Floor Statements

Mr. President, right now, TSA agents are going without pay because Republicans and the White House have decided they would rather shut down all of DHS than pass some very basic reforms to rein in ICE and Border Patrol.

For weeks on end, Democrats have been very crystal clear about what measures need to be put in place before a full DHS bill can pass. These are steps that the American people are demanding and that local police departments across the country already follow.

And we have also been clear that when it comes to reining in these out-of-control Agencies and preventing more Americans from being shot and killed by masked Federal agents, half steps are not going to cut it.

But Republicans are acting like they have no idea what the problem is or what Democrats and what the American people are demanding here.

And now Republicans are not only dragging their feet on the basic reforms, they are refusing to fund TSA and FEMA and other important DHS functions while these negotiations continue.

Now, in my view, that is just plain wrong. If Republicans are going to drag their feet on commonsense reforms to protect their own constituents from having their door broken in by masked Federal agents without so much as a warrant, then they should, at a minimum, work with us to make sure that TSA is funded. At a minimum, we should make sure that disaster relief is not put at risk and that our cyber defense agency is fully operational.

I offered a bill to get this done--to fund all of DHS except ICE, Border Patrol, and former Secretary Noem's office--but last week, after spending the entire week talking about how important these parts of DHS are, Senate Republicans blocked that bill.

But I am here today to give Republicans another opportunity to do the right thing and ask my Republican colleagues to put politics aside for a moment, work with us to get TSA and FEMA funded now, and press ahead to rein in ICE and Border Patrol.

My colleagues know me. They know I will talk to anyone who is serious about getting results. But the problem right now, the reason we are here at an impasse, is not because Democrats don't want a deal. That is ridiculous. It is not because we aren't willing to talk; I have been talking to my colleagues across the aisle all week. The problem is that Republicans are still refusing to agree to basic measures that we need to protect American's basic rights and their safety, the same measures we have been demanding for weeks as part of these negotiations.

Look, this just isn't complicated. Democrats' position here is simple: We want reforms to rein in ICE and Border Patrol. We also want TSA and FEMA funded. But we are not going to be blackmailed into cutting a blank check for ICE to get it done.

So I hope Republicans stop listening to Stephen Miller and start getting serious about reform or, at the very least, stop blocking the funding for TSA and FEMA and the Coast Guard and more while these negotiations on ICE and Border Patrol continue.

So, Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of my bill, which is at the desk; that the bill be considered read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

To the majority leader, thank you for asking that question because I think it is really clear what has happened here.

As the Senator knows, during the negotiations over the Christmas break, when everybody else was out doing what they do, we did negotiate the Senate DHS bill with our House counterparts, repeatedly asked for some things and were rebuffed every single time, overridden by the White House.

So I am here today to remind everybody that you, Mr. Leader, that the leader spoke to all of us when we came to a disagreement on DHS and ICE funding; that the leader himself said that this negotiation was between the Democratic leaders--that would be Senator Schumer and Representative Jeffries--and the White House.

So I appreciate talking to my colleagues. I have talked to a number of them about what they might or might not be willing to do.

But having my experience here--and, I would guess, the experience of a number of my colleagues--until we know that the White House is actually really and not just, you know, a representative, but is really at the table, which is what I believe the majority leader asked for, those are not real negotiations.

I am willing to talk to people, but I am not willing to sit in a room, have coffee, give away a few things, and have Stephen Miller override whatever we all agree to in a room until I have that commitment.

I am certain that I speak for our majority leader as well and for Leader Jeffries, that we need to know the White House is serious.

And what I have told my Republican colleagues every step of the way is, when we have that and we have the White House who seriously says to us: ``We believe there is a problem; we understand that; we do want to sit down at the highest levels,'' we will all be there for that.

Mr. President.

Mr. President, this was actually my time.

Mr. President, I ask for regular order.

Mr. President, I ask for regular order.

Regular order.

Regular order.

Mr. President, with all due respect to the Republican leader--and I respect his sincerity in representing his side. I respect his sincerity in wanting to find a resolution here. But I need to correct him on one really critical thing. He talked about an agreement that was there and then went away.

Do you know what happened, Senator? Two murders--two murders of American citizens.

My side was not going to stand down and say: Oh, well, nothing happened.

We were going to say: Something happened.

And what we see is an out-of-control ICE Agency, and we are coming now, at this critical time, because this critical moment happened, to ask for some reforms and accountability. That is exactly what happened.

And we are here today to say: We are willing to work on this section of the Department of Homeland Security--on which we obviously have a disagreement. And by the way, which I note, none of my Republican colleagues have ever come out here and acknowledged what has happened to American citizens. And I can sit out here for 45 minutes and outline that. None of them have acknowledged that. So you can see our frustration in saying: Let's fund the rest of Homeland. Our caucus is united on that--TSA, FEMA, CISA, and so much more.

But we obviously have a disagreement and, clearly, an acknowledgment from the White House and the Republicans that reforms and accountability have to be part of funding for ICE.

I remind everyone, as Senator Peters said a few moments ago, there are considerable funds in the Big Beautiful Bill to continue to take care of what ICE is. I think it is so incredibly important that the Republican leader, whom I respect--and I understand he represents his side. But I would respectfully tell him that having a few Members talk is not going to resolve a situation where we need an understanding--and a clear understanding--from the White House.

He mentioned the offers that have gone back and forth. There are continuing conversations at that level, and I respect that, and I hope that our leaders continue to do that. That is critical. But we have to have that understanding, and that is where we are. This lies with the White House to make it very clear that someone is willing to negotiate with this that understands what has happened in cities across our country--and, in particular, in Minneapolis, where two people were murdered. If we can hear those words, then I think we are on the way to coming to an understanding.

But, in the meantime, let's fund these Agencies. That is what we are asking the Republicans to do with us today, and it is disconcerting to me that they continue to not hear what we are asking for.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, as I have made clear to all of my colleagues on both sides, Democrats are happy to pass funding for DHS Agencies--TSA, FEMA, CISA, and more--while we work on accountability for ICE and Border Patrol. I just tried to pass that bill.

What we are not willing to do is pass a bill with more funding for ICE and Border Patrol and no reforms--to pass a bill for ICE and Border Patrol with zero reforms.

This is pretty simple. We cannot have masked thugs kidnapping American citizens--no badge or identification, no warrant, nothing. We cannot have peaceful protestors and legal observers getting tackled and tear-gassed and even shot and killed by Federal agents.

We cannot just ignore the Trump administration slandering American citizens as terrorists and lying shamelessly to cover up its abuses.

