Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today having just heard the minority leader come to the floor and have his reflections on last night's address to the Nation by President Donald Trump. Well, a man is entitled to his opinion.

This morning, however, CBS News reported on what the viewers at home thought about what they saw. The headline is ``Poll of Trump's 2025 joint address to Congress finds large majority of viewers approve.''

A large majority--76 percent of the viewers--approved of what they heard last night.

They asked those viewers: Did the President spend time on talking about the issues that you care about?

Two out of three said: Yes, indeed.

His speech--how did it make people feel? What did they say?

Almost 70 percent said: Hopeful. Hopeful for the future.

Over half said: Proud. Proud of America.

Speech viewers described the President as ``presidential,'' ``inspiring,'' and ``unifying.''

The question they asked is: Does President Trump have a clear plan for inflation?

More than two out of three said: Yes.

That is what the American people saw.

So apparently the minority leader did not see the same speech or did not reflect the same way as the great majority of the American viewers at home, because last night, I believe people saw President Trump's bold agenda and rapid action in motion. That was focused on securing the border.

Joint addresses to Congress are typically about making promises, but last night, it was different. President Trump spoke about the promises he is keeping, the action that he has already taken to make our country safer.

The numbers tell the story. Under President Trump, in February, there were less than 9,000 illegal crossings at our southern border. That is the lowest in recorded history.

Under Joe Biden, the border was a very different story. The border was wide open for members of criminal cartels, the drug dealers, people on the Terrorist Watch List.

Last month was February. We are now into March. So we look at February 2022, 2023, 2024, and now with President Trump back in office. In February 2022, under Joe Biden, 160,000 illegal crossings; 2023, 157,000 illegal crossings; 2024, 190,000 illegal crossings; President Trump, less than 9,000. Joe Biden was having these numbers in a single day when he was in the White House.

President Trump is securing the border. He is doing it boldly. He is doing it strongly. He is doing it with intention.

One illegal immigrant said: It is too hard; you can't cross right now. That is the message we wanted. The American people wanted illegal immigrants to be hearing that it is too hard, don't even try it.

Under President Trump, we actually have reverse migration. It is the reality. Cartel criminals once profited from the border invasion--not anymore. One smuggler told NBC News that his profits had fallen 80 percent. That is a good message for them all to hear.

Illegal immigrants are turning around, and at the same time, illegal criminals in this country are being taken down. In my home State of Wyoming, ICE recently arrested two Mexican nationals, drug dealers. One man was found with a pound of methamphetamine. President Trump is taking coldblooded criminals like this off of our streets and getting them out of the country.

President Trump is also fighting to stop the drug cartels, and these are the people who are flooding our Nation with deadly drugs. Fentanyl poisoning kills more than 70,000 American citizens each and every year. This is a crisis.

On day one, President Trump listed these killer cartel members as terrorist organizations. No other President has taken such a bold step ever. And it is working. The cartels are now shutting down drug labs. The leaders are going into hiding. For the first time in years, the cartels are running scared.

That is the way it should be. President Trump said he is going to do

whatever it takes to keep Americans safe.

President Trump began his first day in office by signing dozens of Executive orders. He cracked down on illegal immigrant criminals in each and every one of our communities.

He empowered the Border Patrol agents. They are securing the border once again. He launched the largest deportation operation in history. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have started to deport the worst illegal immigrant criminals.

President Trump also made sure American taxpayers stopped paying billions of their dollars on free hotels, on free phones, on free healthcare for illegal immigrants, which, of course, acted as a magnet to bring more illegal immigrants into the country. Not the message they are hearing today.

Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are for American citizens, not for illegal immigrants. President Trump's actions are going to protect and preserve these vital programs for the very people that the programs were intended from the beginning.

