Floor Statements

Mr. President, this week the Senate is taking a historic step in the fight to protect children online by bringing the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act to the floor.

Last Congress, Senator Blumenthal and I introduced KOSA following disturbing reports that Meta leadership knew its platform Instagram is toxic to teenage girls, causing rising rates of eating disorders and mental health issues, but Meta downplayed these harms in public.

During a series of five subcommittee hearings, we heard testimony from social media companies, advocates, and parents on the repeated failures of tech giants to protect kids, to protect them from pro- suicide content, from drug dealers, from sexual predators, from eating disorder content, from human traffickers, and so much more.

For years, the Big Tech giants refused to meaningfully address these problems, but that changes with KOSA, which will finally hold them accountable.

Congress has not passed a major law to protect children online since 1998, and a lot has changed in the last 25 years. But this moment would have been impossible without the hundreds of parents, including many who have tragically lost their children to social media harms. They have traveled to Washington over the past several years to share their heartbreaking stories and to demand action to protect our children. Senator Blumenthal and I could not have accomplished this without their voices, and I want to thank

all of our friends and our allies for their work in getting this bill to the floor. One thing is certain: Moms on a Mission have always proven to be an unstoppable force, and, indeed, they are.

I also want to thank Leader Schumer, Commerce Committee Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Cruz, and our 68 Senate cosponsors for helping us get here.

Once the Senate formally passes KOSA, our work is not done. We must ensure that the House quickly passes this bill and sends it to the President's desk.

Mr. President, recently, my fellow Tennesseans have had a lot to celebrate. Late last month, the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team made history, defeating the Texas A&M Aggies in the college World Series to win the program's first national title. This is a tremendous accomplishment for the incredible players and coaches, for the University of Tennessee, and, indeed, for our entire State.

But for those of us who followed the Vols' historic season, this national championship came as no surprise. In total, they tallied 60 wins this season, becoming the first team in the Southeastern Conference to ever reach this milestone. UT had 5 players who hit 20 or more home runs this season, the first time that has ever happened in NCAA history. And along the way to the College World Series, the team won both the SEC regular season and the SEC tournament title, becoming just the fourth program in history to capture all three titles in the same season.

It is no exaggeration to say that this team is one of the greatest in college baseball history, a testament to players, coaches, and staffs' hard work on and off the field. That is why I introduced a resolution, alongside Senator Hagerty, joined by Tennessee's entire House delegation, to officially congratulate the student athletes, coaches, administrators, and fans on a truly incredible season. I know Tennesseans will remember the Vols' historic 2024 season for many years to come.

Mr. President, on Saturday, July 13, our Nation narrowly avoided a catastrophe with the failed assassination attempt of President Trump in Butler, PA. In the wake of this disturbing attack, I am grateful that President Trump is safe and recovering and join Tennesseans and Americans in praying for the two victims who were critically injured.

Tragically, our Nation lost a hero in the attack. Corey Comperatore, a rally attendee, was killed while protecting his wife and daughter from gunfire.

This assassination attempt was a shocking act of political violence, and one Agency more than any other was responsible for preventing it; that is the Secret Service. But as reports continue to pile up about the Secret Service's failures leading up to the attempt, I know Tennesseans and Americans have so many questions: How was the shooter allowed on the structure so close to the rally with a clear line of sight to President Trump? And why were there no agents on that roof? How is it possible, as Senators learned in a briefing with Secret Service and the FBI last week, that Secret Service agents knew about a threat before President Trump walked on stage, yet they did nothing to prevent him from going on stage? How was the shooter allowed to scope out the rally grounds with a range finder, a device that is often used by snipers to measure the distance to a target, even after he was spotted by law enforcement? Why was the assassin able to fly a drone and take footage of the rally grounds just before the speech? And why, as the Agency has finally acknowledged--after initially denying it--why did the Secret Service turn down previous requests from President Trump's security detail for more resources to protect him?

To be sure, many Secret Service agents bravely put their lives on the line to get President Trump to safety following the assassination attempt. We are grateful for them.

But as a whole, the Agency failed its sole objective, which was to protect the protectee, in this case former President Trump.

Yet Secret Service Director Cheatle has repeatedly refused to explain why this tragedy happened on her watch. When my colleagues and I pressed her for answers last week, she ran away. And during the House Oversight hearing on Monday, she continued to stonewall, repeatedly claiming that she is unable to provide answers while her Agency investigates the operational failures leading up to the assassination attempt.

This is inexcusable. While Director Cheatle has finally done the right thing and resigned, Tennesseans and the American people still deserve answers about how her Agency let President Trump come within inches of being killed by an assassin's bullet.

The Secret Service has the duty to send another representative equipped to answer these questions when the Senate Judiciary Committee holds its hearing on the circumstances that led to the attempted assassination of former President Trump. While we await answers, there is one thing we do know: If Director Cheatle had done her job and upheld her Agency's ``zero fail mission,'' this tragedy would never have happened.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Madam President, 80 years ago this month, America and our allies embarked on a mission that would change the course of history. We stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Along with our allies, we formed the largest armada in world history, with more than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft, with the goal of liberating Nazi-occupied Europe and defending the free world. To our country's eternal gratitude, these brave soldiers succeeded in their mission.

