Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, on October 7, Hamas terrorists crossed the border of Israel and committed atrocities, the full extent of which we are only just now coming to understand.

Thousands of innocent Israelis have lost their lives. Israeli babies were beheaded--literally beheaded--put into ovens, according to news reports. Innocent civilians were shot in their homes when they answered their front doors. Soldiers who were asleep in their beds were executed. And the terrorist attacks have continued.

Amazingly, in the United States--even as this terrible attack was unfolding in Israel--in the United States, hundreds and thousands of students and others took to America's campuses to express solidarity, not with innocent Israelis who had lost their lives but with Hamas, and to voice support for the genocidal campaign that Hamas has sought to carry out and continues to advance and advocate even as we stand here today.

Take a look at just some of the things that have been said by students on America's college campuses. Students at Harvard University said they held the Israeli regime ``entirely responsible''--entirely responsible--``for all the unfolding violence.'' You had students at the University of North Carolina who said they believed it was their ``moral obligation to be in solidarity with the dispossessed, no matter the pathway to liberation they choose to take. This includes violence.''

Oh, and Hamas is violent. There is no doubt we have seen extraordinary violence, unbelievable violence, in the most brutal attack on Israel and the Jewish people in 50 years.

Students at New York University School of Law wrote that they expressed first and foremost their unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians and their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination. ``Israel,'' they said, ``bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life.''

I could go on. And I am happy to say that this body has unanimously condemned these statements--this progenocidal rhetoric--by students in this country.

I wish that it had stopped at rhetoric, but it hasn't. We have seen the assaults

on Jewish students right on our campuses. We have seen Jews barricaded in university libraries, unable to leave, as pro-Hamas demonstrators shout and scream outside calling for the destruction of Israel. We have seen Jewish students physically assaulted--if you don't believe me, just go look on the internet--physically assaulted on American campuses by pro-Hamas demonstrators.

We have even seen it in high schools, where students are chanting:

From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free.

What does that mean? It is a call for the destruction of the State of Israel. It is a call for the execution of Jews in the Middle East, in this country, everywhere. That is the Hamas agenda.

And so many Americans, including me, have been absolutely stunned to see so many students and others echoing these claims. And it has raised the question: Where is this coming from? Where are these students and young people--teenagers--where are they hearing this? Where are they seeing it? Where are they being fed this propaganda? Because propaganda, it is.

At least one of the answers is, they are finding it on TikTok. Yes, TikTok, that Chinese-based, Chinese-owned social media app that is a back door for the Chinese Communist Party to track the movements, the key strokes, the whereabouts, the information of every American who has the app on their phone.

What we know now is that for many, many younger Americans--the so- called Generation Z; those in their teens and early twenties--so many of them--74 percent of them, in fact--use TikTok as a search engine. And, in fact, a majority of them prefer TikTok to Google as a principle search engine. So where are Americans and Generation Z increasingly getting their news? What are they using to search for information? They are using TikTok. They are getting their news from TikTok.

At the same time, this same cohort of young Americans, more than 50 percent of them--this is young Americans between the ages of 18 and 24--more than 50 percent of them say they believe Hamas's murder of civilians was justified. Let me repeat that. More than 50 percent of young Americans--Gen Z, between the ages of 18 and 24--believe Hamas's murder of civilians was justified.

These are the same people who are going on TikTok to get their news, to get their information, to be influenced. And they certainly are being influenced. Media reports have analyzed the prevalence of anti- Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas content on TikTok. It is really quite astounding.

Just take a look at the trending hashtags: ``Stand with Palestine,'' 285 million views, impressions, according to the news site Axios and their recent analysis. By contrast, ``Stand With Israel'' has far, far less--64 million. This doesn't actually begin to tell the story because the truth is, there are other hashtags, other pro-Hamas, pro- Palestinian sources of information where the views are even larger. Take, for instance ``Free Palestine.'' That has received actually 917 million views, far outpacing even ``Stand with Palestine'' and dramatically outpacing the content that is actually supportive of the State of Israel.

Here is my point. TikTok has become a haven for anti-Semitic content, a haven for propaganda for genocide. Of course, TikTok denies this, as they deny any responsibility for anything they actually do.

They have tried to say, in fact, these numbers are skewed. But you can't change the facts. You can't deny the reality that their site is absolutely awash with this content. And we know that part of the problem, the danger of TikTok, is it gives the Chinese Communist Party enormous influence--enormous influence--to shape the news, the content of the information of the folks who look at it.

They have done this before. Back in 2019, the Chinese Communist Party used TikTok to suppress content that criticized the Chinese Government over their oppression and enslavement of the Uighurs in that country. They have a pattern of using this application to try and shape the narrative in the way they want it shaped. How they are shaping it now is pumping out the most virulent, toxic pro-Hamas propaganda.

Madam President, the time has come to take another look at TikTok. I will say this: As virulent and offensive as this content is, that is not a reason to ban them. The real reason to ban TikTok is that it is a spy app for the Chinese Communist government. Let's just look at what we have learned since I was last on this floor trying to pass legislation that would hold TikTok accountable and ban it from American phones.

On the 24th of this year, the New York Times reported that driver's licenses, addresses and photos--just to be clear, Americans' driver's licenses, addresses, and photos--were accessed by TikTok engineers based in China. What is extraordinary about this is TikTok has told us over and over and over again that this was impossible. They have come to this Congress, they testified before us and said this never happens. American data is absolutely sequestered. You can't access it in China. It is completely safe.

Yet we learned this year what, really, we already knew: That simply is not true. Let's not forget, the law of China--the People's Republic of China, a dictatorship--their law requires all major corporations, including, especially, data corporations, to make information available upon request to the Chinese Communist Party. That means your data. That means our personal information.

On May 30, Forbes magazine reported that TikTok creators'--that means American users'--financial information, Social Security numbers were, in fact, being stored in China. We had also been told this wasn't true. We have been told by TikTok: No, no, no, Americans' data is always stored in America. It can't be accessed anywhere but in America. There is a firewall between America and China.

Not true. Not true.

Americans don't realize that their data is being tracked. They are just on there to make their videos and put out their content. And what is happening? The Chinese Government is able to access it. Their personal information is being stored, not in this country, but in China, with full availability to the Chinese Communist Party.

