or so years, funding Medicaid to help families again.

Perhaps we could agree on giving this funding for the men and women of law enforcement. Surely, they must stand up for law enforcement and for public safety and for community safety because across America our police departments are facing staffing shortages, recruitment challenges, retention issues.

Officers are being asked to do more with fewer resources. So the money from Trump's slush fund could fund more than 3 years of the COPS Hiring Program to help communities hire and retain more officers. It could fully fund more than 3 years of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program.

What is this program? It helps support the families of officers who are killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. Nothing could be more important than supporting those families. Surely, Republicans want to help families of fallen or disabled officers.

And so the irony here is almost hard to believe, Republicans love to talk about how supportive they are of law enforcement, and yet Donald Trump wants to use your tax dollars to pay people who assaulted police officers right here in this Capitol in this room in this Chamber where we stand today on January 6.

And I think, and I hope, surely we can all agree, that the funding would be put to better use to support our men and women in uniform, our police officers. So my third and final bill would permanently block the slush fund from being created. And if the Trump administration still forges ahead with it, my bill would redirect the funding to Federal law enforcement programs.

So I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged, and that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4704; further, I ask consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, you know, this is truly a shame. It is extremely disappointing to me because by blocking these bills, Washington Republicans are paying tribute. They are paying tribute to the President, and they are saying that they approve of Donald Trump wasting 1.8 billion taxpayer dollars to pay his political allies and January 6 rioters.

They may claim the slush fund is dead because Trump and his administration say it is. But does anybody believe them? I would say not too many.

And so that is why I tried to pass these bills and create a fail-safe mechanism to redirect funding to food, to healthcare, to public safety, and so if Trump still tries to create this slush fund, we have a way to put it toward something good for our communities.

Unfortunately, Washington Republicans blocked these commonsense efforts.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I have a motion to commit at the desk.

Mr. President, I rise today to make a motion to send this bill back to committee so that it can be amended to include funding to reimburse law enforcement departments and first responders for increased expenses as a result of Donald Trump's sky-high gas prices.

This will help address the rising cost of gas under Donald Trump and the impact it is having on cash-strapped police departments and fire stations across this country. Let's provide relief to police departments and fire departments and first responder agencies who are being hurt by Trump's reckless policies.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this motion.

I yield the floor.

Vote on Motion

Mr. President, I am compelled to start my remarks today by highlighting absolutely horrible things that were posted by someone who wants to serve as a Member of Congress and who is allegedly a member of the Democratic Party. Running for a House seat in Texas, she said she wanted to turn an ``ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists.''

Yes, you heard that right.

And while this is clear and direct anti-Semitism that everyone, on both sides, has rightfully called out, it is not the first time that she has shown herself to be an anti-Semite. Earlier this month, it was reported that she posted a video where she talked about the ``Jews who own Hollywood'' as members of the ``synagogue of Satan.''

I called it out right away. But perhaps this was not as overt as calling for putting Jews in internment camps. It did not get the same overwhelming condemnation as her more recent comments.

Similarly, there was a Republican Member of Congress in Kentucky who lost his primary election just last night and made a joke in his concession speech that his opponent was ``in Tel-Aviv,'' simply because he is a strong supporter of Israel. It similarly

did not get an avalanche of condemnation.

There lies the problem. It usually starts with a joke, a slur, a comparison. It starts with what might be called casual acts of anti- Semitism that can be just easy to brush off. If left unchecked, this rhetoric can manifest into overt acts, like the vandalism of Jewish institutions and houses of worship, threats and verbal abuse meant to intimidate Jewish communities, and so on and so on and so on.

If those acts are left unchecked, the next and final step is physical violence: beating up Jewish college students, arson and destruction of Jewish institutions, and, horrifically, the murder of Jewish individuals.

These are patterns that are starting to emerge once again. Over the last decade, anti-Semitism has been on the rise. Year after year, we are seeing record numbers of anti-Semitic incidences, especially after the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

According to an ADL report released a few weeks ago, 2025 was the third highest year for anti-Semitic incidents since the ADL began collecting data, and physical assaults against Jews were higher in 2025 than ever before.