On the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, I joined a bipartisan Senate delegation to Normandy to honor the Americans--among them, Tennesseans--who put their lives on the line in the name of freedom.

Of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II, less than 1 percent are still with us today. So it was a special honor to meet with some of those brave heroes who served, and we sat together as we commemorated this day.

Among them was Tennessee native Cletis Bailey, who fought to liberate Europe while serving in the 84th Infantry Division. Two years ago, at the age of 96, Mr. Bailey received a Bronze Star for fighting at the Battle of the Bulge. That was 76 years after his service had come to an end.

Like so many Americans who served in World War II, Mr. Bailey was gracious and humble about the incredible sacrifices that he made to defend the country. It was a powerful reminder that the ``greatest generation'' viewed their service to our country, even through the horrors of war, as their duty as American citizens.

But during the memorial ceremonies, these heroes received the recognition they deserve in front of a crowd of 10,000 people from all over the world. It was so moving to see French President Macron recognize 11 U.S. veterans with the Legion of Honor--France's highest distinction--for their role in helping to free France from Nazi oppression.

While we thanked the surviving D-Day veterans for their service, our delegation also honored the brave soldiers who never returned home to America. In Normandy, there is no greater symbol of their sacrifice than the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which holds the graves of 9,387 American war dead. Many of these warriors fell just hundreds of feet away from the cemetery grounds right there on Omaha Beach--the site of the fiercest fighting on D-Day, where U.S. forces suffered approximately 2,400 casualties.

While many markers of the landings have long since disappeared, along the coastline, you will still see fortifications which Nazi forces used to rain machine gun fire on American soldiers who stormed the beaches to free a continent.

In so many ways, Normandy is a reminder that America is the home of the free because of the brave. And while we can never repay their sacrifices, we must ensure that no veteran is ever left behind-- especially when it comes to the benefits and the quality care they deserve.

In the Senate, I have championed legislation to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs' caregiver program and protect veterans' personal information. Thankfully, both of these bills have become law, but there is much more that needs to be done to honor their service. That is why I introduced the Veterans Health Care Freedom Act, which would expand healthcare options for veterans by allowing them to seek care in their local communities instead of VA facilities that are often far away from their homes.

These efforts will not only benefit our Nation's veterans but also the more than 1.2 million Active-Duty troops when their service comes to an end. During the delegation trip, I was pleased to meet many of these brave warriors, including members of Fort Campbell's 101st Airborne Division who live in Tennessee.

On D-Day, the 101st was crucial to the Allies' victory, parachuting into France behind enemy lines to clear a path for the infantry divisions that were storming the beaches. Eighty years later, the current members of the 101st honored this incredible legacy, conducting an air assault drill in Carentan, a French town liberated by the 101st.

The outpouring of support for our veterans and servicemembers was a powerful reminder of General Eisenhower's words to the 175,000-strong expeditionary force on the eve of the D-Day landings: that--then and now--``the hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with'' America and our Armed Forces.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, 105 years ago today, this Chamber did something truly historic: It passed the 19th Amendment to secure the right to vote for American women.

The amendment's ratification by the States 1 year later marked the largest enfranchisement in U.S. history, extending the vote to 26 million Americans.

This incredible achievement fulfilled more than 70 years of tireless efforts by brave suffragists to make our country a more perfect Union, including many Tennessee women: Abbey Crawford Milton from Chattanooga, Ida B. Wells from Memphis, and Anne Dallas Dudley from Nashville.

On this anniversary, I am especially reminded of Febb Burn of Niota, TN. In the summer of 1920, the Tennessee General Assembly was in a heated debate about whether Tennessee would ratify the 19th Amendment. At the time, 35 States had already voted to ratify the amendment, so only 1 more was needed to make the 19th Amendment the law of the land.

On the day of the vote in Nashville, Febb Burn wrote a letter to her son, Harry Burn, the youngest member of the Tennessee State Legislature. She urged her son to support the amendment. She wrote:

Hurrah and vote for suffrage and don't keep them in doubt.

At first, Harry pinned a red rose--the symbol of the anti-suffragist movement--to his shirt and voted to table the amendment in back-to-back deadlocked votes, but with his mother's letter in his coat pocket, Harry ultimately listened to her advice, switched his vote, and switched to a yellow rose on that lapel, making Tennessee the 36th and final State to ratify the 19th Amendment.

As the first woman to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Senate, I have a special appreciation for the women who fought this fight, and I have worked to honor their legacy and advance their cause. But as we remember the suffragists on this anniversary, it is important to recognize that women are still fighting for a seat at the table and recognition for their achievements.

Look no further than the National Mall right here in our Nation's Capital. This 2-mile stretch of land--America's front yard, as it is known--honors our Nation's history and ideals with monuments, memorials, and statues of incredible Americans who have made tremendous sacrifices to make our country a more perfect Union. Yet, among the 40 monuments, not 1 is dedicated to American women.

That is why, alongside Senator Baldwin, I introduced the bipartisan Women's Suffrage National Monument Location Act, which would finally secure a monument honoring women's history on the National Mall. This monument will commemorate the women's suffragist movement, the passage of the 19th Amendment, and the incredible women who fought to secure the vote for millions of Americans.

The House unanimously passed this legislation in November. Now the Senate should vote to make this memorial a reality and honor the giants who paved the way for generations of American women.

I urge every Member of this Chamber to join Senator Baldwin and me in supporting the Women's Suffrage National Monument Location Act.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I have found this conversation so interesting.

I will remind my colleagues that H.R. 2, a border security bill, actually did come to the Senate, and it has been here since May 15 of 2023--an actual border security bill--and the fact that the provisions in front of us are not border security provisions are things that are of concern.

Mr. President, I think the esteemed chairman of the Judiciary Committee is misreading the bill because this would apply to people who are entering the United States. It would apply to those who are coming to the southern border.

This is a process that had been in place. The Biden administration chose to stop this process. What we understand is that they chose to stop this because the test takes 45 minutes--45 minutes to determine if that child is or is not related, 45 minutes to determine if that child should be left with those adults. Thirty percent of the children that are DNA-tested at that southern border are found to not be related to the adult who is holding them by the hand, who is bringing them into the country.

So I would ask my colleagues, is 45 minutes too much time to take to be sure that a child is secure?

We have had 10 million people come to that border. We have had 400,000 of those children. Don't we want to provide the best for these children and separate them from traffickers?

By the way, HHS has lost track of 85,000 of these children. They can't tell the Presiding Officer's committee where those children are. They can't tell the Judiciary Committee where those children are-- 85,000 children. We do not know if they are dead or alive. We do not know if they are being labor trafficked, sex trafficked. We do not know what is happening.

DNA testing is a way to help save some of these children. We should return to this policy.

By the way, again I will mention that H.R. 2 has been in here. The Homeland Security Committee has had 374 days to have a markup on a border security bill. They chose not to. The Judiciary Committee could have had a markup on a border security bill. They did not do it. But they are bringing a political stunt bill to the floor today to try to push it through to give cover to vulnerable Members of your party.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, this week, we are taking a big step forward in the fight to end online child exploitation. The bipartisan REPORT Act, which you and I led, has been signed into law, and now law enforcement and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children-- or NCMEC, as we call it--will have the resources that they need to better protect vulnerable children and track down these predators and pedophiles. This legislation has been urgently needed. And, Mr. President, I thank you for your leadership on this issue.

Here is a frightening statistic: In America, a child is bought or sold for sexual exploitation once every 2 minutes. In this country, in 2024, a child is

bought or sold for sex once every 2 minutes. This abuse increasingly happens in the virtual space, where predators distribute child sexual abuse material; they recruit minors into sex trafficking rings; and they extort children into sharing explicit images of themselves.

Just last year, NCMEC received 36.2 million reports of online child sexual exploitation, a 23-percent increase over 2021.

NCMEC, whose CyberTipline serves as our country's centralized reporting system for online child abuse, does incredible work to track down these crimes and report them to law enforcement. But, tragically, so many more acts of online sexual abuse against children are going unreported.

Although criminal law requires electronic service providers to report any child sex abuse material on their sites, online platforms-- including Big Tech sites, such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram--have no obligation to report content involving the sex trafficking or grooming of children or enticement crimes.

Most online platforms choose not to report this abhorrent material to law enforcement. And even when they do report the content, electronic service providers often omit necessary information to identify victims and track down their abusers.

We have also heard from victims, their families, and law enforcement about the need to modernize laws around reporting online sexual abuse. For example, children and their parents risk legal liability for transferring evidence of online sexual abuse that they have experienced when submitting reports to the NCMEC CyberTipline.

The REPORT Act addresses these issues and more to ensure that they are defending children against some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. Now, electronic service providers will be legally required to report child trafficking and enticement.

To ensure compliance with the law, the REPORT Act raises the fine for first violations from $150,000 up to as much as $850,000, and subsequent violations, that fee is raised from $300,000 up to $1 million.

At the same time, the legislation enables victims to report evidence of online exploitation to the authorities and allows for the secure cloud storage and safe transfer of reports from NCMEC to law enforcement.

It also increases the retention period for CyberTipline reports from 90 days to 1 full year; meaning, law enforcement will have more time to track down and prosecute these criminals.

All together, these measures will do so much to protect the most vulnerable among us from online exploitation and help to put an end to this horrific abuse.

Protests

Mr. President, across the country, we are witnessing one of the worst waves of anti-Semitism that we have ever seen in our Nation's history. I appreciate that my colleague from Oklahoma spoke previously to this.

One of the things that we have learned is a little bit about the leading perpetrators of these protests that are taking place. What we have found is that far-left activists, including college students at some of the most prestigious universities, are involved in these activities.

We have all seen the pro-Hamas demonstrators who are harassing and intimidating Jewish students. They are blocking them from attending class or even from accessing public spaces. They are doing this with these protests and with these illegal encampments.

Here are some examples of what we have had reported to us and what we have seen from individuals who are walking through these encampments with their cell phones. At Columbia University, activists chanted: ``We are Hamas'' and ``Long live Hamas.'' At George Washington University, one pro-Hamas demonstrator walked around campus with a sign calling for a ``Final Solution'' against the Jewish people.

We have seen activists hand out fliers calling for ``Death to America'' and ``Death to Israeli real estate.'' And at schools like Princeton, students have waved the flag of terror groups, including the flag of Hezbollah.

One thing should be obvious, the anti-Israel protests on campuses across this country are hotbeds for terrorist sympathizers and for anti-Jewish hatred. Never did I think I would see this in the United States of America.

In fact, some of these college groups who are out protesting, including at Columbia, have allegedly held events with the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These demonstrations have absolutely no place in America, and Tennesseans are telling me these demonstrations have no place in our great State of Tennessee.

But instead of cracking down on these activists and the students who are out there peddling anti-Semitism and are glorifying terrorism, many schools are beginning to bow to their demands. I find this abhorrent and disgusting.

In negotiations with pro-Hamas demonstrators, Northwestern University agreed to offer coveted faculty positions to Palestinian academics and set aside full-ride scholarships for Palestinian students.

To appease its pro-Hamas students, Brown University, last week, agreed to hold a vote on divesting from Israel.

After negotiating with pro-Hamas activists for weeks, Columbia University has canceled its commencement ceremony.

We can only bring an end to this disturbing illegal behavior when there are actual consequences.

College students who promote terrorism on behalf of Hamas should be added to the TSA No Fly List, and we should deport foreign students on visas who support Hamas--a U.S.-designated terror organization. And universities that allow anti-Semitism on their campuses should be defunded. The Stop Anti-Semitism on College Campuses Act, which I introduced alongside Senator Tim Scott, would ensure that happens.

Instead of standing up for Jewish students, President Biden has drawn, unfortunately, a moral equivalence between pro-Hamas activists and pro-Israel Americans. When asked about the anti-Semitic demonstrations last month, the President said he ``condemn[s] those who don't understand what is going on with the Palestinians.''

At the same time, the President has focused on pushing billions in new illegal student loan forgiveness--forgiveness that could very well benefit the students who are out leading these demonstrations. So that is why I have joined my Senate Republican colleagues in introducing the No Bailouts for Campus Criminals Act, which would make any person who is convicted of a State or Federal offense in connection with a campus protest ineligible for any Federal student loan forgiveness.

The President is also reportedly looking to welcome Gazans to America as refugees. According to a recent poll, 71 percent of Gazans said they supported Hamas's horrific October 7 attack on Israeli civilians. Seventy-one percent of Gazans said they supported Hamas's horrific attack on October 7. More than 300 individuals on the Terror Watchlist have entered our country under President Biden, but, for some reason, this administration thinks that they can vet Gazans, who elected Hamas as their government, who support the terrorist attack. They think they can properly vet them and bring them into this country? Have they not asked Egypt, Jordan, other countries in the region why they will not take these Palestinian refugees? I think it would be instructive.

Our country cannot afford more failed leadership and not knowing who is coming into this country who may wish us harm. We would like to see the President rescind this and review his priorities and make it his priority to protect the American people.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Madam President, last week, the Democrat majority on the Federal Communications Commission voted to classify broadband internet service as a ``telecommunications service'' under title II of the Communications Act. This is an effort that is known as net neutrality.

Now, the internet has been under title I, an information service, but our Democratic colleagues at the FCC and the Democrat administrations have sought to put this under title II and regulate it like they do the telephone line.

This action is nothing less than a Big Government takeover of the internet, which will decrease investment in broadband and hurt the American people's access to high-speed internet.

Now, how do we know this? Here is how: Under President Obama, the FCC enforced the failed regulation on the American people between 2015 and 2017, with harmful consequences. So we have done this before.

Now, back then, Democrats claimed that net neutrality was desperately needed to prevent internet service providers from blocking content, throttling speeds, and creating fast lanes that favored users who can pay for access. One Democrat Senator argued during this debate back in 2015 that without the heavy-handed regulation, the internet would ``cease to exist.'' And another from their official Senate Democrat Twitter account claimed that without net neutrality, internet users would only ``get the internet one word at a time.''

Now, of course, we all know this never happened. Internet service providers never lived up to the Democrats' doomsday predictions, even after the FCC, under President Trump, repealed the net neutrality regulation.

In fact, the internet has seen more development, faster speeds, and lower prices since President Trump's administration repealed that Obama-era net neutrality order. While the order was in effect, from 2015 to 2017, investment in broadband fell. It actually fell. It decreased for the first time in a nonrecession period. For the first time ever, it decreased. Why was that? Government regulation. By comparison, the industry spent $102 billion on capital expenditures in 2022, up from $76 billion in 2016.

At the same time, without so-called net neutrality, Americans have enjoyed faster broadband speeds with a freer internet--free of net neutrality regulations. By the end of 2019, 94 percent of Americans had access to high-speed broadband. In 2015, just three-fourths of Americans had that access. Between 2016 and 2019, the share of rural Americans without high-speed internet was actually cut in half. With greater investment and competition, the repeal of net neutrality also made internet access more affordable.

Between 2016 and 2021--this is a period of time without net neutrality rules--during that period of time, broadband prices decreased in the range of 14 to 42 percent. Think about that. The price of access went down. It shows you that free markets work.

Tennesseans and Americans are probably wondering why is the FCC trying to go back and put a policy in place that limited access, that gave you government control, that increased prices, that slowed investment? Why would the Democrats want to do that?

Today, Democrats have abandoned all the arguments they had during the Obama years about internet service providers blocking content and throttling speeds. Instead, the Biden-appointed FCC chairwoman claims that net neutrality is needed to address loopholes in the Agency's oversight of national security threats. I thought: How novel. So now it is all about loopholes and about national security.

Well, when you look at the 1996 Telecommunications Act, it does not grant broad national security authority to the FCC. It does not give them the responsibility to do that, and it doesn't say that they have to have net neutrality in order to grab that. The Biden administration even admitted that U.S. security and law enforcement Agencies already-- and I am quoting the Biden administration here--``exercise substantial authorities with respect to the information and communication sectors.''

They made up a story now that they need to do this because of national security. They do not have the authority; it does not fit their mission; and the authority actually belongs to other Agencies. So what you have is today's justification is different from the Obama era.

The real motivation for net neutrality remains the same. It is simply this: Democrats want the Federal Government to completely control the internet. It should come as no surprise that Big Tech companies who block and censor conservative speech every day are the biggest supporters of net neutrality. They would enjoy the opportunity to work right alongside the Federal Government and control your access, your speed, your content that you are choosing on the internet.

So Senate Republicans are going to fight against this Big Government takeover, and we are going to ensure that the internet does remain free and accessible and open to all Americans.

Iran

Madam President, America can only achieve peace through strength. We know that. Yet since his first day in office, President Biden has ignored this time-tested truth and our servicemembers and allies are suffering the consequences.

Last week, militants in Iraq fired five rockets toward U.S. forces stationed in northeastern Syria. Less than 24 hours later, U.S. forces in western Iraq were targeted by explosive drones. Thankfully, no servicemembers were injured in these attacks. But it marked the first time American troops were targeted in the region since February. In their attacks earlier this year, Iranian militias injured dozens of U.S. troops and killed three brave servicemembers in Jordan. By all appearances, Iran-backed terror groups, including Hezbollah, were behind the latest attacks. Shortly after the attack on U.S. forces in Syria, the group issued a statement claiming that it will resume attacks on American troops, adding that ``What happened a short while ago is the beginning.''

This aggression isn't happening by accident. It is a direct result of President Biden's pro-Iran policy of appeasement. For more than 3 years, the Biden administration has rolled back the Trump administration's successful maximum-pressure campaign against the ayatollahs. Instead, President Biden has emboldened the Iranian regime, the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, which killed more than 600 American troops during the Iraq war.

Within weeks of taking office, President Biden announced a return to diplomacy with Iran with the goal of restoring President Obama's failed nuclear deal. Then the administration revoked the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation for the Iran-backed Houthis. Those are the rebels in Yemen.

Right before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the White House approved a $10 billion nuclear deal between Tehran and Moscow. At the same time, the White House allowed Iran to secretly export oil to communist China, filling

the regime's coffers with billions to fund their terror proxies, including Hamas and the Houthis and Hezbollah. And in September 2023, the Biden administration engaged in a $6 billion deal with Iran, the largest hostage payment in history.

It is quite a record. It is quite a record of appeasing Iran. It is quite a record of pushing forward, making certain there is money into a regime which is the globe's largest state sponsor of terrorism. Now, you would think that after the October 7 attacks when Iran-funded Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 Israelis in the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the holocaust, the Biden administration would abandon its policy of appeasement. But, no, that is not what this administration has done. What they did do is to double down on their policy of appeasement.

So are we to assume that they are OK with all of this? Just 11 days after the attacks, the President let the international embargo on Iran's missile and drone program lapse--11 days; and 11 days after Iran had moved forward--they trained Hamas, they prepped them, they funded them--Hamas carries out the October 7 attack, and 11 days later the Biden administration let the international embargo on Iran's missile and drone program lapse.

In November, the administration reapproved the sanctions waiver that gives Iran access to around $10 billion in frozen assets. Last month, after Iran directly attacked Israel from its territory for the first time ever, launching more than 300 drones and missiles toward the Jewish State, President Biden told Israel that the United States opposed any counteroffensive to restore deterrence, telling Israel to look at Iran's failed attack as a win.

Madam President, can you even imagine what the American people would have thought following 9/11 if countries were telling us: Cool it; back off. They didn't take you totally down. Imagine that.

Just weeks ago, the Biden administration refused to commit to enforcing sanctions on the $10 billion Iran-Russia nuclear deal. And to top it off, President Biden is now reportedly looking to revive the failed Iran nuclear deal in this latest attempt to appease the ayatollahs. You cannot make this stuff up. You absolutely cannot.

When I do visits in each of Tennessee's 95 counties, when I do a telephone townhall like I did last night with thousands of Tennesseans, people say: What are they thinking? And, you know, the sad thing about this is, it makes you wonder what they are thinking. It makes you wonder what they are doing to secure this country, to secure our people, to secure the homeland. It makes you wonder what are they doing intentionally, especially when it comes to that southern border. Thousands of people from countries of interest--about 25,000 Chinese nationals so far this fiscal year--are coming into our country. By the way, they are mainly young single men. What are they doing?

Why does this administration not put our Nation's safety and security first? Why do they not put the safety and security of our troops who are deployed first? Why do they not have the backbone to stand up to thugs and put an end to this appeasement?

I yield the floor.

I thank the Senator from Utah so much for organizing this.

Madam President, I think it is so important for the American people to really understand what did happen here today. And what we saw happen here today is a violation of our oath, the oath that we take that we are going to abide by the Constitution.

Now, those who are watching this--and I would encourage all of my colleagues among us to pull out that Constitution and read article I, section 2, which lays out the process of impeachment for the House of Representatives. And then section 3 of that Constitution lays out the duty of the Senate in that Constitution.

Now, I have a poster up here from 2019. It is Chuck Schumer. This was during the Trump impeachment in 2019. Now, Chuck Schumer, who is currently the majority leader, basically made a full-time job of talking about how the Senate had to do their constitutional duty to hold a trial. That is all he talked about for days. The clips are all over the internet.

One thing he repeatedly said:

We have a responsibility to let all the facts come out.

``A responsibility.''

Now, we have to say: What has changed between 2019, 2020, and today? Well, of course, we know what changed for Chuck Schumer because he is desperate to hold onto the majority in this Senate, and he did not want some of the Senators who are highly contested in their races to have to take a vote on the Mayorkas impeachment.

Why is that? It is because the No. 1 issue with the American people is that open southern border.

And who is it that has regularly lied to this Chamber, to the House, and to the American people about what is going on at the southern border? It is Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas--repeatedly lied, repeatedly stood before the American people, stood before us in hearings, in committees and said the border is secure.

Anyone who is watching, anyone who has ever been to that border knows the border is not secure. They know that, on the Mexico side of that border, it is being run by the cartels. You can spend an hour with the Border Patrol, and you will find out.

Last year, there were people from 170 different countries that came to that southern border seeking entry. Not a one of them got here on their own. They get flown to Mexico. They pay the cartels, and the cartels bring them over. The cartels are making a fortune. We are paying the price.

And we are paying this price because of the dereliction of duty carried out by Secretary Mayorkas, the way he is not standing up for the Border Patrol, the way he is not standing up for the American people. That is an issue and, yes, a responsibility. Did we have that responsibility? You bet we do.

And that is why we are here on this floor to talk about this, because our border--when you look at the drugs, the fentanyl, that are coming across that border and moving into communities across this country, every State is a border State, every town a border town. Every single family affected or worried about the consequences of the border, thousands of Americans dead from fentanyl poisoning, other Americans that have become angel parents because their children, their spouses

have been killed in auto accidents by criminal illegal aliens.

What they have done to this country by opening that border--and do you know the sad thing about this? It is very intentional. This is their border policy. They intend to do this.

So looking at the drugs, looking at the crime and the gangs, and then, of course, looking at the human trafficking on Mayorkas's watch-- and this is something that is so important for the American people to know. In Tennessee, we have several groups that work on human trafficking and seek to rescue women and girls and children who are being trafficked, sexually trafficked. The exploitation of these children, we know that is driven by the cartels. The cartels have turned human trafficking in this country from a $500-million-a-year industry--over the last 3\1/2\ years, it has become $13 billion, with a ``b.'' People are being trafficked.

Indeed, children are being used as aides for these traffickers. They are being recycled. And these precious children have their name--they have the contact name and the phone number in indelible ink written on their backs, written on their arms, because the cartel uses these children to get cartel members across the border posing as families. And, then, once that cartel member is in the United States, they turn that child loose, and then the child gets sent back. That is disgusting. But because of Biden and Mayorkas and the open border, that is what is happening.

Now, even worse, we have an issue that Secretary Mayorkas claims he knew nothing about, and it was the loss of 85,000 migrant children. Now, we have got 400,000 migrant children who have been turned over to the Federal Government under Secretary Mayorkas. Out of this, 85,000 of those children cannot be accounted for. We have asked Secretary Becerra; we have asked Secretary Mayorkas: Where are these children?

They do not know. They do not know if these 85,000 children are dead or alive. They do not know if they have been attached to drug mules or drug traffickers or if they have been put into gangs, labor crews.

What we did find out from some reporters is this. We found out that some of these children were working in slaughterhouses, in the night. That is what we found out. Oh, by the way, that was from a New York Times reporter.

This situation at the southern border is a humanitarian crisis. The trafficking of human beings is a crisis. Using human beings as chattel, that is a crisis. Putting people into indentured servitude and slavery, that is a crisis.

And who has lied about this repeatedly to the Senate and to the House is Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. And who voted for him? Every Democrat on that side of the aisle who refused to let this trial come forward-- each and every one--you are responsible for this not coming to light. It is a dereliction of your constitutional duty and a responsibility-- yes, it is a responsibility--that we, as Members, have to make certain that the American people know what happened today.

