Floor Statements

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman), the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Marshall), and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Johnson) would have voted ``YEA.''

Mr. President, I just heard the minority leader, the senior Senator from New York, Senator Schumer, on this floor talking about today's Consumer Price Index data. Stunningly, he points to President Trump as the reason for it.

Let me just correct the record. The price data that Senator Schumer is complaining about is from the final days of the Joe Biden administration. Those are the numbers that are out today from the final days of the Biden administration.

Certainly everyone in Wyoming and everyone in your home State of Oklahoma knows that under the Biden administration, the Democrats, prices of goods and groceries, gasoline--the things that we need in our everyday life--prices rose more than 20 percent under Joe Biden.

High prices are Joe Biden's parting gift and his lasting legacy. They are the party of open borders and high prices. That is why they lost the election.

So here we have the Senate minority leader--now in the minority. He used to be in the majority. The reason he is in the minority is because of the high prices brought on the people of this country as a result of that administration. The numbers out today are reflective of the final days of that administration.

Painfully high prices--they came from Democrats' reckless overspending. And their policies--we are from energy States--were anti- American-energy policies. Those are the things that Senate Democrats voted for repeatedly and stood behind and supported.

Republicans are focused on making life more affordable for families all across this country, hard-working families. We have a plan to unleash American energy, and that way, we can keep lowering prices for American families.

I can just never forget when Joe Biden said he wanted to prioritize climate over energy that was available, affordable, and reliable. It was a disaster for the country and resulted in the defeat of the Democrats.

Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Today, Mr. President, I come to the floor also to talk about confirmation votes. The Senate will soon vote on the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to be the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

America needs to be healthy. I am a doctor. I have worked with patients for over 20 years, was a surgeon in Wyoming. The problem is, our Nation faces a chronic disease epidemic--chronic disease, including diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Chronic diseases are so widespread that managing them accounts for almost 90 percent of the Federal healthcare spending in this country. We spend a lot of our gross national product on healthcare.

Nearly three in five American adults and one in four American children are impacted by this. Our healthcare system tries to address the problem. Yet, by incentivizing procedures over prevention and paying for that, well, it often fails to address what we need to do effectively as well as economically. As a result, Americans are actually becoming less healthy.

We need to put America on the path to good health. President Trump has selected Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to do just that, to make America healthy again. Mr. Kennedy will bring a fresh set of ideas and eyes to important debates surrounding our Nation's public health. He is going to be a voice for the vast number of Americans who were failed by the previous administration. The previous administration silenced reasoned debate.

I believe Mr. Kennedy is going to deliver accountability and transparency. For Americans, that means more choices and better information. It means healthy foods and healthy competition for patients. It means lower costs and higher quality. It means increased access to care. Access is so critical in my home State of Wyoming, with so many rural and frontier communities, people going long distances for healthcare. It also means honest, unbiased, and trustworthy scientific research that is both innovative as well as accountable to the American people. People want the truth. They want to know what the facts are. They want to make decisions for themselves.

This is Mr. Kennedy's bold vision to revitalize America's bill of health. He is very clear about his mission, has been throughout. The mission, as he told the Finance Committee, is ``to end the chronic disease epidemic and make America healthy again.''

Apparently, that is not enough for the Senate Democrats. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada was actually dismissive of him at the Senate Finance Committee. I heard her say to Mr. Kennedy:

So that's the only reason why you're are at HHS? To address

this one issue.

This one issue--chronic disease epidemic that is plaguing our Nation--is the key issue to our healthcare. Respectfully, addressing chronic disease is what we ought to be talking about for healthcare for the people of our country.

Mr. Kennedy had to testify and did testify before two separate Senate committees as part of his confirmation. Most people being confirmed come to the Senate and only testify at one committee. He responded to rigorous questions from both Republicans and Democrats, and he answered those questions with candor and with clarity.

He told the Senate HELP Committee that his leadership approach was collaborative. He pledged to ``empower the scientists to do their jobs,'' not to impose, as he said, ``preordained opinions on anybody at

Mr. President, I just heard Senator Schumer, the minority leader, say that Democrats don't want a government shutdown. Well, I would recommend that the minority leader actually read the newspaper. He is going to see that Democrats are threatening and actually calling for a shutdown of the U.S. Government.

So here is USA Today, today, with a picture of Senator Schumer right there--a big picture in color, with his fist in the air--``Democrats open to shutting down the government.'' So the Senator who just was on the floor, saying, oh, no; they don't want it, is calling for it across the country in USA Today this morning.

That is what we are seeing across this country: Democrats are so much in disarray after the fact that they lost the House, lost the Senate, lost the White House, that the Democrats now want to shut down the government.