Just think about that. Physical assaults against Jews were at the highest since ADL began tracking this data nearly 50 years ago.

We are fortunate we live in a country that values and protects our freedom to express our beliefs, with our words, through our acts of peaceful protest, and at the ballot box. But it does not protect or condone acts of violence or incitement of violence. Surely, we can all recognize that political and ideological disagreements and differences never--never ever--justify hatred or violence. And we all must agree that the intimidation, discrimination, violence, and even murder of Jews is just plain wrong and unacceptable.

As one of only a few Jewish women to ever serve in the U.S. Senate and as the first and only former synagogue president in the Senate, for me, this distinction is deeply personal. This work is not abstract. As a Jewish American, I, too, have faced instances of hate where I was targeted simply because I was Jewish.

When I was just a little girl--about 2 years old--my family took a trip to Florida. My mom had me in the hotel pool, and, out of nowhere, a lifeguard told my mom to get me out of the pool because I was ``dirty.''

My mom was confused. She was kind of taken aback. She looked at the lifeguard. She said: I just gave her a bath. She is clean.

She was clearly confused by what the lifeguard had told her.

Then the lifeguard told my mom what he really meant. I was dirty because I was Jewish. Get that dirty little Jewish girl out of the pool.

My mom didn't say another word. She scooped me up. She packed up her stuff. We left. I know she never brought me back to this pool. In fact, my parents switched to another hotel.

I know this story so well because my mother told it over and over and over again as a life-changing moment for her, as I heard my parents recall the pain throughout my entire life. It stayed with them, the hurt, the humiliation, the shame. As I got older, and now my parents are gone, that story stays with me too.

And if you think becoming a U.S. Senator puts a stop to those attacks, well, I am going tell you that you are sadly mistaken. A few years ago, a man called my office, said some very vile things. He threatened my life. And among other things, he promised to--and I guess I will quote here, sadly, ``finish what Hitler started.''

Thanks to the swift work of law enforcement--I am grateful for law enforcement--this man is now behind bars. But if he thought that he would intimidate me and force me to be quiet, the effect was quite the opposite because here I am. Here I am. And it fueled my passion to continue working across party lines in the U.S. Senate to raise awareness and fight back against anti-Jewish bigotry.

That is why I have been working for the better part of a year with my friend James Lankford on our bipartisan Jewish American Security Act, which we introduced yesterday, to take sweeping action to combat anti- Semitism at the Federal level.

This comprehensive bill will help keep Jewish students safe, help secure community institutions, and help fight anti-Semitism online.

It will protect Jewish students by establishing a new position, an anti-Semitism coordinator at the Department of Education to lead efforts to combat anti-Semitism. It will create a comprehensive title VI infrastructure on college campuses, and it will make sure that campus hate crime--that hate crime data actually shows all of us who is being attacked and who is being threatened.

This bill will protect Jewish communal institutions, houses of worship, community centers by making a historic investment of $1 billion toward the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and will keep our houses of worship safe.

This bill will also make a series of long overdue reforms to this program to make sure that it actually works for at-risk institutions. And this bill will combat rising anti-Semitism online by requiring transparency from social media companies, well, about how they really treat anti-Semitic content, including instances of such content, how much anti-Semitic content was promoted, recommended by their platform, and whether such content was leaked to an inauthentic account, and consider it an FTC violation if they fail to provide us with this information.

I know the road ahead for this legislation will be long, but I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will provide their support because at the end of the day, we can all agree that Jewish Americans deserve to be treated--and to be safe--treated with respect, meant to be safe, well, the same as every other American.

But at its core, this is more than just about policy. It is about people. It is about dignity. It is about ensuring that no child, no family, no little girl like I was at a public swimming pool had to experience what I did and my family did or even worse.

You know, I often think back to that little girl in the pool. She is still there. That little child is in all of us, and I think about the world that I want for her, a world where she is not told that she is less than for being Jewish, a world where she is not excluded from activities because of her faith, and a world where she is safe, respected, and proud of who she is.

I have a daughter. That is the world I am creating and hoping for her and for all the other children in this world as well. This bill will go a long way in helping to make a difference in making that world a reality.

