Floor Statements

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 585, which is at the desk.

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 with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 584, which is at the desk.

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 with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 519 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; that the Kelly amendment to the preamble be considered and agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess to then reconvene for pro forma session only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times: Friday, January 16, at 8:30 a.m.; Tuesday, January 20, at 10 a.m.; Thursday, January 22, at 11 a.m.; further, that when the Senate recesses on Thursday, January 22, it stand in recess until 3 p.m. on Monday, January 26; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, 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 notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion filed today ripen at 5:30 p.m.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order under the provisions of S. Res. 585 following the remarks of my colleagues.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, you know, Republicans have a simple message for the American people, and that is, what we are doing here as Republicans is putting more money in your pockets, creating more opportunities for the American people, for American families, and families all across America are feeling it today.

Americans are no longer seeing these sky-high increases in prices like we experienced over the 4 years of the Biden administration--not at all.

Five years ago, inflation began to soar because of the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spending plan. As a result, we saw inflation hit 40- year highs, and people suffered all across this country as a result.

Well, over the last year, Republicans--now with President Trump and a Republican House and Republican Senate--have eliminated billions of dollars of wasteful Washington spending, and we are seeing that the pressure on prices is easing.

Families in more than 40 States are paying less than $3 a gallon for gasoline. In the Presiding Officer's State of Oklahoma and in my home State of Wyoming, it is at $2 for gasoline right now.

Lower gas prices, as the Presiding Officer knows, impact everything that a family does. It impacts everything in the country: the cost of groceries, the cost of commuting to work, or keeping going a ranch or family business. Energy prices affect all of it.

And lower prices are happening because Republicans are successfully changing the direction of the country. We promised to cut burdensome Biden regulations--regulations that have been punishing, penalizing-- and we are getting it done. We promised to unleash American energy and we have done it. We have delivered on our promises.

You know, under the Trump administration, permits to explore for energy right here in America have gone way up. It has been successful. The United States has never produced more energy than we are producing today. Energy dominance is fueling our opportunity economy. It is making a difference in families and in their lives.

America is standing by our manufacturers and helping them. And, look, our Working Families Tax Cuts law and the incentives in that are making a real difference for our economy. It is helping businesses build things, building them right here at home in America.

It allows for full expensing for factory improvements, new machinery, and farm equipment. We are seeing that in farms and ranches across Wyoming.

I heard it at the Farm Bureau. I heard it from our stock growers. It is encouraging businesses to innovate.

We have restored full and immediate expensing for research, for development, done right here in America. And we have made those savings permanent.

For businesses, that means it is more affordable to build at home in America, not 5 years from now but today, not overseas but in places like Wyoming.

And people are responding. These pro-growth policies are already driving a surge of business investment. More investment means more manufacturing at home and more American jobs--jobs that have been shipped overseas by the Democrats in the past. More manufacturing leads to high-paying jobs at home.

Construction sites are booming. You are seeing it there in the construction sites. You are also seeing it in the assembly line. More innovation, more production means prices go down.

And small businesses are the engine of Americans' prosperity. The Working Families Tax Cuts law helps small businesses all across America.

The law makes permanent the 20 percent small business tax deduction. Every Democrat voted against that. Republicans are focused on helping small businesses grow.

So American workers are the clear winners in what we have done with the Working Families Tax Cuts law.

You know, what we put in that law--no tax on overtime--that means a lot for the miners and the linemen in Wyoming. They are going to be able to keep $1,400 more this year in their paychecks.

Now, the Democrat leader, Senator Schumer, was just on the floor, and he talked about firefighters. Well, firefighters work a lot of overtime. They need to stay on the job. They do that. No tax on overtime now--that means more money in their pockets to take home. Firefighters, the nurses in Wyoming--they are happy with what we have done.

Chuck Schumer, who was just talking about it, voted against it. The Democrats wanted to raise taxes by $4 trillion. How is that going to help our country? It is not.

And then I heard Senator Schumer talk about bartenders. Well, we say no tax on tips. Bartenders get tips as part of their pay, so do waiters, waitresses. Lots of people work with tips. No tax on tips-- every Democrat voted against that. That was taking money--they would rather just take that money for themselves. They like the tips. They want it to go to the tax so they can spend more. We said: no tax on tips.

Look, this is money that our workers in America have earned. They ought to be able to benefit from it. It is not going to be wasted away anymore by these unaccountable, unelected, heavyhanded bureaucrats who think they know better than the American people. And it is certainly not going to continue to be stolen like it has been by these fraudsters in Minnesota, while the Democrats look the other way.

In all, American workers are going to see higher take-home pay, more money in their pockets, thanks to what we passed with the Working Families Tax Cuts law.

Republicans are creating an economy that works for working Americans. We are creating a prosperous America, an America where citizens are free to use their money. If they want to save it, if they want to spend it, if they want to invest it, they get to decide.

They want to use it to build a small business, good. They want it to control their family's future, perfect.

It is no wonder that the University of Michigan found that consumer sentiment continues to go up. That confidence rose the most among blue- collar workers--the workers who were hit the hardest by the Democrats' unaffordable economy.

Republicans were successful in stopping the Democrats' $4 trillion tax increase. We eliminated burdensome regulations. We unleashed American energy. We are getting America back on track. So that is why, today, Americans are seeing more money in their pockets. They are going to see bigger tax refunds. They are going to see more opportunities in their future.

That is what Americans voted for last November, and that is what Republicans have delivered. And this economic progress is just the start of the prosperity to come.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, when government wastes taxpayer money, taxpayers have a right to know what happened. And when emboldened criminals steal money intended to help single moms and children in need, taxpayers have a right to be angry.

Americans--and I am hearing it in Wyoming, and I am sure you are hearing it, Mr. President, in your home State of Ohio--Americans are infuriated with the staggering amount of fraud unfolding today in the State of Minnesota. The past few weeks have shown just how deep the corruption in Minnesota has turned out to be.

Investigators have now uncovered fraud schemes across 14 different Minnesota Medicaid Programs. Most people don't even know there are 14 different Medicaid Programs. There is fraud in all of them in Minnesota.

Joe Thompson, U.S. attorney in Minnesota, has spent his career prosecuting fraud, and based on his extensive investigation, he believes criminals have now stolen at least $9 billion--billion with a ``b''--from those Minnesota Medicaid Programs. That is half of the total amount of money Minnesota spends for Medicaid Programs in the State. Today, the fraud is so prevalent that Thompson says the State has ``developed a fraud tourism''--tourism--``industry.'' Can you imagine that--``a fraud tourism industry.''

Here is how these schemes work. Criminals, fraudsters, set up fake businesses for nonprofit organizations. The criminals then claim to provide services--services such as housing, food, and healthcare assistance. Then they bill Medicaid. They bill them for services never provided. They use the names of children and enroll them into the programs. Sometimes the children don't exist. Sometimes the children exist, and they are signed up by parents who are getting paid fraudulently to let them use their children's names.

In 2021, taxpayers paid $4.6 million for something called Minnesota's Integrated Community Support Medicaid Program. It is a mouthful. In 2021, $4.6 million. Then the fraudsters hit. Three years later, due to criminal fraud, spending for that program ballooned to more than $170 million. From $4 million to $170 million--that is 37 times as much in just 3 years. Money completely stolen as the Governor and others in Minnesota, the Democrat elected officials, looked the other way.

Taxpayers similarly paid $21 million in 2021 for something called Minnesota's Housing Stabilization Services. In the first 6 months of last year, due to criminal fraud, Democrats looking the other way, taxpayers paid nearly three times that amount.

A Medicaid Program claiming to help Minnesota children with autism cost $6 million in 2018. By 2023, due to criminal fraud, it went from $6 million to $192 million.

Daycare fraud is just one of these brazen schemes where the Democrats in Minnesota look the other way. Last month, an independent journalist visited 10 State-funded daycare sites in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis- Saint Paul. He found no children at the

daycare centers--middle of the day, not a single child was there.

One year ago, a local reporter visited several of those same sites. The reporter found no children at the daycare centers. They are supposed to be daycare centers, and getting paid to take care of children.

Here is one of those sites. This is a sign from one of the sites. It is called--you can't make this stuff up--Quality ``Learing'' Center. It is supposed to be a learning center. They can't even spell ``learning'' right. But that doesn't stop the Democrats in Minnesota who keep shoveling money right to these programs, stealing money from the taxpayers--from the Democrats, going to Democrats who are running these things.

It is appalling. The people of the United States are appalled and are furious. This ought to be a red flag for fraud. Why aren't the Democrats who run the place doing anything about it?

There were 95 violations for this ``learing'' center alone between 2019 and 2023. Violations occurred. No records on the children. But Minnesota's--run by the Democrats--taxpayer money continued to flow. It is disgraceful.

These aren't just one-off abuses. We now know that the fraud schemes used in the State's childcare programs have been used to defraud other social programs as well.

Even the New York Times has pointed to this. They say the fraud in Minnesota, run by the Democrats, is ``staggering in its scale and brazenness.''

I don't see any Democrats coming to the floor here today to point out the fraud, talk about what is happening there, how the money has been stolen from people that need it, the services that are needed by people. That means they are not getting it.

The Department of Justice has charged 98 defendants in Minnesota Medicaid fraud-related cases. So far, 64 of these have been convicted.

Last month, one defendant was found guilty of stealing $14 million from Medicaid. Yes, she did. She stole $14 million from Medicaid. You don't hear a word from the Minnesota Democrats coming to the floor here to talk about it. Nope.

She also stole nearly half a million dollars from child nutrition programs.

The Democrats come to the floor and say: Oh, we need more money for child nutrition and more money for child healthcare. Why aren't they looking at where the money is being taken from the mouths of the children?

For fraudsters, how much money was taken? Let's put this into perspective. The stolen money was supposed to be used to provide 200,000 meals for hungry children who did not get fed. Democrats must think that is fine. The defendant instead sent the hundreds of thousands of dollars overseas, and she bought real estate in Kenya, in Africa. Apparently, that is how business goes in Minnesota with the Democrats who are running that State.

This organized, systemic theft has gone on for years under Democrat leadership, and it really exploded under Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

The Democrats have permitted schemes stacked upon schemes to drain money meant for those in need. Republicans are not going to allow this massive theft of taxpayer dollars to be ignored. Democrats want us to just look the other way. We are talking about a comprehensive approach to root out the fraud in Minnesota and across the country.

Now, our Working Families Tax Cuts law fights fraud. We strengthened eligibility requirements for Medicaid. We ensured that illegal immigrants don't receive taxpayer-funded healthcare. We put in place work requirements for Medicaid and for food stamps. These policies will protect taxpayers and will increase accountability.

Additionally, Republicans are conducting aggressive congressional oversight. On Friday, the entire Senate Republican conference demanded Governor Walz explain his actions. We asked nine specific, detailed questions--questions such as why Minnesota failed to adopt key fraud prevention measures. Why aren't they trying to prevent the fraud? Why do they keep looking the other way?

These are measures that the Department of Health and Human Services recommended to Minnesota back in May. Nope. Governor Walz wants nothing to do with it. He knew about this widespread fraud. He refused to do anything about it.

Senate Republicans are ready to give the Trump administration the manpower it needs to tackle this fraud in Minnesota and wherever else it appears and occurs.

The Trump administration has asked the Senate to confirm a new Assistant Attorney General position--a position that will be focused on the fraud--and the Senate will get that person in place and on the job quickly.

The Trump administration has taken other bold and decisive actions to stop fraud. To further strengthen enforcement efforts, the Department of Justice has doubled the number of attorneys handling these fraud cases. The Treasury Department is cracking down on businesses in Minnesota for alleged money laundering because that is what is happening. The Department of Health and Human Services under President Trump froze Federal funding for fraud-prone programs in Minnesota.

If Senate Democrats care about stopping fraud, why are they preparing to vote today to loosen eligibility and income verifications for ObamaCare subsidies? They ought to want to be tightening these things up. But that is what the Congressional Review Act resolution from Senator Mark Warner of Virginia does, and we are going to vote on it today. Eliminating these vital protections invites more fraud. It means subsidies go to individuals who don't qualify for them.

Congress shouldn't make it easier to defraud the American taxpayers. This is the wrong direction to take after the biggest fraud scandal in Minnesota history. Protecting taxpayer dollars should not be a partisan issue. The fraud scandal in Minnesota should be a wake-up call for every American taxpayer.

Our Federal Government spends nearly $1.5 trillion each and every year to try to help feed and house and treat and care for vulnerable families and children. Those programs are there for a reason, but Democrats seem to think they are there to be a piggy bank for people who want to steal from the government.

Medicaid, food stamps, and other social programs have been called a lifeline. Years of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption have pushed those who truly need the help away from the lifeline and to the back of the line. That is what Democrats have been enabling and continue to enable.

Republicans aren't going to stop until the depth of this fraud is uncovered and prosecuted, and Republicans are committed to preventing it from happening again.

I yield the floor.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Iowa (Ms. Ernst), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), and the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) would have voted ``Yea.''

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Montana (Mr. Daines).

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

Mr. President, Republicans ran this past election year to make America safer and more prosperous. Now, we are a year into this, and people are seeing that the comprehensive economic plan that the Republicans have put into place is working for them.

This year, going forward, Americans are going to see even more money in their pockets, and that is thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut law. The average American taxpayer will see a significant cut this year in their taxes, which is a direct effect of the law. Families in every single State in the Nation are feeling relief.

Now, key parts of this tax law went into effect just on January 1, and they are going to make life much more affordable for American families. Republicans increased the child tax credit to $2,200 per child, and they made it permanent. And it is per child every year. That means for a couple in Cody, WY, with two children: $4,400 a year. That is money to help buy groceries, to help with education, and it helps with that child's activities.

Republicans also raised the limit in the dependent care flexible spending accounts. We raised it to $7,500 from $5,000. So a working mother in Casper, WY, can now set aside $7,500, pretax, for childcare. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama championed that, really pushed it through, and worked very hard.

Additionally, Republicans are doing things Congress has never done before. We have now created a guaranteed savings account for every American child. Every child born between 2025 and 2028 will receive a $1,000 investment account. So a child born in Sheridan, WY, will now start life with $1,000 already invested in their future. Senator Ted Cruz had this innovative idea.

Additionally, the Working Families Tax Cut law protects family farms, ranchers, and small business owners. This is vital to my home State of Wyoming and for other rural States. For years, farmers and ranchers told me the same thing: The death tax makes it nearly impossible to pass their family operations on to the next generation. Republicans delivered permanent death tax relief for family farmers, for ranchers, and for small business owners. Now, ranchers in Wheatland, WY, or Worland or Torrington or Gillette can now pass their land on--and their livelihood--to that next generation and avoid these crushing death taxes from Washington, DC.

Every Democrat in the Senate voted against the bill--every single one of them. They want the government to come in and confiscate small businesses and farms and ranches. That is not what Republicans stand for, and that is not what we did. If Democrats had their way, taxes would be going up this year by $4 trillion. Democrats supported and probably continue to support the largest tax increase in American history because that is the way they voted.

When Republicans proposed legislation to crack down on waste, fraud,

abuse, and corruption in Medicaid and food stamps and government social programs, every Democrat in the Senate voted no. They must love the corruption--which brings us to Minnesota.

Yesterday, Congress exposed worrying new information about the vast extent of the massive fraud and corruption in the State of Minnesota. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was the Democrat Vice Presidential nominee in 2024, and his attorney general, Keith Ellison, who was the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, are presiding over one of the most outrageous fraud scandals in recent memory. Manipulative criminals have stolen billions of dollars from Federal programs--billions meant to help vulnerable Americans.

Republicans voted to put more money in people's pockets. That is not what the Democrats wanted. No. They voted to raise taxes and voted to protect the kind of fraud being exposed in Minnesota today, the kind of fraud that Democrat-elected officials refuse to see and refuse to stop.

The working families tax cuts are part of the broader economic agenda that is already working, and the numbers prove it. Today, the world's most successful companies are investing in this country--$10 trillion in America. Record investment is driving private sector job growth. It is driving innovation. It is driving opportunity.

The proof is that the economy grew 4.3 percent in the third quarter. That is the strongest economic growth in 2 years. Core inflation cooled in November to 2.6 percent. Gasoline is now less than $3 per gallon in most of the country. In Casper, WY, it was $1.91. Forecasters predict prices are going to continue to fall. Real wages are on track to grow over by $1,000 this year.

All of these successes happened because Republicans are committed to American prosperity. We cut taxes. We eliminated wasteful Washington spending. We rolled back burdensome regulations. We unleashed American energy. This is a 180-degree turnaround from the past 4 years under Joe Biden and the Democrats. Under Joe Biden and the Democrats, prices rose by over 20 percent in 4 years. Democrats will now go down in history as the party of high prices, high taxes, and open borders.

As Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Nation, we can be confident--confident--that our country is safer, is stronger, and more prosperous. And with the Working Families Tax Cuts, Republicans are making sure that that prosperity continues into the future.

I yield the floor.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Daines), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Tuberville), and the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker).

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

Mr. President, I rise today having just come out of a secure briefing about the arrest of Nicolas Maduro.

Our country has carried out one of the boldest law enforcement operations in decades, and we should be very proud. We should celebrate it and be proud of the men and women in uniform who made sure this was successful. This administration had the courage to do what was right, what needed to be done; and America, Venezuela, and the world are much safer as a result of it.

Operation Absolute Resolve was conducted for one reason: to bring to justice a murderous dictator and an indicted drug trafficker. Maduro is an outlaw, and he is now in custody. The Trump administration indicted him in 2020 on drug trafficking charges. President Trump put a $15 million bounty on him. The Biden administration agreed, and they actually increased that amount to $25 million. Neither the first Trump administration, nor the Biden administration, nor the current administration recognized Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.

Now, we are not alone in that view. Many of our allies around the world have taken the same position, hold the same belief. Yet only America had the resolve and the resources to bring Maduro to justice. No American lives were lost, as we learned in our briefing and as we have seen, and it was a textbook example and demonstration of peace through strength. The message to the entire world is clear: If you poison and kill the American people, you are going to be held accountable.

Arresting Maduro also advances America's national security. Maduro's allies and enablers are united in their commitment to undermine our Nation: China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, even Hezbollah. Communist China was buying half a million barrels a day of oil from Venezuela--day after day, after day. In exchange for that oil, the Chinese Communist Party loaned Venezuela over $100 billion. Just hours before his arrest, Maduro was meeting in Caracas with officials of the Chinese Communist Party. This axis of aggression is weaker now because President Trump has taken decisive action, and our men and women in uniform were able to carry it out.

All around the world, people are seeing dictatorships failing. That is why Venezuelans are celebrating in the streets today. It is also why Iranians are uniting today across their country to protest the suppressive dictatorship. They have good reasons to demand their freedom.

Yet, today, there are Democrats in this Chamber--some may come to the floor later today--who are using the arrest of Nicolas Maduro not to advance American interests, no. They are using it to attack President Trump. This week, they are going to force a vote on another War Powers Resolution to tie the hands of the President. Let me be clear about what that resolution does and what it does not do. It does not reassert Congress's powers. It does not make America stronger. It makes America weaker and less safe. It will weaken the President's legitimate constitutional authority.

This body, the U.S. Senate, is being asked whether the President of the United States has the authority to arrest indicted criminals. Of course he does. Democrats want to weaken the President's ability to enforce the law of the land. That is the wrong message to send to hardened drug traffickers and to dictators.

It is interesting because, for years, Democrats were for holding Maduro accountable. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, tweeted in 2019 that ``getting rid of Maduro is good for the United States.'' That is one of the Democrats who are opposing what the President of the United States has done. He called for it in the past.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, who will be on this floor in a few minutes, came to this very floor in 2020 and complained about President Trump, saying President Trump ``hasn't brought an end to the Maduro regime.''

Senator Chris Van Hollen from the Foreign Relations Committee, a Democrat from Maryland, told MSNBC just last year--he said:

[T]he United States needs to work with its partners and

allies in the region to ratchet up the pressure [on

Venezuela].

Democrats know absolutely that President Trump did the absolute right thing. They won't admit it on this floor. They prefer to play politics instead. Within the last several days, Senator Schumer called arresting Maduro ``reckless.'' What a change and reversal in tune. Senator Van Hollen said it was an illegal ``act of war,'' a complete reversal of his previous positions.

Senator Murphy told CNN on Sunday that Venezuela, he said, is ``not a security threat'' to the United States. He sure viewed it differently in the past. Evidently, they were all for it before they were against it. That is what we see with these Democrats: something they are for, President Trump does it, and now they are against it.

The question I have for Democrats is, Do they no longer think that arresting Maduro is a good thing? They supported it in the past--every one of them.

Arresting Maduro was not partisan or political. It was a professionally executed law enforcement action conducted by a superb team of dedicated military professionals, and I congratulate each and every one of them. Every parent in this country should be happy today about this arrest because now their children will be safer from poisoning and death. This arrest will save thousands of American lives--lives that would have been lost due to Maduro's drug trafficking.

And what are the numbers? Was it 80,000 American lives lost since 2020 as a result of the poison that Maduro has forced into this country? On Saturday, President Trump took bold action, and he took action to protect the citizens of this great country.

We should celebrate the success in Venezuela. We should take great pride in the brave men and women who carried out the successful mission. Republicans are going to continue to stand on the side of safety, security, and America peace through strength.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.