Here was the headline in The New York Times on Sunday: ``Democrats Hint at Government Shutdown to Stop Trump's Axing at Federal Agencies.''

President Trump is doing what people elected him to do--to get the wasteful Washington spending to end. So that was in USA Today and The New York Times.

What about The Washington Post?

The Democrats say:

They will not help avert a shutdown.

The Democrats are calling for a shutdown--in USA Today, The New York

Times, The Washington Post. The list goes on.

What are Democrats saying on television?

Well, on ``Meet the Press'' this Sunday, Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey, said that Democrats in Congress would shut down the government, he says, ``if we have to'' in order to obstruct President Trump--not to help the country, not to provide services for the men and women in uniform, not to provide needs around the country. No--because they want to obstruct President Trump. That is why Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are calling for a government shutdown.

It didn't end there.

Cory Booker of New Jersey--a member of the leadership of the Democratic Party--was on CNN this weekend. What did he say? ``Democrats will use every tool possible'' to stop President Trump.

The Democrats want to stop the President, who was elected with 312 electoral votes and won every one of the battleground States. The Democrats just want to stop him, and the American people want the kind of action and the urgency that we are seeing right now out of President Trump.

Jeff Merkley, a Senator from Oregon, is open to shutting down the government. He said: ``There's no [more] business as usual.'' Shut it down.

President Trump is doing exactly what America voted for, but here are the headlines, and there are the pictures, and those are the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, saying: We don't care what the American people say. We are going to shut down the government.

President Trump is shrinking the size of government. We know the government is too big. We know it spends too much. President Trump is accounting for every single penny, and we are not going to make pennies anymore as a result of the fact that it costs 3 cents to make a penny. That is why Democrats want to shut down the government. They don't like the success that America is having today. They don't like the optimism that is pervasive throughout our country.

So, once again, if there is going to be a shutdown, we are talking about a ``Schumer shutdown'' of our country because they lost the election.

Additionally, Mr. President, here we are on the floor of the Senate, and the Senate will vote soon on the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence. She has the right background, she has the right experience, and she has the right perspective to keep our Nation safe and to keep it secure.

Congresswoman Gabbard has served in uniform for more than 20 years. She deployed to the Middle East several times. She serves in the military today and was recently promoted to lieutenant colonel. As a Member of Congress for 8 years, she served on the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.

Her experience handling highly classified information is extensive. As Director of National Intelligence, she will handle classified information properly and lawfully. Congresswoman Gabbard is more than qualified to serve as the Director of National Intelligence.

Now, we have heard a lot of debate about her, but not one Senator has disputed the simple fact that she took a hard line on Russia and on Iran. In 2013, Congresswoman Gabbard cosponsored the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act. She wanted severe sanctions on Iran. Well, why would the Democrats not like that? Oh, because they were part of the group, with President Obama, who wanted to appease Iran. No wonder they oppose her now. She opposed the Iran deal. She viewed it as a threat to both America and to Israel. And she was right. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea. President Obama rejected sending tank-busting missiles to Ukraine. Remember what he sent? He sent blankets. Blankets.

The sanctions that President Obama imposed against Russia were terribly weak. Congresswoman Gabbard argued for U.S. military assistance to Ukraine back then, and she called for painful sanctions against Russia, things that the Democrats and their President--Obama-- at the time were unwilling to do.

Tulsi Gabbard never sought war with Russia, yet she never kidded herself, never would look back about the aggressive nature of Russia's ambitions. She worked to stop wars even though she served and was ready to fight in them. She knows what it means when we talk about peace through strength.

Democrats attacked her patriotism. They attacked her loyalty. It is disturbing. There is no evidence to support that. The attacks on her are another case of Democrats equating political disagreement with disloyalty.

If Washington wants to trust our intelligence Agencies again, we need to take an ax to the weaponization of these very Agencies. Congresswoman Gabbard will keep politics out of intelligence gathering. She wants to return ODNI to its original size, its scope, and its mission. She wrote in Newsweek:

I promise to provide unbiased, timely, and accurate

intelligence for those making decisions to protect the people

of our country.

That is exactly what we need.

Tulsi Gabbard is the right choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, and I look forward to voting to confirm her later today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).

