Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions, which are at the desk: S. Res. 455 and S. Res. 456.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, October 20; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; finally, that the cloture motions filed during today's session of the Senate ripen at 5:30 p.m.

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

Mr. President, the month we are in, the month of October, is Domestic Violence Awareness Month--the time that we should recognize the devastating impact domestic violence continues to have on individuals, families, and communities across our States and the Nation.

The issue of domestic violence often remains hidden behind closed doors. It is a reality that affects millions of Americans every year, both in communities large and small, urban and rural, and unfortunately across my own home State of Kansas.

While national headlines may briefly focus attention on this issue when a tragedy occurs or a public figure is involved, our commitment to ending abuse must remain constant after the news cycle.

The statistics regarding domestic violence are staggering. Domestic violence that occurs between partners--girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives--affects more than 12 million--12 million--people every year. On a typical day, every 9 seconds, a woman is assaulted in the United States. In Kansas, law enforcement reports nearly 22,000 incidents of domestic violence annually. These aren't statistics from faraway places; they reflect our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family members.

We have a responsibility to bring hope to those who feel afraid to speak out. I want to recognize the Kansans who dedicate their lives to that mission, those who work and volunteer in shelters, crisis centers, advocacy organizations, and law enforcement across the country. Their compassion and courage make a difference every single day.

In Iola, KS, Hope Unlimited provides a lifeline for victims seeking safety and support. Working hand in hand with local law enforcement and first responders, Hope Unlimited's advocates and trained volunteers deliver services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Their coordinated response models ensure survivors are met with care the moment they reach out.

We know that when victims are turned away or forced to travel long distances for help, 90 percent return to their abuser--a reminder why access to local support is critical.

Across Kansas, similar organizations, like Safehome in Johnson County, StepStone in Wichita, and the Crisis Center, Inc., in Manhattan, are helping survivors rebuild their lives with dignity and safety.

What happens in Washington, DC, matters, but we change the world one person--in fact, one soul--at a time. In communities across Kansas and across America, that is exactly what is happening.

The Federal Government plays a meaningful role in supporting these efforts. Through programs like the legal assistance for victims grant, Kansans have access to legal representation that helps survivors navigate the justice system and reclaim their sense of safety and stability.

The work is far from over. Domestic violence is more than a law enforcement or a policy issue; each of us can and must play a role in ending it. This month and every month, let us recommit ourselves to breaking the cycle of abuse. Let's do our part to speak out against violence in all its forms and to stand with those who have been silenced for too long. Let's raise awareness of this silent and devastating issue and bring hope to those who need it most.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, we are now 9 days into the government shutdown, and the disruption of the shutdown is being felt by many Americans. Particularly, what I want to talk about is the many Americans who are traveling or working in the aviation industry.

Government shutdowns are detrimental to some of our most basic functions of government, and our already-fragile air traffic control system is facing strain from this occurrence.

We are reminded how fragile our air system is by the facts of what occurred on January 29, when a flight from Kansas to Washington, DC, did not land safely at Washington Reagan, and it claimed the lives of 67 people.

Over the time that I have been in Congress, we have had a number of shutdowns and, in many instances, even Kansans told me: Shut her down. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to me.

I have never found the value in a government shutdown. That accident that I just mentioned forced Congress and our Nation to reckon with an issue that has plagued us for decades: Why have we not effectively modernized our airspace system?

Since that crash, steps have been taken to train more controllers and enhance the aviation system, including a $12.5 billion investment in modernizing our airspace. But those efforts become much more difficult while Congress fails to keep the government operating and the shutdown is in place.

The Wall Street Journal, just this week, aptly summed up the current crisis stating: We ``have a system under pressure that now just has another 100 pounds of weight on it.''

The failure to pass a continuing resolution is slowly crushing our aviation system. Our system is too fragile and the stakes are too high for us to continue operating the national aviation system in the manner we are doing so. We will reach a breaking point, and this could result in the closing of our airspace or portions of it.

The consequences of the shutdown on our aviation system aren't isolated to major cities and large airports as the viability of the Air Service Program is also now put at risk. This program incentivizes airlines to provide commercial flights to rural communities that normally wouldn't be able to attract business from major airlines on their own. In Kansas, there are five such airports that use this program to provide flights to their communities. These flights allow my constituents to fly to larger cities for business, to see the family, for doctors' appointments, and so many other things. Several of these airports have seen and continue to see record levels of passenger growth.

