Floor Statements

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I am honored to recognized Bob Murphy of Salem as January's Granite Stater of the Month for his efforts to support Parkinson's disease research.

Last June, Bob was asked to participate in a bracelet-making fundraiser to benefit the Alzheimer's Association. Bob discovered he had a hidden talent for making beading designs and enjoyed the creative outlet that the crafting provided. When he realized other residents and staff at the facility where he lived were interested in buying his bracelets, Bob started selling them in the lobby and donating the proceeds to the Parkinson's Foundation. So far, Bob has donated $1,500.

Bob picked the Parkinson's Foundation because he has lived with Parkinson's disease for 20 years. Bob likes to do activities that keep his mind active, such as doing puzzles, playing cards, reading, and now, making bracelets. Although he sometimes drops beads or moves more slowly than he would like to, the beading keeps him focused, and he will sometimes work on bracelets for the entire day--comparing his crafting operation to a factory. The hobby has also helped him make new connections with other residents who come by to watch him work and even request bracelet designs.

Bob's creative fundraising is an inspiring example of the Granite State spirit of ingenuity and persistence. His work to contribute to Parkinson's research is why I am honored to name him January's Granite Stater of the Month.

Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Arizona for his remarks just now, for his patriotism and his leadership.

Today, we mark the anniversary of the January 6 attack on our Capitol, on our law enforcement officers, and on our democracy itself.

You have heard my colleagues recount the horrors of that day. Let me be clear: I, too, was in this Chamber as the events unfolded, and what happened on January 6, 2021, was in fact horrible, brutal, frightening, violent, and in some terrible cases lethal.

To all members of law enforcement who responded that day and to their families--but especially to the Capitol Police--thank you. We are grateful to you. We cannot repay what we owe you, but you are in our hearts today.

250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

Mr. President, I come to the floor today because I find myself not only thinking about January 6 but thinking about another anniversary that we marked this week--250 years since the start of 1776, the year of American independence.

It was 250 years ago yesterday that New Hampshire adopted its State constitution after declaring its independence at a meeting in Exeter, a town where my husband and I raised our two children.

This year, there will be no shortage of celebrations of the anniversary of our independence, but it will be up to us--today's citizens of the United States--to decide as a country if these celebrations will represent an empty pageant or a renewal of principle. Because in this moment, a moment when our country is led by a government high on lawlessness and extremism, ambivalent toward freedom, inclined toward authoritarianism, the principles that our Nation was founded on in 1776 feel far more distant than even 250 years.

While the attack on the Capitol may have happened 5 years ago, President Trump's current, constant lawlessness makes every day feel like January 6. So today, it is worth asking: What does January 6 mean for the spirit of 1776? What does it mean for a nation built on self- evident truths that we have a President who continues to tell the lie-- the fantasy--that the 2020 election was stolen? What does it mean to be a country where just powers are derived from the consent of the governed when we have a President who has sought to overturn the voices and votes of the people in a bid to stay in power?

Now, our Founders maintained that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights, but we have a President who routinely attacks the right to due process and freedom of speech, who has sought to use the heavy hand of government to banish critics from the airwaves.

We declared independence, in the words of Jefferson, because we didn't wish to be ruled by a King who ``cut off our trade'' and imposed ``taxes on us without our consent.''

But today we have a President unilaterally declaring costly trade wars on our allies and imposing hefty taxes on his citizens, a President who withholds the people's tax money already appropriated by Congress based on his latest whim. The power of the purse is now the power of the President because the majority in this body refuses to stand up to him.

Our Founders didn't draft a Constitution in order to build a more perfect Union only to one day have a President who rejects his responsibility and sworn oath to uphold it, and our Founders didn't create two other branches of government--a legislature and a judiciary--merely for a wayward Executive to ignore them.

Our Founders wanted the legislative and judicial branches to be checks on the Presidency, but this President seems to think that the clear rules set out in the Constitution are merely a suggestion box.

Surely, as patriots risked their lives, treasure, and sacred honor to establish a breathtaking experiment in self-government, they didn't intend to allow a President to use the long and hallowed arm of justice to target political foes, to ignore laws passed by the people's representatives, or to pardon violent criminals who tried to overthrow our democracy in his name.

There is nothing remotely patriotic, remotely decent about pardoning violent criminals who stormed our Capitol and assaulted police officers.