I thank Senator Scott.

Madam President, Jewish American Heritage Month is an opportunity to honor the generations of Jewish Americans who have helped to build this country, who have helped to strengthen our democracy, who have helped to enhance our country and advance the promise of America. And this year's celebration feels especially significant as our Nation approaches 250 years of independence.

For centuries, Jewish Americans have been part of the American story. From the Jewish immigrants who arrived here on our shores in 1654 seeking refuge and freedom and opportunity, to Haym Salomon's helping finance the Revolutionary War, to the scientists, artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, servicemembers, and public servants who helped shape this country into what it is today, the story of Jewish Americans is the story of America. It is a story rooted in resilience, in perseverance, in faith, in community, and in an enduring belief in the promise of a better future.

Those values have guided the Jewish-American community for generations. These are the values that taught us to pursue justice, to repair the world, to care for our neighbors, and to stand up for those who are the most vulnerable. They are the values that have inspired Jewish Americans to contribute so profoundly to every corner of American life, from medicine to music, from business to civil rights, from the military to public service. They are the values we continue to carry forward today.

But as we celebrate all that Jewish Americans have contributed to this Nation, we must also acknowledge the challenges our community continues to face because while Jewish history in America is filled with achievement and opportunity, it has also included moments of exclusion, discrimination, and hate.

Unfortunately, we are once again living through a deeply troubling rise in anti-Semitism. Since Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, anti-Semitism incidents have skyrocketed across this country. We have seen Jewish students harassed on college campuses. We have seen synagogues and Jewish institutions threatened. We have seen Jewish Americans verbally attacked, physically assaulted, and even murdered simply because of who they are. And all of it--every single bit of it-- is unacceptable. There can be no excuses and no ambiguity when it comes to condemning anti-Semitism.

For me, this work is deeply personal. As one of only a handful of Jewish women ever to serve in the U.S. Senate--the third, to be exact-- and as the first and only former synagogue president in the Senate, my Jewish identity is part of who I am, and it is part of how I lead. The experiences that my family has endured and the hate that I have personally faced have only strengthened my determination to fight anti- Jewish hatred wherever it exists because even in difficult moments, the Jewish people have always found ways to move forward with hope and perseverance. Those are two qualities we hold dear. Jewish Americans are people who have endured--a people who have persevered through hardship time and time again and a people who continue to believe in the hope and the possibility of a brighter tomorrow. Hope is part of our heritage--the very essence of our faith. Hope is a part of what carried generations before us

through unimaginable adversity, and hope is what continues to guide us today.

In celebration of that heritage and in recognition of our history, I am so proud to work with Senator Rick Scott to pass this bipartisan resolution for Jewish American Heritage Month. In doing so, let us celebrate not only the accomplishments of Jewish Americans throughout our Nation's history but also the values that continue to strengthen both our community and our country.

Let us recommit ourselves to fighting hate in all its forms. Let us continue building bridges across all communities. Let us ensure that future generations will grow up in a country where they can live openly, proudly, and safely as Jews and as Americans.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, this week marks National Police Week--a time for our Nation to honor the bravery, sacrifice, and service of the men and women in law enforcement, who work every single day to keep our communities safe. These heroes put their lives on the line to protect our communities.

I want to give a special thanks to law enforcement officers across Nevada, who serve every day with honor and integrity. Every day, they put on the uniform. They kiss their loved ones goodbye and head into situations that most of us hope we never ever have to face. Whether it is a major emergency or a domestic dispute or a routine traffic stop, they face danger every single day. They do it because they believe in service and because they believe in protecting others.

National Police Week is also about honoring the fallen, those heroes who left behind family, friends, colleagues, and the communities they served and helped to protect--heroes like Officer Jason Roscow, who served for 17 years, proudly, with the North Las Vegas Police Department and was tragically killed in the line of duty last year. Officer Roscow devoted his life to serving his fellow Americans--first in uniform for the U.S. Air Force and then for nearly two decades in law enforcement in Southern Nevada.

