Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes, prior to the scheduled rollcall vote, for myself and Senator Heinrich.

Mr. President, America is expected to build the equivalent of 1,000 major data centers during the next 5 years. You heard that correctly--a thousand data centers within the next 5 years, with more than 2,000 projects currently being proposed and tracked. We need to protect American ratepayers from footing the bill.

The clock is ticking, and we have no time for delay. Americans are becoming ever more reliant on computing power from data centers for their daily lives--from medicine to manufacturing, education to agriculture, and national defense to the way we deliver basic services. Data centers are used not just for AI. They support almost every aspect of modern life, including online shopping, streaming videos, social media, and the broadcast of this very debate.

To meet these consumer demands, Americans need an ample supply of electricity. This problem has been exacerbated by the fact that, due to Federal regulations over the past two decades, powerplants have been closed, decreasing the supply of electricity. Congress failed to stop this action. During the Obama and Biden years alone, 23 powerplants were closed in the State of Ohio, creating a supply-and-demand problem that drove up prices on consumers.

So, as we look to build the future, we must follow some basic principles of fairness.

The companies creating enormous new demands for electricity should pay the costs required to serve them--pretty simple. Working families, small businesses, and senior citizens should not open up their electric bills and discover they are paying for the power infrastructure needed by some large tech company in the world or in their neighborhood.

That is the principle behind the Ratepayer Protection Act.

When a very large electricity customer, such as a data center, connects to the grid, it requires investments in new generation, transmission lines, substations, and local distribution systems. The Ratepayer Protection Act would require State utility regulators to consider standards, ensuring that large load customers pay the full-- full--incremental costs of the infrastructure needed to serve it. Those standards could also require financial assurances so that families are not left paying for stranded infrastructure if the project is delayed, downsized, or abandoned. In plain language, if you create the cost, you should pay the cost.

This is not anti-technology legislation. It is pro-growth and pro- innovation. Mostly, it is procurement legislation. In fact, protecting ratepayers will make it easier, not harder, for America to build the technology infrastructure we need. Americans are understandably concerned about rising electric bills. If they believe every new data center will make their monthly bills go up, public opposition will grow, communities will reject plans, construction will slow, and China will gain ground.

The better approach is to establish clear rules from the beginning. Data centers should only be located where communities want them. They can bring billions of dollars in private investment; in construction work for electricians, pipefitters, equipment operators, and other skilled trades; as well as in revenue for schools and local services. But those benefits should not come with a hidden charge of electric bills for families, farmers, and small businesses.

When companies know up front that they will be responsible for their own energy costs, they can plan accordingly. That approach encourages innovation. It rewards those who find the most efficient ways to operate. It also creates an incentive to build more American energy in the most efficient manner possible. When energy supply adequately meets demand, it helps put down pressure on prices for consumers. It helps people save money; that is what it does. They keep more of their paychecks for what they need to spend for their priorities.

Providing modern benefits from innovation does not require us to choose between technological leadership and affordable electricity. We can do both. We can do both. We can build the computing capacity America needs, and we can produce the reliable energy it requires. We can protect families and small businesses from unfair costs.

The Ratepayer Protection Act rests on a principle every American understands: Pay your own way. This is how we make sure American families are not left footing the bill for the energy infrastructure required by data centers. Most importantly, it will help the American people keep more of what they earn.

So this brings me to this moment:

Yesterday, this bill passed the House of Representatives by a nearly unanimous vote of 417 to 3. That is right--417 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass this bill, with only 3 objections. So the Members of the House did their jobs; they stood up for the American ratepayer. It is time for the Senate to do the same.

In a few moments, I am going to ask my colleagues in the Senate to support the Ratepayer Protection Act. Together, we can send this bill to the President's desk for his signature. The Ratepayer Protection Act represents the most meaningful, bipartisan step Congress can take to protect the American people from higher prices for electricity. I am here today because we can get this done. The House has already done it. The House has done its job. There is no need to wait and no need to delay.

If we get it done today, we say to the American people: We actually care. We heard you. We are going to get the job done.