Can anyone in the administration look the families of the officers in their eyes and explain why such a pardon could possibly be justified?

Of course not.

But then again, this administration doesn't think it should have to. And make no mistake: The pardons may have voided the criminal convictions, but the wounds to the officers remain, as does the attack on our democracy.

When we talk about democracy, it is easy for it to feel merely like an abstract principle. But my dad, a World War II veteran, stressed to me, even as a kid, that freedom and democracy made a real difference in people's lives. Democracy is, in short, the best way to solve problems without violence, with the votes of citizens instead of the voices of a violent mob.

Look no further back than over the course of this last year, and you will see why democracy matters. Despite promising to bring down costs, the President has instead made life less affordable. He has taken away people's healthcare, launched costly trade wars on our allies abroad while making everything more expensive at home, and has spent his days flattering himself, putting his name on buildings and constructing monuments in his own honor.

Are we really surprised that a man who tried to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election does not care about solving the problems that his constituents--the American people--face? If the President didn't think he was accountable to the people's will when he lost the election in 2020, why should we expect him to care about the priorities they want him to address after an election?

Democracy, of course, is about holding leaders accountable when they fail to make people's lives better, and this President disdains democracy because he simply can't deliver.

We are blessed to live in a great country, and we can't forget how unlikely our independence was. In 1776, we subsisted on gasps of hope, our plan little better than a prayer for recurring miracles--not just in Philadelphia but, later, on the icy currents of the Delaware, in the snows of Valley Forge, by the sea in Yorktown.

Mr. President, 1776 was a time when, in the words of Thomas Paine, ``nothing but hope and virtue could survive.''

Surely we didn't survive the hardships of our birth to, only 250 years

later, allow the way of the despot and the way of the mob to become the way of the future. Surely we did not build a new nation conceived in liberty only for its Capitol to one day be stormed by a mob at the behest of a President because he refused to acknowledge the basic right of every American to vote him out of office, to be free to disagree with him and reject him.

When the Declaration of Independence was signed, John Adams wrote in a letter that, hundreds of years from now, people will celebrate the day with what he called ``pomp and parade,'' but he also added that it will ``cost us to maintain this declaration.''

So we have a choice to make as a country. On this 250th anniversary of the year of our independence, we have to decide whether we wish to be governed by the spirit of January 6 or the spirit of 1776.

What is this spirit of 1776? It is the belief in government of, by, and for the people, not of, by, and for any one leader.

Here, no leader is above the law, nor are they above the people whom they serve. Look around this city. Our great monuments here were built by grateful citizens to honor others. They weren't built by greedy leaders to honor themselves.

The spirit of 1776 knows that lawlessness and extremism don't melt away on their own and must be rejected, even when it means standing up to a President or to one's own party. Political courage can be hard; regaining a freedom lost even harder.

And above all else, here in the United States of America, we know that we are not subjects to be ruled; we are citizens to be heard. This is America. This is where freedom rings. And perhaps these sound like lofty principles. Well, I am from the ``Live Free Or Die'' State.

In New Hampshire, we know that principles like freedom matter. We know that they matter because people gave their lives for these principles, and they died for these principles in the hope that the rest of us might live by them. So that is why on this January 6, I am choosing to embrace this spirit of 1776, and I hope that freedom-loving Americans of all political stripes do too.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am honored to recognize the students and teachers at Dublin Consolidated School as November's Granite Staters of the Month for their efforts to honor local veterans, including by inviting them to a special assembly and by raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

At the beginning of this school year, the students at Dublin Consolidated School--which serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade--invited local veterans to a special Veterans Day assembly. While the students and teachers were not sure how many veterans would participate, on Veterans Day, the students honored almost 20 veterans with songs and readings, and after the assembly, the students thanked the veterans for their service. This special assembly was the first Veterans Day event that the school has hosted, but they have resolved that it won't be the last.

The teachers at Dublin Consolidated School helped organize the event as a way for students to learn about military service and the contributions of veterans to our country's history. They also helped students learn about the Wounded Warrior Project and the support that it provides for wounded, ill, and injured veterans, servicemembers and families and brainstormed ways to raise money for the organization. Through a coin drive held in the weeks leading up to the assembly, the students raised more than $900, an amount matched by USAA bank, to help those who kept our country safe, secure, and free.

The special Veterans Day celebration hosted by the students and teachers at Dublin Consolidated School is an example of the Granite State spirit of showing gratitude and respect for our veterans. Their work to honor local veterans is why I am proud to name them November's Granite Staters of the Month.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Mullin for yielding.

I support the motion to send this bipartisan package that you are speaking about to the President.

Obviously, the provisions that Senator Mullin, my friend from Oklahoma, is discussing are incredibly important. There are other provisions in this bill, too, that have bipartisan support.

This bill would cut costs for prescription drugs through a bipartisan provision that I worked on with Senator Paul to speed up getting generic drugs to market.

Now, I understand Senator Sanders' perspective about wanting to attach to this package increased funding for our country's community health centers. They are incredibly important, lifesaving resources to millions of Americans. So as we are talking about saving lives here, we have to recognize the role that community health centers play in that.

They provide vital services in our communities, and I fully support passing this funding increase for them through the House and the Senate as soon as possible. But as I understand it, the House will not act to do so at this time.

So as disappointed as I am that the House isn't ready to support increased funding for community health centers, I also believe that it is important to take action on this package now to help address pediatric cancer and lower prescription drug costs, so I am disappointed that this bill will not move forward today.

Having said that, I hope we can come together and find a way to continue to work with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to get this package over the finish line next month.

Thank you for yielding.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am honored to recognize Kevin Semprini of Portsmouth as December's Granite Stater of the Month for his work to bolster public safety in his community.

Growing up in Portsmouth, Kevin looked up to the police officers in his neighborhood, admiring the way they worked to foster a strong community. Kevin knew from an early age that he wanted to be a part of that mission, and when he was old enough, he joined the police force.

Soon after joining the force, Officer Semprini saw that there was a need to improve child safety in New Hampshire and worked with the Portsmouth police chief to create a new school safety program. His work took him to local schools where he helped elementary school students learn about safety. Because students had some trouble pronouncing his last name, they quickly landed on a nickname for him, a new name that reflected the warmth and comfort he conveyed: Officer Friendly. It is a nickname that has stayed with him for the rest of his career.

In the years that followed and as the police department continued to evolve, a new chief of police from California introduced Officer Semprini to the DARE program. Officer Semprini worked with the State to pilot the program, which eventually expanded statewide. Officer Semprini also pioneered the school resource officer program at Portsmouth High School and organized local toy drives for the holidays.

As he retires, Officer Semprini carries with him the thanks of the people of Portsmouth and all Granite Staters for his 46 years of service and his steadfast protection of the children of New Hampshire. Officer Semprini's commitment to improving children's safety is a true example of the Granite State spirit of going the extra mile to protect your community. His lifelong work to support Portsmouth students makes me proud to name him December's Granite Stater of the Month.

Mr. President, I thank the Senator, my colleague from Wisconsin, for her remarks.

You know, sometimes the wheels of our democracy don't turn as quickly as we would like. Sometimes progress is painfully slow. But it is a singularly bad day for this body, a bad day for this country, when, far from simply failing to move forward, this body chooses to take a great lurch backward, to decide to make the lives of the American people worse. By letting the Affordable Care Act tax cuts expire, by letting healthcare slip away from families all across our country, today, the majority in this body appears to be prepared to do precisely that.

Now, just a comment or two about my colleague and friend Senator Cassidy's presentation about the Republican plan just now. Senator Cassidy and I are good friends, and we have worked on a lot of bipartisan healthcare legislation to date. But let's be clear. The Republican plan that he is talking about doesn't help people afford their premiums in the first place. That is what this is about.

The other issue that my colleague raised about the Hyde amendment-- the Hyde amendment applies to the Affordable Care Act already. What the Republican plan does is now say that people who pay private premium dollars into the ACA cannot use their private dollars to fund what are called elective abortions.

So I just want to be clear about those two points.

Now I want to talk about the progress we have made and the progress we still need to make when it comes to the Affordable Care Act. It is easy to take it for granted now, as we have grown accustomed to its benefits, but the Affordable Care Act was an important milestone in expanding opportunity for more Americans.

The ACA helped millions of Americans who were previously unable to afford insurance to get lifesaving care for themselves and their families without breaking the bank or facing bankruptcy. It allowed Americans who have preexisting conditions to actually buy insurance. It ended lifetime caps on how much treatment people could get.