We have got to have accountability. We have got to. Americans' rights are at stake, and, as we have seen, their lives are at stake. This bill from Republicans, which is essentially unchanged from the last time we rejected it, doesn't do enough to meet this moment--not by a long shot.

But look, if the Senator wants to work with me on a short-term CR to fund TSA and FEMA and other important Agencies without providing more money at this time for ICE and Border Patrol, I am ready. I am willing to get that done today.

Therefore, I object.

Mr. President, I have to say it is extremely frustrating to me that, despite all their talk about how important it is that we do fund the TSA and FEMA and CISA and more, and despite the Republicans' own acknowledgement that they have already funded ICE and the Border Patrol with their big reconciliation--I call it the ``Big, Ugly Bill''--from last summer, now Republicans are unwilling to work with us to fund some of these programs that keep Americans safe while we keep trying to get somewhere on ICE and Border Patrol accountability.

Worse than that, they are acting like they have no idea why Democrats are not willing to accept the premise that, to fund TSA, we have to cut some blank check for ICE. Republicans are acting like they didn't see the same awful footage of Renee Good and Alex Pretti getting shot in cold blood. Republicans are acting like they don't remember that little boy in the bunny hat who was arrested like a violent criminal. Republicans are acting like they don't remember the family that got tear gassed on the way back from a basketball game or the American citizen who was marched out of his house, in the freezing cold, in his underwear.

As a reminder--because, apparently, Republicans need it--the Senate has had at least two hearings on this since Alex Pretti was murdered by CBP officers. With a couple of exceptions, we have not heard any Republicans in those hearings suggest they want to work with us on reforming the Agencies and reining in DHS. Yet, some Republicans are acting like they have no idea now why we are demanding things like body cameras, visible identification, adequate training standards, and basic standards as the Senator just spoke about. It is the same as our local police on things like the use of force and requiring warrants before some agent smashes in your door and drags someone away.

Republicans know exactly what Democrats have been asking for because, weeks ago, Democrats provided Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune a list of 10 critical reforms that we needed to pass the Homeland Security bill. Unfortunately, Republicans have been saying no on many of these items as far as back as last year or, in some cases, first, they say: Sure, we will work with you. Then Stephen Miller, in the White House, would get involved, and Republicans would say: Never mind.

Now, last year, Democrats were already talking about many of these reforms that we are now talking about today. In July, some of us introduced a bill calling for no masks and for clear identification. Then we saw Federal agents shoot citizens and lie about it, like in the case of Marimar Martinez, and we heard horror stories of masked agents dragging away American citizens for no reason. One American citizen was dragged off and detained twice--not charged with any crime, not arrested with a warrant. He was just picked off his worksite until ICE realized he was a citizen. That happened twice to the same guy. That is exactly why Democrats have been saying: Let's take off the masks. We cannot have unaccountable agents. Republicans said no to that idea.

Then the world watched as Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent and was denied any medical care, something even the most basic training--to say nothing of morals--should have told officers was wrong. So Democrats pushed in our DHS funding negotiations. We said: This is exactly the kind of thing we are gravely concerned about. We need serious reforms and accountability. Still, Republicans said no.

Then an innocent man--an American citizen--was dragged out of his home, in the freezing cold, in his underwear, and agents refused to even look at his ID, which showed they had completely the wrong guy. Yet, when Democrats pushed to require real judicial warrants, Republicans said no.

A little boy in bunny ears was ripped away from his home for absolutely no reason. Republicans said no.

A family on the way home from a basketball game was tear gassed. Republicans said no.

A woman on the way to a doctor's appointment had her window smashed. She was dragged out of her car. Republicans said no.

Then Alex Pretti was tackled to the ground and shot in the back several times by Federal agents--another completely unjustified killing, a murder of an American citizen--and the Trump administration tried to slander him as a terrorist. For a moment, even some Republicans said that was concerning, that it was unacceptable, that that was wrong. But we all know what ultimately happened.

Republicans have, for weeks now, refused some pretty basic steps to make these Agencies accountable. Once again, Republicans said no.

Well, the American people are not going to take ``no'' for an answer. Stephen Miller is not above the Constitution, and Donald Trump is not a King who can just sic an army of masked thugs on whatever city he wants to punish next. Democrats are not going to write a blank check for rogue Agencies that are trampling on the rights of Americans, nor are we going to accept the premise that the only way to fund TSA or disaster relief is by giving money to ICE. That is absurd.

Some on the other side are claiming the bill I just offered would defund Customs or Homeland Security investigations. That is also absurd. All the bill I just offered does is fund the rest of DHS while talks continue on ICE and the Border Patrol. The simple fact is that Republicans had already funded those Agencies when they gave them more money--than most militaries, by the way--in their ``Big Ugly Bill.''

And the Republicans' latest tactic--trying to use a war as leverage against accountability for Americans? That is just plain wrong. It is cynical, and it is utterly transparent. We are not going to give Trump a pass on citizens getting shot and killed here in America just because he singlehandedly chose to start a war that has led to Americans being killed across the globe as well.

Who in the world thought that argument would fly? Did Stephen Miller tell Republicans two wrongs make it right here? Did you think that was going to convince anybody?

Look, we are going to hold Trump accountable for his reckless war, and we are going to hold him accountable for using ICE to terrorize American citizens.

As for the rest of DHS that does that important work to keep Americans

feeling safe, like FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA--Democrats are here. We are trying to fund those Agencies while ICE and Border Patrol negotiations continue. But Republicans will neither agree to the reforms we need to rein in ICE and protect Americans, nor fund the rest of DHS while those talks continue.

Now, here is the simple truth: If the Republicans agree to simple reform, all of DHS could be funded tomorrow. And if Republicans stop blocking the bill that I just offered, TSA could be funded today. But Republicans don't want to take serious action to prevent rogue government Agencies from gunning down American citizens. We just heard that on the floor from several Republican Senators who spoke. They don't want to take any steps to make sure masked Federal agents don't kidnap people off our streets. They don't want to pass legislation to make sure Federal agents only target people who have a judicial warrant instead of breaking down windows and dragging away completely innocent people. That is the crux of the problem right now.

So let me state that again. The problem right now is not a lack of communication between both the sides. That is absurd. The problem is a lack of willingness on the part of Republicans to pass some pretty basic reforms or to even fund the rest of DHS while those talks continue.

Republicans don't want to protect Americans from rogue ICE agents. Do you know how I know that? I listened to what they said and what they didn't say right here on the floor. Are Republicans talking about the fact that American citizens have been gunned down by ICE and Border Patrol? Are Republicans talking about the fact that peaceful protesters are being tear-gassed or pepper-sprayed or tackled to the ground? Not a word on that right here.