It demonstrates Washington can work in a bipartisan way to address the problems that are most pressing to the American people. I am proud to have led this effort in the U.S. Senate, and I am going to urge unanimous consent for this commonsense bill.

Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 9340, which is at the desk; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for an additional 1 minute.

Mr. President, I would just say this: I accept the Senator from New Mexico's concerns, but the reason I am proposing that we pass this piece of legislation is that it passed the House, 417 to 3. If the Senator from New Mexico's provision had passed the House 417 to 3, he would have had every right to stand up and ask that we do this.

Before we leave here, we ought to do something on a matter that the American people have asked us to do something about, and we have the opportunity to do that with the Ratepayer Protection Act. It is a shame that this opportunity has been missed today, but I will be back to push this issue forward. We have a bipartisan opportunity to get this done, and we should do it immediately.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the future of college athletics and American student-athletes.

Congress is being asked to take action to save college sports. Well, as we consider what we need to do to save college sports, we better make sure that we are focused on saving it for American student- athletes.

For generations, college sports have become a part of culture, particularly in a State like Ohio. A lot of States love their college sports. It is part of American culture and it is an important part of campus life for many American students and we want to make sure that that remains the case.

But sports mean so much more than that. So many of America's leaders have a sports background, whether that is in politics, business, or whatever it might be. For obvious reasons, it helps you build character. It makes you tougher. You learn discipline, teamwork, all of the things that are virtuous parts of succeeding in life.

I know this firsthand. I grew up very rural and went to high school in a small town, and no one in my family had attended college--no one. And the only thing I wanted to do as a kid is that I wanted to play college football.

I got to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes and even one of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. You watched them when you were a kid on TV, and you said: Hey, I don't know anything about college, but I would like to go play college football.

And that is what got me interested in going to college--because I wanted to play college football. I literally didn't know a person who had gone to college other than my teachers and coaches. I didn't know anybody, but I wanted to go to college because I wanted to play college sports.

And if you want to play college sports, the pathway to developing you as a human being starts long before you graduate from high school because if you want to play college sports, you have got to prepare.

From the time you played Little League Baseball or maybe now youth

soccer, youth basketball, football--whatever your sport is--you start to develop yourself, your character, as a young person with that goal in mind, that one day maybe you can go play for that team that you dreamed of when you were a little kid.

For me, I ended up playing football at the University of Dayton. I was a highly prized recruit. I was the seventh-team running back when I got there. I bet most people didn't know that you could be that low on the depth chart. I actually was that low on the depth chart.

And as a matter of fact, the equipment manager didn't even want to give me a jersey number that I could be a running back because he said I was never going to play there.

But the good news is that if you develop that character that you get from sports like football, where you get knocked down and you got to get back up, you learn never to quit. That is why sports is such an important part of people's lives.

And, for me, that resilience paid off because, later, I ended up having the opportunity to be a starting defensive back, eventually became a national champion and an all-American.

I would never have developed that character without the opportunity to play sports, and I tell you today there is no way I would be standing here as a U.S. Senator if it weren't for college athletics, for giving me the chance to develop myself from a kid who grew up where they didn't know anybody that went to college to somebody who not only graduated but got a chance to succeed in athletics.

And I want that for everybody in this country. I want every kid-- little kid--who has a dream of going to play athletics, whether it is on the tennis team, golf team, hockey, whatever it is, that they have a chance to do that.

But, increasingly, American student-athletes are being denied this opportunity because more and more roster spots are going to student- athletes from other nations.

While the Protect College Sports Act takes a material step toward making our Nation's college sports leagues competitive again, it has one critical omission: It doesn't look out for American student- athletes in their academic and athletic journeys.

As I said, more scholarships--and in this case, roster spots--I am not talking about a scholarship. I am talking about a roster spot--a chance to play--are going to non-Americans.

And there is no incentive for colleges to prioritize American student-athletes. And with the NIL funds that are coming in, it is going to create a bigger and bigger incentive for pro athletes from other nations to come play college sports in America and take roster spots away from American citizens.

These taxpayer-funded institutions should prioritize American students, and, additionally, the Protect College Sports Act fails to address the gray area created by the overlap in immigration law and revenue-sharing structures.

Student-athletes often come to the United States under F-1 visa status. This visa status has strict limitations on compensation via employment.

But to avoid jeopardizing visa status, colleges and universities structure payments to international student-athletes as passive income out of revenue-sharing funds and get around those prohibitions, again, creating an incentive for more roster spots and more scholarships to go to student-athletes who are not American citizens.

It is not right. If you ask Congress to protect college sports, we should be protecting it for American student-athletes. And that is why I introduced the Training and Education for American Members in University Sports and Athletics Act--the TEAM USA Act--with House Education and Workforce Chair Walberg.

The TEAM USA Act would encourage universities to prioritize American students when recruiting the best talent, and the proposal places a 20- percent cap on international student roster spots per sport with delayed implementation so that current student-athletes are not disrupted.

So, understand, I am not calling for a ban. We welcome international student-athletes to America. Twenty percent of the roster spots--that is fine. But we have some rosters in which there is not a single U.S. citizen on that roster in some of our nonrevenue sports.

That is not right. It is not the way it should be. We support competition, but we want to make sure that it is a valuable opportunity for American student-athletes because sports were created not to make big revenue and big money for college athletic programs; they were created to build character amongst our students in our schools. It was designed originally to teach--yes, we want to have academics in our schools, but we also are going to have extracurricular athletics to teach physical fitness, toughness, leadership, and character. That is what it is all about, and to deny increasingly those opportunities to American student-athletes is wrong.

And so as Congress considers the future of NIL and college sports, protecting opportunities for American student-athletes must come first.

American colleges and universities are increasingly giving scholarships and these limited roster spots to foreign athletes, and the growth of NIL money only creates more incentives for foreign athletes to cash in on the American system at the expense of student- athletes in this country.

If the U.S. Congress is being asked to save college sports, we better darn sure make sure that we save it for American student-athletes.

I don't expect governments of other nations to look out for American student-athletes, but I sure expect the U.S. Government to look out for American student-athletes. And that is why I have introduced the legislation, why it needs to be part of this discussion, so that American student-athletes still have the opportunity, like lots of little boys and little girls out there today who dream, have a dream, to be able to play college sports one day, shouldn't see that opportunity given away to someone who is not an American citizen.

We can balance both. We can find a way to welcome the best from other nations and also protect roster spots for American student-athletes.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, using a photo ID to vote is common sense. It is an issue Americans broadly support. So tonight, this early morning, I am offering a clean, simple straightforward bill to require a photo ID to vote in America.

Voters can use a driver's license, a state-issued ID, passport, military or veterans ID, or Tribal ID. No additional restrictions. No tricks. No games. No prohibitions on absentee voting.

Thirty-six States require some form of photo ID. Photo ID laws have been tested in elections across this country, and they work. So tonight, I am asking my colleagues to answer one simple question: Should you have to prove who you are when you vote?

Americans think we should, and tonight, we will find out if their Senators agree. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this bill to establish nationwide photo ID standards and give Americans better-run and honest and fair elections.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, had there been a rollcall vote on the motion to adjourn, I would have voted nay.

Madam President, today I would like to recognize a fellow Ohioan and a fellow Dayton Flyer, Tim Massa, who this September will retire after 37 remarkable years in the human resources profession, the last 16 of them at The Kroger Co., one of Ohio's and America's great companies. Tim joined Kroger in 2010 as vice president of talent development, after 21 years building his craft at Procter & Gamble. Over the following decade and a half, he rose to lead human resources and labor relations, then to serve as Kroger's chief people officer, and ultimately as executive vice president and chief associate experience officer. In Cincinnati, he has served the American Cancer Society, sat on the Cincinnati Zoo's board of trustees, and supported the city's Workforce Innovation Center, always finding time to give back to the community he and his wife Lisa have called home while raising their two daughters. On behalf of the people of Ohio, I want to congratulate Tim Massa on an extraordinary 37-year career, thank him for his dedicated service to Kroger's associates and to the human resources profession, and wish him, Lisa, and their family all the best as they begin this well-earned next chapter.

