Floor Statements

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Mullin), and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul).

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to use a prop during my remarks.

Mr. President, I come to the floor having just listened to my colleague, the senior Senator from New York, the minority leader, talk about the upcoming efforts from the Republicans with regard to America's economy.

And if you ask me what is the No. 1 goal of the legislation that is being proposed, it is we want to prevent a $4 trillion tax increase that will hit every working family in this country that the Democrats are for.

So he goes on and on about different things in the bill. Let's get down to the purpose of the bill, and it is to prevent a $4 trillion tax increase that the Democrats support.

But, Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about a different topic, and that topic is coal--and, specifically, Wyoming coal, which is world-class coal, clean coal, low-sulfur coal.

This is Wyoming coal. We need more of it--not less of it--to power our Nation. It is available, affordable, and reliable. This has powered our Nation for

over a century. It continues to be a major source of power for our Nation, and we need it far into the future.

And today, to that case, President Trump is going to sign an Executive order making clear his commitment to American energy independence. The President is moving very quickly in terms of boosting the coal industry. It is part of his bold plan that the administration has to restore American energy dominance.

We have more coal in this country than any other country in the world. It is one of our most affordable, reliable, and abundant sources of energy on the planet. And in America, we can use that coal cleaner than ever before.

Wyoming's Powder River Basin produces the cleanest burning coal in the world. Nearly half of all coal produced in America comes from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and our neighboring State of Montana. Wyoming's energy warriors will lead the way.

For years, Democrats have held coal captive with reckless regulations, making it harder for us to use American energy and making us more dependent on foreign sources of energy. Joe Biden took coal offline in America. Democrats' war on American energy strained our grid, subsidized unreliable energy, and as a result, energy prices spiked in their administration by 31 percent. That hit American consumers, American manufacturers, American families; and it hurt our economy.

Meanwhile, what we know is that China is opening up two new coal- fired powerplants each and every week. It is hard to believe, but they are doing it. They continue to build those powerplants in China.

We will talk about what they want to do with that energy and what we need to do in America because President Trump is cutting redtape so we can compete again--compete with China. And coal is making a comeback. Wyoming wins, America wins, but not China.

What do Americans want? They want affordable, reliable, available power. We need the energy, and clean coal will deliver it. American energy is rocket fuel for a stronger economy--also, for a more secure Nation.

What does more energy mean? It means lower prices for consumers and manufacturers and producers. Electricity demand is projected to double by the year 2050. We cannot meet this demand if we lock up our valuable energy resources, but that is what the Democrats wanted us to do. That was the purity plan that they had the last 4 years.

High energy prices under the previous administration drove up food prices, fuel prices, and strained families. All of this hurt our Nation and hurt our economy. President Trump wants to produce more American energy, and that includes coal.

Investing in American energy lowers the cost of food. It puts more money back into families' pockets. This is how we need to deal with the energy crunch that we are facing.

Plus, this creates more American jobs, brings jobs back to our country. Coal is an engine of our American economy, and the Democrats continue to treat it as an enemy. Everything we do in this country relies on energy. We need more energy, not less. Steel producers, manufacturers, data centers need steady, reliable power if we are going to compete and win. The electricity needed for data centers alone is predicted to increase by up to 20 percent each year over the next 5 years. Coal will help power them. It will give our industry an edge, a competitive advantage. In turn, more workers will find that they get steady, reliable paychecks. Coal miners will also get new opportunities. All of America will get a boost.

More American energy also means that data centers, artificial intelligence--which are major users of energy--will grow here in America, not overseas. With it, we can power our economy; we can win the energy race; we can win the AI, artificial intelligence, race against communist China.

More energy secures our Nation. Energy security is national security. Republicans understand it. President Trump understands it. That is why he is going to do what he is doing this afternoon at the White House, and I am delighted to have been invited to be part of it.

We don't need more liberal energy chokeholds. Energy independence is what matters for our Nation and our future. Europe, last year, spent $23 billion on Russian oil and gas because they didn't have enough of their own energy. That is more money than Europe sent in aid to Ukraine. This shows you that Europe's energy crisis proves dependency upon our enemies for energy is self-defeating.

American energy dominance, including clean coal, reduces our Nation's vulnerability. The climate alarmists--and we hear them, and we understand they will come to the floor to talk about this--claim that coal is the energy of the past. They are misinformed. Clean coal is a fuel for the future. It is affordable, it is reliable, and it is ready to go.

President Trump knows that. He knows that coal is a key ingredient in an all-of-the-above energy strategy and agenda for our Nation. So I look forward to standing today with President Trump to celebrate this victory for Wyoming and for America and for a strong energy future for our Nation.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Justice) and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Curtis) and the Senator from Montana (Mr. Sheehy).