If Republicans cannot talk about the obvious, cannot talk about the blatant abuse we have all seen from ICE and Border Patrol, how do they expect to work with us to address that? The answer is, they don't. Instead, they are pretending this is about FEMA, which I have offered to fund; or TSA, which I have offered to fund; or CISA, which I have offered to fund. They are pretending this is about ICE funds running low even after Republicans spent weeks acknowledging that the Agency has plenty of funding left from their ``Big Ugly Bill.''

What this debate actually is about is accountability. It is long past time Republicans get serious about that.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, it has been nearly 6 weeks--6 weeks-- since Alex Pretti was killed by masked Federal agents in broad daylight. It has been over 9 weeks since Renee Good was killed. And day after day, week after week, we have seen Americans brutalized by an out-of-control Department of Homeland Security--American citizens detained without cause, children ripped away from their families--as this administration treats them like political pawns in their sick games. We have seen peaceful protesters have their windows broken in by untrained and unidentifiable agents. And we have seen more people get hurt and even die because of how ICE and Border Patrol have been conducting themselves.

In this entire time, Democrats have been pushing for serious reform to rein in these Agencies. For months, I have been at the table in good faith, pushing to secure basic accountability measures for ICE and Border Patrol. We are talking about standards local police already follow across the country.

But even before Alex Pretti was shot and killed, Republicans and this White House, in particular, were telling us no on many basic reforms that would rein in ICE and CBP.

We pushed for commonsense steps to make sure poorly trained agents and officers do not trample the basic rights of American citizens and kill them for no reason. And we pushed for steps to prevent these rogue Agencies from hiding the facts from the public and sweeping everything under the rug.

But my colleagues across the aisle came back to us and said: Sorry, we cannot agree to those.

Sometimes, my Republican colleagues were willing to take one modest step or another, which I appreciate, only to have to come back and say the White House was not willing to do that, and they had to hold the line. Or worse, they backtracked on measures we agreed to because of fears of what the White House would think.

And now, here we find ourselves, nearly 6 weeks after Alex Pretti's brutal killing, and Republicans so far have continued to refuse to join us to pass any commonsense reforms to prevent more Americans from being hurt or even killed by masked Federal agents.

As I have said many times, we are not asking for the Moon. We are asking for basic steps to protect Americans' constitutional rights and their safety.

There is nothing new or controversial about body cameras or requiring identification be displayed. There is nothing extreme about insisting that ICE and Border Patrol follow the same standards as everyone else when it comes to use of force or needing a warrant before smashing in someone's door and dragging them away. These are common sense, and they are overwhelmingly popular.

This is what the American people are demanding. But Republicans have decided they would rather shut down DHS than work with us to rein in these rogue Agencies. Republicans know full well that Democrats do want to ensure that TSA and CISA and FEMA and other important Agencies are funded.

What Democrats have a problem with is funding rogue Agencies that are actively violating court orders and our civil rights and putting Americans' safety at risk. We cannot--we will not--cut a blank check for funding without reforms for ICE and Border Patrol.

But if Republicans keep dragging their feet on those basic reforms we are asking for to protect people from those rogue Federal Agencies, then we should at least make sure that TSA agents get paid and FEMA is fully funded while those negotiations continue.

TSA agents should not go without pay because Republicans refuse to agree to commonsense reforms instead of cutting another blank check for Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller to terrorize Americans.

So, yes, let's pay our Coast Guard and our TSA. Let's replenish the Disaster Relief Fund and support other work that we overwhelmingly all agree on. I have a bill that I will offer in a moment that will do that. We can pass it right now, while pressing ahead with negotiations on ICE and Border Patrol to get basic reforms and accountability the American people want.

All week, I have heard my colleagues on the other side of the aisle loudly say funding for DHS could not be more important in this moment. They have argued the instability this President has unleashed with his reckless war in Iran means Democrats must now fund DHS, including ICE, with no reforms at all.

Now, there are some obvious problems with that argument, like the bizarre notion that because Trump started a reckless war with Iran, Democrats now must rush and cut a blank check; or the fact that the biggest threat to cyber and counterterrorism work at DHS seems to be Kristi Noem, who, by the way, over the last year, has gutted CISA and has taken folks off the terrorism beat to deport farmworkers with no criminal history.

But put all that aside. I completely agree we should fund our cyber defense Agencies and FEMA and TSA.

So I hope my Republican colleagues, who also believe--I know they do--that these Agencies are important and have been making the case they do need funding, will join with me today to get this bill passed while talks on ICE and Border Patrol and much needed reform and accountability measures can continue.

With that, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of my bill, which is at the desk; that the bill be considered read three times and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, unfortunately, what has become very clear is that Republicans would rather keep the entire DHS shut down than work with Democrats to prevent more Americans from being killed by masked agents.

My Democratic colleagues and I have been very, very clear on the reforms we need. It is not secret, and we have been pushing for them for weeks on end, in good faith, to finalize a DHS bill that funds TSA and FEMA while reining in ICE and the CBP. But Republicans and the White House have now, for months, refused to agree to those basic reforms that we need to make to keep Americans safe. They have said again and again that we need to fund FEMA and TSA and other key Agencies. Well, I just tried to pass a bill that would make sure that those Agencies are funded while talks on reforms and accountability measures for ICE and Border Patrol continue. So guess what. They blocked that too.

Now, this is not complicated. Democrats want to get TSA officers paid and fund disaster relief, but we will not vote to help Republicans spend one more dime letting Stephen Miller terrorize our cities, and we will not vote to cut a blank check so that ICE can barge into Americans' homes without a warrant. We will not vote to allow ICE agents to continue wearing masks as they terrorize our communities and evade accountability. We need accountability for ICE and for Border Patrol.

It is not just Democrats' saying that. The American people overwhelmingly agree that Trump's and Noem's lawless rampage has got to come to an end. People feel that way because we have all seen what has happened. It is in plain sight. We have all seen the videos of people who are tackled and pepper-sprayed in the face and seen the protesters who are gassed for no reason. We have seen the horrific shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and we have seen Kristi Noem, ICE, and the Border Patrol blatantly lie and slander people like Renee and Alex and Marimar Martinez by falsely calling them domestic terrorists.

What we have not yet seen is accountability. That is what has got to end. No number of Republican revotes on the same failed bill is going to change that and while our bill to fund the Coast Guard and TSA and FEMA, as negotiations continue, was just objected to. So I am ready at any time to pass that. It is the right thing to do.