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

Mr. President, we gathered just a couple of hours ago to receive the impeachment articles on Alejandro Mayorkas, who is the Secretary of Homeland Security. How interesting that, as we look at going through this impeachment, we have Senator Schumer, who is the majority leader, who has decided he wants to change his tune when it comes to dealing with impeachment.

Now, in 2019, right before the Democrats started in on President Trump and an impeachment trial for President Trump, Leader Schumer stood right here in this Chamber, and he said:

We have a responsibility to let all the facts come out.

We [have] to remember our constitutional duty to act as

judges and jurors in a potential trial.

Now, those were his comments at that point in time. He was all for an impeachment trial, and it is our constitutional duty. You can look at article I, section 2 and section 3. Section 2 lays out the responsibility of the House in impeachment. Section 3 pertains to the Senate and how we are to proceed with a trial of impeachment.

But, as I said, Leader Schumer has decided that he wants to change his tune, and all of a sudden, he is not wanting this even though we actually have a public officeholder who deserves to stand for an impeachment trial, and that is Secretary Mayorkas. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, if you will, and now that it is about a Democrat, Leader Schumer wants to change the rules and say no. He is even willing to take unprecedented actions that this Chamber has never taken when it comes to the issue of impeachment.

I believe this should incense every single American. I know it incenses the people of Tennessee because what we have learned in the last 3 years about Secretary Mayorkas--even though his title is ``Secretary of Homeland Security,'' he does not believe in securing the homeland, and he has refused to fulfill his duty of securing the homeland.

I know that Secretary Mayorkas is doing the bidding of Joe Biden and the Biden administration. He is just doing what they tell him he has to do. That in and of itself tells you a lot about what this administration thinks about the security and sovereignty of this country. Here is why: On the Biden-Mayorkas watch, you have more than 9.4 million illegal aliens coming into this country. That is in less than 3 years--9.4 million.

We know that there are between 1.7 and 2.5 million ``got-aways.'' Some of those ``got-aways'' are included in that 9.4 million number, and others are not because they didn't see them as they were coming through and couldn't get to them. They found things they left on the roadside or in the woods, in the brush, later on.

Out of this 10 million or so who have illegally come into the country--by the way, just to help everyone have the right context, that number of 10 million is greater than the population of 38 of our States--38. That is how many people are coming in who are illegally entering the country.

Out of this number, you have thousands who are from countries of interest. That would be places like Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Iran. And look at China. Look at what is happening there. You also have 300 known terrorists. As we heard in the impeachment articles today, under President Trump, you had no more than a dozen total over 4 years who were coming into the country. What do you have under Joe Biden? You have over 300 suspected terrorists. Even last week, we had an issue where DOJ and DHS and FBI and the other Agencies were admitting they had lost track of a terrorist from Afghanistan, and he was free-roaming the country for a year.

In addition to the terrorists and the people from countries of interest, fentanyl is coming across our borders. It is being smuggled in by the cartels. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death of Americans age 18 to 45. Fentanyl is a drug that--China has the precursor chemicals, and they are manufacturing this in labs that they have set up with, oh, by the way, the cartels in Mexico, and the cartels are the distribution hub for fentanyl. I talk to parents regularly who have a child who has lost a life or become addicted because of fentanyl.

In addition to all the fentanyl, you have the human trafficking. What is really so sad to me when you look at human trafficking--and for the cartels, human trafficking is a business. It has grown from a business that was $500 million a year in this country in 2018, and today it is a $13 billion-a-year business.

If you don't think the cartels are big business, if you don't think they are global entities, look at this. Globally, human trafficking is a $150 billion-a-year business. Where do these people want to come? Right here. They want to come into our country.

On top of this, there are more than 400,000 migrant children. Many of them have been recycled and abused by the cartels. Yes, indeed, the cartels are so into this human trafficking now that they have devised a scheme. It is child abuse. They take a little child. They write their name and the phone number to contact on that child's back. They put that child with a cartel member they are trying to get into the country. They pose as a family for the purpose of claiming asylum. Once the cartel member is across the border, what does he do? He lets the child go--lets the child go--and the child is sent back to Mexico.

So we add to all of these issues with the terrorists, with the people from countries of interest, with the drugs, with the human trafficking, with the sex trafficking, you look at what is happening to these children. Tens of thousands of these 400,000 children have been forced into really horrific, exploitative situations, including child labor and sex trafficking.

Across the country, you have dangerous, illegal alien criminals--they are called criminal aliens--who should never have been able to come into this country in the first place. They have harmed and they have murdered innocent Americans.

So all of these reasons as to why we should move forward with this impeachment, and on top of it you add that Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly lied to Congress about our border being secure. He likes to say he has done everything to prevent this, but we know he has done everything to allow it and to allow the flow to continue.

Last year, DHS, his Agency, deported less than 5 percent of all migrant encounters at the border. In 2022, only 10 percent of all criminal illegal aliens in the United States were arrested.

While a border wall would do so much to help end the border crisis, Secretary Mayorkas stated:

From day one, this Administration has made clear that a

border wall is not the answer.

His words. From day one, they have made clear that a border wall is not the answer. Well, let me tell you something: Walls work. Throughout history,

walls have worked. The evidence is overwhelming.

Secretary Mayorkas has refused to uphold his constitutional duty of securing the homeland, and the American people are suffering the consequences.

Five years ago, Leader Schumer was all too happy to lead a partisan, baseless impeachment trial against President Trump. Yet, today, when faced with a Secretary who is unfit for office, Leader Schumer is trying to prevent a Senate trial and dismiss the House's Articles of Impeachment.

(Mr. WYDEN assumed the Chair.)

Never before has the Senate dismissed impeachment charges without holding a trial.

When I talk to Tennesseans, they talk about their frustration with Washington, DC, and their frustration with two tiers of justice. It seems there is a tier for the Democrats and the elites and illegals and another for Republicans and President Trump and people who are conservative.

It is important that Secretary Mayorkas be held to account. For 3 years, he has done President Biden's bidding by opening the border to millions of illegal aliens. If this Chamber upholds its constitutional duty to hold a trial, I will vote to convict Secretary Mayorkas and remove him from office.

While the Biden administration is working to make illegal immigration legal, border States such as Texas are stepping up to do what this administration will not do, and that is to secure the border.

Over recess, I spent time in El Paso, TX, to see firsthand how Governor Abbott and authorities in the Lone Star State are working to keep communities safe. Now, it is a part of the efforts in Texas to deter illegal immigration, and Texas is taking this seriously to make certain that they secure property there along the Rio Grande.

What they have done is to place buoys in the river, shipping containers on the embankment, razor wire behind that, and fences behind that. They did this along the Rio Grande there in El Paso to prevent illegal aliens from coming in through El Paso.

Texas has bolstered its barriers, and what you are seeing now is that the illegal aliens are traveling farther to the west. They are going to New Mexico. They are going to Arizona. They are going to California. Why? Because they are looking for somewhere easier that they can get into the country illegally.

(Mr. WELCH assumed the Chair.)

Bear in mind, the coyotes, they are working hard for all of these groups and for the cartels, and nobody enters without paying a coyote.

Now, when you look at what Texas is doing, taking this into their own hands--and you have got the State, you have got local counties--they are spending billions at the State level and millions in these counties. And as a result, illegal immigration in Texas dropped by 54 percent between December and January. And in the Del Rio Sector, which includes Eagle Pass, illegal entries fell by 76 percent.

This shows you border walls work. The Border Patrol has been telling us for decades: We need a barrier; we need better technology where we cannot have a barrier; and we need more officers and agents. So while the Biden administration pretends otherwise, knowing that walls work should not be a surprise. Border walls from ancient Athens to the Great Wall of China, they protected cities. They protected nations for thousands of years. Border barriers are used on nearly every continent on Earth to protect countries from illegal entry, from drug smuggling, and from terrorism.

But instead of supporting Texas and its successful efforts to deter illegal immigration, this administration and this Secretary of Homeland Security, they think it is a good thing to go sue Texas and try to make them remove their border barriers. While Texas has accomplished a lot in securing their border, protecting families, and saving American lives, President Biden's attack on our border security has placed a tremendous burden on our border States and communities. Indeed, every town has turned into a border town, every State a border State all across this country because of what is happening with the drug trafficking, with human trafficking, with sex trafficking, with crime in communities.

While I was in Eagle Pass, I sat down with some ranchers and farmers who have had their property destroyed, stolen, broken into by illegal aliens crossing into our country from Mexico. In one instance, two migrants broke into a rancher's home while his 16-year-old daughter was studying at home alone.

Texas law enforcement also warned about the ways cartels are using new technology to aid their smuggling operations, including by using Chinese-owned TikTok to recruit Americans into their human trafficking rings. At the same time, cartels are flying drones into the United States to scope out the location of border agents and redirect their smuggling routes.

More than anything else, authorities in Texas told me that they need more border wall construction, better technology, and more agents.

So if Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden refuse to help them, Congress has to step in. That is why I introduced legislation called the CONTAINER Act, which would empower border States such as Texas to place temporary barriers on Federal land to protect their communities.

No State or locality should face lawsuits from the Federal Government for trying to secure our border and to protect the sovereignty of the United States of America.

I also introduced the CLEAR Act, which would reaffirm the authority of State and local governments to enforce Federal immigration laws by apprehending, detaining, and then transferring illegal aliens to Federal custody. Among its important measures, this legislation would require the Department of Homeland Security to provide grants to State and local governments to help them enforce immigration law and construct detention facilities. It would also require DHS to take illegal aliens into custody within 48 hours after receiving a request from a State or locality and provide the Justice Department with essential information about illegal aliens who have overstayed their period of stay in this country.

After my visit to Eagle Pass, I know these pieces of legislation would do so much to support our border security along these border States, and I am hopeful that this President and his Department of Homeland Security will have a change of heart and will move forward with securing our southern border, just as this Chamber should move forward with an impeachment trial on Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.