Floor Statements

Mr. President, last week over the recess, I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan coinciding with the 47th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act. After I left Taiwan, I went to Japan and visited Tokyo, visited with many of our troops and some of our military bases and was briefed there as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

What I got to see last week I believe was President Trump's national security strategy--the new national security strategy--in action. So I wanted to come this afternoon to the floor after returning--I am still a little jet-lagged from my visits overseas, but I wanted to spend a few minutes today talking about what I learned and how President Trump's new national security strategy is already making the United States more secure.

Through his bold actions in Venezuela, Iran, and beyond, President Trump is demonstrating that America is stronger when the President acts unapologetically in defense of our national interests.

When the new National Security Strategy was introduced last September, many so-called foreign policy experts started immediately denouncing it.

Op-eds were written that said that because the security strategy focuses on the Western Hemisphere, that somehow means we are no longer prioritizing our competition with China. That is total hogwash. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I want to stick to the facts today about what the National Security Strategy really means. The new National Security Strategy describes the ``Trump Corollary'' to the Monroe Doctrine. The Trump corollary is about restoring ``American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere'' and about protecting ``our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region.''

As the strategy makes clear, this is not a global retreat but an example of strategic focus. While we tackle the many national security strategies and challenges around the world, we must never lose sight of the issues that arise in our backyard. Securing the Western Hemisphere is necessary to project power to other regions around the world.

We have already seen the many ways that this strategy has played out. Early in his second term, President Trump announced that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the ``Gulf of America.''

And, Mr. President, I know that you saw this too. Many people thought this was some kind of a joke. Those same so-called foreign policy elites made fun of President Trump for the name change. They said it was a joke, but, really, there is nothing that is funny about it. Renaming the gulf to the ``Gulf of America'' was a mission statement. It announced that America would dominate the Western Hemisphere once again and that America would lead on its own home turf.

Since then, President Trump has taken action in Panama, Venezuela, and perhaps soon even in Cuba, and America is better, safer, and stronger because of those operations.

President Trump's security strategy isn't something new. Since our Nation's founding 250 years ago, the United States has repeatedly kicked out foreign adversaries from the Western Hemisphere. European powers like the French, the Spanish, the British, and the Russians all tried over time to dominate in the region, but the United States never let that happen.

I think about President Teddy Roosevelt a lot in this era, in this new era--a lot of similarities between him and President Trump. President Teddy Roosevelt was unapologetic about acting in defense of America's interests. From Venezuela, to the Dominican Republic, to Panama, Teddy Roosevelt used military power to make sure that it was only America that ruled in her own backyard, and President Trump is bringing back this tried-and-true strategy.

Several weeks ago on the Senate's Armed Services Committee, we heard from the Under Secretary of War for Policy, Elbridge Colby, who is the key architect of this updated National Security Strategy. I had the chance to ask him some questions about our military actions and our strategy, what all of this means. Secretary Colby agreed that when we clean up our own backyard, we are not retreating from the rest of the world. In fact, securing our hemisphere is absolutely necessary to project power to the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Imagine what it would be like if we had foreign adversaries in our backyard while we had to mobilize our forces in the event of a crisis. The results could be catastrophic.

The surest way to prevent simultaneous adversary aggression is to have fewer adversaries. In Venezuela, China has already lost one client. In Cuba, they may soon lose another. Even as combat operations continue, President Trump has already degraded substantially Iran's military capacity to act in coordination with other enemies.

By any count, President Trump is making a list of our enemies and neutering or outright eliminating them one by one. The result will be a safer, more secure world, with fewer threats. That allows us to concentrate our military power where it matters most: in the Indo- Pacific.

Here, the National Security Strategy makes another key contribution to deterrence. Rather than focusing simply on the defense of Taiwan, the NSS draws connective tissue across the entire first island chain, interlinking security issues from the Philippines through Taiwan to Japan. As I saw firsthand in the region, this broader view advances U.S. interests while better supporting the needs of our allies and partners who are positioned at the tip of the spear.