On November 1, just a few days ago, Forbes further reported that a platform storing TikTok corporate secrets was inspected by the Chinese Government. Of course, it was. Chinese law requires it. It requires TikTok and its parent company ByteDance to make available all of this information to the Chinese Government.

We have confronted dangers like this before from China. Huawei is a prime example. Huawei, another Chinese-based corporation also subject to the laws of China requiring the sharing of personal information and data. And what did we do? We stood up a sanctions regime that sanctioned Huawei and prevented its use here in the United States. And we went further than that. We actually went to our allies and partners and said that we would not cooperate with them and offer them security assistance. We are talking about other countries right now. We would not cooperate with them or offer security assistance unless they took Huawei out of their 5G networks.

We should do the same with TikTok. We should protect the people of this Nation. We should be honest with them about what TikTok actually does. And we should protect them from the relentless spying and surveillance by a foreign government.

I want to be clear. I don't like a lot of what American Big Tech does. I doubt you will find a harsher critic of Big Tech than I am in this Chamber. But there is a big difference between an American company looking at Americans' data--accessing Americans' data--and a foreign government tracking Americans, building dossiers on Americans, and using it as a back door into the life of every American citizen who has that app on his or her phone.

It is time to put an end to this. We have already voted to do it. We voted to strip TikTok off of every government device just 10 months ago. States are doing it all across the country. It is time we took the step to protect the American people, to protect the integrity of Americans' personal information and their personal privacy.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of

S. 85 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask 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.

Madam President, let's just be clear about one thing. The Chinese Communist Government is not covered by the U.S. Bill of Rights.

The Chinese Communist Government does not have free speech rights, and we are not talking about free speech. We are not talking about speech at all. The sanctions that I am proposing have nothing to do with speech; they have everything to do with spying, for the same reasons that we have banned Huawei in this country.

If the Senator would like to have a debate about whether or not Huawei and its affiliates ought to be banned, whether it ought to be a sanctions regime for those that engage in espionage, I welcome it. That is the same debate we are having here.

I just say this. If all of those teenagers and other creators from around the world who are putting all of the pro-genocidal Hamas content onto TikTok want to go do it on other platforms, be my guest. I will be right here to criticize them and call them out for their moral atrocities wherever they do it.

But the reason to ban TikTok in this country is that it is a spying apparatus of the Chinese Communist Party. The facts simply cannot be disputed. ByteDance is subject to the laws of China, which make American data available to, accessible to, upon request for Chinese corporations and the Chinese Government.

I just lament that we cannot seem to move forward with a step that we have already taken with regard to Huawei, with sensible protection of Americans' privacy and their personal data.

But let me just close with this. With regard to the speech itself, while the content of the speech on TikTok is no reason to ban them, I just want to say, since we are here in this moment of great dispute, apparently, in some quarters of this country over whether it is right or wrong to call for the genocide of Jewish people, I want to say, clearly, it is wrong. And I want to say to those creators who are pumping out this content on TikTok: You may have a First Amendment right to do so, but you don't really have moral standing.

We need to be clear. There is a right. There is a wrong. There is good. There is evil. And calling for the genocide of Jewish people, whether it is in the Middle East, the State of Israel, or in this country is wrong. Whether you do it on TikTok or Meta or YouTube or just on the streets and plazas of your college campus, it is wrong.

And at this time, above all times, I think, we need to stand and make that clear.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 1200, and I ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, the appropriations bills that we are now considering appropriate a total of $280 billion--$280 billion--in taxpayer money--money that will be used by Agencies ranging from the Department of Veterans Affairs to Transportation and Agriculture.

This amendment does something very simple. Whatever other disagreements we may have about the spending in these bills, surely we can agree that this money ought to go to Americans and American companies and our allies. So all this amendment does is it

says that none of the money we are appropriating can go to China. It can't go to Chinese companies or companies that are owned and controlled by China. That is it. It is simple: no American taxpayer dollars to the People's Republic of China.

This should be an easy vote. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. President, how much time is remaining?

I would just say, Mr. President, do we want to be buying school lunches from China? Do we want to be buying pharmaceuticals from China and be dependent on them? I think not. Let's bring these resources to the United States of America. Let's fund Americans and American companies.

Vote on Amendment No. 1200

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 418.

I know of no further debate on the measure.

I ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, 1 week ago, I came to this floor to try and pass this very resolution that condemns the violent, genocidal, anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions on our college campuses all across this country. Sadly, I was blocked by one of my Democratic colleagues. And since then, the situation at our universities has only worsened.

I offer you just two examples. I could multiply these examples, sadly, but let's just take two.

On Tuesday of this week, just 2 or 3 miles from where we stand now on the floor of the U.S. Senate, at the George Washington University, pro- Hamas students projected onto the side of the university library various anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, pro-genocide slogans, including ``Glory to Our Martyrs,'' in reference to the terrorists who attacked the State of Israel, and not just the State of Israel, but who committed cold-blooded murder of babies, cutting off their heads, shooting women and children in their homes, executing soldiers as they lay sleeping in their barracks.

These same students projected other slogans onto the library wall: ``Free Palestine From the River to the Sea''.

What does that mean? Well, it is a reference to Hamas's longstanding call for the extermination of the State of Israel.

Let's just be clear. This is a reference to their call for genocide of Jews in the Middle East and everywhere they can get their hands on them. This is what is going on, on our college campuses.

If you talk to the students who were there at George Washington University

that night, what they will tell you is, they feared for their safety; they feared for their lives; they don't know if they are any longer welcome on campus or physically safe on campus.

What did the university do in the wake of this attack? Well, the answer has become all too familiar. Virtually nothing. They issued a statement saying that the students weren't authorized to project these genocidal slogans onto the library wall, and that is about it.

We have to do a heck of a lot better than that.

Last night, at Cooper Union, an institution of higher education in the State of New York, Jewish students were barricaded inside their own library as a pro-Hamas group rampaged through the building shouting violent slurs at these students and then pounded on the library doors seeking to gain entrance.

This morning's New York Post reads: ``Cooper Union barricades Jewish students inside library as pro-Palestinian protesters bang on [the] doors.''

The students who were there last night spoke of being herded into the library, of campus security saying they didn't think they could protect them; campus security then locking the doors to the library to try and keep the Jewish students inside and an angry mob assembling.