Madam President, I am going to take us back 100 years to August 5, 1926. It was in the midst of the Roaring Twenties. Calvin Coolidge was the President. Babe Ruth was ruling professional baseball. There was no television. Horses and cars shared the streets together. Life expectancy was 57 years. The Great Depression was still off in the future.

On August 5, 1926, a remarkable person was born, and I want to recognize him today. He is a World War II veteran and a loving husband, father, and grandfather. His name is SGT Wayne Franklin Phillips, and he is approaching an extraordinary milestone--his 100th birthday. Pretty amazing. We rise today to honor him, to reflect on his service and sacrifice as part of a generation that secured the freedoms that we enjoy today.

I grew up in rural Northwest Ohio, nearly in the same neighborhood as SGT Wayne Franklin Phillips, and I am always proud of the people of rural Northwest Ohio. SGT Wayne Phillips is from Henry County, where he was born and raised on a farm and became a farmer in an area outside a small town--Hamler, OH--alongside his three brothers and three sisters.

If you are ever in Hamler, OH, it is one of those places that are the heart of agriculture in Ohio. You can see to the horizon in all four directions, and I know the Presiding Officer from Iowa understands what I mean by that. It is just farmland as far as you can see.

He graduated from Hamler High School at the age of 17, and he joined the Army's 81st Readiness Division just months after receiving his high school diploma. Of course he did. That is what a lot of people his age did during that period of time.

During his military service, Sergeant Phillips was briefly involved in the Battle of the Bulge. I think all of us who study our history know that was one of the largest and bloodiest battles fought by the American forces in World War II and really was the final battle to defeat Hitler's Nazis.

Over the course of 41 days, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops fought to halt that Nazi offensive in Western Europe, and they were successful in winning the final battle that led to the end of World War

Mr. President, today I would like to wish Mr. Wayne Franklin Phillips of Deshler, OH, a happy 100th birthday. Mr. Phillips was born on August 5, 1926, on a farm outside of Hamler with his three brothers and sisters. Mr. Phillips served our country bravely in WWII, eventually earning the rank of sergeant TEC 4. He was honorably discharged in 1946. Mr. Phillips married Eileen Rutter on January 1, 1950, and lived on Elm Street, where they raised their three children Wayne, Paul, and Martha. Mr. Phillips started the Phillips Oil Company in 1950, where he still drives to work every day along with his two sons, grandson, and nephew. Mr. Phillips is a faithful member of Deshler United Methodist Church and was politically engaged, serving as Henry County commissioner for 16 years and a Deshler City councilman for 4 years.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of H.R. 7008, a bill that contains two commonsense reforms. These are pretty easy-- banning members of Congress from purchasing stocks while in office and requiring a photo ID to vote. People have said that they want us to do this. I have heard it for years around here. It hasn't happened. Now it is time to happen. Tonight, we have an opportunity to do it.

Both policies are overwhelmingly supported by Americans. If you want to listen to the American people, do these two things. Mr. President, 86 percent of Americans support banning Members of Congress from purchasing stocks while in office, and 83 percent of Americans support showing a photo ID to vote.

It has been 7 days since I last stood in this Chamber to speak about photo ID, and I am back to do it again because it is an important policy. I want to reiterate a point: Photo ID doesn't just protect the integrity of our elections; it makes our elections work better.

If election integrity isn't reason enough to support photo ID, consider what it would mean to election administration. We have seen this in States like California, where it took them over a week to count votes in recent

elections. Elections officials shouldn't be spending time day after day after day going through ballots to see if this signature matches this signature. It takes too long. It is an ineffective way of determining the identification of an individual when many, many States--36 of them--have figured out a very efficient way to do this. It is called photo ID. It is something that everyone has. It is an efficient way to do it. It doesn't drag out the process. It doesn't force elections officials to become handwriting experts to figure it out.

I mean, we used to do this in the 1800s before we had methods of determining someone's identity. You had to rely on a signature. But this is 2026, for crying out loud. Everyone has a photo ID. It is an easy way to do it, it is far simpler, and it will make our elections run more simply and effectively.