President Trump is backing up this strategy with a historic investment in our national defense in the form of a $1.5 trillion defense budget that he has recommended to us in Congress. These investments are already resonating with our friends and allies around the world. In fact, in Taiwan, I spoke with President Lai, who is likewise proposing a defense budget of over a trillion dollars in Taiwanese dollars. As I urged leaders from Taiwan's legislature, I hope Taiwan passes this badly needed increase in short order.

Thanks to President Trump, America's key partnerships in the first island chain have never been stronger. We now have the strategy, the resources, and the will to leverage our military power to back them up. This is a combination that will serve American interests for years to come. I can't

think of anything that is more ``America First'' than that.

The National Security Strategy as updated by the Trump administration--Secretary of War Hegseth, Secretary Elbridge Colby, and President Trump himself--is really historic. It is an ``America First'' foreign policy agenda that is already making the United States safer and stronger.

As we near the 250th birthday of this great country--the greatest country in the history of the world--President Trump has positioned our Nation to be the most powerful that it has ever been, and that is something that is really worth celebrating.

What a big difference just a couple of years has made. From historic weakness in the Biden administration--I will never forget the disastrous pullout, the deadly pullout, the shameful moment of what happened in Afghanistan and what the Biden administration did to politicize and weaken our military. What a difference 2 years has made from that to President Trump restoring peace through strength through his actions, through what he has done to restore the military and rebuild the military, and also through this National Security Strategy.

I thank the Presiding Officer for his time with that.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 5 minutes prior to the scheduled recess.

Mr. President, there are some things in the world that are so obvious that there is really no use in debating them. There are things in this world that really ``go without saying,'' and voter ID laws are one of those things.

Voter ID laws are so obvious, they are so commonsense, that it is shocking that we are even having a debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate this week about it. It is hard to see that there are even two sides to this issue, unless, of course, you believe that it really is OK for illegal immigrants to vote in our elections.

But how is that even a debate? The Constitution is very clear that only citizens of the United States of America are eligible to vote in our elections. So that debate is already settled.

Indiana already has voter ID laws. Hoosiers have to show an ID when they show up to vote on election day, and they have to prove that they are who they say they are when they register to vote in the first place.

But it is not fair to Hoosiers when other States don't require voter ID. It is not fair to law-abiding Americans throughout the country because, when we allow noncitizens to vote in our Federal elections, we dilute the power of the American voter, and that should never be allowed to happen in the United States of America. American elections are for Americans, period.

Even with voter ID laws, there are still illegals who show up and try to vote. In fact, our Secretary of State in Indiana Diego Morales just audited our voter rolls in our State to find every noncitizen that voted in our elections to clean up the process and he actually found some, and the Secretary of State and our Attorney General Todd Rokita are prosecuting those voters who voted illegally.

So it is obvious that even in the State of Indiana, where we take election integrity very seriously, that we need to do more to protect our elections, and the SAVE America Act goes a long way to doing that.

It is also obvious that we need to pass the SAVE America Act for very practical reasons, to have voter ID nationwide in Federal elections.

Under Joe Biden, illegal immigrants invaded and flooded into our country, tens of millions of them. Joe Biden and the Democrats allowed this invasion to happen. Democrats defended the flood of illegal immigrants into this country on this floor, and that is why they are so bothered today by the SAVE America Act, a simple bill that is common sense to protect the integrity of our elections.

Voter ID laws are the only way that we can prevent tens of millions of illegals from voting in our elections.

America is about to turn 250 years old. There is so much that we have to celebrate in this great country, the greatest country in the history of the world. But it is crazy to think that we are gearing up for this epic birthday by debating voter ID laws.

The SAVE America Act is common sense. Voter ID is common sense. We have an opportunity this week to pass maybe the most commonsense bill ever passed by the U.S. Senate to protect our elections. I hope we do that. I hope we pass the SAVE America Act now. It is fundamental. I beg my colleagues to join me in supporting it this week.

I yield the floor.

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

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

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

Mr. President, before we leave for the weekend, I wanted to take a moment and just come down to the floor and give the President a lot of credit for a great State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.

It was my eighth State of the Union speech. I spent 8 years in the House, and this was now the second State of the Union speech I have heard as a U.S. Senator for Indiana.

It was truly the best State of the Union speech that I have ever heard. And it was especially special for me to have my younger brother--10 years younger than I--Bradley Banks, from Columbia City, up in the Gallery in the House to watch the State of the Union speech. He, too, loves President Trump and what he stands for, and to have him be my special guest was a special moment for me and for him to experience a great speech as well.

As President Trump said 2 nights ago, the state of the Union is strong, and that is thanks to President Trump and his great leadership. It has been incredible to see what a difference just 1 year makes and what a difference President Trump has made in this first year of his second term, especially after 4 disastrous years with President Joe Biden in the White House.

President Trump listed a number of reasons why the state of the Union is strong, but just to name a few of those reasons and give President Trump a lot of credit: Because of him, our border is completely secure. What a night-and-day difference that is from what it was just a little over a year ago when President Trump came back into office. Inflation is at its lowest level in more than 5 years, thanks to President Trump. Gas prices are down below $2.30 in most States. Incomes are rising again. The stock market has set 53 alltime record highs since President Trump's election in 2024. Fentanyl moving into our country is down 56 percent. The murder rate has had its single largest decline in American history. And America is respected on the world stage, perhaps unlike ever before, because of President Trump's incredible leadership.

As President Trump said at the State of the Union, our country is winning again. I loved hearing that from him. It made me so proud to be a U.S. Senator serving with President Trump in the White House once again.

And while President Trump was celebrating our country, while he was saying that we have ``achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages,'' Republicans stood to applaud while Democrats sat in their seats. It was really shocking to see Democrats refusing to stand up and cheer for American greatness. It was shocking to me. I couldn't believe it.

While President Trump asked Congress to stand up and show support if they agreed that ``the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens--not illegal aliens,'' the Democrats sat in their seats. They refused to stand up and cheer and stand with President Trump with all of us on the Republican side and agree to that simple statement. None of them agreed--not a single one of them. Not a single Democrat in the House Chamber, House Members or Senators on the

Democratic side--none of them agreed that the American Government should prioritize their own people above everyone else, especially those who come here illegally--what a disgrace.

I will never forget that moment, standing and agreeing with President Trump and clapping and cheering in agreement with him that it is our fundamental duty--the first duty that we have in this government--to put our own citizens over those who come here illegally.

Democrats would rather be spectators to America's demise than champions of American greatness. That is what it told me when I saw them sitting in their seats and all of us standing in agreement and cheering for American greatness and what makes this country great as expressed by President Trump.

President Trump urged Congress to pass the Delilah Law, which I introduced in the Senate yesterday. What the bill does is it keeps our roads safe from illegal immigrant truckdrivers. Delilah, a beautiful 7- year-old girl, up in the audience, in the Gallery, with her dad--when she was 5 years old, she was hit by an illegal immigrant driving a semitruck and seriously injured. She has made a remarkable recovery but is still injured to this day. When President Trump called on us to pass the Delilah Law to stop illegals from driving on our roads and driving a semitruck with a trailer, when he called on us to pass a simple, commonsense bill to take CDLs away from illegal immigrants, Democrats once again refused to stand up and acknowledge that that is the right thing to do, that that will save lives in our country by getting illegals out of semitrucks.

They couldn't stand and applaud for a lot of other things either. The President of the United States, in his speech, talked about lowering prescription drug prices. Republicans stood in agreement with him, and Democrats sat on their hands. The President talked about no taxes on tips, a big part of our signature ``tax cuts for working families'' bill that we passed last year.

I can remember distinctly on the campaign trail Democrats talking about no taxes on tips, and then every one of them voted against it. And when President Trump championed it in his State of the Union speech, Republicans stood in agreement and Democrats sat on their hands.

The President talked about passing the largest tax cut in American history for working class families, like yours and mine, a tax cut that is significant.

In Indiana right now, by the way, early tax returns for Hoosiers, a 10.9-percent increase in those tax returns from a year before. That is real. That is significant money in the pockets of hard-working Hoosier families, people who go to factories every day or work in hourly wage jobs, the real hard-working men and women that make my State and this country great.