There are photos of this. Don't take my word for it. The video is available everywhere. Go look for yourself.

An angry mob of pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas students were banging on the windows--the glass windows--of the library at the Jewish students who were literally barricaded inside.

These students were calling 9-1-1, calling their relatives, asking for help. Eventually, an hour or more later, campus security reportedly took them out through the back door. They couldn't walk out the front door of a library in their own school. They had to be taken out the back for fear, I guess, of their safety, perhaps also for appearances.

I can't help but think, 50 years ago, 60 years ago, the President of the United States had to activate the 101st Airborne Division to make sure African-American students could go to class in this country without being physically assaulted. Is that what it has come to now on America's college campuses?

Are we going to have to activate the National Guard to see that Jewish students can go to class in safety without being in fear of their lives?

I would just say this: As a nation, we must speak with one voice and say that there is a right, and there is a wrong; there is good, and there is evil; and threatening to kill an entire class of people is wrong and it is evil.

Speaking up, shouting in support of genocide is wrong, and it is evil. Threatening the lives of your fellow students because they are Jewish is wrong, and it is evil.

Plainly, these institutions of so-called higher learning have failed these students. These students have clearly no idea what right and wrong means. You project stuff like this on a library wall while your Jewish classmates stand in fear for their lives, you don't have any idea about what right and wrong is.

Clearly, these institutions have failed these students, which is why we need to speak with moral clarity now. This is a teachable moment. This is a moment for us to say that genocide is wrong, that terrorist attacks against Jews are wrong, that threats on the lives of Jewish people anywhere--the Middle East, in this country, Europe, anywhere--is wrong.

This shouldn't be hard. But we have to do it so that these students and everywhere within the sound of our voice can understand what right and wrong means--can understand the moral gravity of the situation we are now confronting.

That is why what we are doing today matters, and that is why I am pleased today that we are able now, finally, to pass this resolution that explicitly names the rhetoric, explicitly calls out the language of pro-violence, pro-genocide, and says that is wrong.

Now, I want to be clear. Our First Amendment--of which I am a great defender--our First Amendment allows people to say the most terrible things--vile, horrible, reprehensible things. The First Amendment, as I have often said, is the right to be wrong. And these students are absolutely wrong.

So they may have the right to say these things--although I must add, nobody has the right to threaten violence against other Americans or anybody within their ambit. They may have the right to say terrible things, to say that they are in favor of genocide, to say that they want to see Jewish people killed. They may have the right to say those things, but that doesn't mean that we have to agree with it. That doesn't mean that we have to say: Oh, that is morally neutral. Sure, you can say it, fine. We have no opinion.

No, no, no. The answer to that kind of hateful, virulent, dangerous speech is speech with moral purpose. It is language with moral clarity. It is a moral stand that says: No, that is wrong. That is not us. That is not the United States of America. That is what we are doing right here, right now, on this floor today.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, on October 7, 2023, the terrorist organization Hamas invaded the State of Israel. Terrorists killed 1,400 Israeli civilians, including women and children, people asleep in their beds. They went door to door. They shot Israelis in their homes. They shot soldiers as they were asleep, unawares in their barracks. They wounded more than 3,700 civilians. That includes 31 Americans at least. Over a dozen Americans have been taken hostage and many, many more Israelis.

It is the worst attack on the Jewish people and the State of Israel in 50 years. It is truly an existential threat to the State of Israel and, really, to the safety of Jewish Americans and Jewish people all across the world.

Perhaps incredibly disturbing--maybe almost as disturbing as the facts of these terrible attacks themselves--is the response of some people in this country, on our college campuses in this country, who promptly took to the streets, to the courtyards of these campuses, to the airwaves to broadcast their support for this genocide against the people of Israel. That is right. I said their support for the genocide against the people of Israel. Listen to what these students said.

At Harvard University, students wrote that they ``hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible''--``entirely responsible''--``for all unfolding violence.''

Think about that. They hold the Israelis, the Jewish people, responsible for their own deaths and massacres. They hold the Jewish people responsible for their babies' heads being chopped off. They hold the Jewish people responsible for the homicidal maniacs who came to their doors and gunned them down in cold blood. They hold them responsible.

Students at New York University's School of Law wrote that they believe ``Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life''--``full responsibility.''

Students at Ohio State praised the ``heroic resistance in Gaza.'' ``Heroic''? It is now ``heroic'' to massacre Jews in cold blood. It is now ``heroic'' to try and carry out a genocide against Jewish people.

Students at the University of North Carolina said:

It is our moral obligation to be in solidarity no matter

the pathway to liberation--

their word--

they choose to take. This includes violence.

``This includes violence.'' This is an out-and-out endorsement by American students for violence against Jewish people and the State of Israel.

You know, it is not just Jews in Israel who are threatened by these outrageous remarks. Jewish Americans on our campuses have been threatened. Columbia University had to close their campus temporarily when an Israeli student was physically assaulted and Jewish American students threatened. Jewish American students have been threatened across the country in all sorts of settings, not the least on our college campuses. And, in the wake of this, campus leaders have been silent. They have refused to condemn this violent, virulent, genocidal, anti-Semitic rhetoric for what it is.

Now, I want to be clear. I believe in our Constitution. The Constitution has the First Amendment. The First Amendment protects the right to free speech. As I have said on this floor before, the First Amendment is the right to be wrong. So these students can say this kind of virulent, moral idiocy if they want so long as they don't themselves encourage violence. Although, I would just say, when you say that this includes violence, that there ought to be violence, they are coming pretty darned close--pretty darned close.

But let's just assume that their remarks are protected speech. That doesn't mean we have to endorse them. That doesn't mean we have to say: Oh, yes, that is fine. It is just another opinion.

No, it is not just another opinion. Calling for the death of Jewish people is not just another opinion. Calling for the genocide and celebrating the genocide of Jewish babies is not just another opinion. Celebrating the assaults on Jewish people in this country is not just another opinion.

The Senate should be clear and stand with moral clarity and say: This is wrong.

Can you say it in this country? I guess you can, but it is wrong, and, frankly, it shouldn't be hard. It shouldn't be hard to say: ``We condemn this rhetoric. We recognize the right of Israel to exist''-- talk about basic, basic principles here--``and we recognize the right of Israel to defend itself''--things, by the way, that the President has said.

It shouldn't be hard for this body to say it, but it is vital-- morally necessary--in this moment of attack, in this moment, frankly, of danger for Jewish people in Israel, around the world, and, sadly, on our college campuses.

That is why I have offered this resolution, along with my cosponsors, that condemns the terrorist attacks by Hamas; that denounces this violent rhetoric here in the United States against Jewish people, Jewish Americans, and, of course, the State of Israel; and recognizes the right of Israel to defend itself. It is a pretty simple amendment, and I can't imagine what the objection to it would be.

So I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 418, which is at the desk. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Would the Senator yield for a question?

What of the rhetoric that is cited specifically in the resolution--you talked about legitimate concerns. What, specifically, do you think is legitimate?

Senator, what is the smear? What is the smear?

What is the smear? Point me to the language.

They are not condemned by this resolution.

Senator, we are condemning----

Mr. President.

Mr. President, it is hard to believe what we have just heard on this floor. Defense of the most vile, anti-Semitic rhetoric under the excuse that to call out specifically the specific statements, and denounce them one at a time and say this is wrong, that that is somehow a smear, what that is, is a failure of moral nerve. What it is, is a failure of moral clarity. What it is, is, frankly, sympathizing with this rhetoric.

I don't know why it is so hard, but I guess we have now found out why college presidents won't come out and say this is wrong.

We cite the specific words. Why is it wrong to say ``It includes violence''? Why is it wrong to condemn this?

When students say the heroic resistance in Gaza should be praised, they are not referring to something in general. They are talking about the attack on Israel, the slaughter of innocent Israelis, and that is perfectly fine? Those are legitimate concerns?

I mean, this is--the moral equivalency that has seeped into our college campuses and, I guess, to the floor of the U.S. Senate is unbelievable.

Let there be no mistake. What has happened today is one Senator has blocked this body from condemning the attacks against Jewish people in Israel, Jewish Americans in this Nation, and pretended that there is some moral equivalency here between this and what?

The State of Israel is under existential threat. We have students in this country who are specifically calling for and celebrating the killing of Jews, and we can't condemn that on the floor of the Senate? To say I am disappointed is an understatement. But I will say this: It is a revealing moment.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, had I been present, I would have voted no on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 176, Brendan Abell Hurson, of Maryland, to be United States District Judge for the District of Maryland.

Mr. President, had there been a recorded vote, I would have voted ``no'' on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 324, Thomas G. Day, of Virginia, to be a Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission for a term expiring October 14, 2028.

Mr. President, I would like to call up my amendment No. 1058 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, I ask for 6 minutes of debate prior to the rollcall vote.

Mr. President, for 50 years--50 years--the Federal Government has put into the water, into the soil, into the air of St. Louis and surrounding regions radioactive nuclear material.

They have not told the people of St. Louis. They have not compensated the people of St. Louis. They have not helped the people of St. Louis-- in fact, just the opposite. For decades--decades--they told the people of St. Louis: No problem. There is no problem here.

Meanwhile, children were dying of cancer, and people all over the region were contracting autoimmune diseases. Why? Because the groundwater had been poisoned, because the creeks where they played in had been poisoned. And now we know for a fact that the government has covered it up for decades.

Mr. President, it is time to make this right. The amendment we are about to vote on is a very simple amendment. It is about basic justice: compensating the victims of the Federal Government's negligence for what the government itself has done.

And it hasn't only happened in Missouri. It has happened around the country, which is why this amendment would reauthorize a victims fund for those who have suffered because of the government's negligence. And by ``suffered'' I mean gotten sick and had family members die--in Missouri, in States across the country. It reauthorizes it, and it makes it available to those who have been the victims of what the government has done.

This is a bipartisan bill. I am proud to have worked with Senator Lujan, Senator Crapo, Senator Schmitt, and others.

Now I would like to recognize the Senator from New Mexico, Senator Lujan.

Mr. President, had I been there for the recorded vote, I would have voted no on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 114, Kalpana Kotagal, of Ohio, to be a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a term expiring July 1, 2027; the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 141, David M. Uhlmann, of Michigan, to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 21, Rachel Bloomekatz, of Ohio, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit.

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

Madam President, today, there are new revelations, new evidence about the extent of the radioactive contamination that has plagued the St. Louis area since the forties.

Where did this radioactive contamination come from? Simple, it came from the Federal Government. Beginning in the forties in the Manhattan Project, St. Louis was a center of development for uranium. But what did the Federal Government do when the Manhattan Project concluded? Well, we know more today after 15,000 pages of documents that had previously not been released were obtained by a parents' rights group in St. Louis and shared with news organizations.

Here is what we learned. The Federal Government gave this radioactive waste, fobbed it off, onto companies in the region--who did what?--who poisoned the water, who poisoned the soil, who poisoned the air, and the government knew about it. Oh, yes, they knew about it. They knew about it for decades, and for year upon year upon year, they played down the threats. They tried to hide the evidence. They told the people of St. Louis: Oh, everything is fine. Don't be worried. Don't worry at all. It is all fine.

Meanwhile, kids were playing along a creek filled with radioactive waste. Kids were going to school in buildings contaminated by the waste. Residents were coming out to houses, building homes in areas contaminated.

And then the government wonders why the levels of cancer and autoimmune diseases and rare genetic disorders have spiked in the St. Louis region. Oh, we know. We know. It is because of the radioactive material from the Federal Government dumped into the St. Louis water and air and soil.

Let's just review what we have learned. We now know that as early as 1949--that is right, 1949--the Federal Government paid a contractor--a private contractor--to dispose of waste. But instead, that contractor left the radioactive waste in steel drums sitting out in the open in the elements, right next to a creek called Coldwater Creek, familiar to just about everybody who lives in the St. Louis region.

It is familiar because whole housing developments and neighborhoods and--oh, yeah--schools have been built along Coldwater Creek. As early as the forties, that radioactive waste begins to leech out of those steel drums into the water.

And it gets worse. The same Federal Government paid another contractor to dispose of other waste. And what did they do? Rather than dispose of it, they drove it to a public landfill. And in the early seventies, they just dumped the waste right into the landfill. They dumped it right into the landfill.

``How did this happen?'' you might ask. Well, as it turns out, that is a violation of Federal law.

You think?

But what did the Federal Government do about it in the seventies, when they learned that this government-paid contractor had carried out this illegal act? Did they prosecute him? Did they fine him? Did they at least have a hearing and ask some questions? No, no, and no. They did nothing. So the waste seeped into the soil, spread into the soil, and all the time the people of St. Louis were told: Don't worry. Don't worry. It is all going to be fine.

In 1976, government tests--government tests--revealed that the levels of radiation in the creek water were at extremely dangerous levels-- 1976. Here we sit in 2023, and we are told by the same Federal Government--the EPA, Department of Energy, Army Corps--that the cleanup of Coldwater Creek won't be done until at least 2038.

Earlier this year, the school alongside Coldwater Creek, an elementary school, had to close, apparently permanently, because of radioactive contamination found inside the school. In response to that, this body took action and passed my bill to mandate Federal cleanup of the school and, if it can't be cleaned up, a new school to be built.

I thank my colleagues for their unanimous support for that activity, but that is not going to be enough. No, it is clear today that further action is needed because the Federal Government has caused this harm. I want to be crystal clear about this. This is not the people of St. Louis saying that we had a weather incident, which would be bad enough. It is not a natural disaster, which would be terrible. No, no, no, this is their government using them, essentially, as human guinea pigs. This is their government dumping radioactive material into their water, into their soil, and then lying to them about it, not even for a year or 2 years but for three-quarters of a century.

And it still continues today. As I stand here, the Army Corps of Engineers insists there needs to be no further testing either around the elementary school, which is now closed, or anywhere else in the St. Louis region. And, at the same time, the EPA is admitting that the radioactive contamination of the soil has spread further than they previously admitted.

I mean, what is it going to take to get some basic justice for the people of St. Louis? We are talking about working people. These are people who moved to these regions of the city in search of a quiet neighborhood, a good school for their kids, an opportunity for a better future. These are parents who allowed their kids to play in the creek because wasn't it awesome to have a creek right by their neighborhood. These are parents who sent their kids to the school trusting they would get a great education. And what did they get instead? Exposure to radioactive contamination.

This shouldn't happen in this country. When it does happen, the Federal Government should make it right. That is what needs to happen now. I am sick to death of hearing the excuses from this government for decades on end. I am sick of the lies that they have told to the people of St. Louis, to working people from neighborhoods all across the city, that everything is just going to be fine: Just trust us; it is all going to work out.

I am tired of this administration, which has still refused to answer my repeated pleas--repeated--to mount a cleanup effort at Jana Elementary

School, to clean up Coldwater Creek. All we get is finger-pointing and blame-shifting. The Department of Energy says it is the Army Corps' fault. The Army Corps says it is the Department of Energy's fault. Heck, for the recent news reports, the Department of Energy wouldn't even comment. They referred the reporter to the Department of Justice. I mean, what is next?

Here is what needs to happen next. It is time for this body to act. In the past, when we have asked citizens--members of this Nation--when we asked them to bear unique burdens, when we have put them in harm's way, we have said: If you will serve your country in this way, we will stand with you. That is essentially what the people of St. Louis have been asked to do.

The Manhattan Project was a national project for war. The people of St. Louis have borne the burden of it. It is time for the government to make it right.

What should happen is this. The Federal Government should pay medical bills for any single resident who has contracted cancer or an autoimmune virus or genetic disorder because of exposure to radioactive contamination. The Federal Government needs to act.

I will introduce legislation that will create a fund to make the people of St. Louis whole. Sadly, for some, it is too late. This has been going on for decades and too many members of our community have already been lost to cancer, to disease, to the hazards that were imposed on them by their government without their knowledge and without their consent. But that is no reason not to act now. We should act and act swiftly to provide remediation, to provide support for every member of this community who has suffered because of the actions of the Federal Government. We have done it in the past. We have done it for our veterans. We have done it for other folks who have been negatively impacted by the nuclear program dating back to the forties. We should do it now in the city and region of St. Louis. I will introduce legislation that will provide this support, that will provide this justice to the people of St. Louis.

I will close by saying this. It is justice that we are talking about. This is not a handout to the people of St. Louis. They are not asking for a giveaway. They are asking for some basic fairness. When their government imposes on them disease and disaster because of nuclear contamination, the least their government can do is to make it right. And I will come to this floor as long as it takes until we make it right for the men and women and children of St. Louis.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, it is my great privilege to say a very few words in introduction of my friend and fellow Senator, Eric Schmitt, as he prepares to give his maiden speech on this floor.

We haven't worked together very long in the Senate, but we have known each other for some time, and I just want to say that if you look at Senator Schmitt's record, the people of Missouri are tremendously fortunate to have him, and he is already doing tremendous work for them.

As attorney general, Eric led the way in taking on the Biden administration and holding them accountable for their abuses of power. He led the way in taking on Big Tech and holding them accountable for what they tried to do to our children, what they tried to do to our elections, and what they tried to do to our speech. And already now in the U.S. Senate, he is holding the deep state--the administrative state--accountable, standing up for ordinary, normal, everyday working Missourians who deserve to have a voice in this Chamber, who deserve to have a voice in their government. And he has been standing here fighting for them. I can't wait to continue to have the privilege to serve with him, and I can't wait to hear his remarks today.

So with that, Mr. President, I yield the floor to the Senator from Missouri, Eric Schmitt.

Madam President, I call up my amendment No. 93, and I ask that it be reported by number.

Madam President, in the last 20 years in the State of Missouri, we have lost 60,000 jobs to the People's Republic of China. That number nationwide is almost 4 million. Our trade deficit with China, as we stand here tonight, is at near-record levels, and every dollar of that deficit represents blue-collar jobs destroyed, industry shuttered, manufacturing capacity withering away.

I would submit to you that it is the most important deficit that we face. We can talk about budget reforms, and we can talk about savings here and there, but until we do the work of bringing back productive capacity to this Nation and good-paying blue-collar jobs you can raise a family on, we will not put our economy on the basis that we need to address the economic challenges that we face.

So my amendment does something very simple. It imposes across-the- board tariffs on China for every year in which we have a trade deficit until that deficit is zero. Bring back jobs to this country.