Instead of blocking bills to pay TSA agents or wasting time with dead-on-

arrival legislation, I hope that Republicans will listen to what we are asking for and listen to what their constituents are asking for. We need to see ICE have accountability. Work with us to pass those reforms in order to fund that full Agency.

With that, I want my colleagues to know I will continue to work to get that done.

Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, look, I, too, am frustrated this body has not been able to reach an agreement on the DHS funding bill. In particular, I am frustrated that my colleagues across the aisle and in the White House are still refusing to agree to work with us on commonsense measures to protect our constituents from being shot and even killed by unidentifiable, untrained ICE and Border Patrol agents.

Democrats have been very clear on this for weeks. We want to fund FEMA and TSA, and we want to protect Americans from the violence at the hands of rogue Federal Agencies. This is not complicated. We can and we must do both.

I have always been very clear about what we cannot do, which is cut another blank check for Kristi Noem to terrorize our communities. Unfortunately, that is what the bill from the junior Senator from Alabama would do. It would kick the can down the road and give more money to ICE and Border Patrol to trample American rights. That is not an acceptable outcome.

If Republicans won't agree to the commonsense measures we have been pushing for weeks--measures that police departments across America already adhere to--then I am absolutely willing and ready to fund the rest of DHS while talks on ICE and CBP continue. In fact, that is what the bill did that I just offered.

I object to this measure, and I really hope our Republican colleagues will join me in supporting the bill I called up a few moments ago to fund the TSA and FEMA and CISA while those talks continue. So I object.

Mr. President, President Trump promised to deliver Americans lower prices and no new wars. When it comes to broken promises, it does not get more blatant than that.

First, prices are soaring. Republicans let healthcare premiums double. They

slashed Medicaid and food stamps. And Republicans allowed Trump to hit families with the largest tax increase in American history, his tariffs that are squeezing family budgets and shutting down businesses.

But not content to only break his promise of lower prices, President Trump is also breaking his promise of no new wars. Trump is charging ahead with new conflicts without approval from Congress, without any long-term strategy, and without any concern about who will be paying for the consequences of his actions in Venezuela and now in Iran.

Trump, who is a billionaire, knows he is not going to pay for the war. He knows his family is not going to be on the front lines. Instead, everyday Americans are going to pay the cost of Trump's war with the higher prices and worse inflation, fueled by oil prices that are already rising. American families are going to pay for Trump's war in lost opportunities, as billions upon billions of dollars that could have gone to building affordable housing or making childcare accessible or lowering your healthcare premiums are now squandered on more missiles, set to be launched by a trigger-happy billionaire with no concept of the repercussions.

I mean, seriously, this President is ordering our kids to be shipped off into war from his beach club in Florida. That is obscene.

And tragically, American families are already paying the cost of Trump's war, as the lives of our brave American servicemembers, our sons and daughters, are lost. My heart goes out to the families who have already lost a loved one in Trump's war. And my thoughts are with the rest of our servicemembers on the front lines and their family members back home, all of whom are watching the news and anxiously waiting to hear what happens next.

You deserve a clear strategy from any President before he puts you in harm's way, not a President who shrugs his shoulders about how long this will go, not a President who doesn't know and doesn't care if he will put American boots on the ground, and not a Congress led by Republicans that refuse to do their job and hold the President accountable to the people before our citizens are put in danger.

You know how I can tell President Trump has no strategy? Well, I have been listening to him because I have been scouring every statement from this administration in public remarks, in private briefings for any inkling of a cohesive strategy, a real plan, even a spark of critical thinking about what happens next.

No one here mourns the Supreme Leader, but no one in this administration has a clear answer about what happens next.

I strongly support the millions of Iranians who have been protesting and speaking out for freedom and democracy, but you don't bring democracy to the Middle East with bombs. Haven't we learned that by now?

There is no guarantee that what comes next means a safer world for all of us or a democracy for the Iranian people.

War should always be a last resort. But, of course, the same people who came up with a name like Operation Epic Fury can't seem to think of a plan more nuanced than blow things up, pat themselves on the back, regardless of the fallout.

Maybe that is why Trump refused to make an address to the American people, laying out his rationale before this strike. Maybe that is why he refused to ask Congress to back his plan before he sent missiles flying--because he didn't have a plan.

That honestly becomes more clear every time a member of this administration opens their mouth. After all, Trump and his officials are contradicting themselves, one moment to the next--sometimes in the same breath. But the truth is obvious. Trump cannot pretend to have a strategy for this war when he can't even say why he started it.

First, he says: We destroyed Iran's nuclear capability. Then he says: Just kidding, we have to bomb again.

One minute the administration claims Iran planned an imminent attack on Americans. Then they admit that was not true.

Trump cannot pretend to have a strategy for this war when he can't even decide on whether this is about regime change or not. His Secretary of Defense said in the same breath:

This is not a regime-change war . . . but the regime did

change.

His Secretary of State says the administration wasn't targeting Iran's Supreme Leader. But then Trump says:

I got him before he got me.

And President Trump has also urged the Iranian people to rise up on the one hand but suggested he is ready to negotiate with the government on the other.

And Trump cannot pretend to have a strategy when he doesn't even care about the timeline. In one sentence he said the conflict is ``projected 4 to 5 weeks,'' but we have the ``capability to go far longer than that. . . . We'll do whatever.''

Excuse me? ``We'll do whatever?'' That is not a plan. ``We'll do whatever'' is simply not good enough when American lives are at stake. And then in a post yesterday, Trump said ``wars can be fought forever.'' The American people do not want forever wars, not again.

And if you really want to understand just how callous and unserious the President is about the war he is starting; if you really want to understand just how little he has thought about the American servicemembers, Embassy personnel, and everyday Americans he is putting in harm's way, Trump ended his train of thought the other day by saying:

I don't get bored. There's nothing boring about this.

Before he actually got bored of talking about the war, he started and moved right on to a topic he really does care about, his precious White House ballroom. You want to know where Trump's priorities lie? He has clearly put more thought and care and planning into this new White House ballroom than he has with the war with Iran. He will talk about it any chance he gets.

He has a timeline for the ballroom. He has a budget for that ballroom. He has an actual long-term vision for the ballroom but not for the war he started from Palm Beach, FL, not for a war with American lives on the line.

And that is because the problem is worse than Trump lacking any strategy for his war with Iran. President Trump also lacks any sort of concern for the weight of his decisions or any sort of appreciation of the sacrifice he is singlehandedly forcing on our military families.

Again, that is clear from his own words. What did he say to the tragedy that American servicemembers were killed by Iran's response? Trump said:

There will likely be more. . . . That's the way it is.

That is the way it is?