When President Trump talked about that and how significant that is, Republicans stood in agreement and cheered for it, and Democrats sat on their hands.

The President talked about banning radical transgender operations-- again, common sense. Republicans stood in agreement and cheered in support of President Trump's commonsense policies to protect our kids; Democrats sat on their hands.

He talked about so many other issues. It was one issue after another that puts the American people, the American workers, American families first and in a better position. Republicans stood in agreement; Democrats sat on their hands.

As a son of a retired factory worker--my dad worked at Dana Corporation in Fort Wayne. He made axles. He got up early every morning. Sometimes he worked the third shift, all night long. He belonged to a union. He was a hard-working, union man all of his working life at the factory and put food on the table, provided for our family.

As a son of a factory worker and the grandson of a union coal miner who was an FDR Democrat, right--I mean, my grandpa, my family, they thought the Democrat Party represented the working man.

It is clear to me now that this is not my grandpa's Democrat Party.

My brother Bradley who works for the Columbia City Street Department, gets up every morning. He happens to have a CDL. He drives the snowplow. He works hard to keep our small hometown in northeast Indiana clean and the streets taken care of.

He doesn't wake up like you and I do every day and think about politics and what is going on in Washington, DC. He wakes up every day and thinks about working hard to provide for his family.

When he sat up in that Gallery on Tuesday night and watched this historic State of the Union speech--the longest State of the Union speech ever, but the best State of the Union speech that I have ever seen--he couldn't believe it.

He had a view from the Gallery watching this speech, watching the President talk about how great our country is, putting people like him in a better position to take care of his family, and the Democrats sat on their hands. They couldn't even cheer on the greatness of America and the good things that are happening in this country.

It is clear to me that the Democrats just can't handle the truth. They can't handle the truth that 250 years after this Nation's founding, we have so much to be proud of. We are proud of the gold medal U.S. Olympic hockey team who brought golden glory back to the United States 46 years after the ``Miracle on Ice.''

We are proud of our heroic soldiers like CW5 Eric Slover and the 100- year-old Navy fighter pilot CAPT Royce Williams, who both received the Congressional Medal of Honor during the State of the Union speech. What a great moment for us to experience on the floor of the House on Tuesday night.

We are proud that the greatest Nation in the history of the world will celebrate its 250th birthday in just a few months. The state of our Union is strong because President Trump is putting Americans first.

Mr. President, 250 years after a small group of brave men founded the greatest Nation on Earth, the United States remains the best and strongest country ever. We are still a nation of builders, warriors, and champions; and thanks to President Trump, we are stronger than we have ever been before.

That is worth getting out of your seat and standing and applauding and cheering and being in support of. I thought the President of the United States gave an incredible State of the Union speech. It was great. It made me very proud to be an American, and I am grateful for his leadership.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a correction to an appointment made on February 24, 2026, be printed in the Record. For the information of the Senate, this correction is clerical and does not change membership of the United States Commission of Civil Rights made by the appointment.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 310, S. 2245.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute 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, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 339, S. 1070.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute 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, 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. 617, S. Res. 618, S. Res. 619, S. Res. 620, S. Res. 621, S. Res. 622.

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, March 2; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 343, H.R. 6644; finally, that the cloture motion with respect to the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 343, H.R. 6644 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.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I came to the floor 2 weeks ago to speak about illegal immigrant truckdrivers causing chaos on our roads. Earlier this month, a father, his two sons, and a family friend were killed on an Indiana highway when an illegal immigrant swerved his semitruck right into them.

Two weeks ago, when I came to the floor to speak about this, I asked how many more people would have to die before we get serious about deporting illegal immigrants, and I am absolutely devastated that we now have one more name since I spoke here 2 weeks ago to add to that count. Tragically, just last week, another Hoosier was killed on an Indiana highway by an illegal immigrant truckdriver in a horrific accident. Terry Schultz was a 64-year-old man who was killed by an illegal immigrant from India when the illegal truckdriver reportedly ran a red light. Although the truckdriver is now in ICE custody, nothing can bring back Terry Schultz.