Americans use a photo ID every single day. There is no reason they can't use it to vote. As a matter of fact, in Ohio, we did this. We have had photo ID for years. We had a mandate in the recent Presidential election to use a photo ID. It didn't suppress the vote. Actually, we had one of the highest voter turnouts in the history of our State.

Don't give me the baloney that somehow this is going to discriminate against somebody and tell them it will make it harder for them to vote. We have evidence to the contrary. We know photo ID is common sense.

Now let's move on to the other provision of this bill--legislation that includes stopping insider trading. It is called the Stop Insider Trading Act. It is another commonsense reform that is long overdue in Washington. People have been talking about it for years, did nothing about it. Tonight, we are trying to do something about it.

The bill prohibits Members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from purchasing new securities in publicly traded companies or similar financial instruments while they serve in Congress. It requires at least 7 days' public notice before anyone can sell any of these securities. It imposes significant legal and financial penalties for violators.

These safeguards ensure lawmakers and their families cannot use nonpublic information to enrich themselves, as we know has gone on in this town for many years, at the expense of the American people. But nobody did anything about it. Tonight, we have a chance to do something about it.

I want to commend one of our colleagues, Senator Pete Ricketts from Nebraska. Pete has led on the Senate side of this conversation on banning the insider trading. Senator Ricketts deserves credit for all of his work, and I am proud to be an original cosponsor of his Senate version of the legislation. I urge my colleagues to support its swift passage.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize an extraordinary year of achievement by Ohio's own Denison University.

Now, everyone knows Denison to be a great academic institution. But, all of a sudden, it has become a great athletic institution. In the 2025-2026 academic year, Denison student athletes delivered one of the most successful seasons in school history, capturing four--you heard that right--NCAA Division III national titles and bringing great pride to the university community, alumni, and the entire State of Ohio.

I am joined in this Chamber by members of all four national championship winning coaches, players, and families.

So welcome to the U.S. Senate. We are honored to have you with us today.

We had the chance to join President Trump this morning at the White House to celebrate their accomplishments, and I wanted to take a couple of minutes to honor them on the Senate floor. We will start with the most recent champion, the men's baseball team.

In early June, Denison's men's baseball team won the program's first ever NCAA Division III national championship, defeating Endicott College in a 4-3 thriller, 10-inning walk-off victory.

The Big Red completed a historic season with a 51-and-3 record. That is right. A 51-and-3 record in baseball is amazing, almost unprecedented. They held the No. 1 ranking from the start of the season to the finish. It is hard to go wire to wire--so hard to go wire to wire. And under the leadership of Coach Mike Deegan, the team demonstrated excellence throughout this season, as I noted.

Now, this was a team effort. It was a three-game series in the finals. Denison won game 1. And then, game 2, they lost a 10-inning, 11-10 battle. It is so hard to come back in game 3, after being so close to clinching it in game 2. But they won a decisive game 3, 4 to 3, in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Cherish the memory--to the Denison baseball team--because you will unlikely ever have a more thrilling experience than winning the national championship in the 10th inning in a walk-off situation--great fun, great fun.

Cade Nowik was named the outstanding player of the NCAA championship after a dominant postseason performance, including a game in which he recorded three home runs and seven RBIs--pretty impressive. But I know every national championship will always say it is team effort. Everybody from the lowest man on the roster to the top, they all matter when you win a championship. Everybody contributes to that cause.

Congratulations to these outstanding student athletes for an unforgettable season and a well-earned national title.

Let me go on next to the men's swimming and diving team. In March, Denison men's swimming and diving team captured its second consecutive NCAA Division III national championship and seventh national title in program history. The Big Red finished with 437 points, nearly 49 points ahead of the second-place team, marking their third time in program history that Denison has won back-to-back NCAA championships. That right there is a tradition of excellence.

The program also swept the major awards presented by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America, as you would expect from the dominant championship team that they had. Gregg Parini was named Co-Coach of the Year. First-year diving coach Kai Robinson earned Men's Diving Coach of the Year honors. And Jack Hill and Nick Fogle were recognized as Swimmer and Diver of the Year.

That is what you call a clean sweep right there, folks.