Mr. President, for 4 years, America has watched as Joe Biden and the Democrats ran our country and our economy into the ground. That is what we have seen in the last 4 years. And every measure shows it: 10 million illegal immigrants, $5 trillion in wasted Washington spending, the worst inflation in 40 years, energy prices rising over 30 percent, a weak and failed foreign policy. That is what the American people saw over the last 4 years.

In November, Americans chose a new path. Senate Republicans promised to get America back on track, and we are delivering.

I was at the Rose Garden on Wednesday and heard President Trump talk about our budget. He gave it his complete and total endorsement. So, today, the Senate budget is the building block for our bold Republican agenda. It fulfills our promises to secure the border, to rebuild our economy, and to restore peace through strength. Most importantly, it represents, in every way, a 180-degree turn from the deadly, destructive liberal failures of the past 4 years.

First, the Republican budget, what does it do? It gets rid of the waste that is out there--not Medicare, not Social Security, not Medicaid. We want to protect those vital programs. We want to preserve them. We need to preserve them for the people who they were intended to serve and who need them the most.

Seventy-two percent of Americans and even 55 percent of Democrats will say that they support cutting the waste and the fraud and the abuse because they have seen lists of dollars that have gone out from this last administration. They say: This seems like a waste. This seems like fraud.

This is an abuse of taxpayer dollars. We have a government that is too big, and it spends too much.

Yet, for some reason, Senate Democrats continue to come to the floor. They seem to be most upset that the waste that they support is being exposed--exposed for the massive amount of waste that it is.

The last time we voted on the budget, Senator Sullivan from Alaska offered an amendment to preserve and protect Medicaid and Medicare. Not a single Democrat voted to support that piece of legislation. The question now is, Will Democrats continue to protect the schemers and the scammers who continue to weaken these vital programs, because they are out there?

Second, the Republican budget moves toward locking down the border with $175 billion in additional funding. It puts us on the path to finish the wall. It allows us to hire more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents, and it allows us to extend our detention capacity.

Look, illegal immigrants that are criminals are going to be deported from our country, not released into our communities. This is the opposite of what happened in the last 4 years, under the previous administration.

It is exactly what Americans need after 4 years of ``wave them through''--Joe's approach, which was an open border. Illegal crossings have dropped 94 percent since President Trump took office. Democrats said it couldn't be done without a new law. No, we didn't need a new law; we needed a new President, and the American people voted for that President.

Let's take a look at March of 2024--that was last year, Joe Biden's last year in the White House--compared to March of 2025, which was Donald Trump's first year in the White House. In March of 2024, Joe Biden's last year in the White House, there were 137,000 illegal crossings at our southern border--137,000. This March, under President Trump, there were 7,000. From 137,000 to 7,000. No new law; a new President.

Now we need to deport the illegal immigrants with criminal records, and there are hundreds of thousands of them. They are already in the country. This budget ensures law enforcement will get the resources they need to make our communities safer.

The third thing we want to do is we need to stop Democrats' goal of raising taxes by $4 trillion. Ninety percent of Americans got a tax cut from the Trump tax cuts in 2017. Our budget puts Congress on a path to make the tax cuts permanent. Permanency means certainty and stability for families and workers and, of course, for those who create jobs. Republicans want to ensure that Americans keep more of their hard- earned money--that is what people want--in their pocketbooks, in their wallets.

What is the tax-and-spend Democrats plan for all of this? Crushing 20 million businesses and erasing 6 million jobs with the largest tax hike in history. That is what we are going to get if we get a $4 trillion tax hike. For Republicans, a $4 trillion tax increase is a nonstarter. For Democrats, it is their entire agenda.

Fourth, the Republican budget means American energy dominance. No more liberal handcuffs on American energy. We are going to go back to energy independence. Affordable, reliable, available American energy is the best way to grow the economy and to lower costs for people. With more energy production, Wyoming, my home State--American energy breadbasket, superpower of energy--we all win. America wins.

The Federal Government also wins if we do this. It is going to see, actually, a revenue increase as we produce more American energy. Because some of this is on Federal lands, the revenue comes to the government. And energy prices go down.

Finally, the Republican budget rebuilds the military. We do it with $150 billion. We know weakness invites conflict. Strength is what deters wars. Today, there is a threat of terrorism all around the world. There is a threat from communist China. China is rapidly building up its military. There is a threat from Iran. Iran is racing towards a nuclear weapon. This budget will make America feared again. It will make our military more lethal, more intimidating.

I suspect that Democrats are going to fight these commonsense policies. Well, I have news for my colleagues. Democrats lost at the ballot box in November. Republicans won, and we are going to win now. We are going to continue to fight for the American people because the win isn't about us as a party. The win is about our country. It is about the families all across the country.

The American people gave us a mission and a mandate: Secure the borders, lower taxes, affordable energy, peace through strength, and, of course, efficient, effective government. The Senate Republicans have a bold budget blueprint, and it is delivering for the American people. The Republican revolution of common sense is here.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to oppose the amendment. I support the Senate Republican budget resolution. The Senate budget resolution extends the debt limit into 2027.