I am tired of coming to this floor and sharing the news about people being killed on Indiana roads because of illegal immigrants. This is the eighth Hoosier killed by an illegal immigrant on an Indiana road in just the last 6 months, that I know of, and the seventh because of illegal immigrant truckdrivers, specifically.

This is a national crisis, and I am sick of it. We need real accountability and a major overhaul of the system. Too much blood has already been stained on Indiana's roads. Things need to change, and they need to change now.

Last night, President Trump delivered an incredible State of the Union Address. One of the President's guests was a little girl named Delilah Coleman. When Delilah was just 5 years old, she suffered life- changing injuries caused by an illegal immigrant driving a semitruck in California, and it was the Democrat State of California that gave the illegal immigrant his commercial driver's license.

She is one of way too many people who have been hurt or killed by illegal immigrant truckers on our roads. Eight Hoosiers have been seriously injured--again, that is just what I know of--on Indiana roads by illegal immigrant drivers in the past 6 months. And that is just the eight that we know of.

Thank God Delilah, whom we saw last night up in the Gallery, is recovering well. In honor of Delilah, President Trump called on Congress to pass the Delilah Law, which would bar any State in the country from granting an illegal immigrant a commercial driver's license.

Many illegal immigrants cannot speak English or read the basic road signs. They have no business being on our roads, especially not behind the wheel of a semitruck.

Well, today, I am answering President Trump's call, and today, I am introducing the Delilah Law in the U.S. Senate. The Delilah Law not only bars States from giving CDLs to illegal immigrants, but it also revokes all trucking licenses that are currently issued to illegals and mandates that the CDL knowledge and skills tests are only given in English. This is common sense.

This will be a commonsense law, and I hope that we will get a chance to vote on it in the Senate very soon.

Another way that we can make our roads safer is by aggressively going after chameleon carriers that are employing illegal drivers. As I said 2 weeks ago, when I spoke on the floor about this, chameleon carriers are trucking companies that, after being shut down or heavily fined, just disguise themselves by changing their name or address or Department of Transportation number to continue operating.

It turns out that the trucking company that employed the illegal immigrant who killed those four people earlier this month in Jay County--they were four Amish men--was a company called AJ Partners. And they have been put out of service after it was investigated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and deemed a chameleon carrier. Since then, Secretary Sean Duffy and the Department of Transportation have shut down two other shady carriers connected to AJ Partners, as well as the sham school that helped the illegal immigrant get his CDL in the first place.

Last year, the Department of Transportation closed 7,500 sham commercial driver schools, known as CDL mills. The Department of Transportation has also placed 14,000 drivers out of service for English language proficiency violations. And I want to thank Secretary Duffy right here, right now, for his leadership. The Department of Transportation is cracking down, and what they are doing is making our roads safer because of it.

The carrier reportedly involved in the accident that killed Terry Schultz just last week was incorporated from an address in Greenwood, IN. That is the principal place of business for six other carriers. Six carriers at one address.

Earlier this week, I sent a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and urged them to investigate carriers operating out of Greenwood and elsewhere in my home State. We need to know about chameleon carriers that are operating in Indiana and shut them down, and that is why, last week, my office announced the creation of the Truck Safety Tip Line. The tip line is for those who work in the trucking industry to report concerns about companies that are operating illegally, hiring drivers who can't read or speak English, and hiring drivers who are illegally in the country and without the proper licenses and documents. The tip line gives truckers and people working in the trucking industry a way to speak up when they see carriers that are breaking the law and putting lives at risk on the road.

Any reports that are submitted to the Truck Safety Tip Line will be reviewed and shared with the U.S. Department of Transportation and its Office of Inspector General to help protect roadway safety and ensure a fair and lawful trucking industry. But the job of keeping our roads safe depends on more than just government. We need everyone--but especially truckers--to help us out.

Look, Indiana sits at the crossroads of America. It is a proud slogan for our State. And as I said before, Indiana is the fifth busiest State in the country for commercial freight traffic. Each year, 724 million tons of freight travel through Indiana. The truckers who operate in Indiana and throughout the country keep our economy going and going strong. They help us get the food we eat and the clothes that we wear.