Today, I am thinking about his family--the two sons he left behind-- his fellow officers, and the entire North Las Vegas community that continues to mourn this tremendous loss.

Unfortunately, Officer Roscow is not alone. In Nevada and across the country, far too many officers have made the ultimate sacrifice to their communities. This week, every week, and every day, we honor their memory. We also honor the work that our officers do.

I want to let Nevada's law enforcement know one thing: I have your back. That means making sure law enforcement agencies have the funding, staffing, training, equipment, and mental health resources that you need to do your jobs safely and effectively. I have worked across party lines to deliver exactly that for Nevada.

Earlier this year, I helped to secure millions of dollars in funding to strengthen public safety and support local law enforcement. That funding included $1 million for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to procure equipment supporting search and rescue operations, to support patrols, and to support large-scale event security.

It included $3 million for Washoe County to acquire a mobile command intelligence vehicle to improve emergency response capabilities.

The bill also included more than $1 million for the city of Henderson to implement a domestic violence and sexual assault response program to better support victims and to improve public safety.

These funds are absolutely critical, and it is one of the best uses of our taxpayer dollars. Any time that we invest in fighting crime and keeping people safe, well, we are investing in ourselves, and we are investing in our communities.

These are so much more meaningful, well, than, let's say, a ballroom because, right now, Donald Trump has proposed spending $1 billion of your taxpayer dollars--taxpayer money--on a new White House ballroom. Imagine that--$1 billion for one room that no one will go to except the President and his friends. Mr. President, $1 billion at a time when police departments across America are struggling with staffing shortages, recruitment challenges, retention issues, and the growing demands every day on officers.

Let me tell you, this $1 billion could do a whole lot to support our local law enforcement. Mr. President, $1 billion?

Well, it could fund nearly 2 years of full funding for the COPS Hiring Program to help communities hire and train and retain more officers. Not only that, it could fund 2 years of the COPS Hiring Program and fully fund 2 years of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program. Do you know what the Benefits Program is? It is to help support the families of the fallen officers and the officers who have been permanently disabled in the line of duty. It could fund 2 full years for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program and, like I said, 2 years for the COPS Hiring Program.

There are a few other things that that $1 billion could do that is a lot better use than a ballroom for our public safety; $1 billion could also fund an entire year of the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which help our local law enforcement agencies combat violent crime, invest in crime prevention, support drug treatment programs, and strengthen public safety initiatives. These are actually investments that are keeping all of our communities safe everywhere--that are keeping all of you safe; that are keeping our officers safe.

That is why I am going to be doing a few things. I am going to be filing two amendments to the Republicans' reconciliation package that would redirect the $1 billion boondoggle of a ballroom. It would take that funding away from the White House ballroom and put it toward the programs that support law enforcement and public safety in our communities.

Remember that. With 2 years here, 2 years here, and another year here for funding for law enforcement safety, for survivors, and benefits, it matters.

If my Republican colleagues truly support law enforcement the way they claim to, then they, too, should support my amendments.

I am doing this because I believe we must do everything we can to give our police the resources that they need to stay safe. They are the ones who put their lives on the line to protect us,

and their safety should be a priority for all of us.

I am going to continue to work with my colleagues here in the Senate, on both sides of the aisle, on solutions that support our police departments, the officers who serve, and their families because our first responders, our law enforcement run in when everyone is running out. They take that risk every day. They will never go to the ballroom. They need the help in our communities. It is the least we can do.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of our workers, our businesses, and our economy. Specifically, I am here to talk about my resolution, which we will be voting on shortly, to protect the millions of workers who could lose their jobs because of an extreme Trump administration rule.

This is an issue that affects all of us because, well, let me tell you, when industries like agriculture and construction lose workers, it impacts their supply chains and prices go up.

In my State of Nevada and across every single State in this Nation, our economy, well, it is fueled by our workers. This includes thousands of individuals who live in this country legally. Thousands of individuals who live in this country legally, who have legal authorization to work, and who show up every single day to do the jobs that keep our communities running.

