Floor Statements

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 12 noon on Tuesday, January 14; that following the prayer and 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, and the Senate be in a period of morning business for debate only, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10

minutes each; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings; finally, that at 2:45 p.m., morning business be closed and the Senate resume consideration of Calendar No. 1, S. 5.

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, by now, I think a lot of Americans know the story of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University in Georgia with her whole life ahead of her. Laken was murdered last February while out on a run at the Athens campus of the University of Georgia.

Her killer was arrested the next day, and it quickly became clear that he should never have had the opportunity to get near Laken Riley because he should never have been in the country in the first place. Laken's killer had entered the country illegally, been released into the interior, and had subsequently been arrested in New York City and later issued a citation for shoplifting in Georgia a few short months before Laken's murder.

After his New York City arrest, he was released before Immigration and Customs Enforcement could issue a detainer--a request that police hold an individual--so that he could be taken into immigration custody. So this individual, here in the United States illegally and subsequently involved in two crimes, was free on the University of Georgia campus last February when Laken Riley went running.

It is already a problem that we are releasing huge numbers of individuals here illegally into the interior of the country. It is unthinkable that an individual like Laken's killer would be released back into society. Laken's killer should have been detained long before he had a chance to get near her last February.

Shortly after Laken was killed, Senator Katie Britt, together with Senator Budd, introduced legislation that would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain individuals charged with theft, burglary, or shoplifting. It is a commonsense measure that should be an unquestioned ``yes'' for every Senator, and I am very pleased that the Senate is finally taking up this bill after Democrats blocked a vote on it last year.

The fact that 33 Democratic Senators voted in favor of moving to the bill on Thursday was an encouraging sign that at least some Democrats might be serious about wanting to work with Republicans to address border and immigration security, and I hope that proves to be true. It would be incredibly disappointing if Democrats move to the bill simply to attempt to load it down with poison pills or unrelated measures.

This is not--I emphasize ``not''--a comprehensive immigration bill. It is an attempt to right one wrong: the fact that individuals already here illegally who have been charged with various property crimes are not required to be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It is an attempt to ensure that no other family will have to suffer the pain suffered by Laken Riley's. So I hope that Democrats will work with us in a serious fashion to actually pass this legislation.

After 4 years of chaos at our southern border under President Biden, there is a lot of work to be done on both the immigration and border security fronts. The kind of unchecked illegal immigration that we have experienced at our southern border under President Biden serves as an invitation to terrorists, criminals, and other dangerous individuals to enter our country.

Currently, Senate Republicans are working on a major package that will include substantial funding for a variety of border and immigration security needs, including increasing the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents, increasing detention space, and providing the barriers and technology that we need to secure the border. I look forward to taking up that package.

In the meantime, however, we have a bill before us today that will address one problem in current immigration law and, perhaps, prevent other families from suffering the pain that Laken Riley's has suffered. Let's get it done.

Mr. President, before I yield the floor, I understand that there is a bill at the desk due a second reading.

In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings.

Mr. President, I call up Ernst amendment No. 8.

Mr. President, I ask that the reading be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

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

Mr. President, on November 5, President Trump was elected to be the 47th President of the United States. By Thanksgiving, he had announced all of his Cabinet Secretaries and several other senior roles in his new administration.

All in all, it took President Trump just 18 days to name all of his Cabinet Secretaries, a pace unprecedented in recent history. New administrations typically take a few weeks to name their first nominees, but President Trump has shown he wants to get to work quickly in executing the mandate he has received from the American people, and he deserves to have his team in place in order to help him do that. That is going to require some work from the Senate, and we are ready to get to it.

The Senate will provide each of the President's nominees with a fair process. That process has been unfolding for the past several weeks as Senators have met with many of these nominees in private. Next week, Senate committees plan to begin holding public hearings with several nominees. Senators will have the chance to ask them questions on the record, and the American people will be able to hear directly from the men and women President Trump has chosen for his administration.

Committees have begun noticing hearings with several nominees for national security roles in the Trump administration.

The Armed Services Committee is preparing to hear from Pete Hegseth, the nominee for Secretary of Defense.

The Foreign Relations Committee has announced plans to hear from our colleague Senator Rubio, who has been nominated for Secretary of State.

The Intelligence Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing for John Ratcliffe to be CIA Director.

And the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee plans to hold a hearing with Gov. Kristi Noem, nominated for Secretary of Homeland Security.