Over 90 percent of truckers in America voted in the 2024 election. They are patriotic and good people who love this country and care about what is going on in America. Law-abiding truckers care about law and order, and they are outraged by what is happening on our roads. They are tired of unsafe drivers and companies who hire illegal immigrants because they can pay them less and take good jobs away from hard- working Americans. Hard-working American truckers are tired of being turned away from jobs because carriers hire cheap foreign labor instead, and it shouldn't be this way.

So if you are a trucker and you have concerns about illegal trucking companies and practices, we want to hear from you. In fact, we need to hear from you. That is why I am encouraging truckers who are on the road or those who are in the business to visit our website, banks.senate.gov, where you can find the Truck Safety Tip Line in the top corner.

We can't wait any longer. We have to do everything that we can to deport illegal immigrants from this country and get them off of our roads. We cannot allow illegal immigrants to terrorize our roads and kill more innocent lives like we have seen happen over and over again. I can't tell you how many people I have heard from who have texted me recently and said that they are afraid to take their families on the road in their vehicle and drive on the highways because this keeps happening over and over again. It is a national crisis.

While Democrats continue to moan on and on about ICE, shutting down the Department of Homeland Security because of it, I will work to keep the people of Indiana safe from illegal immigrants, especially illegal immigrants who are behind the wheel of semitrucks.

The time to act is now. President Trump called on us to do something about this national crisis now. I hope that truckers will use the tip line to help keep our roads safe, and I hope that we will get to vote on the Delilah Law soon. It is long past time to do something about it.

Mr. President, I came to the floor 2 weeks ago to speak about illegal immigrant truckdrivers causing chaos on our roads. Earlier this month, a father, his two sons, and a family friend were killed on an Indiana highway when an illegal immigrant swerved his semitruck right into them.

Two weeks ago, when I came to the floor to speak about this, I asked how many more people would have to die before we get serious about deporting illegal immigrants, and I am absolutely devastated that we now have one more name since I spoke here 2 weeks ago to add to that count. Tragically, just last week, another Hoosier was killed on an Indiana highway by an illegal immigrant truckdriver in a horrific accident. Terry Schultz was a 64-year-old man who was killed by an illegal immigrant from India when the illegal truckdriver reportedly ran a red light. Although the truckdriver is now in ICE custody, nothing can bring back Terry Schultz.

I am tired of coming to this floor and sharing the news about people being killed on Indiana roads because of illegal immigrants. This is the eighth Hoosier killed by an illegal immigrant on an Indiana road in just the last 6 months, that I know of, and the seventh because of illegal immigrant truckdrivers, specifically.

This is a national crisis, and I am sick of it. We need real accountability and a major overhaul of the system. Too much blood has already been stained on Indiana's roads. Things need to change, and they need to change now.

Last night, President Trump delivered an incredible State of the Union Address. One of the President's guests was a little girl named Delilah Coleman. When Delilah was just 5 years old, she suffered life- changing injuries caused by an illegal immigrant driving a semitruck in California, and it was the Democrat State of California that gave the illegal immigrant his commercial driver's license.

She is one of way too many people who have been hurt or killed by illegal immigrant truckers on our roads. Eight Hoosiers have been seriously injured--again, that is just what I know of--on Indiana roads by illegal immigrant drivers in the past 6 months. And that is just the eight that we know of.

Thank God Delilah, whom we saw last night up in the Gallery, is recovering well. In honor of Delilah, President Trump called on Congress to pass the Delilah Law, which would bar any State in the country from granting an illegal immigrant a commercial driver's license.

Many illegal immigrants cannot speak English or read the basic road signs. They have no business being on our roads, especially not behind the wheel of a semitruck.

Well, today, I am answering President Trump's call, and today, I am introducing the Delilah Law in the U.S. Senate. The Delilah Law not only bars States from giving CDLs to illegal immigrants, but it also revokes all trucking licenses that are currently issued to illegals and mandates that the CDL knowledge and skills tests are only given in English. This is common sense.