These workers, they are doing everything that is asked of them. They have been vetted. They are playing by the rules. They are paying their taxes. And yet today, because of a misguided rule change by the Trump administration, many of them are at risk of losing their jobs and their livelihoods through no fault of their own. That is because workers with employment authorization documents, also known as work permits, must renew them every few years, but they can only file that paperwork 6 months before their permit expires.

While 6 months seems like a long time, the processing delays at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, especially under this administration, are even longer. They can stretch well beyond 6 months.

And so for years, there had been a simple, commonsense solution. If a worker filed their renewal on time, their current work permit would be automatically extended while the government finished processing their application. It is the government that was slow, not the worker.

This way, people wouldn't have a gap in work authorization. This policy kept people working. It provided stability for businesses, and it prevented needless disruptions to our economy.

But last fall, that changed. The Trump administration issued a rule that fully eliminated these automatic extensions, pulling the rug out from under workers who did everything right.

Now, these individuals face an impossible choice: stop working and lose their income and their ability to provide for their family or risk working without authorization and risk deportation.

It also puts our business owners in a terrible position. Employers are going to be forced to go without workers or have to let go of workers whose work permits expired because the government took too long to issue their renewals. That is why many business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are opposed to this reckless Trump rule.

They know it will affect key industries like agriculture and food processing, construction and even childcare. And we know what happens when there are fewer workers able to meet demands: Prices go up.

So think about it. More than 3.5 million legally authorized workers nationwide could be impacted by this misguided rule. In construction alone, roughly 600,000 workers could be forced off the job, right as we face a critical shortage of labor needed to build much needed housing across America. In Nevada, we already have 11,000 fewer construction workers than we did just a year ago, and even more workers are sidelined because of paperwork delays.

What is this going to mean? Projects are going to stall, costs will rise, working families will feel it in the form of higher housing prices and fewer available homes. And it doesn't stop there.

In hospitality, an industry that is the backbone of Nevada's economy, more than half a million workers nationwide could be affected. So for a State like mine, where tourism drives growth and supports countless small businesses, losing thousands of workers in our hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues would be devastating.

Fewer workers means reduced capacity. It means lower service levels. It means lost revenue, not just for our businesses but for entire communities that depend upon a strong tourism economy. And that is wrong. It is just wrong.

It is why I introduced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to overturn this harmful Trump rule. My legislation would restore automatic extensions for workers who have already been vetted and who have their work permits while their paperwork is being processed.

This is about fairness. It is about stability, and it is about helping our workers and our businesses.

So today I am asking my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in taking a simple step, a vote to support workers and the business community. So let's overturn this harmful rule change that will hurt families, small businesses, large businesses, and our entire economy. Let's put America's workers--again, our businesses, everything, our economy--first by reinstating automatic extensions for work permit renewals. If we don't, we risk losing 3.5 million workers from our workforce. And trust me; we will all pay the price.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 366, S.J. Res. 99.

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

Mr. President, it is my honor to rise today to pay tribute to Temple Beth Sholom of Las Vegas, as the synagogue and its members celebrate their 80th anniversary during 2026. In 1946, the first Jewish congregation was established in southern Nevada, meeting and worshipping at the Las Vegas Jewish Community Center. As the city of Las Vegas grew in the 1950s, so too did the Jewish community, leading to the construction of the first Temple building, which gave the community a new home to worship in. The congregation formally named it Temple Beth Sholom. Now, 80 years later at its current location in Summerlin, Temple Beth Sholom remains a vibrant and active Jewish congregation hosting daily minyan services and weekly Shabbat services, as well as celebrating life cycle events throughout the year. Education is also a key pillar of Temple Beth Sholom's service to the community, with classroom learning for children of all ages, and active USY and Kadima youth programs as well. More importantly, Temple Beth Sholom serves the Las Vegas Jewish Community through hosting various educational and social events throughout the year, welcoming all of the southern Nevada community to participate.

To Rabbi Felipe Goodman, musical director DJ Sinai, board president Elliot Blut, and all of the Temple Beth Sholom congregation and team that keep it running, I join citizens across Nevada and the Nation in sending our sincere congratulations on 80 years of Temple Beth Sholom being a pillar of the Jewish community in southern Nevada and wish them many more years of success.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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