Or asked about boots on the ground, about putting our sons and daughters in the line of fire, he shrugs it off and says:

I don't have the yips with respect to boots on the ground.

That might be the most dismissive statement I have ever heard by a President making that about our servicemembers. It is reckless, it is insulting, and it is up to us here in Congress to say enough.

But we need Republicans to join us. War is not some game. Our troops are not toy soldiers. Civilian casualties are not nothing. In Iran, hundreds have died, including more than 100 schoolgirls, children. They are blameless. Hospitals have been bombed. Shopping malls and homes have been hit.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the President this war could lead to significant American casualties. Already as we know, six American servicemembers have died. I don't care if the media grades Trump on a curve. It is not acceptable for a President to shrug his shoulders at this kind of death and destruction and then provide no real reason for launching a brutal war of choice. What a disgrace to the office. What a disgrace to the role of Commander in Chief. The American people deserve so much better.

If Trump will not rule out boots on the ground, then this Congress needs to. We have a constitutional responsibility when it comes to war, and I will never let us forget that.

As I said in 2002 before voting against the Iraq war due to similar concerns, I understand the consequences of war. I don't shrink from them. My father was among the first to land in Okinawa as a GI. He was a Purple Heart recipient. Growing up, we always knew our country may need to project force to defend

our freedoms. And I know we have a high obligation to the men and women of our Armed Forces who undertake the hard work of securing our freedom.

In college, I volunteered during the Vietnam war at the Seattle Veterans Hospital. Most of the patients were young men my age at the time who had returned from Vietnam traumatized. I carry that experience with me every day. It weighs heavily on my mind whenever we are faced with questions of war and peace.

Putting our men and women in uniform in harm's way, that is an absolute last resort. We owe it to them to do our due diligence first. We must have good reasons based on solid intelligence. We must have clear goals and a plan to achieve them. We must have a serious plan that puts them in no more danger than necessary, for no longer than necessary.

We should not gamble American lives on incomplete plans, unclear objectives, and completely uncertain futures. That was on my mind when I voted against the Iraq war in 2002, and it is my North Star today as well.

But there is a big difference between what is happening right now and what happened back in 2002 before the Iraq war because you see, back in 2002, the administration came to Congress to make its case for war. The President went to the American people to make that case. And the Secretary of State spoke to the U.N. I did not agree with this case. I voted against the war. But Congress--we--all of us--had briefings. We had public hearings, and we had serious conversations with the President and his leaders.

Back in 2002, Congress debated; we deliberated; we voted. And this is critical. We did it before the Bush administration charged into what was, predictably, a painful war with no end in sight.

But Trump doesn't want any of that. He doesn't want to make his case to America or our allies or Congress. He doesn't think he has to. Trump wants to bomb what he wants, he wants to kill whom he wants to, and start whatever war he wants--consequences be damned.

We saw it in Iran. We saw it in Venezuela. This is not a pattern that we can ignore. The Founders--Founders of this country--put Congress in charge of declaring war for a reason. This cannot be left to one man, certainly not a trigger-happy billionaire who is out of touch with reality. We--all of us--have to reassert our power as a coequal branch of government, and we have to do what is best for our country and for our servicemembers.

America does not want any more wars. It does not want more Americans killed because of a reckless President that a Republican Congress refused to check. We know what America wants. All of us do know that. They want us to keep the promises that Trump broke--lower prices, no new wars.

I will be voting against this war. I urge all of my colleagues to join me.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, how am I recorded?

In the affirmative. Thank you.

The clerk continued with the call of the roll.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks before the vote is called.

Mr. President, I rise today to read my resolution congratulating the Seattle Seahawks for winning Super Bowl LX.

Whereas, on February 8, 2026, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots by a score of 29 to 13 to win Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, CA;

Whereas the game marked the second Super Bowl victory and fourth Super Bowl appearance for the Seahawks;

Whereas the Seahawks finished 14 to 3 in the regular season, coming first in the National Football Conference--Western Division on their way to victories over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round and the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game;

Whereas the Seahawks opened up a lead in the first quarter of Super Bowl LX, which the Seahawks never relinquished throughout the game;

Whereas running back Kenneth Walker III dominated the defense of the Patriots, running 94 yards over 14 plays in the first half alone and becoming the first running back to win the honor of being named the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player in almost 30 years;

Whereas the unmatched ``Dark Side'' defense by the Seahawks held the Patriots scoreless through the first half of the game and forced punts on eight of the first nine possessions of the Patriots;

Whereas kicker Jason Myers scored 5 field goals, setting a new record for the most field goals in a Super Bowl and becoming the first player at any position to score more than 200 points over an entire season in the history of the National Football League--establishing a new record of 206 points as part of a strong special teams performance;

Whereas quarterback Sam Darnold capped a strong first season with the Seahawks with a 16-yard pass to AJ Barner to score the first touchdown of the game;

Whereas quarterback Devon Witherspoon hit the quarterback of the Patriots, Drake Maye, in the fourth quarter and forced an interception by linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, who carried the ball 45 yards to a touchdown;

Whereas the remarkable season of wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba made him a unanimous All-Pro selection and the second Seahawk ever to win AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year;

Whereas the second-year head coach of the Seahawks, Mike Macdonald, led his team to victory, becoming the first head coach to win a Super Bowl as the primary defensive play caller and the third youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl;

Whereas the general manager of the Seahawks, John Schneider, who was named the NFL Executive of the Year for 2025, constructed a second Super Bowl-winning roster for the Seahawks, with entirely new players and a new head coach, becoming the first NFL executive to do so with the same organization;

Whereas the chair of the Seahawks, Jody Allen, played an important role in maintaining the winning culture established by previous owners while pushing the organization to develop innovative strategies;

Whereas the Seahawks became the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl and commit zero turnovers over the course of their full postseason;

Whereas every member of the Seahawks' roster contributed to their decisive victory in Super Bowl LX; and

Whereas the victory of the Seahawks would not have been possible without the support of our ``12s''--the greatest fans in the world;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Senate congratulates the Seattle Seahawks, their staff, and ``12s'' everywhere for the victory of the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX and respectfully directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the chair of the Seattle Seahawks, Jody Allen; the president of the Seattle Seahawks, Chuck Arnold; the general manager of the Seattle Seahawks, John Schneider; and the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Macdonald.

DHS Funding

Mr. President, I have another topic I would like to turn to before the vote, and that is to say, what we have seen over the last many months is downright un-American: masked Federal agents trampling people's First, Second, and Fourth Amendment rights and more; breaking into people's cars; tear-gassing protesters; using children as bargaining chips; and, of course, killing American citizens in broad daylight.

It is clear to just about everyone in every part of this country that ICE and CBP are out of control and must be reined in. It is clear to everyone--that is, except maybe some Republicans here in Congress.

For years, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have warned of government overreach and rogue Federal Agencies trampling Americans' constitutional rights. They have gone to great lengths to speak out against government tyranny when we ask mega corporations not to pollute, and you can bet they will scream to the high heaven about injustice and government thugs when we ask billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes. Seriously, they will raise a racket for billionaires. But the truth is, the government tyranny Republicans long warned about is here, and many of them are just silent. They enabled it by cutting a $140 billion blank check for Secretary Noem to deploy masked ICE and CBP agents to terrorize our communities.

ICE was spending beyond their funded level, so last summer, Republicans handed Kristi Noem enough cash to fund an army, and she is using that blank check to send masked men door to door asking for papers, charging into houses without a warrant, breaking car windows without a reason, staking out school zones, and dragging citizens and legal residents hundreds of miles away without so much as confirming their immigration status or charging them with a crime.

If Republicans are serious about their warnings on government tyranny, they must work with us to put an end to the insane attacks we have seen, including on Americans' most basic rights, but right now, we still have some Republicans who are seriously insisting masks have to stay on Trump's secret police and who are insisting DHS cannot be required to get judicial warrants before breaking into your home.

We have a few Republicans acknowledging the violence we have seen from ICE and CBP that must end, but we need to see more real, tangible progress to rein these Agencies in through legislation--basic constraints upheld by law.

Democrats are not asking for the Moon. We are not trying to overhaul immigration laws. We are insisting on basic measures to protect our constitutional rights and hold these Agencies accountable to some of the most basic standards as local police. After all, if

ICE and CPB do not want to be called secret police, then they should not be wearing masks and should be carrying identification 24/7. If they do not want to be accused of kidnapping people, then they should not be dragging people out of cars and houses without warrants. If they do not want to be accused of being lawless, then they need to start following the law. But they have been ignoring law after law and court after court. In a recent decision, a Bush-appointed judge--a former Scalia clerk--in Minnesota appended a list of 96 court orders that ICE has violated. What else do you call that except a rogue Agency?

The American people need us to meet this moment. We need to rein in ICE and CBP. We need to call out the avalanche of lies. Most importantly, we need to stand up for our communities because they are being terrorized by their own government.

It is not targeted law enforcement when Trump sends 8,000 Federal agents into one city and has them go door to door, especially not when agents literally tell people they are asking for papers solely because of how someone looks or speaks. It is not about our immigration laws when Trump is grabbing people who are following the law, people who have green cards in the mail, and even people who are U.S. citizens. It is not about stopping violent criminals when ICE is staking out schools and grabbing parents during pickup. In fact, just this week, we saw that the administration's own data shows that only a tiny fraction of people they have detained are violent criminals.

They have also taken military spouses, taken parents of marines. They have even taken veterans. In fact, last week, they deported a veteran. Do my colleagues hear me here? Trump deported a veteran. Think about that. Sit with that. We cannot look away from what is happening in our country. Men who fought for our freedom are being denied theirs, being exiled from the country they risked their lives for.

Meanwhile, children--kids--who have done nothing wrong are having their parents snatched away from them or are being snatched up themselves in a cruel ploy to use them as leverage.

Given how outrageous, how lawless, how heartlessly un-American Trump's crackdown has become, it is clear why people across the country are demanding action. And I don't just mean in opinion polls, though the polls do actually overwhelmingly support action to rein in ICE, and even Republican voters think ICE has gone way too far. But I also mean people are demanding action in a great American way: protesting, using their voice, speaking out, putting a spotlight on what ICE and CBP are doing to their friends and to their neighbors.

The Trump administration's response to that great American tradition, to the First Amendment in action, has been about as unhinged and un- American as it gets. The level of wanton violence and lawlessness we are seeing out of ICE and CBP is without comparison in recent U.S. history. It is the kind of stuff you expect out of Putin's Russia. Agents are saying things to protesters like ``I will put a bullet in your head if you don't shut up'' or ``You raise your voice, I erase your voice.''

The actions are even worse than the words. How many peaceful protesters have to be tear-gassed before Republicans think this is a problem? How many children? Wasn't the video of a driveby gassing bad enough? What about the photo of the man pinned to the ground getting sprayed in his face? How many car windows have to be shattered and people dragged from their cars? No warrant, no nothing. Were you not outraged to see that woman on the way to a doctor's appointment dragged out of her vehicle for no reason? Were you not appalled to learn agents shattered a glass car window, dragged away a mother, and left a 1- month-old baby in the back of the vehicle, blanket covered in glass shards? Were you not alarmed to watch an agent point a rifle at a car window of someone sitting in their own driveway and bust out the window with a gun?

How many people does ICE have to detain before Republicans stop sitting on their hands? How many kids do they have to attack like the young man at the Target that they slammed to the ground, marched off with, and then dropped him off miles away--no charges--once they realized he was a U.S. citizen? There is also the time they tackled a pregnant woman or the time they marched a citizen out of his house in his underwear in freezing weather.

Agents have recklessly caused car accidents, only to arrest the person they ran into and then make things up. Agents have even tried to round up witnesses of their crimes, rush them out of the State and through deportation before they can testify at a trial.

How many people have to be murdered by Federal agents in cold blood until Republicans join us to stop this tyranny? How many lies will Republicans tolerate--because we have witnessed brazen and dangerous lies from this administration. They lied about Alex Pretti brandishing a gun when he clearly never touched it. They lied about Renee Good trying to target agents with her car when she was clearly just trying to drive away. They lied about a young woman ramming CBP agents before they shot her, only to drop the case against her. Newly released body cam footage shows the agent turned his wheel toward her vehicle.

They said that an L.A. man was shot after he weaponized his vehicle and began ramming law enforcement, but body cam footage shows an agent's gun go off by accident as he switched hands. They said someone in detainment died from suicide, when an autopsy found it was a homicide. They said someone got eight fractures in his skull from running into a wall on purpose. The man says he was beaten. Greg Bovino said he deployed tear gas on a crowd after someone threw a rock at him, only to admit the truth in court when confronted by video evidence. The list goes on. And that is just lies we know about.

Enough.

Law enforcement cannot be lawless. That is exactly what we are seeing from ICE and CBP. As Democrats have made abundantly clear, we cannot continue funding a rogue Department without substantial reform. Accountability at DHS must be written into law.

Now, my Democratic counterparts and I have been at the table the whole time. We have put forth incredibly reasonable reforms--reforms that would increase accountability and transparency and compliance with constitutional rights, reforms that do not impact DHS' ability to detain convicted violent criminals. We remain committed and ready to land a funding bill that enshrines those reforms into law and ensures FEMA and TSA and other important functions get funded. But we cannot kick the can down the road as Republicans want us to do. The time to rein in these rogue Agencies is right now. We cannot waste another moment.

If Republicans refuse to make the changes that the American people are demanding, they are forcing a Republican shutdown of DHS. The chaos, the brutality--all of it--have happened at the explicit direction of this President and a Republican Congress that wrote him a blank check for ICE and CBP. If Republicans want Democratic votes to fix that, then they need to understand half measures will not cut it.

What Democrats are demanding is reasonable, and it is necessary. None of what we are asking for is extreme for local law enforcement, so why don't those basic standards apply to ICE? There is no good answer.

Sorry, but I don't care if Stephen Miller wants a special force that is empowered to beat up and detain or shoot whomever he doesn't like. In America, we believe in due process. We believe in our Constitution. We believe in law and order, safe streets, law enforcement we can trust. If you don't like that, go to Russia.

So Democrats are focused on getting a bill, but it has to be a bill that reins in the abuses we are seeing from ICE and CBP. Until a bill is negotiated, we cannot kick the can down the road and give license to Noem to continue the chaos with another CR that continues funding for ICE and CBP.

Americans are demanding accountability, and we will settle for nothing less. So given the track record of lawlessness from ICE and CBP, which seems to be growing longer every single day, I will be voting no on the procedural vote today and on Republicans' inadequate proposal.

The alleged withdrawal from Minneapolis is long overdue, but it is not nearly enough to end the chaos and the violence we are seeing nationwide. We need real reform. We cannot let the Trump administration act like things are ``business as usual'' when it is tear-gassing peaceful protesters, detaining people in complete violation of their rights, and even murdering citizens in cold blood. We cannot trust the same people who are lying about what is happening to be truthful about accountability. We cannot trust the same administration that is purposefully trampling our rights and causing this chaos to end it.

Late last night, we received more details on the White House's proposal, and what is clear at this point: It doesn't come close to addressing Americans' grave concerns about how ICE and Border Patrol are operating. So we need to see a lot more movement to rein in these rogue Agencies.

So Congress has to do its job, and I will continue to negotiate in good faith to deliver that reform and accountability we need to see, but we have to stop this outrageous tyranny.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Nathalia Jimenez and John Martin from my staff be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

Mr. President, before I get started, I just have to say: How about those Seahawks?

Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks on a very well-earned win in last night's Super Bowl. We are very excited to welcome them back home and celebrate a hard-fought victory. Our players brought the grit, the 12's from every part of our State brought the heart, and now our team is bringing home a trophy.

I am extra proud of my State today, and I will be introducing a resolution to commemorate this victory. It just goes to show you, you can't spell Washington State without a big ``W.''

Appropriations

Mr. President, I am not just talking about the Super Bowl here because, in the spending bills that I negotiated, we have a lot more wins headed back home. As of last week, we have gotten 11 of the 12 spending bills for the year signed into law.

Now, there is still some very hard work ahead on the DHS spending bill to enact serious accountability measures. The abuses and violence are so blatant and alarming. We have to rein in these Agencies that are trampling Americans' rights.

But, today, I want to talk about what the bills we did pass so far actually mean for folks back home in my home State of Washington. For one thing, they mean no more slush fund CR that lets Trump rob blue States like mine. Congress is reasserting its authority.

These bills mean none of the drastic cuts that Trump and the House Republicans were pushing. And for Washington State, these bills mean nearly $500 million in congressionally directed spending and $5 billion in programmatic spending are headed our way, with much more in Federal resources to come later in the form of competitive grants and formula funding. These are projects and programs that make a real, meaningful difference in lives across Washington State. I should know; I heard directly from these communities that requested this funding, and I fought side by side with them to secure these investments during very tough negotiations.

Now, some phrases, like ``congressionally directed spending,'' or CDS, can sound pretty vague. It is another DC acronym. So I want to take some time to really spell out what I am bringing back home to Washington State and make sure all the amazing things happening in our communities don't stay buried in jargon, because the reality is these are some of the most concrete projects we fund, with results you can go and see firsthand in our communities. And nothing demonstrates that better than literal concrete projects--or asphalt, as the case may be.

In Clark County, I secured $2 million for Ridgefield to continue improvements along Royle Road. Just 15 minutes away from there, in Vancouver, I secured $2 million to help reconstruct a section of the Devine Road. Another 20 minutes east, in Washougal, I secured $2 million to replace one of the busiest rail crossings in our State, with an underpass to separate the trains from the vehicles, which will reduce traffic for drivers, increase rail capacity, and improve safety for pedestrians.

In Cowlitz County, I secured $2 million for safety improvements, like new sidewalks along Columbia Heights Road. This is going to be a huge relief to parents of many children who regularly walk that road on their way to Columbia Heights Elementary School and Cascade Middle School.

In Douglas County, I secured $10 million to help build the Wenatchi Landing interchange, which will increase traffic flow with new roundabouts and increase safety with separate bike paths for pedestrians and facilitate new housing and commercial developments across the river from the growing city of Wenatchi. Folks in Douglas County will tell you this project is a big deal and is going to mean hundreds of jobs.

In Pierce County, I secured $2.5 million to replace deteriorating roads on a key freight route to the Port of Tacoma and over 300 businesses in the manufacturing industrial center. In Pend Oreille County, I secured over $700,000 to help get Dike Road back open after a spring runoff caused a devastating failure last year, limiting access to the Kalispel Reservation headquarters and creating a very serious risk of leaving people stranded in an emergency.

These kinds of crucial road repairs and upgrades aren't the only way, however, that Federal funds I have secured will make it faster and safer for Washington State families to get from point A to point B. When it comes to buses, I secured $3 million in Snohomish County to support the work on the Swift Gold Line, which will connect Everett and Arlington, two of the largest cities in that county. With stops at Marysville and Everett Community College and more, this bus rapid transit line will help workers who are heading to the Cascade Industrial Center, students who are heading to Everett Community College and WSU Everett, and connect North Snohomish to the rest of the regional network--and, someday, to light rail all the way to Seattle and Tacoma.

When it comes to ferries, I secured nearly $2 million to help the Port of South Whidbey to replace a dock on the South Marina with updated facilities. This would be a big step toward pedestrian ferry service between Clinton on Whidbey Island and Everett--something that has been proposed for a long time and would make a big difference for commuters.

