Floor Statements

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis) would have voted ``yea.''

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Hoeven), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Lee), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Schmitt), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) would have voted ``yea,'' the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Hoeven) would have voted ``yea.''

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Hoeven), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Lee), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Schmitt), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).

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

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott).

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the following Senators to be recognized to offer amendments, motions, or points of order; that the amendments be reported by number, with no amendments in order prior to a vote in relation to the amendments or motions: No. 1, Lujan motion to commit; No. 2, Reed motion to commit.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the following Senators to be recognized to offer amendments, motions, or points of order; that the amendments be reported by number, with no amendments in order prior to the vote in relation to the amendment or motions; and that is Ossoff No. 2696.

Madam President, this amendment would disproportionately hit our successful job creators throughout the country, harming workers, consumers, and local economies. That result runs directly contrary to the central themes of this bill: preventing a more than $4 trillion tax hike on all Americans, making permanent the Trump tax cuts, which proportionately benefit the middle class the most.

But despite Democrats' rhetoric, they are conflating two separate issues. Ensuring healthcare affordability and access requires thoughtful, deliberative, and real solutions.

Unfortunately, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle enacted costly and uncapped enhanced premium tax credits that use taxpayer dollars to mask underlying issues in the ACA market, such as declining value and fraudulent enrollment.

So I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and instead work to reform the underlying issues in the market that drive costs for patients and families.

Point of Order

Madam President, the pending amendment, No. 2696, would cause the underlying legislation to exceed the Finance Committee's section 302(a) allocation of new budget authority and outliers; therefore, I raise a point of order against this measure pursuant to section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the following Senator to be recognized to offer amendments, motions, or points of order; that the amendments be reported by number, with no amendments to be in order prior to a vote in relation to the amendment or the motions: Warren, No. 2414.

The following Senator is necessarily absent. The Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley).

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, yesterday, the U.S. Senate got an update from the administration about Saturday's strike on Iran. We heard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, and Gen. Dan Caine, who is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They told us, beyond a doubt, the Iran strikes were successful.

Two things are clear: one, President Trump protected our country; and, two, America drew a redline on Iran--no nuclear weapons--and President Trump enforced it.

Every recent President has said a nuclear Iran is unacceptable. Bill Clinton said it. George W. Bush said it. Barack Obama said it. Joe Biden said it. Even Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said back in 2015:

If there is only a 10 percent chance Iran uses a nuclear

weapon, it is vital we prevent it.

That is exactly what President Trump did, and he did it effectively. For over 40 years, Iran has targeted, threatened, and terrorized the United States and our allies. We know from our own intelligence and from independent experts that Iran was dangerously close to getting nuclear weapons.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have called for diplomacy. Well, President Trump tried diplomacy for months. President Trump laid down guidelines and deadlines, and then he drew a redline. Iran used diplomatic talks to stall. It did so as it continued to race toward a nuclear weapon.

As Commander in Chief, President Trump has the full authority to act. He did so consistent with article II, section 2 of the Constitution, and he did so decisively. It was a limited, powerful, and precise strike. It was aimed specifically at Iran's nuclear facilities--not at Iran's leadership, not at the Iranian people. And here is more good news: No American lives were lost--absolutely none.

This was a powerful message to Iran, but not just to Iran--also to Russia, to China, to North Korea, and to anyone else who is an adversary of the United States. The message is this: America means what it says, and America will keep our people safe.

Now, Democrats, of course, rushed to turn this successful strike into a political fight. Even today, they are forcing the Senate to vote this very afternoon on a resolution that says the President lacked the authority to do what he did. They have gone so far as to imply that the successful protection of the American people is an impeachable offense. Democrats are calling for the President's impeachment because of his successful attack on the Iranian nuclear program.

National security should be something that unites us. But let's not forget that Democrats have said Presidents can act without a vote of Congress. They have said it many times in the past. Recall, when President Obama struck Libya in 2011, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress wasn't needed because the strike was ``limited.''

Now that there is a Republican in the White House, what we are seeing is that Democrats are suddenly trying to rewrite the rules. National security moves fast. That is why our Constitution gives the Commander in Chief real authority. President Trump seized the moment. He did it responsibly; he did it decisively; and he did it constitutionally. America and our allies are safer today because of it.

And the resolution from Senator Kaine that we are voting on today I believe is not needed, and I most certainly will oppose it. If passed, it would prevent the President from protecting us in the future. I urge all of my colleagues to reject it.

Mr. President, on a related matter, the Iranian air strike is about more than nuclear weapons. It is about, also, the threat of terrorism. Iranian terrorists have targeted Americans for decades. Iran actively pursued an assassination plot against President Trump. Other top officials in the United States have also been targets of Iranian terrorists.

Recently, Iran threatened to activate its so-called sleeper cells right here inside the United States. Let that sink in. This is an urgent reminder that national security starts with border security.

Under Joe Biden and the Democrats, more than 1,500 illegal immigrants from Iran crossed our southern border, and 729 of them were released into our country by Joe Biden. And that might just be the tip of the iceberg because, remember, under Joe Biden and the Democrats, there were millions of ``got-aways,'' people who weren't stopped sneaking across the border; they were detected--either through satellite images or different mechanisms of looking for people: heat detection of people moving across the desert--but not able to be captured.

How many of them were Iranian agents as well? How many of them are, today, in sleeper cells? Well, the truth is, no one knows. What we do know is this: President Trump took office, and since that time, illegal border crossings are down by 95 percent.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are working fast. In the last 7 days alone, ICE arrested 130 illegal immigrants from Iran. Right now, 670 Iranian nationals are being detained. President Trump's detentions are working.

Now the administration needs more resources to finish the job. That is why Republicans are fighting for our comprehensive safety agenda. Our bill increases funding for border security and enforcement by $160 billion. It finishes the wall. It hires thousands of new Border Patrol and ICE agents. It gives them a bonus for keeping our communities safe.

In November, Americans wanted, needed, and voted for safe communities and secure borders. Our Republican safety agenda delivers what the Americans want, need, and have voted for.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the Republican plan for American prosperity in terms of why it is so popular.

That is because Republicans want to cut taxes. Democrats, they want to raise taxes. Republicans want to grow the economy. The Democrats, they want to grow the government. Republicans want to put working families first. Democrats continue to want to leave them behind.

Our Republican bill stops the largest tax increase in American history, and

it means permanent tax relief. That means Americans can plan their futures with certainty. It means higher wages and more jobs. That means Americans have more money in their pockets, in their purses, and in their paychecks. The Council of Economic Advisers released new data this week. Here is what it shows: Our plan for American prosperity raises wages, lowers taxes, and grows the economy.

So let me just take a second to break down the benefits: $10,000 more in take-home pay for American families; an extra tax cut for tipped and overtime workers; $6,000 bonus deductions for seniors on Social Security; 7 million more jobs right here in America; $100 billion in business investments in opportunity zones, including in rural America; an additional 4 percent in economic growth; more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction so that the next generation isn't buried in debt.

Our plan for American prosperity will also create new savings accounts for every child. These tax-deferred investment accounts start with a $1,000 contribution. Now, those early savings will grow over time. By the time the child becomes an adult, he can use the money to pay for college, to put down a downpayment on a home, or to start a small business. We call these Trump accounts. Trump accounts are an investment in our future generation. They are financial launch pads for the American dream.

Additionally, our plan for prosperity unleashes American energy. This will help working families who have paid for high energy costs under Joe Biden.

Now let's talk about what happens if Democrats are successful in defeating our bold Republican agenda.

If Democrats block this bill--and they say they are going to--taxes will soar; paychecks will shrink; and small businesses will get strangled. Every Democrat--every Democrat--in this Chamber has vowed to vote against our economic prosperity package. The vote of every Democrat in this Chamber will raise your taxes. If Democrats get their way, middle-class families will pay $1,700 more in taxes next year. Small businesses will see their taxes go up by 43 percent. The standard deduction, which 90 percent of taxpayers use--well, that is going to get cut in half; so will the child tax credit. Yet that is what the Democrats are fighting for: higher taxes, fewer jobs, and heavier costs on working families.

Let's not forget why Democrats want to raise taxes. They want to continue to give free healthcare to millions of illegal immigrants.

Republicans are fighting so that waiters, nurses, police officers, seniors, and families keep more of what they earn and don't continue this Washington wasteful spending. Our comprehensive plan for prosperity is going to put America back on track.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I rise today because Republicans are making America safer and more prosperous, and, as part of that, we are strengthening Medicaid.

You know, I am a doctor. I practiced medicine in Wyoming for over 20 years,

and I cared for many, many Medicaid patients my entire career. I understand Medicaid's importance--importance for the people that it is intended to serve. I have also seen its shortcomings.

Medicaid became a law in 1965. It was meant to be a safety net for the poor, for pregnant women, for children, and for the disabled.

Today, Medicaid has been stretched way beyond its intended purposes. Today, Medicaid covers 71 million people. Many of these are able- bodied, working-age individuals. As a result, Medicaid has become broken and bloated. Its costs are ballooning. It is going to go bankrupt unless we take action now to strengthen it.

The Republican plan will strengthen Medicaid for those for whom it was originally intended.

Our bill ensures that illegal immigrants do not receive taxpayer- funded healthcare. It was never intended for that. But 14 liberal States currently give free taxpayer funded healthcare to illegal immigrants.

California, of course, is the biggest offender because they set up a money-laundering scheme. The scheme is set up to siphon money from the Federal Treasury to provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants. The 1.4 million illegal immigrants who receive free healthcare, they strangle Medicaid in the funding. They are filling up waiting rooms and clinics. They are making it harder for Americans to get in to see a doctor.

Our bill ends liberal States' magnet for illegal immigrants. Medicaid cannot continue to be a reward for open borders and sanctuary cities.

Additionally, our bill roots out waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption in Medicaid. Experts tell us that, in recent years, Medicaid has wasted over $1 trillion in improper payments alone.

In 2021, 660,000 people were enrolled in Medicaid in more than one State. How can that be? That is costing lots of money. The Wall Street Journal did a breakdown of this. They found that these double payments alone cost American taxpayers over $2 billion.

Republicans will not allow scammers to continue to game the system and steal money from taxpayers.

Additionally, our bill puts in place work requirements for these able-bodied, working-age adults. Twenty-one million able-bodied adults are currently on Medicaid.

An American Enterprise Institute study recently found able-bodied adults on Medicaid who don't work. How do they spend their time? Well, they spend over 4 hours every day watching TV and playing video games. That is 125 hours a month. They ought to be working or at least looking for a job.

Our bill requires these people to work or train 80 hours each month to remain on Medicaid. That is a lot less than the time they are currently spending watching TV and playing video games.

Senate Republicans are proposing a responsible path to self-reliance for able-bodied, working-age people--no more taxpayer-funded coddling.

Let me share with you a story about a man whose son relies on Medicaid. This man's son has autism and epilepsy. Medicaid was designed to serve individuals like this man's son. Yet, today, his son is stuck on a 10-year waiting list for in-home care.

The man wrote about his family's needs. He wrote a whole article about it, entitled ``My Son Is Counting on Medicaid Work Requirements''--not for the son but for others, so they start working to make it easier for this man's son to get the benefits that he needs.

Medicaid is often called a lifeline. Years of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption have pushed those who truly need it to the back of the line.

Republicans are fighting for families like this one. We are making sure Medicaid is there for the vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Democrats are fine with healthy, working-age adults continuing to stay home, play video games, and receive Medicaid forever.

Work requirements work. In the 1990s, Bill Clinton proposed that we end welfare as we know it. President Clinton partnered in a bipartisan way with the Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, to pass bipartisan reform.

Bipartisan welfare reform lifted millions out of poverty. Even President Obama admitted it. He said:

We have to have work as the centerpiece of any social

policy.

President Obama was right then, and Republicans are right today.

Today, every Democrat has vowed to oppose our commonsense reforms. Democrats' wasteful approach continues to drain Medicaid.

Medicaid is for the truly needy. Medicaid is not for illegal immigrants or for able-bodied, working-age men who refuse to work.

Republicans are rescuing this lifeline so that it serves those who need it the most now and into the future.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Kies nomination.

I yield the floor.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Banks).

Mr. President, I come to the floor today because for the last few years, I think we can best describe the time in America as a time of record high prices and wide-open borders. Prices soared by over 20 percent, which was a 40-year high; 10 million illegal immigrants flooded across our Nation's borders; American families struggled; and communities were unsafe.

So in November of this past year, the American people said: Enough. They rejected the chaos and the extremism of the Democratic Party and the Democratic leadership, and they chose Republicans in order to get the country back on track.