Congratulations to these student athletes that represent Ohio and Denison with excellence. I congratulate them, their coaches, and their families. What a remarkable accomplishment--pretty amazing.

So we got through two of the national championships. Let's move to the third. That is men's doubles tennis.

Denison's men's tennis added another national title when Ethan Green and Kael Shah captured the NCAA Division III men's doubles national championship. The duo concluded the season with an impressive 24-and-6 record and secured the first national or NCAA championship in program history--amazing.

Congratulations, guys.

Their achievements also capped extraordinary collegiate careers. Ethan Green finished with the most doubles victories and combined victories in program history, while Kael Shah concluded his career- second alltime in both categories.

Congratulations to Ethan and Kael and the entire Denison's men's tennis program on your historic accomplishment.

Now on to women's basketball, and this, perhaps, is the most unexpected national championship at Denison. The women's basketball program completed a dominant 30-2 season, although at the beginning of the season, no one predicted that level of success. They captured the program's first NCAA Division III national championship. Led by head coach Maureen Hirt, the Big Red defeated the University of Scranton 55 to 41 in the national championship game to secure the title.

I understand that this team's character came through, because they were dominant defensively, pressing the whole game, created turnovers and chaos for the other team, which led to a dominant victory. You don't win national champion games 55 to 41 without being dominant as a defensive team.

This championship reflects the dedication, discipline, and determination displayed by these student athletes throughout the season. It takes a lot to go 30 to 2. Congratulations to the team, the coaches, and their families on this historic victory.

The reason this brings back some special memories for me is because I, too, as a senior at the University of Dayton, won a Division III national championship, although it was in football, and it brings back wonderful memories because it is very rare in life that you can close out an athletic career and walk off a champion.

So I hope you will cherish it, to all the Denison student athletes. It is a special, special thing.

In this era of NIL, it is also great to see people who excel in excellence for the love of the game, just because they are competitors at heart. They love their sport, and they compete.

This is an interesting thing about a Division III athlete: No one pays them to be up at 6 a.m. when they don't want to be to bust their butts, to excel in the weight room, on the field, running, conditioning, whatever it might be. No one makes them do it; they do it for the love of the game. They sacrifice. When other friends may be out having fun in the evenings or on the weekends, they sacrifice. They embrace the grind because they want to be a champion. You have to be willing to sacrifice and dedicate yourself to your craft if you want to be a champion, if you want to be a winner, if you want to be excellent.

That is why it was so great to be with these young men and women earlier today, because I know they have made the investment, and they have reaped the reward of that investment. It will carry them much further than just the athletic field, the court, the pool; it will carry them on in their life. They will be winners. They will be winners for their family, they will be winners for their community, winners for their State, and winners for their Nation.

That is why I think it is so important that we preserve the integrity of college athletics, that we continue to offer these great opportunities for student athletes to earn the resilience--to define the resilience and the character that it takes to be successful in athletic competition because that translates into life's success.

So these Ohio student athletes have made our State proud through their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to excellence. Their accomplishments serve as a reminder of what can be achieved when you are willing to pay the price of teamwork, discipline, and determination.

I am grateful for the opportunity to recognize these remarkable student athletes at Denison University and what they all stand for. On behalf of the people of Ohio, congratulations on an extraordinary year. I wish them continued success in the years ahead.

I yield the floor.

(Mr. BANKS assumed the Chair.)

Mr. President, I have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committee is authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. President, I have greatly valued the opportunity to join my colleagues tonight in discussing the SAVE America Act and many aspects to the bill, but I want to focus on the election integrity aspect of the bill.

The people of Ohio have twice trusted me as their chief elections officer, having served two terms as Ohio secretary of state. In that time, I oversaw the Presidential elections in 2012 and 2016 and also the midterm elections in 2014 and 2018, so many primaries, local elections, and special elections.

I tell you all that because I know how to administer elections. I have done it. When Ohio was a very purple State, we were the focus of the Nation. I administered those elections, and I made my mission clear: Make Ohio a State where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat. That is the balance we are all trying to achieve. We want voters to cast ballots. We also want them to do it in a manner that is not a burden to them. I am going to explain why photo ID is not a burden to voters and why,

actually, in the end, it is an enhancement.