Is the Affordable Care Act perfect? No. It was the product of a legislative compromise. But has the Affordable Care Act made Americans healthier, strengthened our economy, and saved lives? Yes.

I want to remind people what our healthcare system was like before the ACA was passed. People with preexisting conditions could not get health insurance unless they worked for an employer who offered a group plan, and even then, they had to work enough hours to qualify for that plan.

Even people who had insurance were subjected to something called lifetime caps. Often, the cap was about $1 million, meaning that if you had a terrible accident or expensive disease, the insurer simply stopped covering your care when the limit was reached regardless of how long you had been paying your premiums and regardless of whether you still needed lifesaving care.

Preventive care could be expensive and was often excluded from health insurance coverage.

The ACA changed that. People with preexisting conditions can now buy insurance. People between jobs can buy insurance. Self-employed people can buy insurance. Lifesaving and cost-saving preventive care is covered at no charge. There are no lifetime limits on care.

Now, the smart thing for us to do right now would be for us to build on this progress. There is no shortage of ways in which we need to improve our healthcare system. We need to lower healthcare costs, and there are good, bipartisan proposals in this body to do that. We need to end the inefficient and harmful fragmentation of care. I am ready to work together on a bipartisan basis to do just that.

But rather than tackle those problems, the Trump administration has actively worked to make healthcare even less affordable. This summer, the Republicans gutted Medicaid in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. Now, with tax credits for the Affordable Care Act due to expire, the President and Washington Republicans will instead allow health insurance premiums to skyrocket for millions of

Americans. The American people asked for lower costs; the President is handing them a steeper bill.

In recent weeks, too many of the conversations in this Chamber about the path forward have gotten stuck in the abstract. We have seen proposals that resemble ideological wish lists rather than the type of compromise that would recognize the reality that Americans are facing on the ground. But I can assure you that, for my constituents, rising healthcare costs are not abstract. It is not abstract for a Granite Stater who will have to pay $1,000 more a month for health insurance. It is not abstract for the family who depended on these cuts in order to make ends meet and who doesn't know if they will have to pull from their savings or find a cheaper place to rent just to afford these new premiums.

And it is not abstract for the untold number of Americans who will miss out on routine care and preventive screenings for cancer and other diseases because they couldn't afford their new premiums.

I find myself struck by some of the words that we use in this Chamber to talk about healthcare: risk pool, cost sharing, silver tier, gold tier. Behind all these words and jargon, we are talking about people. We are talking about being sick and being healthy, about living with dignity or struggling in despair. We are talking about living and dying.

This is an issue that demands the most serious of leadership, but plainly that is just not what the American people are getting from Donald Trump's Washington today. Today's vote leaves me with a simple question, a question that the majority in this body ought to answer: By your vote today to make insurance premiums more expensive, who in America wins?

The majority in this body may carry the day with their votes, but who exactly will this victory be for? What family will be made better off by health insurance becoming more expensive? Which child is going to become healthier?

Make no mistake, today's healthcare vote is more than a vote on a single bill. In the greater sense, in the fight to make American life more affordable, in an effort to save the American people from a looming healthcare calamity, the majority of this body, the majority in the House, and, above all, the President himself, are, in short, choosing to abstain. They are throwing up their hands, essentially saying: Nothing we can do here.

Given the choice between keeping healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans or letting these tax cuts expire, the President is content to do nothing. In the face of this healthcare crisis, in the face of Americans of all political stripes clambering for a solution, the Republican majority is deciding that the world's greatest deliberative body ought to shrug its shoulders and abdicate its responsibility.

So, yes, I will close with this: It is a bad day for this country and for the U.S. Senate. And it is a day that the American people will remember.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am honored to recognize Frank LaSorsa of Stratham, Larry Larkin of Dover, Junious and Bette Owens of Stratham, and members of the Pease Greeters as October's Granite Staters of the Month. As part of the Pease Greeters, Frank, Larry, Junious, and Bette have made sure that servicemembers traveling through Portsmouth International Airport see a friendly face when they are in New Hampshire.

Since 2005, the Pease Greeters have shown up day and night to greet servicemembers both leaving and reentering the United States on military deployments, welcoming and seeing off more than 2,600 flights from all branches of the military. Portsmouth International Airport is often the last airport in the United States for soldiers who are deploying and the first stop back in the country on their way home. The Pease Greeters ensure that these servicemembers are met with a smile and a kind word during their journey.

The Pease Greeters have been powered by many volunteers over the years, and some of their longest serving volunteers have helped make the organization the mainstay that it is today for servicemembers. Frank LaSorsa, a Vietnam-era veteran, has been a member of the Pease Greeters since 2009, when he was invited to join the group at a funeral for a soldier. He has been with the Greeters ever since and says that the most rewarding part of greeting is seeing the smile on a returning servicemember's face. Larry Larkin and Junious and Bette Owens have all been with the Pease Greeters for 20 years. All of the Pease Greeters emphasize that greeting is a team effort and that it would not be possible without each volunteer's help.

Frank, Larry, Junious, Bette, and the rest of the Pease Greeters' dedication to our servicemembers is a true example of the Granite State spirit of honoring those who serve. Their commitment to greeting servicemembers at any time of day or night is why I am honored to name them October's Granite Staters of the Month.

Will the Senator yield for a question?

First of all, my question starts with a thank-you, Senator Merkley, for raising the issue of the growing threat of authoritarianism in our country. I thank you for noting and being a champion of the very principle that our country was founded on, which is that we are a country--a government--of, by, and for the people.

As I think about what that principle means, I think about the fact that in a democracy, what our Founders wanted to ensure was that our governing bodies, our elected officials, would, in fact, be accountable to the people.

So what does being accountable to the people you represent mean? Well, about 50 years ago, this Congress came together and, in a bipartisan way, passed something called the IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Why? Because families all across this country, from every political persuasion, understood that their children with disabilities could learn and thrive if they had access to public education just the way other kids did. Because families spoke up, because individuals spoke up, we now have seen 50 years of IDEA special education in our schools.

We have more work to do in that direction, to be sure. We need to get more resources to our local schools the way the IDEA originally promised we would from the Federal Government. But because families demanded it and their elected representatives heard them and listened and acted and believed they were accountable to them, the quality of life for children and families with disabilities has improved exponentially.

Then I think about Medicaid expansion. When I was Governor of New Hampshire and the Affordable Care Act passed, one of the things that States had the opportunity to do was adopt expanded Medicaid so that people who had mental illness, for instance, or substance use disorder, addiction, could get care under Medicaid, or people who were working part time and had chronic illnesses could actually get healthcare.

At first, in a divided legislature--a legislature that was one Chamber Democratic and one Chamber Republican--the Republicans blocked Medicaid expansion. But gradually, the people in my State of New Hampshire, the ``Live Free or Die State,'' spoke up, spoke out, and said: This is really important to our families.

As a result, we found bipartisan agreement to expand Medicaid and provide health insurance coverage so that people could get better and could get fully employed and could then go on to private insurance-- something that is critically important.

Again, this happened because the people in my State--the elected leaders in my State believed they were accountable to their constituents.

Now, I think a lot about authoritarian regimes and their lack of accountability because authoritarians don't believe that they are accountable to the people; they believe that their people are their subjects and are accountable to them. That, of course, is what we are seeing from Donald Trump right now.

I think about the fact that in 2022, we passed in this body the PACT Act, and it was signed into law. That is the law that provides healthcare to our veterans who have been made ill from toxic exposure during their service. These are our brave heroes that we owe everything to, that we owe our very freedoms to. And this body came together because veterans all across this country--and their families and their supporters--came forward and said: We have been made ill in our service. We need healthcare.

And we came together, and on a bipartisan basis, because we believe and know that in a democracy, we are accountable to the people, we then delivered something so that the people--the veterans, our heroes, the people that we owe the most to, that we owe our way of life to--could get the healthcare they needed.

That is the difference that having elected leaders in a democracy makes.

So, as I think about this administration taking healthcare away from millions of Americans right now, one of the challenges we are facing is that people who get their health insurance on healthcare.gov--those premiums are due to at least double on November 1.

In my home State, that means that a 60-year-old couple earning $85,000 a year is likely to see their health insurance go up by $14,000 a year. A recent report says that if you are family of four in New Hampshire and earn $100,000 a year, you cannot make ends meet because of the cost of housing and groceries and energy, daycare, healthcare.

So we now have an administration led by a President whose authoritarian tendencies you have laid out so well who is standing idly by while this healthcare calamity is facing us, because, of course, it is not just people who get their health insurance on healthcare.gov who will see their costs skyrocket; it is going to be the entire health insurance premium marketplace that is going to see increases.

So we are looking at a President who is busy building ballrooms, buying vanity airplanes for his Secretary of Homeland Security, doing all these things to satisfy himself and the people around him but who doesn't seem to believe he is actually accountable to the people.

I always thought that in the United States of America, we weren't subjects to be ruled; we were citizens to be heard.

So, Senator Merkley, can you speak a bit to how this administration's attacks on our democracy have real impacts on the day-to-day lives of Americans?

Would you yield for another question, Senator?

As you were talking and as I have been thinking about the various ways in which a true democracy delivers results for its people--I mentioned in my prior question the fact that we passed in 2022 the PACT Act.

You know, I was with a group of veterans right after we passed the PACT Act, and I thanked them for all the advocacy that they had done to get it over the finish line.

Then we got to talking about the war in Ukraine and why it was so important to stand up with the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for the very freedom, for the very form of government that we so cherish-- our democracy. I found myself asking them a question, and I will ask it to you now, Senator: Would Vladimir Putin take care of his veterans the way the PACT Act proposes to take care of our veterans?

What are your thoughts about that?

Mr. President, I am honored to recognize Brenda Gallagher of Meredith and Pam Halsey of Center Harbor as September's Granite Staters of the Month. Pam and Brenda have tirelessly worked to protect our environment, including by promoting the preservation of habitats for New Hampshire birds.

Pam and Brenda share a love of swimming and a deep appreciation for the loon, a black and white bird that is prolific in the Lakes Region, and is known for its haunting call. The loon is a symbol of the wild beauty of our State, but the local birds have been threatened by lead poisoning from fishing tackles. Brenda's aunt was one of the founding members of the Loon Preservation Committee and taught Brenda the importance of safeguarding the birds and their habitats. Both women grew up vacationing on Lake Winnipesaukee and now live in the Lakes Region full-time. In 2015, the two friends decided to swim around the islands of Lake Winnipesaukee to raise awareness of both loon preservation and the importance of maintaining good water quality in New Hampshire's lakes.

Continuing their advocacy for New Hampshire's lakes, this year Pam and Brenda decided to push themselves even further and tackle all of the islands in Squam Lake. During the months of July and August, they swam around 28 of Squam's islands, islands that ranged in circumference from 0.12 miles to 2.6 miles, completing swims around one to four islands per day as part of their goal to swim around each island. And they weren't alone on these swims. In addition to friends and family who helped ferry them out to the islands in small boats and kept them safe from other oncoming boats, they were also often joined by loons. The daunting feat was their way of raising awareness for their cause of protecting loons and New Hampshire's lakes.

Pam and Brenda's dedication to the conservation of our State's lakes and wildlife is a true example of the Granite State spirit of outdoor stewardship. Their steadfast and heartfelt commitment to New Hampshire's wilderness is why I am privileged to name them September's Granite Staters of the month.

Mr. President, I rise today to pass into law a lifesaving bipartisan legislation that will enable us to keep fighting the opioid and fentanyl epidemic, an epidemic that has destroyed families and devastated communities all across our country.

Our country faces many challenges, and I am sure we will continue to debate in the coming weeks how to address those, but today we will advance, on a bipartisan basis, lifesaving legislation that we know is working to combat fentanyl.

New data from earlier this summer found that drug overdose deaths dropped 27 percent last year, compared to the prior year. Since the advent of the opioid crisis, we now have a much better sense of what works to prevent and treat addiction, the resources we need to do so, and the light that exists on the other end of this terrible tunnel. But we can only get there if we keep up the fight.

The SUPPORT Act of 2018, signed into law by President Trump during his first term, established vital addiction treatment infrastructure. Reauthorizing this bipartisan law is essential to our addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts. For example, the act includes funding for addiction treatment for pregnant women and funds for training and equipment to help first responders in this fight.

The original SUPPORT Act passed the Senate with 98 votes, and this bipartisan reauthorization passed the House with 366 votes.

Now the Senate will send it to the President's desk.

While we have made progress in this fight, we cannot be complacent. While there are still too many families and communities ravaged by addiction, we cannot despair. Nothing less than people's lives depend on us acting.

Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2483 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I further ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, the Senate just passed a major bipartisan package to reauthorize the SUPPORT Act, and it is headed to President Trump's desk. Today is proof that despite our differences, bipartisan progress is possible.

I am particularly pleased to be here with my colleague and chair of the HELP Committee Senator Cassidy, who has been instrumental in this fight and who will speak in just a moment.

To our first responders, know that training and equipment are coming to help make your job easier.

To our healthcare providers, know that resources are coming to help people get and stay in recovery.

To those battling addiction, know that support is on the way.

I am deeply grateful to a number of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and I am looking forward to Senator Cassidy's comments just now. I am also grateful to Senator Sanders for working with me on getting this done as well as the advocates who knew we could not give up in this fight.

This package will save lives, and I look forward to continuing to make available every tool we have to stop fentanyl.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am honored to recognize Sarah Guinther of Bow as August's Granite Stater of the Month. Sarah donates half of the proceeds she makes from her cookie company, Maddi Hatter, to domestic violence support organizations and women's shelters.

Twelve years ago, Sarah started Maddi Hatter Cookie Company, named after her 9-year-old daughter Maddi, while continuing to work her full- time sales job. Sarah has always loved to bake, and she wanted to focus on becoming an expert in making cookies. As a survivor of domestic violence and as a survivor of child abuse, Sarah also knew that she wanted any business venture that she started to support organizations that helped other survivors. That is why from the outset, Sarah either donated her Maddi Hatter revenues to charity or invested them back in the business.

Today, Maddi Hatter has baked thousands of cookies and raised more than $7,000 in donations and goods for charity. Maddi Hatter donates half of its profits to organizations that support survivors of domestic violence, has also donated proceeds to children in foster care, and has hosted toy and clothing drives. And if a family can't afford to buy a cake or cookies for a celebration, Sarah will work with them to make sure they have a sweet treat to celebrate with. She also donates cookies to the annual New Hampshire book festival, which helps promote reading among children and adults.

Sarah's dedication to supporting domestic violence survivors and giving back to her community is a true example of the Granite State spirit. Her generosity and understanding is why I am proud to name her August's Granite Stater of the Month.

Madam President, I am honored to recognize Mary Duquette of Hopkinton and Myra Nikitas of Nashua as July's Granite Staters of the Month. Mary and Myra are working to ensure that all children in Nashua who need dental care are able to get it.

Mary and Myra have both worked in the dental field for more than 20 years and are certified public health dental hygienists. In 2021, when Mary was working for the State of New Hampshire's oral health program, a program that performed dental screenings for third graders in New Hampshire identified Nashua as one of the areas with the highest levels of tooth decay in the State. Mary and Myra joined an existing cavity prevention program, but when funding for that program ran out, they wanted to continue providing services. They took action, applied for grants themselves, and launched their nonprofit Traveling Tooth Fairies.

Traveling Tooth Fairies' goal is to close the dental care gap. During the school year, Mary and Myra visit schools throughout the Nashua area, helping provide cavity prevention care to any child with a signed permission slip, regardless of their insurance status. Treatment is free for patients, paid for through either grant funding or through New Hampshire Medicaid if the child is eligible and enrolled. In addition to removing financial barriers, providing care directly at schools removes another critical barrier: the need for parents to take time off from work to take their child to the dentist. Traveling Tooth Fairies doesn't deny anyone care, and if a family contacts them asking for help outside of school, Mary and Myra will work with them to get their child treatment. Traveling Tooth Fairies also attend community events and treat families in shelters.

Mary and Myra's dedication to keeping children healthy is an inspiring example of the Granite State spirit of going above and beyond to help your neighbors. Their commitment to their community is why I am proud to name them July's Granite Staters of the Month.

I request the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I have a motion to commit at the desk.

I ask that further reading of the motion be dispensed with.

Mr. President, across the country, Americans of every political stripe are urging us to come together to help bring down painfully high costs. Instead, the President is making life even less affordable, both with this partisan budget bill and with his decision to launch a trade war with our ally Canada.

The President's tariffs, combined with this bill, will raise costs for firefighters, truckdrivers, and teachers by $500, all so that the wealthiest 0.1 percent, making over $4 million, get a $350,000 windfall.

At a time when the American people need their costs to come down, I can

think of few ideas as willfully self-destructive as launching a trade war with one of our closest allies and, in effect, imposing a national sales tax on families and small businesses.

I urge my colleagues to listen to the great majority of Americans who need their costs to come down and to support my motion.

I ask for the yeas and nays.