The American public overwhelmingly supports what President Trump is doing. CBS News, the same people that did the poll this morning on how successful and how much the people of this country welcomed the President's address last night--well, last week, CBS News reported that 59 percent of Americans approved of President Trump's deportation program. And 64 percent say the President's actions are reducing illegal migration and crossings at the southern border.

It is what the American people want. It is what they voted for in November--a secure border. People around this country oppose what the Democrats are doing in sanctuary cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, and Boston. They oppose funneling their hard-earned taxpayer dollars to pay for benefits for illegal immigrants. People want safety, they want security, and they want some sanity coming out of Washington that they didn't have in the last 4 years. That is what President Trump and that is what Republicans are delivering.

This is only the beginning. Last night, President Trump laid out a clear path forward. He said the Department of Homeland Security needs backup, needs manpower, we need to finish the wall.

Manpower, technology, the wall, they are essential for full border security. That is why 2 weeks ago, the Presiding Officer and I and other Members of our colleagues here on the Republican side of the aisle passed a budget that increases for border security. Senate Republicans voted for more border agents, more detention beds, more deportation flights. Every Democrat, when having an opportunity to vote for those things, voted no.

Securing the border is why I introduced a bill called the Build the Wall Act. My legislation finishes building the wall along the southern border, and it was paid for with unspent COVID money. The money is still there. Stopping the killer cartels is why the Senate needs to now pass the HALT Fentanyl Act. Lives are on the line. Fentanyl is the No. 1 killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.

Permanently listing deadly illicit fentanyl as a schedule I drug, I believe, will save lives. The HALT Fentanyl Act is bipartisan. It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, 16 to 5. It passed the House of Representatives with the support of 98 Democrats, and I am grateful that Leader Thune is preparing to bring it to the floor.

The Senate is going to deliver a secure border and safer communities. That is what the American people demand, and it is what the American people deserve.

Waiving Quorum Call

I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Blanche nomination.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis) and the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis) would have voted ``yea.''

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the American people want to see this war end. We want to see the killing and the bloodshed stopped.

President Trump shares those views. He wants peace. He wants to end the war. President Trump and the administration are negotiating right now, today, to achieve that peace. He addressed it last night in his address to Congress and to the Nation.

I think that President Trump is the very best hope to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. He has my full support as the negotiations continue. The entire Senate should support those efforts, and therefore, Mr. President, I object.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and for the reasons I have given previously, we want the killing to end. We want the bloodshed to stop. There are active negotiations going on right now, and I think the best hope to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine is the efforts of President Trump today. For that reason, I object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 115, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, 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 have eight 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 Senate stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 6; that following the prayer and the 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 proceed to executive session and resume Executive Calendar No. 25, Troy Edgar; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Edgar nomination, all time be expired at 1:45 p.m. and the Senate vote on confirmation; that following confirmation of the Edgar nomination, the Senate resume consideration of Executive Calendar No. 29, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and vote on the motion to invoke cloture; further, that if cloture is invoked on the nomination, all time be considered expired and the Senate vote on the Chavez-DeRemer nomination at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Democratic leader on Monday, March 10; that following the cloture vote on the Chavez-DeRemer nomination, the Senate proceed to legislative session and resume the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 18, S. 331, and the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Thursday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, Senators should expect one vote at 11 a.m. tomorrow and three votes at 1:45 p.m.

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

Mr. President, tonight President Trump will take the podium, and he will have a joint address to Congress, and, clearly, to the Nation.

I just heard the minority leader of the Senate come to the floor and talk about President Trump's promises. Well, let me talk about those promises--promises made, promises kept by President Trump.

He has only been in the office now for 7 weeks, and he has a very strong record of accomplishment in those 7 weeks. What did he promise he would do? He said he would cut wasteful Washington spending. Well, that is a promise that he has kept.

What we are seeing is the most comprehensive audit of Federal spending of money in history. This administration already, in just these short weeks, has identified $55 billion of savings.