In Ohio, we implemented the photo ID requirement at the polls, and with the photo ID requirement intact, there was no evidence of voter suppression. In fact, with all of those election integrity measures in place in the 2024 Presidential election, we produced the second highest turnout in the last four Presidential elections.

So the bottom line is, the evidence suggests that the inclusion of photo ID, actually, is no impediment. Frankly, it could be argued that it makes the system easy to understand and enhances turnout.

Photo ID doesn't just protect election integrity, though. It does more. It makes our elections work better.

I want to make this case to my colleagues tonight that, if you don't want photo ID because you don't believe it is important for election integrity and you don't think that election integrity is enough of a reason to do it, well, I am going to point to the fact that photo ID also provides an ease for election administration. It makes it run better. It makes it run better, and I am going to give you a prime example of this.

Look at what happened in California's recent elections. We all remember what happened there. Some of the State's most important races took more than a week to determine the outcomes, and officials spent weeks finishing the count. During that time, the reported leaders in each election--in those very close races--changed several times. You would hear reports: Well, this candidate is up. Now this candidate is up. This candidate is in the lead.

And then, all of a sudden, they lose.

Every additional day in that debate that went on for over a week, about who actually won those elections, undermines the confidence in those elections. That speculation--justified or not--creates and undermines election confidence when voters have to wait for more than a week to get an answer about who won an election.

And I asked a California official why. Why did it take so long to count votes in California? The answer I, frankly, found to be pretty astonishing. This individual said the answer was simple: Every mail-in ballot has to go through a manual signature comparison with the signature on file.

So let me explain what that means. Instead of asking a voter to present a secure photo ID, which would clear it up right at the very beginning, California asks thousands of election workers to spend days trying to determine whether two signatures match or not.

That is their system for determining whether or not the individual voting is actually the right person?

California turns election workers into handwriting experts when the rest of America has settled on a far, far simpler way to verify identity, and that is photo ID. We don't need to make the election workers handwriting experts. We can simply show a photo ID and say: Hey, we know who the person is who is casting the ballot. They are a valid voter. Let's give them a ballot.

It has been said many times. But please, we ask for a photo ID when we get on a plane. We ask for a photo ID when we open a bank account or a credit card, to check into a hotel, to buy alcohol, or to get prescription medications. This is not a burden on the American people.

But when it comes to protecting the most fundamental right in our democracy, some States are still comparing signatures by hand. That defies common sense.

A secure photo ID is faster. It is simpler. It is more objective. It helps election officials do their jobs more efficiently. It delivers results more quickly. And it gives Americans greater confidence that the eligible voter casting the ballot can legally cast that ballot and have it counted.

Election laws should make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. Requiring a photo ID does both. It is pretty simple. It protects the integrity of our elections, it improves the efficiency of our election system, and it strengthens public confidence in the outcome.

And I tell you. I have heard many Democrats say that they don't support the SAVE America Act. However, I did listen to the minority leader Chuck Schumer say that their objection as Democrats is not to photo ID. Again, I listened carefully to my colleagues--I tried to pay attention--to get clues from them about what they might support. So, when the minority leader said that they didn't oppose photo ID, I thought that would be a great opportunity to take a simple slice of the SAVE America Act--photo ID--put that together in a bill and present it. Clearly, based on his comments, I thought we would get bipartisan support. But that wasn't true, apparently, because, even after we proposed that legislation, he objected to it.

I have and will continue to give my colleagues on both sides of the aisle the option to put their words into action. I have and will continue to put forward a clean, simple, straightforward bill to require photo ID in American elections--nothing more. It works in 36 States, and I promise you that, in States like California, where they have no photo ID law and it takes weeks to count ballots, their elections not only will have greater integrity, but their elections will be administered much more efficiently.

Believe me, there is no more unifying issue for Americans on election integrity than photo ID. The vast majority of the American people supports requiring a photo ID. You see it in poll after poll after poll. The vast majority of Americans thinks it is just common sense because they do it every single day as they live their lives and conduct business.

Americans deserve confidence in elections, supported by election integrity measures like photo ID. We can make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. Passing photo ID requirements are common sense. It is the right thing to do for election integrity and the right thing to do for voter confidence.

I will close with this: This is a rare bipartisan issue for Americans. It is rare that you have Americans, in this polarized world that we live in, who can all say--Democrats, Republicans, Independents--that we support the idea of photo ID for election integrity. They have united around it, and I think all of our constituents are wondering why we can't pass this simple legislation.

I hear it all the time as I travel across Ohio. Voters say: Hey, pass photo ID. Pass the SAVE America Act. You can do this. We should do this.

I agree. I think I have voted for it six times already, and I look forward to voting for it for seven, eight, nine. However many times it takes to get it done, we will get it done. If a few of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle would join us in supporting the will of the American people, we could get it done sooner. We can give the American people election integrity, the efficient administration of elections, and boost public confidence in elections. Ultimately, more trust in our elections gives us more trust in the government and in the people that we are electing.

Let's get this done. It is long past time to get the photo ID portion of SAVE America passed. Let's do it. The time is now.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, every day the men and women of law enforcement leave home not knowing what they will encounter. They live life with the uncertainty of what the next hazard is that they might encounter during the call that they receive to go protect and serve. Sergeant Scott Ries was shot and killed responding to one of those calls, and today I rise to honor one of Ohio's bravest sons, Sergeant Ries. We lost him on July 5, 2026, just a couple weeks ago.

Sergeant Ries served and protected his community until the very last moment when he was on one of those calls and was shot and killed and lost his life, and we all mourn his loss. Today, I want to take a few moments to honor his life, his service, and his legacy.

Sergeant Ries was 54 years old and a native of Doylestown. He was a 10-year veteran of the Rittman Police Department.

Before joining the Rittman Police Department, he served as a deputy with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and as an officer with the Sugar Grove Police Department. You can see Sergeant Ries right there.

His colleagues remember him as someone who wanted people to know that when they called for his help, he would be there for them. And he was a person to respond with kindness and a community spirit.

Sergeant Ries was a devoted husband and father. I had a chance a few days ago to speak with his wonderful wife Michelle. He is remembered as someone who was deeply involved in his family's life, especially supporting his daughter's cheerleading activities.

Each year, in fact, Sergeant Ries and his wife Michelle volunteered their time raising money in a fundraiser for the cheerleaders. They would organize the dunk tank. Anybody that grew up in a small town knows what the dunk tank is. Pay a few dollars to throw a ball and dunk the police sergeant, and that is what Scott would do.

They helped support the cheerleading program, but it was one of the many things that he would do to help give back to his community and support life in a small town--a small, rural town in Ohio.

Sergeant Ries was also an alumnus of the Chippewa Local Schools and remained actively involved with the school long after graduation. A police sergeant in a small town, Chippewa Schools, is an important local leader, an important example, a mentor, someone to look up to, and that is who Scott Ries was. He certainly was that kind of figure in his local community.

Sergeant Ries was a dedicated public servant who put his life on the line every day and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his community in responding to a violent call. But there is no way he could know it would have been his last because he responded as a dedicated public servant in law enforcement every single time he got the call.

His wife and children and loved ones and fellow officers remain in our prayers. I know how hard it is for them, having talked to several of them during the course of the last few weeks. They loved Scott, and it was hard for them, as you would expect, to confront his tragic loss. And we will mourn him. We will mourn his loss, honor his life that was defined by community, sacrifice, service, and courage.

So Sergeant Scott Ries gave his life protecting his community and his neighbors. I thank my colleagues for giving me a few moments to hear his story and to join me in honoring his service and celebrating his life.

So many times, so many days, these public servants, these law enforcement officials, are asked to show courage and give to their communities, and they do it humbly, as Scott Ries did for so many years. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to confront the tragedy of them losing their lives in service to their communities. We do that in honoring the life and service of Scott Ries.

I want to say to his wife Michelle and to his children and his colleagues in law enforcement that we will keep you in our prayers, we mourn his loss, and we honor his service.

I yield the floor.

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