So the bill that we are voting on this week is the Republican plan: a plan for a safer and more prosperous America. It is a plan to cut taxes, lower prices, secure the border, and, of course, to strengthen our Nation. It is the blueprint to renew, to rebuild, and to restore our Nation. Here is how.

First, our bill stops a $4 trillion tax increase. Now, that would be the biggest tax increase in the history of the country. Every Senate Democrat has vowed to stop the bill. That is because the Democrats are the party of record high taxes. They want people's taxes to go up to a tune of $4 trillion. If the Democrats have their way, every working family in America will pay more in taxes. They will see a higher tax bill next year.

So if you make between $30,000 and $80,000 a year, when our bill passes, you are going to get a 15 percent tax cut. We cut taxes on overtime, on Social Security, and on tips. If you are a waiter or a police officer or a nurse, you are going to keep more of what you earn. If you are on Social Security, you will see more money at the end of each month through a larger deduction. Now, this is real relief for the American people who have been suffering through 4 years of record high prices.

Additionally--and, as a doctor, I think this is critically important--our bill strengthens Medicaid. Medicaid exists for the vulnerable: for children, for pregnant women, for the disabled. That is who it was set up and established for. But, right now, Medicaid is failing them. And the problem, of course, is the waste and the fraud and the abuse and the corruption that has been allowed to get into that system as a result of the last 4 years of liberal leadership in Washington.

Experts tell us that over the past number of years, over $1.1 trillion has been wasted on improper payments alone. And Washington was happy to shovel the money out of this city to big States and big cities. In States such as California, money meant for the vulnerable was siphoned off; it was diverted for free healthcare for illegal immigrants. Well, our bill stops all of that.

We also believe and add the fact that there needs to be work requirements--work requirements for able-bodied, working-age people. If people can work, they should work. That is how you move people from poverty to a paycheck.

Additionally, our bill secures the border and deports illegal immigrants. The border has been wide open for the last 4 years. Over 10 million illegal immigrants have come into the country. We have seen the numbers. We have seen the videos, the crime, the chaos allowed by the previous administration, and we have seen how quickly things can change with real leadership in the White House. It is dramatic. It is the improvement that the American people have wanted.

Our bill invests $160 billion in public safety--hiring 10,000 new Immigration and Customs agents, hiring 3,000 new Border Patrol agents, finishing the wall, giving our officers a well-deserved bonus for keeping our communities safe.

Additionally, the bill we have unleashes American energy. Under Joe Biden, energy prices rose 31 percent in 4 years. We fix that by producing more energy right here at home in America. We open up energy production onshore, offshore, and in Alaska. That means affordable gas prices, lower energy bills, good-paying American jobs. It powers innovation here at home. America is an energy superpower, and once again, we are going to act like it.

Additionally, our bill restores American strength. For 4 years under Joe Biden, the world saw American weakness. This bill, as well as our actions last weekend, sent a clear message: America is strong again. We invest $150 billion in our military, we build 13 new warships, and we boost shipbuilding capacities.

Remember, strength deters. Weakness invites aggression. A ready America is a safe and strong America. That is what Americans want, it is what they need, and it is what Americans voted for in November: lower taxes, safer communities, secure borders, a strong economy, leaders who put common sense ahead of chaos. And that is exactly what this bill delivers.

This bill keeps the promises that we made to the American people, while a vote against the bill--and that is what the Democrats are coming to the floor and they are promising, saying: We have to beat this thing. That would saddle hard-working Americans with the largest tax increase ever, with open borders, with a weaker economy, a weaker country. And that is what they come to the floor and say they are fighting for.

I ask the American people: Whose side do you stand on? What is it that

you want for your future and your country? Because we know what works. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan tamed inflation, cut taxes, and stood strong. It was morning in America. And then in the 1990s, in a bipartisan effort, Republicans worked with President Bill Clinton to reform welfare. Millions moved from poverty to paycheck. We need to do that again.

In 2017, we cut taxes, we rolled back redtape, we unleashed American energy, and it created the best economy in my lifetime. Middle-class incomes rose by nearly $6,000 across the board. Energy was much more affordable. We did it before. With this bill, we will do it again.

So, today, Senate Republicans stand united: united to deliver lower prices, higher wages, and more jobs here at home. This bill that we will vote on this week opens the next chapter in our great American comeback story. Republicans are ready to get America back on track.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Dabbar nomination.