This will be a commonsense law, and I hope that we will get a chance to vote on it in the Senate very soon.

Another way that we can make our roads safer is by aggressively going after chameleon carriers that are employing illegal drivers. As I said 2 weeks ago, when I spoke on the floor about this, chameleon carriers are trucking companies that, after being shut down or heavily fined, just disguise themselves by changing their name or address or Department of Transportation number to continue operating.

It turns out that the trucking company that employed the illegal immigrant who killed those four people earlier this month in Jay County--they were four Amish men--was a company called AJ Partners. And they have been put out of service after it was investigated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and deemed a chameleon carrier. Since then, Secretary Sean Duffy and the Department of Transportation have shut down two other shady carriers connected to AJ Partners, as well as the sham school that helped the illegal immigrant get his CDL in the first place.

Last year, the Department of Transportation closed 7,500 sham commercial driver schools, known as CDL mills. The Department of Transportation has also placed 14,000 drivers out of service for English language proficiency violations. And I want to thank Secretary Duffy right here, right now, for his leadership. The Department of Transportation is cracking down, and what they are doing is making our roads safer because of it.

The carrier reportedly involved in the accident that killed Terry Schultz just last week was incorporated from an address in Greenwood, IN. That is the principal place of business for six other carriers. Six carriers at one address.

Earlier this week, I sent a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and urged them to investigate carriers operating out of Greenwood and elsewhere in my home State. We need to know about chameleon carriers that are operating in Indiana and shut them down, and that is why, last week, my office announced the creation of the Truck Safety Tip Line. The tip line is for those who work in the trucking industry to report concerns about companies that are operating illegally, hiring drivers who can't read or speak English, and hiring drivers who are illegally in the country and without the proper licenses and documents. The tip line gives truckers and people working in the trucking industry a way to speak up when they see carriers that are breaking the law and putting lives at risk on the road.

Any reports that are submitted to the Truck Safety Tip Line will be reviewed and shared with the U.S. Department of Transportation and its Office of Inspector General to help protect roadway safety and ensure a fair and lawful trucking industry. But the job of keeping our roads safe depends on more than just government. We need everyone--but especially truckers--to help us out.

Look, Indiana sits at the crossroads of America. It is a proud slogan for our State. And as I said before, Indiana is the fifth busiest State in the country for commercial freight traffic. Each year, 724 million tons of freight travel through Indiana. The truckers who operate in Indiana and throughout the country keep our economy going and going strong. They help us get the food we eat and the clothes that we wear.

Over 90 percent of truckers in America voted in the 2024 election. They are patriotic and good people who love this country and care about what is going on in America. Law-abiding truckers care about law and order, and they are outraged by what is happening on our roads. They are tired of unsafe drivers and companies who hire illegal immigrants because they can pay them less and take good jobs away from hard- working Americans. Hard-working American truckers are tired of being turned away from jobs because carriers hire cheap foreign labor instead, and it shouldn't be this way.

So if you are a trucker and you have concerns about illegal trucking companies and practices, we want to hear from you. In fact, we need to hear from you. That is why I am encouraging truckers who are on the road or those who are in the business to visit our website, banks.senate.gov, where you can find the Truck Safety Tip Line in the top corner.

We can't wait any longer. We have to do everything that we can to deport illegal immigrants from this country and get them off of our roads. We cannot allow illegal immigrants to terrorize our roads and kill more innocent lives like we have seen happen over and over again. I can't tell you how many people I have heard from who have texted me recently and said that they are afraid to take their families on the road in their vehicle and drive on the highways because this keeps happening over and over again. It is a national crisis.

While Democrats continue to moan on and on about ICE, shutting down the Department of Homeland Security because of it, I will work to keep the people of Indiana safe from illegal immigrants, especially illegal immigrants who are behind the wheel of semitrucks.

The time to act is now. President Trump called on us to do something about this national crisis now. I hope that truckers will use the tip line to help keep our roads safe, and I hope that we will get to vote on the Delilah Law soon. It is long past time to do something about it.