President Trump promised to secure the border. Well, he has kept that promise as well. He immediately began deporting criminal illegal immigrants. They are here in the country illegally, and they were criminals--heinous crimes. We are talking about murderers, rapists, drug dealers. The word got out around the world. Illegal border crossings in February dropped to an alltime low.

President Trump said he would unleash American energy. He has kept that promise as well. On day one, President Trump declared a national energy emergency. Now, this is going to unlock America's full energy potential. He withdrew from the Paris climate accord. Did it once before, but Joe Biden put us back in.

What we saw in the Biden administration is they applied handcuffs to American energy producers and American energy production. President Trump said: No, we are not doing that. He has opened Alaska's vast amounts of energy for the American people.

He pulled the plug on Biden's electric vehicle mandates. He reopened 625 million acres of offshore drilling. Remember, Joe Biden, in the final days of his administration, with his midnight regulation to ban that exploration for American energy.

President Trump promised to protect women who participate in sports. He kept that promise. The Trump administration marks the return to common sense.

We have seen that return to common sense, also, Mr. President, in here in the U.S. Senate because we are determined to get America back on track. There is no time to waste.

One measure of our rapid start is the historic pace with which we have been able to confirm members of President Trump's Cabinet.

Senate Republicans have now confirmed 20--20--members of President Trump's Cabinet. We confirmed President Trump's Education Secretary just last evening. So compared to previous Presidents, this is a remarkable pace. More confirmations than President Obama had at this point in 2009; more confirmations than President Biden had in 2021. It surpasses the timeline of any President in recent history.

President Trump's nominees are strong. They are smart. They have a history of success, and that history is going to continue now that they are members of the Cabinet.

Our success has had a direct impact on President Trump's agenda. With his team in place, President Trump has been able to execute effectively and efficiently.

The Senate has also acted decisively to secure the border. Within days of taking office, Senate Republicans passed the Laken Riley Act. The Laken Riley Act is named after a young nursing student in Georgia. She was murdered by an illegal immigrant. She was just out for a jog. We named the bill in her honor. The Laken Riley Act saves American lives. It requires illegal immigrant criminals to be deported. It was bipartisan legislation. And 12 Democrats voted with us to pass this legislation, and it is now law of the land.

The Laken Riley Act sends a clear message that tragedies like this never be allowed to happen again in the United States of America, that the era of open borders is over.

Senate Republicans mean business. After years of crises, we are now securing the border. The numbers tell the story. We are deporting illegal immigrant criminals on a daily basis, and we are also working with the House of Representatives on our shared agenda. We are delivering on the promises that we made to the American people. We are going to secure the border, we will restore peace through strength, we are unleashing American energy, and we are going to stop the Democrats' oncoming freight train of a $4 trillion tax increase.

Democrats oppose all of these things. They want to raise American public taxes by $4 trillion. Mr. President, we are going to stop that. President Trump is only 43 days in this office in his historic Presidency, an incredible comeback victory--the comeback king, as I call him from his ability to win this election. He won 312 electoral votes, every one of the battleground States, and this President has not wasted a second, a minute, an hour, or a day in office because he knows how important it is to act quickly.

He is doing that. He is solving the urgent problems facing our Nation, what American people elected him to do, what the American people expect, and it is what the American people are seeing. So the President is working with the House and the Senate, all of us working together to get America back on track, and we are going to deliver what the Americans have asked for: safety and prosperity for the people of this great country.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 11, S.J. Res. 3.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Justice) and the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis) would have voted ``yea.''

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Justice) and the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis).

Mr. President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to Riya for her hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office. I recognize her efforts and contributions to my office, as well as to the State of Wyoming.

Riya is a native of Virginia. She is currently a junior at Madeira School in McLean, VA. She has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made her an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of her work is reflected in her great efforts over the last several months.

I want to thank Riya for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have her as part of our team. I know she will have continued success with all of her future endeavors. I wish her all my best on her journey.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) and the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis) would have voted ``yea.''