Other committees have also announced plans for confirmation hearings: the Veterans' Affairs Committee for Doug Collins, nominee for VA Secretary; the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for Russell Vought, nominated to return as OMB Director; the Energy Committee for Gov. Doug Burgum to be Interior Secretary and Chris Wright to be Energy Secretary; the Judiciary Committee for Pam Bondi, nominated for Attorney General; and the Commerce Committee for Sean Duffy, nominee for Secretary of Transportation.

That is just the start. Our goal is to keep up a steady pace of progress in the coming weeks. In 2009, President Obama had 12 Cabinet Secretaries in place within 15 days of taking office. It took the Trump and Biden administrations roughly three times longer to get the same number confirmed. We need to get back to the Obama standard, and we are going to need Democrats to cooperate in order to do that.

Earlier this week, the Democrat leader said that his caucus's approach to the Trump nominees would be ``fair but thorough.'' I hope it will be fair, but we will be ready to proceed whether or not Democrats choose to cooperate.

President Trump has chosen his team. We have a job to do to ensure that each member of that team gets a fair process here in the U.S. Senate, and that is what we are going to do. I look forward to the committees getting to work.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letters from Senator Vance regarding his resignation from the Senate be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. President, I ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 19, 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 ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m., Monday, January 13; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, upon conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 1, S. 5 postcloture; finally, that all postcloture time expire at 5:30 p.m. and the Senate vote on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 1, S. 5.

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, this past November, the American people gave President Trump and Republicans a mandate. Now the time has come to

begin executing on it. One of the most important issues in this last election was the illegal immigration crisis. And that is the topic of the first vote that we are holding in the Senate under Republican majority.

For the last 4 years, the Biden administration's open border policies have wreaked havoc in both border communities and those far from the border. One of those communities is Athens, GA, where 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley was murdered by an illegal immigrant while out for a morning jog last year. Laken's murderer not only entered the country illegally, he was arrested twice--twice--in the United States and never deported.

This week, the Senate is going to vote on Senator Britt's bipartisan Laken Riley Act, which would ensure that illegal immigrants are deported when they are arrested, as Laken's killer was, for crimes like theft and burglary.

While this bill sounds like a commonsense measure--and it is--Senate Democrats uniformly opposed it last year despite the bill receiving bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. We will see what they do when the new Senate majority brings it up for a vote.

We are also going to be taking a vote to support our ally Israel, something my friends across the aisle seem to struggle with from time to time. After the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister and Foreign Defense Minister in November, I called on the Democratic leader to bring up an ICC sanctions bill that had already passed the House--again, with bipartisan support. The ICC's rogue actions only enable the terrorists who seek to wipe Israel off the map, and they cannot be allowed to stand unchecked.

In November, I promised that if Leader Schumer wouldn't bring the ICC sanctions bill to the floor, Republicans would. And we will soon fulfill that promise and have a vote to support our ally Israel.

Senators can also expect to vote on another commonsense measure this month. As thousands of pro-life Americans come to Washington for the 52nd annual March for Life, we will take up the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. This straightforward bill simply states that a baby born alive after an attempted abortion is entitled to the same protection and medical care any other newborn baby is entitled to.

This vote will ask Democrats to answer whether a living baby born after attempted abortion should be provided with medical care or be left to die. It shouldn't be a hard question.

The Senate will also be working to get President Trump's team in place. Beginning next week, Senate committees will hold hearings on the President's nominees. We will work to ensure each nominee has a fair process without unnecessary delays or obstruction, and we will confirm those nominees swiftly so the Trump-Vance administration can hit the ground running.

Finally, Republicans in Congress are hard at work preparing to address some key priorities through the budget reconciliation process.

We have a lot to do there.

To begin with, the border security policies we expect President Trump to implement will need to be fully funded to maximize their effectiveness. Increasing the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol officers, increasing detention space and providing barriers and technology are just some of the resources needed to secure the border.

Border security is one key part of providing for our national security. Investing in our military is another. And we are working on investing in improvements to military readiness that will help restore American strength so that we can deter our adversaries and keep the peace.

We are also going to invest in American energy dominance. Energy security plays a key role in our national security, and Republicans plan to use budget reconciliation to help advance American energy production.

Another priority is extending the tax relief Republicans delivered during the first Trump administration. These pro-growth policies put more money in Americans' pockets and helped deliver a strong economy before the pandemic. We need to extend them to protect our economy and the American people from a $4 trillion tax hike next year.

This is just the start. We have a lot of work to do. But the American people have chosen the right team to get it done.

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 1, S. 5.

I send a cloture motion to the desk for the motion to proceed.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived.