Floor Statements

Mr. President, our Colorado community is reeling from a heinous hate crime against the Jewish community in Boulder, CO.

On Sunday, 12 Coloradans were badly injured after a suspect threw Molotov cocktails, incendiary devices, into a crowd, specifically targeting the Jewish people there--a targeted, anti-Semitic attack.

The 12 individuals were part of a peaceful march in Boulder that happens every week to call for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

The suspect has since told investigators that he planned the terrorist attack for over a year; that he specifically wanted to target the Run for Their Lives group, this group that had been meeting every week lobbying for the release of hostages.

Bottom line, this attack was not random. It was a deliberate hate crime against the Jewish community that was planned for months. The scope of that hatred is unconscionable.

These were men and women who dedicated their time to advocating for innocent hostages who have been now held in captivity for over 600 days. Most importantly, the demonstrators were motivated by a desire for peace and were operating in a peaceful fashion.

Let me repeat that. These men and women wanted peace. Instead, they were met with horrifying and senseless violence.

The upswing in violence targeting the Jewish community needs to be condemned at every level. And now, anti-Semitism and the hate that comes with it has taken root at home in Colorado. But Colorado is not alone. Our country is still mourning the recent assassination of two Israeli Embassy staff members who were shot as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum just a little over a week ago.

And just this past April, the Pennsylvania Governor's mansion was firebombed as Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family celebrated Passover inside.

These are just a few of the recent and most visible anti-Semitic attacks. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents have reached a record high since the October 7, 2023, attack.

It is absolutely unacceptable for anti-Semitism to exist in our country. And yet, the Jewish community in Colorado and the Jewish community across the United States has to live with the daily fear of targeted terrorist attacks and escalading calls for violence against the Jewish people.

We need to do more to protect the Jewish community in Colorado and across the country and make sure that they feel safe in the aftermath of this horrific attack.

Across the country, Jewish people are angry. They are terrified. Jewish Coloradans woke up this morning feeling unsafe--unsafe to go to school, unsafe to go to work--wondering what and if there is a path forward.

In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a

descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to

destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.

Colorado has always been a State that embraces difference and always will be. The answer to this violence is not to turn to the comfort of simple or black-and-white answers, backing into our corners and spreading more fear and more hatred. Now is the time to double down on our commitment to unity in the face of our differences. It is the only way we can guarantee safety and peace for our Jewish community and for every community.

Now, what does that mean in real terms? It means fully investigating this hate crime and making sure the suspect is fully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It means zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in Colorado schools, our workplaces, or in our public spaces. It means taking a lesson from the 12 demonstrators who were victims in Sunday's attack. Through peaceful action, they stood up for their beliefs, supported one another, and helped our country take small but meaningful steps forward. They wanted to end this descending spiral of violence. The rest of us should too.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to honor the incredible life of Rev. Dr. James D. Peters, Jr., who passed away last week at the age of 92. And what a life he lived.

James was truly one of the greatest men I have ever known. Reverend Peters' story started not far from these walls here in Washington, DC. He grew up in Washington during a time of deep segregation and became an early leader in the civil rights movements of the 1950s, 1960s, and into the 1970s.

In 1957, he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He worked with Dr. King for many years to help shape the course of American history.

He marched unbowed in the March on Washington in 1963 and numerous other marches--notably Selma, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.

Reverend Peters carried that same commitment when he came to Denver and to Colorado--that same commitment to justice. For more than 28 years, he preached Dr. King's gospel of freedom and unity as pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church, the largest Black church in Denver. He served many years on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission to make Colorado a better place for all of our residents.

Along the way, he had a significant impact on many of Colorado's leaders. I was one of them.

In 2003, I was the newly elected mayor of Denver. I was not quite inaugurated yet. On July 5, Paul Childs was shot and killed in his own front hall by an inexperienced Denver police officer. Paul was only 15 years old, but he was beloved by his community, and his death shook the entire city.

Following that awful tragedy, Reverend Peters, alongside my predecessor Wellington Webb--one of the great mayors of the 20th century--they helped organize their community and mentored me on the appropriate ways to address this tragedy in such a way that it could be constructive, that somehow the community would be made stronger and more resilient.

Reverend Peters knew that the community had to change and use this tragedy to make a better future for the entire community. He was one of the leaders who helped us create Denver's first Citizen Oversight Board to oversee the Denver Police and Sheriff Departments and to make sure any allegations of police misconduct could be investigated and to make sure that all neighborhoods had an active voice in how their neighborhoods were policed.

He also helped us start the Office of the Independent Monitor, with subpoena power, again, to make sure that allegations of police misconduct could be fully investigated. Over the past 20 years, the Citizen Oversight Board and Independent Monitor have worked to improve the policies of Denver's police department and improve the relationship and the trust between the community and law enforcement.

Many, many years later--about 8 years ago--I was fortunate enough to join Reverend Peters, along with Rev. Dr. Patrick Demmer and a small group, in Montgomery to visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, our country's first national memorial to victims of lynching and racial terrorism in the United States. It is hard to describe the feeling of that memorial--the power is so immense; the weight of our country's nagging, persistent shame remains so heavy.

In walking through the memorial with Reverend Peters, he spoke about his life growing up in Washington, DC, during segregation and his fierce belief in nonviolence and nonviolent movements. He reflected on how their nonviolent tactics led more and more people to join them. He knew that they were--and that we are--strongest when we are united, when we are marching hand in hand.

In walking next to Rev. Dr. Peters, it was impossible not to feel buoyed up by the enduring hope that he carried with him, pretty much at all times. I think so many of those lessons from Rev. Dr. Peters still ring true today.

As Reverend Peter's friend and mentor, Dr. King famously said:

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward

justice.

Like many around the country today, I have felt in recent years that the arc has not bent as far as we had

hoped, but if Reverend Peters taught us one thing, it is that neither today nor tomorrow is the day to bow our heads. We can't give up our work and our dreams that Dr. Peters fought so hard for.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor a great American and an exceptional member of the U.S. Air Force, SMSgt Martha Adelaja.

A true champion for our Nation and expert communicator, this New York native and Spelman College graduate brings 21 years of distinguished uniformed service. She has consistently demonstrated exemplary leadership and an unparalleled ability to navigate complex legislative landscapes in service to our country and the 116th, 117th, 118th, and 119th U.S. Congresses. She left an indelible mark as the first bicameral Department of the Air Force legislative liaison, providing that vital link between Congress and the Department as she effectively advocated for critical defense priorities. Throughout her military career, she has demonstrated exceptional and unrivaled airmanship and is the epitome of what a noncommissioned officer should be. As an Army combat veteran prior to her transition to the Air Force in 2007, her career spans two services in numerous of positions critical to U.S. defense and its national security interests worldwide.

As a legislative liaison and action officer in the Department of the Air Force's Senate liaison division, she advised Department senior leadership and helped develop strategic engagement opportunities to advance U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force priorities. Her leadership facilitated seamless collaboration on behalf of the Department of the Air Force across 62 congressional offices, serving as the principal Air Force liaison to 17 Senators and their respective staffs. She supported numerous engagements and delegations spanning 150 Senators, Congressmen, and staffers to showcase Department equities in the United States and abroad. Most notably, her strategic acumen was instrumental in navigating congressional concerns regarding the Air Force's divestment of 261 legacy aircraft and securing $2.6 billion in cost savings, significantly strengthening the Air Force and Senate relations prior to congressional hearings. Her efforts synchronized nine Department of the Air Force directorates with 98 congressional staffers for modernization efforts and ensured the Department of the Air Force's support of the National Defense Strategy in our return to Great Power Competition.

Senior Master Sergeant Adelaja spearheaded international delegations of congressional members, showcasing critical Air Force capabilities and strengthening partnerships at key events like the bicameral Reagan National Defense Forum. Through her tireless efforts, Senior Master Sergeant Adelaja secured direct engagement between Members of Congress and key decision-makers, including the Secretary of the Air Force, resulting in successful advancements of critical Air Force initiatives. Drawing on her deep understanding of Space Force requirements,

Senior Master Sergeant Adelaja successfully championed the Department of the Air Force's position on future space-based missile warning capabilities, ensuring congressional alignment on this critical national security priority.

Finally, as the sole enlisted representative in the Department of the Air Force Senate liaison office, she effectively advocated for Department priorities. Collaborating with U.S. Space Command she arranged seven visits to Colorado Space Force bases in 2024 for key decision-makers, highlighting the quality-of-life concerns of guardians. Her efforts secured a significant $42.9 billion investment in quality-of-life programs, including a 4.5-percent pay raise. Due to her direct involvement and stewardship, Members of Congress were able to make informed decisions and ensured the Department of the Air Force was properly resourced and funded.

After serving in this crucial role and becoming a fixture on Capitol Hill, SMSgt Martha Adelaja will move on to serve as the congressional liaison for the newly established Integrated Capabilities Command, Headquarters Air Force, Pentagon, Arlington, VA. She has sacrificed much in service to our Nation. I am thankful for Martha's service and her work with my office and the Senate over the past year on issues of vital importance to the defense of the United States. I salute this American patriot whose selfless service has kept our country safe and strong.

Madam President, today, the other side is trying to pass I think what can only be called an extreme budget plan--very extreme--which is chock-full of bad ideas to help pay for their tax breaks, most of which are for the ultrawealthy.

They are targeting critical services like Medicaid.

They are trying to green-light a fire sale of public lands, which I have an amendment on to present later to try to prevent.

They are even floating an idea to stick small businesses with the bill for some of these cuts. One idea they proposed could cap or eliminate the ability for businesses to claim a deduction for their property taxes, which is one of the most common business expenses there is. Bare bones, it would raise taxes on small businesses, these businesses being the engine of our community.

Running a small business isn't easy. I know that firsthand. I remember how hard it was when I first opened the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Colorado's first brewpub. We worked long hours, both before we opened and especially after we opened. We were constantly stressed about having enough money to pay for our rent, our staff, to purchase the foodstuff that we made into meals--all of our expenses.

I can tell you that having to pay even a little more in taxes would have made life that much worse. It would have devastated us. So why would Republicans on the other side want to make it harder to grow or open a small business? We should be helping entrepreneurs. We should be helping small businesses and not adding to their burden.

These proposed changes would also wreak havoc on the real estate industry. Coloradans and Americans are worried about the cost of housing. We hear from people all the time from all across the country about how they work two or three jobs just so they can afford their rent and their groceries. We need to build more housing, and we need to make rent more affordable.

Why would we want to disincentivize new housing construction and encourage higher rents for families or businesses? But that is what happens if you take away some of the basic, fundamental deductions that businesses need. It is just one out of many what I would call reckless ideas to fund these in many cases unnecessary tax cuts for the ultrawealthy.

Now, this budget comes at a time when small businesses and American entrepreneurs are already under pressure from what I would call the administration's unhinged trade policy.

As my colleagues have noted, this week, President Trump announced another wave of what we have been calling tariff taxes that will go into effect

this weekend and are going to raise prices for Americans all across the country.

Ten percent on all goods from all countries, 20 percent on goods from the European Union, 24 percent on goods from Japan, and 34 percent on goods from China. These tariff taxes mean Americans will pay higher prices on pretty much everything, starting with their groceries.

Buying a six-pack of Colorado beer? Better bring some extra cash; it is going to be more expensive. Filling up your truck? That is going to cost more. Replacing a part on your car? Be ready to pay a surcharge. Building a new home? Expect the bids to come in. Expect inflation during the construction project. Expect to pay more.

We are already hearing from small businesses back in Colorado. Craft brewers whom I know well are worried about the sky-high increases in imported aluminum. Farmers are worried about fertilizer and other products they depend on that are getting more expensive, and this doesn't even mention that most of them recognize they need to export some of their food. We grow more than we can consume ourselves.

The impacts for consumers are just as bad. Major companies like Target and Best Buy are saying that they will have to raise prices. Even President Trump's own Commerce Secretary has publicly said that these tariff taxes are going to raise prices.

The bottom line is that these tariff taxes will lead to higher costs. They are going to hurt small businesses, and I think ultimately they are going to increase unemployment.

I don't think I could find anyone in Colorado who would say this is what they were voting for in the last election.

We should be focusing on helping small businesses, not just in Colorado but across the country. We should be helping lower costs, not just in Colorado but across the country. I think we should be trying to stimulate and expand their businesses rather than being forced to shrink them.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 2107 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, in the West and across America, national parks and public lands are our pride and joy. They are also a huge part of our economy. Colorado's public lands power a $17 billion outdoor recreation economy, which employs more than 132,000 Coloradans.

Recently, the Trump administration has taken aim at our national parks and other public lands. They illegally fired thousands of people who are responsible for wildland mitigation, for habitat conservation, and outdoor recreation management, among other things.

Some Republicans are adding fuel to the fire by pushing to sell off public lands to pay for these tax cuts for the ultrawealthy. The tax handouts for the wealthy are so large and so important that some are willing to plunder our public lands. So let's be clear. Our public lands are not for sale.

Senator Heinrich and I have introduced a simple amendment--a ``yes'' or ``no'' vote--to prevent this reckless fire sale of our campgrounds, our forests, and our national treasurers. How could one vote against that?

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is at its core a law enforcement agency. Congress established the CFPB 15 years ago to protect Americans from fraud, from getting ripped off by banks and credit card companies, financial institutions.

Today's Republican-led resolution weakens the CFPB's ability to protect consumers as part of a broader effort by the administration to shut down consumer protections entirely.

Now let's take a minute to go back in time to the time before the CFPB existed, right before the 2008 financial meltdown. Back then, abusive fees and misleading disclosures meant that Coloradans paid more for mortgages, more for credit cards, and more for student loans. Fly- by-night lenders made massive profits by targeting vulnerable families with excessively high-cost loans, turning credit from a tool for opportunity into a tool for scams.

Financial scammers could all too easily slip through the cracks in oversight. There just wasn't enough oversight. In some cases, there was no oversight. Our neighbors were getting hit with hidden fees and frauds when they took out a mortgage, when they used a credit card, if they were just paying for school. There was no cop on the beat.

The result? By 2008, years of this shady, abusive practice helped spark a devastating global financial crisis. Six million households lost their homes to foreclosure, and a quarter of our families lost 75 percent of their wealth. Americans lost faith in our financial system.

In 2010, Congress created the CFPB to help make sure this could never happen again. Congress gave it a simple job: to protect Americans from getting ripped off. The Bureau cleaned up mortgage markets, debt collection, student loans, and much, much more. It worked to protect veterans and servicemembers.

Fast-forward to today, and the CFPB's results really speak for themselves. The Bureau has delivered $20 billion--that is billion dollars with a ``b''--back to Americans through its enforcement actions. It has brought relief to 200 million Americans and small businesses facing scams or abusive practices.

In Colorado, nearly 67,000 people have sought help from CFPB, including more than 6,200 servicemembers. Thousands of those complaints led to relief for consumers.

It really is a remarkable track record--that is, until it was decided by Republicans to--well, they want to eliminate many of these protections, if not all of them.

This vote today would unwind protections designed for the modern financial system, for the everyday payment apps we all use like Venmo or PayPal. It would allow some of the largest financial firms in a consumer's life to stay in the shadows, to operate outside of any oversight. That is exactly the approach to consumer protection we had 20 years ago, before the CFPB, before the 2008 financial crisis.

This is but the latest attempt to leave consumers vulnerable to scams. In fact, the Trump administration is trying--I think many people believe illegally--to abolish the CFPB entirely. They fired dedicated staff who protect consumers, they canceled the lease on the CFPB's office, and they literally ordered a total shutdown of the Agency--an unprecedented effort to defy Congress.

The administration believes that the CFPB doesn't deserve to exist. Maybe they think that scammers and fraudsters have finally hung it up and have gone to find honest work, but I think the American people know better. The administration wants to take our economy back to the time before the financial crisis of 2009, with weaker protections and no one looking out for consumers. If the Trump administration gets its way, it is clear who the winners will be--loan sharks, shady mortgage companies, junk-fee merchants. The losers will be the rest of America-- any Coloradan who wants a fair deal on a credit card or a mortgage.

Bottom line: More money in the pocket of fraudsters, scammers, and the unscrupulous; less for the little guy to save.

I urge my colleagues to stand up for American consumers and vote no on this resolution.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, the United States is in an energy boom. Our Nation has never produced more electricity or oil and gas than we are producing right now. This ``all of the above'' approach to energy using everything--including solar, wind, and geothermal--is keeping energy prices as low as possible for working families but at the same time is recognizing that climate change is real and moving toward a clean energy future.

Excluding coal, the United States produced more energy than any other country in the history of the world in 2023. It appears that some in this administration are determined to undo that progress.

Despite American leadership in energy, the President signed an Executive order on his first day declaring a national energy emergency. That sounds dramatic, almost theatrical, because it is meant to be. Let's call this political theater for what it is--an attempt to accelerate oil and gas projects while at the same time holding back our renewable energy.

Of course, there are things that we need to be doing to keep energy cleaner, prices lower, and to cement American energy independence.

For starters, we need to increase energy production. We need to meet our energy future by streamlining the permitting of our new energy projects--of all of our energy projects--while at the same time being mindful of the environmental impacts and giving impacted communities a public forum. We need to upgrade our grid. We need to increase clean, domestic, critical mineral production. But that is not what this Executive order will do. In fact, it won't do a single one of these things.

They claim we are in an emergency, an energy emergency, but they continue to block Federal wind and energy permits. They claim we are in an emergency, an energy emergency, but then they ship oil and gas overseas. They claim we are in an energy emergency, and yet their actions would cede complete control of what eventually will be an enormous global market in renewable energy to China.

The administration has also fired thousands of government workers who play vital roles in American energy--all in the name of government efficiency and giving tax cuts to the ultrawealthy.

Listen, I am all for making the government more efficient. I have worked on that most of my public life. If you want to seriously look at how we spend money and where we can actually cut fraud, waste, and abuse, I am game. But hastily, almost randomly firing Department of Energy employees or letting go 300 workers who maintain our nuclear security and safety--I don't think that is the way to do it.

Our office has even heard from a private company that worried that the Federal employee responsible for managing their permitting process is about to be fired, placing the entire success of their project at risk. They help bring energy to our local communities. This will stop them dead in their tracks and raise prices for households at the same time.

America's energy economy is booming, in large part because of the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act--bills that make historic investments in American-made energy.

These bills have created more than 400,000 good-paying jobs. Yet there is an effort by some in the Congress--mostly Republicans; I should say all Republicans--and the administration to slash and impede the progress that we have made, even though an estimated 70 percent of the benefits--the jobs, the investments, the increased energy--are going to red States.

Cutting funding from these critical pieces of legislation is going to hit our rural communities the hardest, where it could provide the greatest benefit. It will shrink county government revenue; it will force layoffs; and, ultimately, it will increase the cost of energy.

Clean energy isn't just some liberal boogeyman. It is not some notion. In fact, most of the energy that is ready to go as we expand our capacity--it is ready to go--is clean and affordable.

Solar, wind, and storage, they make up 95 percent of the capacity of new energy ready to connect to our grid. Wind generates 10 percent of our electricity now and will provide much more affordable renewable energy if more permits were made available.

Withholding funds already appropriated by Congress through these laws

could balloon energy bills by up to 12 percent for American families. That is at least $240 a year for working families that they will have to come up with one way or another. When you are struggling to afford eggs at the grocery store, trying to balance your checkbook at the end of the month, the last thing you need is an increase in your energy bill.

Some in Congress, some Republicans, have introduced their budget which strips critical services for Coloradoans while adding $4 trillion to our national debt, all primarily so they can give tax breaks, which more than half go to the ultrawealthy who, at least many in Colorado, don't even want them.

I put an amendment on the floor that would strip any provision from their budget that would raise energy costs for Americans. How can people be opposed to that? Yet every Republican voted against it. I think they are putting politics over people.

We are able to keep energy prices low for working families because we use everything: oil, gas, geothermal, wind. So rather than limiting energy sources, proclaiming a false emergency, or firing critical government employees, let's meet the moment and usher in a new energy future that helps everyone, a future marked by a resilient energy grid built by American innovation that delivers low-cost, reliable energy for every Coloradan, for every American.

If this administration is looking for a bipartisan roadmap on this, we have one. We should pass permitting reform that streamlines review for all energy projects, not just oil and gas. We can build a modern electric grid that will reduce energy prices for all.

Let's continue supporting emerging technologies like advanced geothermal and nuclear so that we can remain dominant in the markets that are emerging.

And let's stop picking winners and losers. The vast majority of new electricity is coming from low-cost solar, wind, and energy storage. Let's follow the law and let the investments in energy from the past few years go to the communities that need them.

Let's cut the nonsense. This isn't an energy emergency; it is an emergency opportunity. This administration's actions certainly would cause an emergency for many Coloradoans and American working families.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 925 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, the United States is producing more energy right now than any country in the history of the world. We are in the middle of an energy revolution. We got here by embracing an ``all of the above'' approach to energy, including solar, wind, and geothermal, to keep prices as low as possible for working people.

Most of the energy that is ready to go today is clean and affordable. Any action that blocks the rollout of that will raise prices for working Americans. It is going to kill jobs and seek complete control of emerging industries in China.

In fact, in the last few years, we have passed bills that make historic investments in American-made energy. These bills create more than 400,000 good-paying jobs, and yet there is an effort by this administration to trash the progress we have made.

These actions will balloon energy bills for families--at least 240 bucks a year for working families everywhere--at a time when they are struggling to afford eggs at the grocery just as inflation begins to rise again.

Rather than limiting energy or firing critical government employees, let's welcome our new energy future, a future marked by resilient energy, rebuilt by American innovation for cheaper, more reliable energy for every Coloradan in America. A simple yes-or-no point of order will ensure nothing in the budget will increase energy costs for working families. How could you vote against that?

Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act, I move to waive and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I appreciate what the good Senator from Illinois has gone through and enunciated in great clarity.

Our government plays a critical role in informing the public. The American people look to us for trust. They look to us for guidance during the roughest points of our history. They look to us for accurate, factual information so they can have the freedom to raise their families without fear and anxiety.

That trust is broken when partisan officials use their platforms to spread reckless and damaging information. They attempt to overwhelm Americans with views that push anti-science narratives or foreign propaganda often that threatens our national security.

You can't go onto social media anymore without running into a fake headline or some hyperbolic clamor with no source. I mean, for so many people, the more you see, the more you believe, and this leaves Americans dazed and confused, unsure of who to trust and where they can go to get accurate information.

Unfortunately, the new administration has shown a bias towards elevating people who peddle disinformation, spreading seemingly random falsehoods about our voting systems, marginalized groups, or our public health. This has real negative impacts on Americans.

Way back in 1980, I graduated with a master's in Earth sciences. I moved west to work as a geologist. Earth sciences is kind of low on the Pavlov pyramid of science, but I published peer-reviewed studies, and I have a reverence for the scientific process. I think I understand how it works, despite the fact that there are not that many of us left around here anymore. I will be the first to admit that science can sometimes surprise us. It is always evolving. It is why the entire field of science relies on constant evaluation and constant research to continue to make new discoveries or deepen our understanding of complex problems.

Leading with science helps us get the most accurate information we can. Yet the Trump administration's appetite for anti-scientific claims and disinformation is something that, in many ways, threatens all of us. It puts our country at risk.

This morning, the Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence. I voted no on her confirmation. Ms. Gabbard has none of the relevant qualifications or intelligence experience sufficient for this role. Officials from both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about her ability to provide the President with impartial analysis as the Nation's top intelligence officer.

Ms. Gabbard has frequently parroted Russian disinformation. She repeated Russia's erroneous justification for its brutal invasion of Ukraine. She criticized Kyiv's democratic government--a steadfast partner of the United States--and she spread, repeatedly, falsehoods about her own involvement in bioweapons research in Ukraine.

Let's be clear about what this means: An American adversary invades another democracy, and Ms. Gabbard actively pushes their narrative. Either she cannot distinguish fact from fiction or she intentionally chooses to promote false claims. Either scenario should be disqualifying for a Cabinet official, let alone one who is responsible for ensuring the President has accurate and timely intelligence.

As they say, ``He who stands for nothing will fall for anything.''

Regardless of her intentions or what she actually believes, her readiness to champion clear disinformation undermines our national security and puts American servicemembers at risk.

As the Director of National Intelligence, Ms. Gabbard will have full visibility into every threat that the military and civilian personnel who perform these vital missions in Colorado and across the country and around the world are working tirelessly to address. They need leaders-- we need leaders--who base every assessment and decision on accurate intelligence, not propaganda, especially not propaganda from one of the most threatening rivals we have.

President Trump's nominee to the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is another clear example of someone who is willing to overlook facts and science when it is convenient. He has a wide following, and many people look to him for guidance and for leadership. In particular, his ideas of a healthier America appeal to many Coloradans. Indeed, they appeal to me as well.

But make no mistake: Our country can and should be healthier, and we all share a vested effort in that direction. There is a bipartisan appetite to get us there. We should provide better food options and keep unsafe chemicals out of the products that we eat, but we have to be able to do it in tandem with fact-based science and thoughtful policy to protect Americans and to keep them safe.

RFK, Jr., has shown a propensity for anti-science claims. One of his most anti-scientific claims is that autism is caused by childhood vaccines. This is a claim that has been spread through many communities for decades. It is all based on a single paper published back in 1998. That paper was retracted years ago, and there have been hundreds of studies on the nonexistent link between autism and the measles vaccine ever since. They have all--I repeat--they have all had a zero connection between vaccines and the cause of autism. Let me be clear: Every single one found a zero connection. It is settled science.

Vaccines are not only extremely safe; they are extremely effective. Every year, they save millions of lives all around the globe. We have effectively eliminated horrible diseases like polio, and we are making considerable progress toward a vaccine for HIV and for AIDS. In the last hundred years, our country's average life expectancy has increased by 30 years, and 25 of those 30 years are largely attributed to vaccine adoption and clean drinking water. Vaccines not only save lives, but they also make lives healthier and happier, which is as they were intended.

Now, some of the damage from disinformation about vaccines is nearly impossible to undo. Why would anyone accept the results of one debunked paper rather than the conclusions of hundreds of studies that have been conducted since?

It is completely understandable for parents to have questions and concerns about vaccines that their children receive. I know I have as a parent. As a parent of two kids--one who just turned 2 years old--I understand the concern that families feel. We want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep our kids healthy and safe. We do the best we can with what we have to make them as healthy and happy as possible. People who peddle vaccine skepticism are preying upon parents' very rational fears to advance these conspiracy theories. Parents are trying their hardest to keep their kids safe and healthy, and it is irresponsible for people to plague them with pseudoscience and misinformation when the science has been settled on this for decades. The measles vaccine is safe and does not cause autism.

It is personal for me, too. My son Teddy--now in college-- unfortunately, got pertussis, or whooping cough, when he was 4 months old--before he was able to finish his full vaccination schedule--after he interacted with an unvaccinated child. Because of how rare whooping cough is now, it took us a while to get the correct diagnosis.

Finally, when we got him into Children's Hospital, I remember staying up all night for 2 nights in a row to blast little puffs of oxygen into his coughing face--to snap him out of those coughs--about every 10 minutes and to prevent his oxygen blood levels from dropping too low. It is one of the most frightening experiences of my entire life.

Whooping cough--that disease--is rare because of the vaccine and because of the adoption of that vaccine. America was able to almost completely stamp it out of existence. If we backslide in the number of children getting vaccinated, stories like what happened

to my son Teddy are going to become more common and more severe.

When you consistently promote uncertainty in settled science, it begins to raise doubts about all science, and it slows our progress using science against the really big challenges, like a cure for cancer and vaccines for the next pandemic.

In President Trump's first full term--at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic--Operation Warp Speed helped bring vaccines to the public in record time. The National Institutes of Health estimate that Operation Warp Speed saved over 140,000 lives by speeding up the development of vaccines by more than 5 months. When the next pandemic comes along--it is not if; it is when--we are going to need a robust Federal response and preparedness plan. We need the ability to get to a vaccine down to 100 days. We need that plan to be guided by actual science. Otherwise, we obviously endanger the lives and health of all Americans.

The Department of Health and Human Services also oversees Federal medical research as Senator Durbin pointed out. The research has unlocked groundbreaking achievements in public health and will continue to help us cure diseases and work toward solutions for a variety of illnesses. However, the White House announced late last week that they are slashing funding for the National Institutes of Health.

This will have devastating impacts on research projects in Colorado and across the United States, including places in Colorado like CU- Anschutz, Fort Lewis College, and National Jewish Health. Our Colorado institutions are at the forefront of medical research from everything from clinical trials for veterans who are struggling with PTSD to individuals with Down syndrome. These cuts for research institutions, rural hospitals, and our veterans will impact our most vulnerable communities--all this to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.

Again, I am all for making government more efficient and smaller. If you want to seriously look at how we spend money and where we can cut actual fraud and waste and abuse, I am in. I am game. But I struggle to understand how stripping funding for cancer research or Head Start or hiring programs for law enforcement officers is wasteful. These cuts throughout our government are exaggerated by the extreme nominees who are really ill-equipped and ill-experienced to handle large governmental organizations.

The administration also continues to illegally dismantle Agencies without having congressional approval. They have attempted to freeze Federal funding--something the courts have halted but that the White House continues to pursue. Colorado and the American people are caught in their crosshairs.

I have committed to opposing nominees who pose a genuine threat to Colorado. We have also helped support lawsuits and oppose some of these Executive actions. I would be the first to admit our government isn't perfect. Government never will be. I would be the first to recognize that it takes all of our elected officials to do their duty for the American people and to be truthful and for our constituents to hold us accountable.

The American experiment in democratic government is just too important to confirm people who actively spread disinformation and refuse to follow science. It threatens Coloradans. It puts all of us at risk.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I would like, first, to recognize the great Senator from New Jersey, Senator Cory Booker. It is never easy or fair to speak after him.

But I take the floor today to urge my colleagues to vote no on President Trump's nominee for the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought.

Some remember Mr. Vought from when he served as the head of the same Agency during President Trump's first term. He is one of the very few repeat appointments--clearly, a reflection of his loyalty.

You may also know him for his leadership, his authoring of Project 2025--that far-right agenda that the President, during the campaign, swore up and down he had no idea about.

I would leave it at that, although, I think he understood many discussions, perhaps, outlined in the framework.

Project 2025 would gut our longstanding and globally admired framework of checks and balances. It would gut them. It would ensure civil servants will be hired and fired on the basis of political loyalty--something that this country has struggled for many decades to get rid of.

It would truly weaponize our system of justice--again, something that almost everyone works toward keeping nonpartisan.

It lays out in detail the plan to dramatically change our American system of government, perhaps for a very long time. It is truly not a question of if anymore. The plan and the people putting it in place are disregarding laws and norms dating back to the Constitution.

They are throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. This means firing or pushing out vast swaths of the Federal workforce of civil servants. These are career civil servants, many of whom have devoted their lives to keeping our government running--from processing Social Security checks; keeping our weather systems afloat; or helping to stop waste, fraud, and abuse.

Some would say our Federal workers don't do anything. But they are honest, hard-working Americans.

Project 2025 is just getting started. If confirmed, Mr. Vought and Project 2025 could have devastating consequences for Colorado.

Deep in Project 2025 are plans to heavily restrict access to contraceptives and abortion medication, denying women and families the freedom to make their own reproductive decisions; plans to make healthcare more expensive by repealing policies that empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and drive down the cost for healthcare seniors; plans to make Colorado less resilient to these increasing frequent disasters caused by extreme weather.

They are already reinstating cruel immigration policies and threatening to come after the LGBTQ community.

At a time when grocery prices are rising on everything from eggs to meat, Project 2025 is going to make life harder for Colorado farmers and ranchers and more risky.

Project 2025 would cut safety nets for our ag producers when they have a bad season. It includes plans to gut essential crop insurance. Project 2025 even wants government to get involved in the specific techniques our ranchers use to farm.

Our Colorado farmers know their land better than anyone else. Hanging small farmers out to dry does nothing to lower grocery prices for Americans.

We have been hearing in our offices from producers across the State who are very concerned about what this Project 2025 means to them. We have over 38,000 farm operations in Colorado. Some harvest wheat. Some raise meat or poultry. Some specialize in dairy. All of them support our rural communities and play an essential role in feeding families really all across the country.

We don't have to speculate about what Mr. Vought would do to the Office of Management and Budget. He has really laid it all out in Project 2025. He wrote Project 2025, to a large extent, himself.

One of his finest contributions is a section championing the executive branch's ability to overreach and ``impound funds.''

Let's not mince words. This is, by all historic measures, blatantly unconstitutional. Congress alone has the authority to decide how government spends its money.

This isn't an opinion. It says explicitly in article I, section 9, clause 7:

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in

Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.

``Made by Law,'' designated by Congress.

Again, in article I, section 8, clause 1:

The Congress shall have the Power To lay and collect Taxes,

Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for

the common Defense of general Welfare of the United States.

We got a taste of how Mr. Vought would attempt to execute something like this last week. In a truly chaotic,

late-night, 2-page memo, the Trump administration halted all Federal grants and loans. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars--Federal spending for a staggering number of programs, programs that provide America's healthcare, food, nutrition, housing, childcare, and so much else.

The memo stemmed from an Executive order calling on Federal Agencies to review and eliminate spending on ``woke'' ideologies or the ``Green New Deal''--both things that aren't clearly defined and don't, in any specific way, exist.

In this rush to create chaos and a jumbled policy, the implementers didn't bother to specify which programs would continue and which programs would end.

Our office and our staff were immediately flooded with calls-- hundreds and thousands of calls. We heard from folks in every corner of Colorado--big cities, small towns--asking: What does this mean for them and their families? There was real fear, real worry, and for good reason.

The Trump administration tried to walk back the original memo to clarify that the freeze wouldn't affect individual payments like Social Security or food stamp benefits, but that didn't clear up too much. It certainly didn't help that the White House Press Secretary couldn't answer specific questions, like pertaining to critical government programs like Medicaid, whether they were going to be affected.

Frustrating as it is--and I get how frustrating it is--there are reasons why the government moves slowly.

All of this, if implemented as requested, would have had a devastating impact on Colorado, a devastating impact.

The Federal programs and funds make up roughly 25 percent of our State's effort to build transportation and infrastructure and provide needed services for the most needy in our State.

Head Start, a truly vital service for over 9,000 low-income kids in Colorado, would be forced to shutter its operations that provide these low-income kids of all communities with the early childhood education, health, and nutrition that they need. Even as we speak, there are reports that Head Start providers around the Nation are not able to access funds.

If implemented, it would cut off 83,000 low-income Colorado families from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps heat their homes in a cold winter. These are folks, in many cases, who are unable to pay their heating bill or wouldn't be able to heat their homes without this assistance.

Our public safety and law enforcement would be weakened. The pause would strip funding that helps our local agencies prevent terrorism, helps them crack down on drug trafficking and prevent crimes and provide services for those who have been victimized by crime.

Colorado has one of the largest veteran populations in the country-- something we are very proud of--but this funding would cut resources for those vets. It would cut resources for community-based suicide prevention efforts, organizations that provide care for veterans experiencing homelessness, and services for veterans living with disabilities, many of them taken in the defense of our Nation. It is hard to be cruel to those who have given their country so much.

Before entering public service, I was in the restaurant business. At our brewpub in downtown Denver, we would cook, pack, and donate meals every year to Meals on Wheels to feed seniors throughout the Metro Denver area. I have seen firsthand the difference this makes, the relief it provides to seniors who need it. Many of them don't leave the house and are so grateful to have someone come that they can talk to as they get their meal.

But the Federal funding freeze left Meals on Wheels in Colorado and all across the country unsure of how and whether they would be able to continue serving meals. Over 25,000 Coloradoan seniors every day rely on Meals on Wheels to access food. Why would we leave our seniors hungry and unsure when their next hot lunch is going to come?

Our office also heard directly from a Colorado rural health organization about how this Federal funding freeze would have life-or- death effects on Coloradoans in 47 rural counties. When we are in towns like Cortez or Hugo or Julesburg, we hear all the time about how our rural hospitals, clinics, and community health centers are already strained by workforce shortages and by rising costs. These medical providers are on the frontlines in dealing with our Nation's mental health and opioid crisis, and we are cutting their ability to provide these services?

These folks in rural Colorado and in suburbs around every city in Colorado are watching their friends, family, and neighbors struggle with mental health issues that rose up after the pandemic. This funding freeze wouldn't just strip funding from these programs; it would force our critical rural hospitals to lay off staff or turn away patients at a time when they need it most. We should be fighting to increase access to quality, affordable healthcare no matter where people live, not take it away.

The Federal funding freeze has already been blocked by the courts several times because it is blatantly illegal. It makes no sense. But make no mistake, Mr. Vought and the Trump administration will keep poking and prodding our courts and our Constitution until they get their way.

All of these actions serve a sinister purpose: to completely transform our government into one that gives enormous--enormous--tax cuts, largely directed at those who don't need them and--in many cases in Colorado--don't want them and puts working-class Americans out to pasture.

The Federal funding freeze is just one of many chaotic actions Mr. Vought and the administration are pushing. We see Project 2025 come into clarity in this administration's illegal attempts to dismantle Agencies without congressional approval or their attempts to access Americans' sensitive data.

Look, I am all for cutting government waste. If you want to seriously look at how we spend money and where we can cut actual fraud, waste, and abuse, I am game. A more efficient government will help us all. But that is not what is happening.

I have worked as hard as I could to find ways to work across the aisle. That is not going to change. When I was mayor of Denver, when I was Governor of Colorado, we balanced the budget every year, and we worked hard to try to streamline government processes, just like every mayor and every Governor in this country. You can't just shove working families under the bus or violate the law to do it.

We will fight these attempts in the courts, on the floor of the Senate--like now--and everywhere else we can to defend Colorado and the Constitution. It is time to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt what Mr. Vought and his Project 2025 are trying to do.

We have supported these lawsuits, we have opposed Executive actions, and we have voted against nominees. But if we need to hold the Senate floor, like we are doing now, vote all night, disrupt business as usual, we will do that too.

I will oppose every nominee that poses a genuine threat to Coloradoans. It is why I am here on the floor and will vote no on Mr. Vought today. Coloradoans sent us to Washington to solve problems, not to create more.

Project 2025 is a brutal plan to wreak havoc on our Nation and really change the way our government operates, the way our democracy functions.

I hope people all over the State emulate that old movie ``Net Worth'' and they can shout out on every corner ``I am mad as hell, and I am not going to stand for it.'' Let's hope they get so loud that they can't be drowned out.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

On behalf of Colorado hospitals and clinics, rural areas, I vote no on this vote.

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

Madam President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2997 and the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following bills: Calendar No. 581, S. 1553; and

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment, where applicable, be agreed to; that the bills, as amended, if amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Madam President, Mesa County, CO, out in the far west part of the State, is bursting with opportunities for economic development. The CONVEY Act, which passed the Senate today, will help make sure there is sufficient space to continue that growth.

This bill will direct the transfer of Federal land near Clifton, CO, to the local Mesa County government to support their domestic economic development. Specifically, the bill accelerates the sale of 31 acres of land near Interstate 70 in Clifton, CO. It is a parcel of land that was previously set aside for the Bureau of Reclamation's Grand Valley Reclamation Project, but Reclamation has indicated its intent to relinquish the 31 acres considered in the

sale. The county will pay fair market value for those 31 acres of Federal land. The Federal Government has already determined that it no longer needs this land, and Mesa County has plans for ways to put it to work.

This is a win-win for the Federal Government, for Mesa County, for Colorado, and for our country. By passing the CONVEY Act today, we will finally push this land transfer over the finish line.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration of S. 3373, H.R. 4385, and H.R. 5770, and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc: Calendar No. 629, S. 4576; S. 3373; H.R. 4385; and H.R. 5770.

I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment to S. 3373 at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bills, as amended, where applicable, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.