All of these factors are chipping away at the sustainability and safety of our Nation's aviation system. In a previous Congress, I introduced the Aviation Funding Stability Act, which allows the FAA to draw from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to make certain that critical operations continue when there is an appropriations lapse. In March of this year, I reintroduced this bill as we faced this threat of a shutdown. This legislation is still important, but the fact is that the only real solution here is to pass the continuing resolution.

We set out earlier this year, in a bipartisan manner, to transform our aviation system to make it safer for everyone, but that work is now significantly hindered without having an open and functioning government. The Senate Appropriations subcommittee, of which I am a member--the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee--has done its job. I joined my colleagues in advancing the fiscal year 2026 funding bill for the Department of Transportation but including all the aviation matters at the FAA and otherwise. We did that in July.

It included more than $22 billion for the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration, with $5 billion for the FAA's facilities and equipment account--critical funding for modernizing outdated equipment in our national airspace. This legislation also included funding to hire 2,500 air traffic controllers to close the gap in our workforce. For every day we remain in a shutdown, the air traffic controller shortage gets worse, and the strain on the aviation system intensifies. Our system has a breaking point, and I hope that this dysfunction that we are undergoing stops before we see dramatic and damaging consequences.

My point is that the continuing resolution is standing in the way of the appropriations process. We have a majority leader who is willing to bring appropriations bills to the floor. They deserve the Senate's consideration of those appropriations bills. The challenge we face is getting them done by the end of the fiscal year; therefore, we have put in place a continuing resolution until a date in later November. This is a straightforward continuing resolution to give us the time to complete the appropriations process, including the money for the Transportation Department and the safety components that are included therein.

My second point is that a continuing resolution is necessary to avoid a shutdown. That point is that the shutdown is damaging to us in many ways to our Nation. It is broadly damaging to us because it allows those who are critics and those who are adversaries to realize that we are not as capable of functioning as we should be so that even our allies wonder what is going on in the United States.

The point I want to make is that there are consequences to the position we have allowed ourselves to get in, and it affects the safety of Americans every day. In having experienced the loss of life from the flight on January 29 from Wichita, KS, to Washington, DC, we should be doing everything we can to make certain that our air traffic system and the necessary components are in place to make sure that traveling American citizens and the citizens of the world who use our airline system have a safe and secure flight when they board a plane in the United States. The silliness of where we are today is impeding our ability to make that true.

I don't know when a shutdown makes sense, but the consequences of this one, in lieu of a short-term, clean CR for a few more weeks to complete our appropriations work, is a shutdown that makes absolutely no sense or is of any benefit to America.

I urge my Democratic colleagues to act now to pass this short-term continuing resolution so we can alleviate the pressures on our aviation system, return to doing our jobs in appropriating government funding, and provide much needed certainty and stability for our Nation.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I call up my amendment No. 3814 to substitute amendment No. 3748 and ask that it be reported by number.

Madam President, I ask my colleagues to support amendment No. 3814 to the NDAA. This amendment would improve collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to expand access to care for veterans and support greater utilization of military medical treatment facilities. Current law allows DOD to downgrade the scope of a military treatment facility if the facility volume doesn't justify the capacity of patients and if surrounding communities can absorb this capacity.

My amendment, which incorporates feedback from DOD and VA, would require improved outreach, education, training, and partnership between the VA and DOD. It would make certain that excess capacity at military medical treatment facilities is used to increase access to care for veterans living in that community, while also providing more training opportunities for DOD personnel.

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

Mr. President, it has been a sad day--a set of sad days-- in my hometown of Kansas. I rise today to mourn the loss and honor the sacrifice of Hays Police Officer Sergeant Scott Heimann, who was shot and killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call. He passed away in the early morning hours of Sunday, September 28.

My hometown of Hays, with a population of about 21,000, is a tight- knit community, where people look out for their neighbors; they care for those in need; and they protect the vulnerable. Sergeant Heimann embodied the best of smalltown Kansas values in living a life of integrity and devotion and courage despite the dangers he faced each and every day.