The American people want to cut reckless Washington spending. They want their government to be more effective and more efficient. That is what our Senate Republican budget resolution delivers; therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment.

Vote on Amendment No. 1760

Mr. President, I just listened to my colleague from Kansas. It is just commendable, the example he has set of going and visiting absolutely every single one of the hospitals in the State of Kansas. It is an example for all of us to get out and talk to our constituents and listen to what they have to say. The senior Senator from Kansas has, I think, set an example for all of us. He visits every county in his State repeatedly, yearly, and it is a model for all. So I am happy to hear him address these issues in this body this morning.

Current Policy Baseline

Mr. President, I also heard speak the Senator from New York, Senator Schumer, and what I heard him do is something different. What he did is he mischaracterized a budget term called the ``current policy baseline.''

First and foremost, the Budget Committee has consulted with the Senate Parliamentarian on the substitute amendment that we are bringing to the Senate today. The Parliamentarian has deemed it appropriate for consideration under the Congressional Budget Act. The Budget Act is also clear. The Budget Committee chairman decides the baseline.

I served in this body when it was the Democrats who were arguing in favor of the current policy baseline. That was in 2013 when President Barack Obama was in the White House. The Obama administration and the Senate Democrat majority at the time argued that a current policy baseline was the ``appropriate reference point'' when it extended existing tax policy. Senate Republicans are simply following the law and the standard that the Obama administration wanted followed in 2013.

The current policy baseline is how we make the tax cuts permanent. It is how we stop a $4 trillion tax increase--a tax increase supported unanimously by today's Senate Democrats because, for the Senate Democrats, their favorite day is coming soon: tax day, April 15.

Millions of Americans today are filling out their tax forms, and people are going to spend time this weekend trying to get it right. As they do, I ask myself and wonder if these people who are working so hard at home--hard-working people, earning money, and having to fill out their tax forms--if they realize that Democrats right here in the U.S. Senate want to raise those taxes by a cumulative number of $4 trillion.

Look, a $4 trillion tax increase on American families would be devastating. Senate Republicans are fighting against it. Republicans want to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent. We want to reverse the Democrat failures of the past 4 years. We are focusing on getting America back on track.

Let's look at the tax cuts that occurred a number of years ago. Tax reform restored fairness and simplicity to the Tax Code. Americans are better off because of it. It is one of the things that resulted in the best economic times of my life.

Within 2 years of passing the tax cuts, the United States added millions and millions of new jobs. Unemployment fell dramatically to its lowest point in 50 years. Many businesses grew and invested. Most importantly--most importantly--hard-working Americans had more money in their pockets to spend.

In Wyoming, I heard of one local business owner who used the tax cuts

to give his employees a raise. He also expanded his business--more jobs, more economic opportunities for people in his part of the State of Wyoming. This is what happens when Washington taxes less and taxpayers get to keep more of their hard-earned money. It is good for families, and it is good for businesses. It is good for our Nation. In Wyoming and across the country, millions and millions of workers are benefiting from the higher pay, the bigger bonuses, and the best opportunities that come from lower taxes. By making these tax cuts permanent, businesses and families will get the stability and the certainty they need in order to thrive.

Ninety percent of Americans saw their taxes go down because of tax reform. It would be disastrous if the tax-and-spend Senate Democrats-- those who brought us the highest inflation in our lifetime--were to choke off the chance for Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money. American families would see their taxes go up if the Democrats get their way. Twenty million businesses would see their taxes go up if Democrats get their way. Six million jobs and $540 billion in wages could be erased if Democrats get their way. In all, families, workers, and job creators are facing a $4 trillion tax increase.

When Republicans passed this Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Speaker Nancy Pelosi--she was Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time, from California--famously dismissed the savings and the bonuses and the benefits. She said that these wins for workers--she described them as ``crumbs.'' Democrats continue to dismiss the burden of higher taxes.

Listen to what Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said. She said that cutting taxes was nothing more than ``tossing a few crumbs'' at the American people.

Listen to what Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said. He blamed workers who received bonuses from tax reform for ``driving up the debt.'' I don't recall him saying that in his last 25 hours on the floor of the Senate. He didn't repeat it again.

Democrats are out of touch with America's families. That is what is happening here. It has been proven by the results of the November election, and their condescending liberal attitude is a threat to the American dream. They just think they know better than everybody else.

It is wrong for Democrats to force hard-working taxpayers to pay for wasteful Washington spending. Fortunately for the hard-working taxpayers of this country, President Trump is in the White House, Senate Republicans are in the majority, and common sense is coming to Washington. Senate Republicans are going to continue to put an end to this wasteful Washington spending because we stand with the American workers, with the job creators, and with the small businesses of this country. Hard-working taxpayers are soon going to see where each and every Senator stands.

I yield the floor.