I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, in October of this past year, the parents and students of Jana Elementary School in Florissant, MO--that is in the greater St. Louis area--woke to find news of an independent study that had found nuclear radioactive contamination inside the school building at Jana Elementary. Now, sadly, this probably didn't come as a total shock to those residents who have lived in Florissant and in the surrounding area because for

years now--for years--this community has had to deal with the fallout of the Federal Government's own nuclear program and the waste left over from it dating back to the 1940s, which was then effectively dumped in St. Louis, made its way into the water, into the soil, and now into a stream that runs right by this elementary school.

So the school board wisely said: We should do a study. Let's find out if it is in the school.

Independent results came back and said it was in the dust, on the windowsills of the school--radioactive material. The school board met. They shut down the school. Parents had kids at home for months.

Then comes the first of this year. The school board said: We can't in good conscience reopen it.

Now what is happening? The school is closed. The kids are having to be bused to other locations, driven to schools outside of their neighborhood.

This a working-class community. These are hard-working folks. They don't have the resources lying around to send their kids to other schools or to pay to move. If they did, they would. They don't. They are just trying to live their lives, work a job, get their kids a decent education. And, instead, they have had to deal with this.

The worst part about it is the Federal Government refused to clean it up. When this news broke, the Army Corps of Engineers said: Oh, there is nothing wrong with the school. We have tested it a million times. It is fine.

In fact, they held a press conference today in which they said the same thing: Trust us. It is fine. It is fine.

I don't think any of them are sending their kids there. But trust us, they say; it is fine.

When I and the school board and the parents said to the Army Corps of Engineers: You need to retest; you need to test the entire school district--then they pointed fingers and said: Oh, no, it is the Department of Energy; it is their problem.

So then, when we went to the Department of Energy, they said: Oh, no, we can't do anything. It is the Army Corps' problem.

The Biden administration has spent the last 8 months now pointing fingers at each other, saying why they can't do this; they can't do that. The kids are just out of luck.

I just notice this. When that bank in California full of billionaires--who are also, not incidentally, major political contributors--had a problem, boy, this government moved lickety-split to bail them out. How many billions did this government spend to bail out the SVB shareholders and stakeholders and depositors? They got their bailout in no time flat.

These kids? Nothing. Can't even get a response. Do you know the Biden administration won't even respond to me? So fine. We will do it ourselves.

I have introduced legislation that will order testing in the entire school district, that will mandate a cleanup of the school, and, if necessary, build these kids a new school.

The Federal Government caused this problem. The Federal Government should fix this problem. And just because these kids aren't billionaires or big-time political contributors or connected politically doesn't mean that they can be ignored. It doesn't mean that their lives don't matter.

I would just note this. Last week, the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, when I talked to her about this bill in a public forum--I asked her in the hearing--she said that she would support the legislation.

And who couldn't, Mr. President? Who couldn't support having the Federal Government clean up its own mess and getting some justice for these kids at Jana Elementary?

And I will just say this. This community in St. Louis has been asked to live with the fallout of the Federal Government's actions for decades--this is just the latest instance--for decades. The cancer rates, the rates of disease, autoimmune disorders, they are off the charts in this community, and for years these folks have been told: Just shut up, and it will be fine.

Well, it is not fine, and today we are going to get some justice for these kids. Today we are going to start the cleanup process that should have happened decades ago.

So I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 418 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, 4 months ago, the U.S. Senate, and then the U.S. House, came together to ban the app TikTok on all Federal Government devices--on tablets, on phones, on computers--on Federal contractors and their devices as well.

We acted, just a few months ago, with a sense of urgency because we decided that TikTok was a national security threat. A privacy threat? Yes. A data threat? Yes. But above all, a national security threat. And we were right to act just those few months ago.

And now we must take the next step: to ban TikTok nationwide, to protect the security of every single American whose personal lives, whose personal data, whose personal security is in danger from the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. And it is time to act now because we have seen, just in the last week, the TikTok CEO come before the U.S. Congress and confirm that the reasons we acted 4 months ago were right and valid and that the need at this hour is urgent.

In this last week, we learned--I should say we confirmed from the testimony of the TikTok CEO that TikTok has the ability to track Americans' data, to track Americans' location, to track Americans' personal lives--whether they want it to or not.

What am I talking about? Well, TikTok tracks your keystrokes. Now, think about this for a second. It is not just the videos you may upload if you have the app on your phone. It is not just the videos that you watch. It is the keystrokes that you enter--and not just while you are on the app. Oh, no. It tracks your keystrokes all the time--while you are texting, what you are emailing. It tracks your contact list. It reads your phone list.

We believe, based on independent third-party analysis, that it can get into email. And it does this whether or not the user consents. In fact, there is no way to turn it off. Americans are subject to this ongoing data collection--at all hours of the day and night--even if they have got TikTok turned off on their phone.

What else have we learned? Well, that TikTok is monitoring the location of Americans. It is not just your keystrokes. It is your location data. Where are you right now? What is it that you are doing? Where are you moving to? Are you in a car? Are you in a building? On what floor are you on? TikTok can use the settings of your phone to track exactly where Americans are.

And we know that they have been doing this--TikTok has been gathering this data--not just on American citizens but also on American journalists. We know that they are able to see what journalists are saying, to see where journalists are going.

New whistleblower revelations have shown that TikTok has spied on particular American journalists and tried to track them, tried to learn what they are writing, tried to control, in essence, or at least get an understanding of what their message might be.

Think about this. An app on your phone that tracks your keystrokes, that reads your personal information, that tracks journalists around, that tracks your location--you can't do anything about it. And we haven't even gotten to the worst part.

The worst part is all of this information is accessible to engineers based in China, accessible to the Chinese Communist Party.

When he was asked about this last week, the CEO of TikTok didn't deny this espionage. No, what he said instead is, well, ``I don't think spying is the right way to describe it.''

Maybe he preferred the word ``surveillance.'' Maybe he preferred the word ``monitoring.'' Maybe he preferred the word ``tracking.'' But I actually think ``spying'' just about captures it.

The problem with TikTok is not the videos on the app. The problem with TikTok is, it is a backdoor for the Chinese Communist Party into the personal lives and information into the most intimate details of every American's life.

And we know the link between TikTok and the Chinese Communist Party is real, and we know that it is strong. TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese parent company ByteDance. We know that ByteDance has Chinese Communist Party members in its senior leadership. In fact, ByteDance's editor in chief is a Communist Party secretary. We know the Communist Party has done trainings for TikTok and ByteDance personnel. We have video of it being done in Beijing, in China.

Whistleblowers have come forward to my office, and to others, and given us evidence that China-based engineers are able to access Americans' personal data at any time that they want. Again, the CEO did not deny that last week. No.

The links to the Chinese Communist Party are real, and they are inscribed in Chinese law. This isn't just a matter of what TikTok may want to do. No. TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese parent company and is subject to Chinese law, which both the 2014 espionage law in that country and their 2017 national security law, which required--required--the company to turn over data that the Chinese Communist Party, that Beijing, may request. Under those laws, they must make Americans' data available--must make it available--to Chinese communist officials.

This is in addition to the CCP members who are actually senior officials in these companies, who work in these companies, who have access to Americans' data as I stand here and speak to you today.

The intent of China in all of this is quite clear. They want to build a profile on every single American. We know that many of the recent data hacks of credit agencies, of other digital repositories of Americans' personal information have been carried out by communist China. They are hungry for information about the American people. They are gathering it on everybody that they can, as much as they can--just like they do to their own citizens. And they are using the app TikTok to do it.

Of course, that is not the only way that the Chinese Communist Party has tried to gather information on Americans. This is certainly not the only time that they have done it. Think about the Confucius Institutes all across the country that the CCP funded on America's college campuses. Think about the researchers they funded and tried to place into key programs, key institutes and universities all across the country. Heaven's sake, think about the Chinese spy balloon that just went over this country, right over my home State of Missouri, just a few weeks ago, photographing everything that they could.

Now, this is a pattern. The difference is, in those cases, we addressed it. We shut down the Confucius Institutes. Those who have lied about their money that they have gotten from China, the funding that they have gotten, have in some cases been prosecuted for attempted espionage on America's college campuses, and the spy balloon was belatedly shot down--but shot down, at least.

Now, we have taken action in these other instances to protect Americans to stop the efforts of the CCP to spy on America, to collect Americans' data, to put Americans at risk. And now we must do the same thing with TikTok.

This is why President Trump and the previous administration tried to ban it. Let's not forget this isn't the beginning of this debate. This is the end of it. We have been at this for years now.

Years ago, the last administration tried to ban TikTok for all of these same national security reasons that led us as a Congress to ban it on Federal devices.

This has been a long time coming. There is no rush to judgment here. This is what administration after administration has concluded; that it is time to take action.

Here is the real truth that if it were the Confucius Institutes, the Chinese spy balloon, if it were some American company that was coordinating with a foreign ally, we would shut it down immediately. And we have done it in these other cases. But with TikTok, now TikTok says: Oh, no, no, no, no. You can't do that to us. You can't hold us accountable. We have a special carve-out. No, we have the First Amendment. The First Amendment protects us.

Well, I must have missed the class in law school where we covered the First Amendment right to spy. The last time I checked my Constitution, there was no such protection. And I can be darn sure that there is no special First Amendment carve-out for communists.

Now, the First Amendment may protect dance videos, sure; upload those all you want. But the First Amendment does not protect the right to spy on American citizens. It does not protect espionage. It does not protect what the Chinese Communist Party is trying to do in harvesting the data of millions of Americans.

Now, TikTok has no special First Amendment carve-out. They don't get special privileges that no other entity or an American company would get. They are subject to the same rules. And when you try to spy on American citizens, when you try to use Americans' own phones as portals for collection, that ought to be stopped. You ought to be banned.

And the fact that they are a China-based company shouldn't help them or hurt them. The fact is, their ties to Beijing, their ties to the CCP, their ongoing efforts at espionage, and their ongoing lies, by the way, to this body--this is a company that has come before this body and lied time and time again. They said that they weren't controlled by ByteDance. Now we know they are. They said that China's China-based engineers couldn't access American user data. Now we know they can.

They said that the CCP had no influence. And yet last week, the CEO of TikTok couldn't even confirm that the CCP hadn't helped write his talking points. Now, this is an entity--this is a corporate interest-- that is influenced, if not, controlled, by the Chinese Communist Party.

The national security risks are severe and growing worse. And I haven't even talked about--I haven't even talked about--the materials on suicide promotion that you will find on TikTok. I haven't talked about the risks to mental health that it may pose.

And there is a reason that TikTok isn't even available in China. Did you know that? In China, TikTok isn't available. Why is that? Well, it is because Beijing isn't stupid. They know it is ``digital'' fentanyl.

TikTok wasn't designed to make our lives better. TikTok is designed to addict and then to be used as a gateway into our personal lives. It is designed to addict and then to be used as a portal to spy on American citizens.

Now, I tell you what, here is one thing that has changed since just December, a few months ago, when we banned TikTok on Federal Government devices. TikTok has gone into full damage control mode. And as Big Tech companies do all the time, they hired a fleet of lobbyists and have spent untold amounts of cash. I am told that even today TikTok lobbyists have been seen here in the building. I have no doubt that they are scurrying around right now. Maybe they are in the Gallery.

I just say this: We have the opportunity today to send a message to this corporate interest that the U.S. Senate is not for sale; that we cannot be bought; that we cannot be purchased; that we cannot be influenced by their lobbying campaign, by their corporate money; that we will instead side with the American people. We will tell the truth about what this app is. We will do our jobs and protect Americans.

Now, some say that we ought to have a broader bill that would not actually ban TikTok but would give new authority to the executive branch and leave it open. I don't agree with that. My view is, we should act decisively to ban TikTok directly. We shouldn't give new, open-ended authority to Federal bureaucrats; we should target this threat specifically. That is what this bill does that we have before us today. It goes right at the problem. It bans TikTok in this country. It protects the American people, and it sends the message to communist China that you cannot buy us.

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 85 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask 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.

Would the Senator from Kentucky entertain a question?

Madam President, I have never before heard on this floor a defense of the right to spy. I didn't realize that the First Amendment contained a right to espionage.

The Senator from Kentucky mentions the Bill of Rights. I must have missed the right of the Chinese Government to spy on Americans in our Bill of Rights, because that is what we are talking about here.

The Senator from Kentucky can watch as many dance videos as he wants. I have no objection to that. He can watch them on this floor for all I care. Fine. What I object to is the Communist Chinese Party using this app on Americans' phones to spy on Americans without their consent.

The Senator says that Americans can simply not use this app, just turn it off. That is not the case. If you turn it off, it continues to collect information. You don't need to consent. TikTok doesn't ask you do you want to share your information; it takes it. It doesn't ask you for permission to track your location; it takes it. It doesn't ask you for permission to share it with the Chinese Communist Party; it just does it. That is the problem.

Scour the Constitution. Scour the First Amendment. I promise you, you won't find any right to espionage. You won't find any right to spy. And this novel right that the Senator thinks he has discovered for Americans to be spied upon--I never heard of such a thing in the history of this country. I am astounded to learn that Americans have the right to be spied upon.

So not only does China apparently get the right to spy in the First Amendment, Americans have the inalienable right to be spied upon and have all of their data taken from them. That, apparently, is democracy.

That is not democracy. That is the abuse of our laws, the abuse of our economy, the abuse of our people by a foreign government for its purposes.

So I say again, watch dance videos to your heart's content; but spy on Americans, that is where we have to draw the line.

As to money, the Senator said--and I think he is exactly right--that TikTok wants to make money. No doubt about it. And, my, the money they are making; and, my, the money that they are showering on this building. And it is having an effect.

But in the end, the American people don't want to be treated as commodities to be bought and sold, because--make no mistake--it is the American people who are being bought and sold here by TikTok.

They are being sold to the Chinese Communist Party for influence and money. They are being sold for the wishes and the whims of Beijing, and they are being lied to every step of the way.

I will yield to the Senator from Florida.

Madam President, let me just finish with this, that the Senator from Kentucky decried the collection of personal data by American social media companies--and he is right to do that, by the way. I am concerned about that, too, no doubt. But he pointed out that many American social media companies collect all of this information, that they do it without users' consent, sometimes they sell it to third parties for profit, and you can't necessarily opt out of it. All fair enough, but he is protecting exactly what he decries.

The difference is with TikTok, that information is going to a hostile foreign government. It is not a market. It is total control.

So I would just say this to Americans out there who are using TikTok: Just know this--we need to tell you the truth about this app. Just know this: If you have it on your phone, it is tracking your key strokes; it is tracking your movements; it is tracking your location; and it is sending that information--whether you want it sent or not--to Beijing, to the Communist Chinese Party, where it can be accessed by anybody there who wants it, under China's national security laws.

That is a threat to your personal security, and that is why we should act to ban it.

Let me just finally ask the Senator from Kentucky--he and I talked about this before--would the Senator consider allowing us to set a rollcall vote, an up-or-down rollcall vote? Not unanimous consent passed but, as I said, a rollcall vote at a time certain. Would the Senator consent to that?

Madam President, I would just say in conclusion that the security risk from TikTok led us to ban it 4 months ago for the Federal Government. The facts cannot be denied, which is why the TikTok CEO had nothing to say a week ago. He could not deny any of these facts. The truth will carry the day, and we will continue to fight.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, yesterday the Nation witnessed a murderous rampage at an elementary school, a small Christian school in Nashville, TN. Tragically, three small children, 9 years old, lost their lives; three employees of this school lost their lives. And even as I am on this floor now, Nashville police are releasing the body cam footage of the officers who responded with heroic speed and heroic courage to the deranged individual who made her way into that school and was executing students and teachers one by one.

Those officers deserve to be praised; they deserve to be thanked; they deserve to be honored for what they did and for the lives that they saved.

We must also tell the truth about what happened yesterday in Nashville. This murderous rampage, this taking of innocent life was a horrific crime; but, more specifically, it was a hate crime. A crime that, according to Nashville police, specifically targeted--that is their word--targeted the members of this Christian community, the members of this religious institution, its students, its educators, its employees.

Let's be clear, Federal law prohibits the targeting of violence against any American on the basis of religious affiliation or religious practice or religious belief.

But that is, according to police, exactly what we saw happen yesterday. The members of this community were singled out because of their religious affiliation. And now, three young children are dead, and three educators are dead because of their affiliation with this religious institution, because of their beliefs, because of their work, because of their service. That is a crime under Federal law, and it must be treated as such.

Today I have called on the director of the FBI and the Secretary of Homeland Security to open a Federal investigation, a Federal hate crime investigation, into what happened in Nashville. We need the facts. We need to know about the premeditated crime. We need to know about what this shooter did and intended to do. We need to know about the influences. What kind of violent rhetoric motivated this shooter? Were there others involved?

This contagion of hateful rhetoric and violence must not be allowed to spread, and that is why we need all Federal resources, according to Federal law, devoted now on the ground in Nashville to get the facts and to stop the violence from spreading further.

And I call on this body, every Member of this body, to condemn, in the clearest of terms, this hate crime against this community in Nashville. Today, I will introduce a resolution explicitly condemning this massacre as the hate crime that it is and calling upon this body to condemn hateful rhetoric that leads to violence. Hateful rhetoric against religious believers, religious institutions, religious communities that leads to violence.

This isn't speculation; this is a tragic fact. It is happening before our eyes, and we must condemn it. And I would call on those corporate partners who

are so quick to weigh in on social issues, now, make your voice heard. Condemn this violence as the hate crime that it is. Stand with this community in Nashville. This is a time to be heard. This is a time to be clear about what has happened and is unfolding before our very eyes.

And let's just be crystal clear, rhetoric about days of vengeance and genocide, rhetoric directed against religious believers of whatever background--whether they are Presbyterians like the students and teachers and employees targeted yesterday or some other Christian affiliation or Orthodox Jews or Catholics or whatever the religious background--it is a crime under Federal law to target and commit acts of violence against Americans because of their religious beliefs, because of their religious affiliation, because of their religious practices.

This should not happen in the United States of America, and now we must act to see that it does not spread.

And so I hope the Senate will soon take up my resolution. I hope that every Member of this body will be clear about what has happened in Nashville and will be clear in standing against the violence, in standing against the hate, in standing against the rhetoric, in standing with this community that needs now our support, that needs now our encouragement and condolences, yes, but also needs our action.

I yield the floor.