He, too, from a young age, called Hays his home. He grew up there, and he graduated from Thomas More Prep-Marian High School, which is our hometown Catholic school. He attended the University of Kansas before returning home to the place he was raised. Sergeant Heimann first began his service with the Hays Police Department in 2016, and after 9 years with the department, his watch ended way too soon. He was an Eagle Scout and a member of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. He was a son, a father, a husband. He was devoted to his wife, Beth, and was a loving dad to his children Patrick and Victoria.

My prayers--our prayers--are with his family and his parents Bill and Teresa Heimann.

It is such a difficult time. Every day, law enforcement officers risk their safety, putting their lives on the line to protect and serve both their neighbors and strangers. Kansas is a home to so many brave men and women who have answered the call to serve, and too many have given their lives to fulfill this mission.

In small towns across Kansas, law enforcement officers, as they are in Hays, are well-known in their communities, and they are well-loved by their communities. We see them in the grocery stores, at the football games on Friday nights, and in church on Sundays. They are members of our communities, and they are familiar faces.

This courageous young man died with honor while protecting his community and the people he had sworn to serve. In Hays and across Kansas, the sacrifice he made will not be forgotten, and we resolve to forever honor his service to the community he loved.

I ask the U.S. Senate to join me and my family and my hometown in expressing our sympathy and gratitude--our respect--for this officer, for a life served in service to others, and to a community that mourns his loss.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, we for a second time failed to pass a continuing resolution to allow the Federal Government to continue to operate. It is because we are coming to the end of the fiscal year. Not all the appropriations bills have been approved, though most all of them have been approved by the Senate Committee on Appropriations. In fact, three have been passed by the Senate.

This makes no sense to me. This is not a shutdown that makes any sense at all. The American people, Kansans, deserve something different from the U.S. Senate.

Every city council or commission, every school board, every local government office in my State passes a budget and then lives within that budget every year. Every local unit of government can figure this out, and the U.S. Senate is failing one more time.

A shutdown means uncertainty. A shutdown means dysfunction. The issue to me is this continuing resolution that would fund the Federal Government until November 21--a short period of time--is designed to avoid that dysfunction, to avoid that uncertainty. All that is required is that we pass the continuing resolution, 60 votes in the U.S. Senate, to keep the government functioning so--and this is the reason it makes no sense to me--so that we can pass the remaining appropriations bills, all but one of which have been passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee and most in a bipartisan manner. For whatever purpose and for whatever reason, that seems beyond our capability.

I understand there are those who wish to bring other issues to this bill. Could we do one thing at a time, and when that one thing is as important as this continuing resolution, to do it now? to do it yesterday? to do it tomorrow?

We can't pass a continuing resolution because there are those who want to bring other issues into the bill. Could those other issues not be considered at a later time?

It seems to me that appropriating, passing appropriations bills, keeping the Federal Government functioning, is one of the primary necessities and responsibilities of the Congress of the United States. This is simple and straightforward. Give us a few more weeks to process the remaining appropriations bills, and the government continues to function while we do so.

A continuing resolution, particularly long term, is a crazy thing because it says we are going to fund the Federal Government at the same level, in the same way that we did last year. And if it is multiple years of continuing resolutions, the same way we funded the government the year before that. Does anyone believe that the priorities of this country are identical to last year? Does anybody believe that they are identical to 2 years ago? Aren't there things that deserve a higher priority? Aren't there things that deserve no money? Aren't there things that deserve less money or maybe even the same?

A long-term continuing resolution is a crazy idea, but the short-term resolution that we are dealing with now is a necessary solution. It is necessary because we can pass the appropriations bills and avoid a long-term CR. And we just need the time to do it.

So pass a short-term continuing resolution, do it, take up the appropriations bills as this majority leader has promised to do--and this majority leader has demonstrated he is willing to do it--is a straightforward solution. Give us a little more time--a few more weeks--immediately begin the consideration of the appropriations bills that have been reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and at the end of that period of time, we won't need a continuing resolution. We will have done our task.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I would like to recognize the closure of a staple restaurant and icon of Hoisington, Ks. After more than 70 years of service to the local community, the Dairy Queen in Hoisington is closing its doors. The Hoisington location opened in 1953, and the business served the area for the following decades until officially closing on August 28, 2025.

For more than 40 of those years, Becky and Leon Steiner owned and operated the business, providing the Hoisington community with decades of good memories and tasty food.

Anyone from a small, close-knit community knows firsthand the importance of a restaurant like Dairy Queen to the town. These restaurants are a place for folks to grab a bite to eat after church, a safe hangout spot for students to gather after school is out, and a place for people of all ages to gather for a cold treat when it is hot. For many, the local ice cream spot is an important part of the community.

Throughout the years, the location of the Dairy Queen had remained the same, despite updates and repairs to the building, including a rebuild after the April 2001 tornado that caused significant damage to the Hoisington community.

The location faced further hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic when, in March 2020, all Dairy Queen franchise stores were required to close their dining rooms as a result of the virus.

And yet, despite these challenges, the Hoisington community consistently rallied around the business and supported its owners by remaining loyal customers of the restaurant.

In 2023, Hoisington's Dairy Queen recognized the commitment of the community and celebrated 70 years of business at the location by offering a week of special deals with discounted treats such as ice cream cones, fries, hamburgers, and sundaes.

While running a business for decades is no easy task, the Steiners credit the tremendous support of the Hoisington community as the key to their success over the years.

While Becky and Leon Steiner have closed the doors to their restaurant, they announced that their daughter Amber and her husband John Crawford will open a new business, bringing a ``hometown fast food'' restaurant to the community to help fill the void left.

I congratulate the Steiners on many decades of successful business in the local community, and I offer my best wishes to the Crawfords as they launch a new restaurant to continue the family legacy of service to the people of Hoisington.

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

Mr. President, this evening, I want to recognize the upcoming anniversary of an important day in our Nation's history and in our military history. September 9 marks the beginning of the Italian campaign of World War II in 1943, a campaign that was only successful because of the courage and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of U.S. and Allied soldiers.

I am introducing a resolution to establish September 9 as the National World War II Italian Campaign Remembrance Day to commemorate their valor and ensure their legacy endures for generations to come.

Eighty-two years ago, Allied forces launched Operation Avalanche, marking the start of the liberation of the Italian Peninsula from fascist Nazi occupation. This military campaign was a testament to the unyielding resolve of U.S. forces and the strength of our foreign military alliances, united by a shared commitment to democratic ideals and the fight against fascism.

The Italian campaign was not just a series of joint and allied military operations; it was a stand against despotism and a defense of the freedoms we value--an important moment in our Nation's and, in fact, in our world's history.

The Italian campaign was fought across treacherous terrain, from the shores of North Africa to the waters of Sicily, along the rugged Amalfi Coast, which ultimately led to the liberation of Rome--the first major European city liberated during World War II. U.S. forces, alongside brave and committed global Allied forces from over 10 nations, including Italian resistance brigades, faced grueling conditions, fierce combat, and severe materiel constraints. Battles such as Monte Cassino and Anzio stand as two of the most intense of the war, costing countless lives.

Today, fewer than half a percent of the more than 16 million Americans who served in World War II are still living today. The veterans of the Italian campaign, including my father SSG Raymond Moran of the 603rd Armament Maintenance Battalion are dwindling in number. My father dedicated 2 years of his life to the liberation of Italy, repairing rifles and other small arms weapons under the regular threat of attack to make certain U.S. forces were equipped to win.

I am joined in this resolution by my colleague from Florida Senator Rick Scott, whose father also served in this campaign, in recognizing the personal and collective sacrifices of these heroes.

The Italian campaign spanned 602 days, culminating in the surrender at Caserta, just north of Naples, on April 29, 1945, when nearly 1 million Axis troops capitulated--the largest surrender of German forces at that point in the war. The following day, Adolf Hitler's death marked the collapse of the Nazi regime--a turning point made possible by the military operations comprising the Italian campaign.

This resolution acknowledges the tremendous and significant cost of the Italian campaign, with hundreds of thousands of U.S. and Allied casualties, many of whom rest in the serene and pristine American cemeteries across Italy.

Our resolution reaffirms that the victory was driven by an unwavering force of will, ironclad military alliances, and the enduring power of democratic values and principles that remain vital in today's global conflicts.

I hope my colleagues in the Senate will join me in honoring the memory of those who fought and died in the Italian campaign, to salute the surviving veterans, and to recognize the families who carry on their legacy. Let us designate September 9 as ``National World War II Italian Campaign Remembrance Day'' to ensure their sacrifices are not forgotten and are memorialized here on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 371.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; that the Klobuchar amendment to the preamble at the desk be agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.