Mr. President, the Senate is soon going to vote on the confirmation of Scott Turner to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

He grew up in Texas and dreamed of a career playing in the National Football League. He achieved not just that dream but a great deal more. He used his platform as a player to help others achieve their own dreams. These leadership qualities are fundamental to who Scott is. They are going to serve him well as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Scott also has extensive experience in State government and the Federal Government. After playing in the NFL, he served his community in the Texas legislature. In 2019, he oversaw investments in opportunity zones under President Trump. In that role, he secured more than $50 billion in private investments for over 8,700 economically distressed communities. These investments helped to revitalize many forgotten communities.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is now the chairman of the Banking Committee, created these opportunity zones in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Scott Turner was instrumental in their success. He is the right man to help restore opportunity now. He is going to put his experience and his leadership skills to work for the American people, and I strongly support his nomination.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

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

Mr. President, I have just come from a meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu. Our meeting comes on the heels of incredibly good news for everyone, and that is that hostages are coming home.

Earlier this week, Keith Siegel, an American hostage, was released. He is a 65-year-old American citizen, currently lives in Israel. He is a father; he is a grandfather. On October 7 of 2023, he was abducted by Hamas, taken to their underground tunnels, and his wife was also taken hostage. He was held prisoner by the terrorists for 484 days, and the conditions, we know, were hellish. He is finally free, reunited with his family, and recovering in a hospital.

We look forward to more of these moments. These are the results of bold action by President Donald Trump. As

Prime Minister Netanyahu said this week, President Trump is the ``greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House.''

We celebrate this good news. We are also keeping an eye on alarming news; the news is the rise of anti-Semitism around the world. A prime example is the International Criminal Court. It is a kangaroo court.

Last year, it issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials. One of those officials is Prime Minister Netanyahu. The charges, of course, are bogus. The Senate had an opportunity last week to fight back. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, introduced a bipartisan bill to impose severe sanctions on the ICC.

The House of Representatives passed the same bill last month. The vote was bipartisan. Passing this bill in the Senate would have sent a very strong message that America stands with Israel, that we wouldn't let our ally stand alone.

Democrats in this body of the U.S. Senate filibustered in spite of the fact that 45 Democrat Senators voted to abandon our closest ally. Two now Democrat Senators voted for this same bill last year when they were Members of the House, yet when the opportunity last week to support Israel in the Senate came, they voted no.

Democrats' filibuster is the reason why the ICC is not facing the crippling sanctions that it deserves. This very topic came up in our discussion with the Prime Minister of Israel.

We did point out the fact that ICC is a kangaroo court, refuses to point out the difference between right and wrong, and the vote of the Democrats to block this bill in the U.S. Senate was an affront to the people of Israel, and the Prime Minister specifically asked the Democrats to get this passed, to support this legislation, which is united support by the Republicans, had bipartisan support in the House, but was held up on this body by a unanimous vote of the Democrats or near unanimous vote of the Democrats to stop this legislation in its tracks and to allow the so-called International Criminal Court to continue with their lack of justice in a court they claim to have, where I see having no jurisdiction.

So where do we go from here in terms of what we have seen today and in our discussion with the Prime Minister? What is the path forward for peace and prosperity in the Middle East? That is what we just spoke about.

First, peace and prosperity in the Middle East begins with American support for Israel. President Trump and Republicans in the Congress stand with Israel and have from the beginning.

Our support is unwavering; it is unbreakable; and it is unequivocal. It is not what we have seen from the other side of the aisle. Additionally, the biggest barrier to peace and prosperity in the Middle East continues to be Iran.

As the largest State sponsor of terror in the world, Iran controls a vast, violent network of proxies. These Iranian terror proxies include Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen.

Iran funds its terror proxies. Where does the money come from? Well, by selling oil to communist China. Last year the Iranian regime's oil sales to China averaged over 1\1/2\ million barrels of oil each and every day.

How did that happen? Well, the Biden administration allowed it. They looked the other way. Tanker loads of oil to China, pay at a discount, tanker loads of cash back to Iran.

To break Iran's choke hold on the Middle East, America must bring back maximum pressure. President Trump is going to do that. He is tough on Iran. During his first administration, he imposed crippling sanctions and enforcement measures that brought Iran to its knees. President Trump is now back into the White House and so is his successful maximum-pressure campaign.

This week, he restored sanctions on Iran. This comes after he relabeled the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. It is a strong start, and we can still do more.

In the Senate, stopping Iran terror is a priority for the Republican majority. Now, deterring Iran means restoring peace through strength. Republicans are supporting our military. We are ready to make key investments to make our military more lethal and the most powerful force on earth.

With Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth now in place, we are already seeing morale return and recruiting numbers rise.

We are also working to bring back American energy dominance. Energy is America's most critical national security asset. We, as a nation, are an energy superpower. We have enormous natural resources. We ought to behave that way. And under this administration and this majority, America will unleash American energy.

A stronger America makes our allies stronger and also makes the world safer. Strength deters enemies.

We will work with Israel every step of the way. Together, America and Israel will bring a new era of peace and prosperity to the Middle East.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz).