Floor Statements

Madam President, yesterday was the deadliest day yet in the continued fighting between the terrorist forces attacking Israel and Israel's measured, precise, and defensive response.

Hamas unleashed another round of rocket barrages, intentionally targeting civilian areas all across Israel. Israel intensified its campaign to, among other specific military objectives, destroy the terrorist group's underground networks of weapons storage and command and control.

Last week, Hamas's rocket attacks took the life of a 5-year-old Israeli boy. And because Hamas, in stark violation of the laws of war, intentionally co-locates its terrorist facilities in civilian buildings in neighborhoods, Israeli strikes have regrettably led to civilian casualties in Gaza.

No one is glad to see the fighting, but we are already seeing some push the false narrative that this conflict is a tragic dispute between two legitimate combatants where both sides share blame that is roughly equal--what nonsense. This yields calls for blanket cease-fires and people wagging their fingers at both sides. This camp apparently includes some of our own Senate colleagues.

To say that ``both sides'' need to deescalate downplays the responsibility the terrorists have for initiating the conflict in the first place and suggests Israelis are not entitled to defend themselves against ongoing rocket barrages. I completely reject this obscene moral equivalence.

Now, the second false narrative is the view on the increasingly vocal far left that Israel is, to quote one far-left Member of the House, an ``apartheid state.'' Another says Israel has perpetrated ``an act of terrorism.''

Look, this is not a conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. Hamas has sought to hijack recent tensions to advance its own narrow, violent objectives. In that sense, it is a conflict between Israel and a terrorist rump state in Gaza that uses its civilian population as human shields and exploits their suffering for political gain. These terrorists set up shop in apartment buildings and under press offices. They direct rocket attacks from the cover of schools and markets. In the past, when their operatives have been killed, they passed them off to the international community as civilian victims of Israel.

Few countries in history spend as much effort to avoid civilian casualties during war as Israel and the United States. We hold our militaries to the highest standard. Our Israeli friends take pain to defend themselves in ways that are responsible and spare the very civilians Hamas is willing to sacrifice for its propaganda. Israel invests heavily in precision munitions. They spend precious time after attacks confirming target identification. And listen to this: They even provide advance warning to civilians in Gaza before specific buildings are targeted, even when doing so means the terrorists may also evacuate.

It is all well and good for President Biden to speak with the President of the Palestinian Authority, but he holds little sway in Gaza. And twice he has rejected generous offers from different Israeli Governments aimed at establishing an enduring peace.

But if the so-called international community wants to actually make a

difference--really make a difference--they can impose real costs on those who fund the terror weapons of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

We know where their return address is. It is over in Tehran.

I have been proud to stand with Israel for years, and I am proud to stand with Israel today. The United States needs to stand foursquare behind our ally. President Biden must remain strong against the growing voices within his own party that create false equivalence between terrorist aggressors and a responsible state defending itself.

Israel deserves an opportunity to restore deterrence and to impose costs on terrorists the international community has been unwilling or unable to impose. There is a saying that has been around for quite a while: If Hamas laid down its weapons tomorrow, there would be no more fighting; if Israel laid down their weapons, there would be no more Israel.

So let's leave no doubt where America stands

On an entirely different matter, when the 117th Congress and President Biden were sworn in back in January, our Nation had already turned the corner in our battle with the coronavirus. New cases and deaths had already peaked and actually started to plummet. The vaccines, made available in record time thanks to Operation Warp Speed, had already started to roll out nationwide at a rate which the Biden administration inherited and sustained until April. The five bipartisan COVID packages that Congress passed in 2020 had the American economy packed with dry powder and primed for an epic comeback.

Economists across the spectrum agreed. One of President Obama's CEA chairmen said: ``We have no historic parallel with anything like this level of excess saving.'' Larry Summers, another top Obama adviser and President Clinton's Treasury Secretary before that, said the bipartisan December package was already enough to elevate a measure of household income to ``abnormally high levels, unheard of during an economic downturn.'' We were already adding back jobs.

But instead of tailoring another bill to build on this momentum, they pushed ahead with the $2 trillion partisan plan that the far left wanted. Republicans predicted it would hurt our recovery if Washington kept taxing working people so the government could pay others a bonus to stay home. I stood here in February and quoted an expert who said:

In an expanding economy that is putting the virus behind

it, paying people more in unemployment than they could

receive from working is an act of substantial economic self-

harm. It would keep workers on the sidelines, stop the

unemployment rate from falling as rapidly as it otherwise

would, and slow the overhaul recovery.

Well, we all knew what would happen, but Democrats insisted on continuing to pay people more not to work.

In April, as the President's policies took effect, we only added 266,000 jobs. That is nearly 800,000 under estimates, just as jobs openings soared to more than 8 million, the biggest number ever recorded. We are literally taxing the American workers who are back on the job for the sake of slowing down our economic recovery.

Instead of an agenda to reopen America, Democrats muscled through policies that would actually prolong parts of this crisis. And, of course, that is what happened. A record number of small businesses say they have open jobs they cannot fill.

Governors across America are having to take matters into their own hands and turn off these extra-generous benefits. In States like Arizona, Georgia, Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia, we have Governors having to clean up this mess, which at least one of their own Senators actually voted for.

The policies that we needed in March of 2020 are not the policies we need in May of 2021. That has been obvious to Republicans, to economists, and to the American people.

The sooner that my Democratic friends here in Washington can catch up, the better.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, throughout a year full of new and difficult challenges, the greater Louisville region has been fortunate to have my friend Brian Riendeau helping lead the response. As the executive director of Dare to Care food bank, Brian has been instrumental in delivering tens of millions of quality and nutritious meals each year around this community. His vision and talent support families when they need it most, and we owe him a major debt of gratitude. This summer, Brian will bring to a close his 12 years of remarkable leadership at Dare to Care. I would like to take a moment today to recognize his accomplishments and thank him for his vast contributions to Kentucky.

This last year wasn't the first time I've watched Brian deliver for Kentucky. Before we worked together in

his current role, I had the privilege of having Brian on my Senate staff. For 5 years, he was an important adviser on legislation and Kentucky-focused priorities. While I was sorry to see him leave my office, I was pleased to know he was headed to the Bluegrass. He spent more than a decade in corporate leadership at one of Louisville's biggest employers before dedicating himself full-time to combating food insecurity.

In 2009, Brian joined Dare to Care with a plan. He wanted to expand the food bank's physical footprint and its reach. Founded in Louisville more than 50 years ago to address a troubling rise of malnutrition, Dare to Care partners with nearly 300 local organizations to promote healthy and active lifestyles across the community. Brian grew the staff to 60-strong and developed a strategy to further invest in Louisville and the surrounding region. In the last few years, he completed a $7 million-plus capital campaign to build a new community kitchen to serve even more Kentuckians.

I had the opportunity to see Brian's operation firsthand last July. In the first months of the pandemic, demand for Dare to Care's help jumped around 35 percent. Brian and his team overcame supply-chain disruptions, implemented social distancing and other medical precautions, and continued serving those in need. In fact, once Brian's team stocked its shelves, Dare to Care was even able to help other food banks in Kentucky fill their own. Brian's forward-thinking and commitment to service helped countless Kentucky families during the hardest days of this pandemic. I am so grateful to him and his team for working around the clock to feed Kentucky.

Dare to Care is well-positioned to continue fulfilling its mission for years to come, and Brian's outstanding leadership helped get it there. Whatever comes next for Brian and his wife Judy, I know I speak for his many admirers in wishing him all the best. I would like to express my personal gratitude for his years of dedication to Kentucky, and I encourage my Senate colleagues to join me in congratulating Brian for his many successes.

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

Mr. President, I will begin this morning where I began on Monday, talking about National Police Week. Yesterday, I got to welcome members of Kentucky's Fraternal Order of Police here to my office. I was glad for the chance to share my gratitude for their service and hear what was on their minds.

Tragically, the past year's fallen officers, whom we will be memorializing this week, includes one of Kentucky's own. In early 2020, Detective James Kirk of the Stanton Police Department suddenly passed away from a heart attack in the wake of struggling with an armed subject. He was only 40 years old.

By all accounts, during James's nearly 20 years of service, he became a model officer. He even served as police chief of a nearby department. His colleagues remembered his easygoing, friendly nature and his total professionalism.

As our Nation honors this brave Kentuckian, we continue to hold his wife Brandy, their family, and the entire Stanton Police Department in our prayers. Later today, Detective Kirk will join the ranks of heroes enshrined on the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

We are also honoring our colleagues here in the Capitol this week, the U.S. Capitol Police. On Peace Officers Memorial Day this Saturday, we will especially remember Officers Evans, Sicknick, and Liebengood, all taken too soon.

Their sacrifices are a sharp reminder: Standing with law enforcement isn't something we can do only 1 week every year; we need to back the blue all year round.

Mr. President, on an entirely different matter, while Senators were back in our home States last week, the Washington Post ran this headline: ``Chinese greenhouse gas emissions now larger than those of developed countries combined.'' Let me say that again. ``Chinese greenhouse gas emissions now larger than those of developed countries combined.''

China is out-emitting the United States, India, and the entire European Union combined. They are now responsible for more than one- fourth of the entire world's emissions. Beijing admits they aren't even planning for their emissions to start declining for another decade.

It is a clear reality check: No matter how much self-inflicted pain the far left might want to impose on American workers and families, it would barely make any dent in the global calculus. Remember, with the United States outside the Paris Agreement, our emissions fell on our own even as our economy grew. Meanwhile, countries inside the deal, like China, have kept roaring right on by.

Strangely, this didn't stop the Biden administration from rushing to rejoin the failed deal. This is just one of the ways in which American competitiveness has recently seemed to take a back seat.

This White House canceled a pipeline project that would have increased energy security and supported thousands of American jobs. They froze exploration of domestic resources that helped our Nation become a net energy exporter for the first time since the 1950s.

After we just spent 4 years beginning to rebuild and modernize our national defense, this administration indicated they will propose to cut defense spending after inflation--fewer resources for our troops, fewer tools to keep pace with China. They want to play year-to-

year games while our adversaries and competitors plan years and decades in advance.

As former Defense Secretary Bob Gates put it in an interview this week, cutting spending on our military would be ``a terrible mistake.'' That is President Obama's Defense Secretary, Bob Gates.

There could not be a more dangerous approach for the United States-- shortchanging the Pentagon and making America less competitive.

The first draft of the so-called jobs bill that the White House put forward would play into the same dangerous dynamic. I am talking about the multitrillion-dollar proposal that spends less than 6 percent--less than 6 percent--on roads and bridges, the plan that Ivy League economists say would cost hundreds of billions of dollars more than the White House says; push American workers' wages down; and somehow manage to shrink our economy despite taxing, borrowing, and spending trillions more dollars. That is not a plan to make America stronger and more competitive; it is a plan to pile up debt to leave us even weaker. It would be better news for Beijing than for our own citizens.

That is the bad news. The good news is that the Senate can do better. This body has long tackled real infrastructure on a commonsense, bipartisan basis and ended up with bills that passed by big, lopsided, bipartisan votes. That is what we Republicans are prepared to do again. That is the path I discussed with President Biden at the White House just yesterday. It was a good meeting. That is the road that the practical proposal from Senator Capito and a number of my fellow Republican Senators would begin to take us down.

If our Democratic friends are finally ready to reach across the aisle and work together to locate common ground, I am hopeful we can do a lot of good for the country and compete with China for real

On one final matter, the attacks being directed at innocent Israeli citizens are coming from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad. Both these terrorist groups receive support from Iran.

The regime in Tehran is the most active state sponsor of terrorism in the entire world. The regime supports Shia terrorists, Sunni terrorists, and secular terrorists.

Many of the rockets now raining down on Israel cities are gifts from Iran, technologies of terror honed by Iran's proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

Days ago, the U.S. Navy seized weapons on a vessel that appears to have been dispatched from Iran bound for Yemen to fuel the violent Houthi terrorists, in violation of the U.N. embargo. Just last night, the Houthis again fired missiles against Saudi Arabia.

Public reporting suggests Iran's proxies, on top of assassinating Iraqi protesters, are stepping up attacks on the U.S. and coalition presence in Iraq as well. Iran is emboldened by our retreat from Afghanistan. They are eager to challenge an administration that appears desperate to return to a failed deal.

What former Defense Secretary Bob Gates said this week about weakness inviting challenge from China and Russia applies to Iran as well.

The answer is not accommodation; it is America's strength. But reportedly, this administration is considering preemptive concessions-- a huge rollback of sanctions, squandering our leverage, just to leap back into a failed nuclear deal. I sincerely hope these reports prove to be wrong.

It is difficult to believe an American President would consider removing terrorism- or missile-related sanctions at the very moment Iranian rockets are raining down on Israel, Iranian-backed militia are attacking American facilities in Iraq, and Iranian missiles are being trained on Saudi Arabia.

I cannot understand why the administration is considering any sanctions relief to induce Tehran back into the Obama deal in the first place. It would be total malpractice to squander our leverage just to jump back into a flawed deal. That kind of preemptive capitulation would make negotiating a better deal much, much more difficult.

Iran's own Foreign Minister has lamented that the terror masterminds of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps basically run the country. So what on Earth does our administration think the successors of Soleimani would do with another influx of cash?

If the administration will stay smart, stay tough, and work toward a better deal that truly halts Iran's nuclear and missile programs, as well as a strategy to confront Iranian terrorism, then the President will find support and partnership from the Republican side. But if the administration chooses policies that leave America weaker and the world more dangerous, Republicans will stand up for the right course.

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

Mr. President, a one-party takeover of our political system--that is what Senate Democrats brought to the Rules Committee just yesterday, their side's top priority for multiple years now.

The supposed rationales for the bill continue to change. A few years ago, when majorities of Democrats were mistakenly convinced that foreigners had hacked voting machines and tampered with tallies in 2016, this was marketed as an election security bill. But it keeps morphing to suit new headlines. Lately, it has been called a racial justice bill. Some Senators say it is really a response to some recent State-level legislation, even though their bill predates those bills by multiple years.

A partisan power grab in search of a justification--that is what we have here. Voter turnout last November was the highest in decades. African-American turnout was twice as high in Mississippi as it was in Massachusetts. Democrats' hysterical attacks against the new election law in the State of Georgia have been dismantled even by typically left-leaning fact checkers.

There is no crisis. Our Democratic friends just want the power to rewire our democracy on a partisan basis. S. 1 would take the Federal Election Commission--the bipartisan panel that regulates elections and private citizens' speech--and make it a partisan body run by the Democrats.

It would let Washington Democrats act like a nationwide board of elections on steroids, neutering popular things like voter ID and forcing legalized ballot harvesting onto all 50 States. This bill would let bureaucrats snoop around more in free speech; attack citizens' privacy so dramatically that even the liberal ACLU is unhappy; and even send public funds--get this: public funds--directly to politicians.

Republicans put forward amendments to fix those things. If Democrats had wanted real, bipartisan solutions, Republicans were there, right at the table, and ready, but Democrats voted us down. They wouldn't even let us redirect any of that public money to the opioid crisis. They wanted that cash for their own campaigns.

This partisan power grab failed to advance out of committee for the same reason it must never ever become law as currently written. It will shatter public confidence in our democracy if the Democratic Party decides it can rig the rules

Mr. President, now on a different matter, yet again, air raid sirens have been sounding in Israel. Israeli civilians have been huddling in basements, shelters, and hospital stairwells. Hamas rocket attacks are lighting up the skies, hitting buildings, and terrorizing, injuring, and killing innocent people. Of course, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad receive significant support from Iran.

Fortunately, a remarkable percentage of the incoming rockets have been intercepted in midair by Israel's Iron Dome system. Americans should take some pride of our own in defending our friends with these high-tech defenses, which we have helped Israel bring online and have advanced our own joint missile defense efforts at the same time. Missile defense is expensive but vital. It is yet another reason I am concerned with this administration's intention to underfund defense.

Whatever complaints Palestinians have with Israel's Government, wanton violence against civilians is completely and totally inexcusable. This is barbaric terrorism, not a legitimate protest; nor is it legitimate for Israel's obsessive critics to suggest any equivalency whatsoever between these inexcusable attacks and Israel's measured and quite targeted response against terrorists.

Yesterday here in Washington, street protesters screamed--listen to this--``Israel is a terrorist state.'' On the streets of Washington, they screamed: ``Israel is a terrorist state.'' Some Democratic Members of Congress echoed that rhetoric almost exactly.

Look, the State of Israel has every right of self-defense. Its national security leaders have continued to display restraint and invest so much in precision and avoiding civilian casualties. That has been the approach of the Israeli Government.

Israel must know that their friends and allies here in the United States stand with them as they seek to restore deterrence, that we support their right to peace and security, and that we will not relax our efforts to hold terrorists and terrorists' supporters to account.

Now one final matter, Mr. President. This morning, I will be joining three other congressional leaders to meet with President Biden at the White House. There is certainly no shortage of important business to discuss.

The President campaigned on a promise that his agenda would unite a divided nation. And he inherited a favorable situation. Vaccines were flooding America. Science had proven schools can reopen. Job openings were beginning to pile up.

Republicans sought to continue the 2020 bipartisan streak on COVID relief, but our new President and our Democratic colleagues preferred a one-party approach. They used the end of the pandemic to pass what the President's own staff admitted--admitted--was ``the most progressive bill in American history.'' Not exactly shopping for consensus.

Republicans were upfront with our concerns. We said these old liberal ideas would slow rehiring, slow down the reopening, and stoke inflation. Of course, just a few minutes ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published the most dramatic monthly inflation report in more than a decade. Many of the things American families buy have grown more expensive at a dizzying pace. Last week's incredibly disappointing jobs report showed what happens when Washington taxes working people to pay other people more to stay home.

I am going to discuss these and other concerns with the President today, but I also hope we can begin to come together on pressing issues that should actually unite us.

The last time Congress took comprehensive action on surface transportation infrastructure, 83 Senators signed on. By the way, that bill was produced by Senator Boxer, myself, and Senator Inhofe--a totally bipartisan effort across broad ideological lines. The last time we drilled down on water resources, the margin was 92 to 6. Infrastructure can and should be a bipartisan issue; the same for supporting working families; the same for supporting our national defense.

If the President can remember that he promised to govern for all Americans, not just the far left, if my Democratic friends can remember they have just a 50-50 Senate and a closely divided House--not exactly a sweeping mandate for a socialist agenda--there is much we can deliver together for the country.

I hope today marks the start of a new course correction from this White House and a more successful dialogue across party lines. That is what Americans need, and that is what they deserve.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, like all of my colleagues, I spent last week traveling my home State. I spoke with Kentuckians about where we have come over the past 15 months, where we are today, and the bright future we should have ahead.

More than 1.8 million Kentuckians have received COVID vaccines. These medical miracles were created in record time by genius scientists plus Operation Warp Speed. And they are proving the pathway back to normalcy that we had hoped for.

I was happy to get to visit the Baptist Health Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown to hear about their vaccination program and to thank the staff for all of their work.

We should be on track for a fantastic American comeback summer, full steam ahead. From vaccinations to job growth, the new Biden administration inherited favorable trends in every direction, thanks to the five bipartisan rescue packages that Congress passed just last year.

But in several important ways, the decisions of elected Democrats have contributed to slowing the return to normalcy. We have seen some State and local officials bow to Big Labor and soft-pedal the clear science on school reopenings. And the big bill that Washington Democrats pushed through a couple of months ago did not require schools to reopen in order to receive even more extra funding.

The President and his team keep sending mixed messages about gatherings and wearing masks that sometimes break from their own CDC's guidance for vaccinated Americans. Again, there almost seems to be some reluctance to let go of emergency measures, even to the point of clashing with science.

And what about our economic recovery? Back in March, Democrats rammed through their so-called American Rescue Plan with a $2 trillion partisan spending spree. It is packed with policies that seem designed for March 2020, not March 2021; for example: continuing to use taxpayer dollars to pay a special bonus for unemployed people to stay home rather than filling one of the growing number of job openings around the country.

Republicans had this crazy idea that with vaccines flooding the country, with COVID-19 in retreat, it was time

to actually reopen our country instead of spending even more of working families' tax dollars to keep things shut down.

Well, a few days ago, experts were stunned by a monthly jobs report for April that came in way below expectations. It was the first full month of data collected after the Democrats passed their so-called rescue plan. This bill they sold as a fast-acting, urgent, emergency measure that was going to bolster our economy right away. This report was expected to show that more than a million American workers had gotten jobs back in the month of April. Instead, we added about one- fourth that many jobs.

Now, I had just spent the prior week talking with Kentuckians. I spoke with workers and employers at nearly every size of business from just about every kind of industry, all across the spectrum. And from big national companies to local chambers of commerce, to businesses like Manchester Tank in Campbellsville, we heard optimism but also real concerns--concerns about inflation and runaway costs, concerns about backed-up supply chains.

And as Washington pays workers a bonus to stay unemployed, virtually everyone discussed very real concerns about their difficulties in finding workers who are willing to come back and fill these open positions. Almost every employer I spoke with specifically mentioned the extra generous jobless benefits as a key force holding back our recovery.

Now, I have heard some Democrats say that whatever incentives Washington creates, the responsibility really falls on workers. But my friends on the other side can't use the American people to shield their own bad ideas from scrutiny. Policy matters. Incentives matter.

It is May of 2021. Vaccines are available nationwide. There are millions of jobs open, ``Help Wanted'' signs from coast to coast. We should not still be taxing the Americans who are working to fund continued extra benefits for those staying home.

It is not March of 2020 anymore. It is May of 2021. Kentuckians and all Americans need our Democratic friends to govern accordingly.

Madam President, on another matter, yesterday marked the beginning of National Police Week. Under normal circumstance, we would be welcoming police officers across the country here to Washington to share experiences and commemorate brothers and sisters who have fallen in the line of duty.

This year, I understand many of the in-person gatherings have been postponed until this autumn. But we are still remembering our law enforcement officers as we prepare for Police Officers Memorial Day on May 15.

The past year has seen the difficult job of law enforcement become even harder. They have battled the challenges of the historic pandemic. In many places, they have grappled with increased violent crime rates and unrest. And following terrible incidents this past year, the majority of brave and honorable law enforcement officers have too often found themselves painted unfairly with a broad brush, as though their entire profession should be defined by the worst examples.

This year's remembrances will be especially somber here at the Capitol, where we are still mourning Officers Billy Evans, Howie Liebengood, and Brian Sicknick, whom we have lost in a matter of months.

I hope police officers throughout our country, from the Capitol to Kentucky and all 50 States, know how very grateful we are for their courage and for their service.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, the Bluegrass State is home to many heroes. For centuries, brave Kentuckians have proudly worn the uniform to defend our country and our way of life. Earlier this month, we said goodbye to one of these remarkable individuals. Ernie West, of Greenup County, was recognized in 1954 for his courage in the Korean war with our country's top military recognition, the Medal of Honor. He inspired those who knew him and became an example of our Commonwealth's highest ideals. Today, I would like to join Ernie's admirers in paying tribute to his incredible life and offering condolences to his family.

For Ernie, who came from humble beginnings in a children's home, putting his fellow soldiers' safety before his own was practically second nature. During a patrol, his squad was ambushed by North Korean fighters. Ernie sprang into action, braving enemy grenades and intense fire to carry three wounded comrades to safety. As he did, the young private suffered serious wounds, including taking shrapnel that eventually cost him his eye.

After the war, President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented Ernie with the Medal of Honor in recognition of his valor and selfless sacrifice. Ernie never considered himself a hero and almost refused to accept the medal. He believed everyone who served with him was deserving of the same honor. In the years that followed, Ernie became a proud example of service to a cause larger than oneself. Kentucky was grateful to have this hero among us for so many years, and we will all miss him.

Mr. President, the Daily Independent in nearby Ashland paid tribute to Ernie West and his heroism. I ask unanimous consent the article be printed in the Record.