In addition to CDS, I secured $25 million for Federal urban ferry grants and $20 million for rural ferry grants, and I made sure Washington State ferries can compete for that funding. We all want ferries that run safely and on time, and--I am thinking long term here--I will continue fighting for major Federal funding streams dedicated to supporting ferries because, for States like mine, it is really important for daily commuters.

Now, let's talk about public transit. I believe in public transit. Why? Because the people in Washington State voted for it again and again. And it works. Let's look at Sound Transit in Seattle. Public transit means you can get from your apartment on Capitol Hill to your job at U-Dub and back down to dinner and boba in the International District. Painless, no-hassle public transit in your daily commute-- that is the dream for many people in Washington State.

Every time we expand public transit, it means more foot traffic for small businesses, more ways to get to work without being crushed by traffic, and

more connections between our communities.

How has that been possible? Well, in large part thanks to capital investment grants. Federal funding helped us connect Lynnwood to Federal Way, and just next month, you will be able to take the train all the way across the lake to Bellevue and Redmond.

Yet, House Republicans wanted to cut those capital investment grants by 98 percent. They wanted to basically obliterate Federal funding for public transit. So I said: No way. I don't really think you could call House Republicans an unstoppable force, but I am certainly an immovable object when it comes to defending public transit. I have gone to the mat for public transit since back when George W. Bush tried to defund Sound Transit in its earliest days.

Now we all know that Trump will use every tool possible to stall State projects. So I also made sure Congress wrote into law explicitly how this funding should be allocated to projects to make certain Washington State gets its fair share, including $100 million for the light rail component of the I-5 bridge replacement program and $82 million in Spokane.

Overall, fighting for this funding supports future projects down the line all across Washington State.

And beyond public transit, Washington State is a proud hub of trade, which is why I worked hard to secure $8 million to help terminal 18 on Harbor Island provide offshore power onsite, meaning that when vessels like our enormous shipping container boats dock, they don't have to run their engines to keep the lights on. They will be able to plug into the local power grid which will save money, reduce emissions, and improve air quality.

While these projects are making progress, other funds I secured are fueling research to chart a course for future improvements, like a million dollars for the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region Foundation to strengthen supply chains and logistics throughout our region and a half million dollars for the Puget Sound Regional Council so it can make sure its regular survey of the area's travel behaviors and infrastructure needs includes the voices from all of our communities.

Now in Washington State, of course, infrastructure is not just our roads and our bridges and our public transportation; it is our waterways and our water systems as well, which is why when it comes to programmatic funding, I am pleased to say I secured a record $3.47 billion for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, and I included language that makes it clear that States like Washington are not going to be shortchanged; we will get our fair share.

This has been a very long, hard-fought battle, one I have fought for more than a decade. But the tides turned in a major way back in 2024, and it is nothing short of a sea change when it comes to annual funding for the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.

I also secured crucial design funds for the Seattle Harbor project. That investment secures Seattle's future as a global trade and maritime hub, supporting thousands of local jobs while enabling a new generation of cleaner, more efficient vessels to protect our Puget Sound ecosystem.

I also secured funding for the Columbia River Turning Basins project. Southwest Washington's economy moves on the water, but our rivers' ``parking'' and ``turning'' spots are stuck in the past. This project is the final piece of the puzzle making sure that the world's ships can dock safely and farmers' grain reaches the sea faster.

Now, I have to talk about investments I secured to address another element of managing our water resources, and that is especially top of mind now after the devastating storms we saw last year. That is flood control.

For example, funding for American Rivers and their crucial work supporting communities across our State to manage their flood plains and make our State flood resilient or funding to help model and monitor the Cowlitz and Toutle Rivers so cities nearby can evaluate their flood protection and plan accordingly.

In addition to protecting our cities, we have to protect our ecosystems which are irreplaceable and our fish which are truly a way of life in Washington State.

Now, beyond the CDS projects, I also stood my ground to defend several Federal programs our State relies on: protecting the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, $65 million, which Trump tried to eliminate entirely, and increasing funds for our Pacific salmon account at the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Mitchell Act salmon hatcheries, and EPA's Puget Sound and Columbia River Basin Geographic programs.

As long as I am a Senator here in Washington, DC, our fish and our salmon have a voice in Congress. So when it comes to projects for our fish and communities that rely on them, I secured funding for the Columbia River Fish Mitigation Program, funding to remove the Bateman Island Causeway--its work happening as we speak right now, which has blocked access for salmon migration and left them vulnerable to invasive species; funding to install new irrigation lines and remove existing irrigation diversions in Cowiche Creek which will improve habitat for steelhead and Coho salmon; and funding to live up to our treaty obligations and bring our Tribal fishing access sites on the Columbia River up to health and safety standards.

And, of course, I have to mention the $190 million I secured to continue our progress on the Howard Hanson Dam, something that is critical to our fish, our water supply, and our flood resistance alike. This was a project Trump tried really hard to cut. Last year, he straight up robbed $500 million and gave it away to red States. If the President wants to have a fight over our fish and our water on the Green River, make my day. This was a fight I fought and I won.

I secured huge investment to get progress back on track at Howard Hanson Dam, and I am not going to stop fighting until we see this work through to the end.

When it comes to pipes and water infrastructure, I worked hard to keep Federal dollars flowing to communities across our State. I secured funding for projects to get our communities clean drinking water by building new pump and pressure stations for the city of Chelan to make sure the water system is reliable, even in power outages; removing PFAS contamination from a well in Moses Lake so it can provide safe, drinkable water to that community; replacing an old iron water main in Redmond to reduce the risk of a break and improve water quality; increasing the groundwater sources and pumping capacity in Sunnyside to improve reliability and avoid potential shortages; and making upgrades in Skamania County to improve resilience so our wildfires don't cause dangerous water shortages.

Of course, it is not just drinking water into our communities that count. I also secured funding for important wastewater and sewage projects like eliminating a failing septic tank system in Wallace Heights and helping those homeowners connect to the county wastewater system; upgrading sewer lines in Douglas County when they were removed for a major highway project; installing a new sewer line in Carbonado, replacing century-old clay pipelines and pipes; replacing a failing water lift in Granite Falls that poses a safety hazard to a local elementary school there; and connecting the Samish Indian Nation's Summit Park campus to the city of Anacortes' sewer system.

Of course, there is another important pipeline we need to be investing in as well, and that is our skills pipeline. There are several projects I helped fund in this bill that will connect people with new skills and set them up to pursue promising careers.

I secured funding for Workforce Southwest Washington which aims to provide over 200 people with career services and case management and the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County which is working to address healthcare workforce shortages by building a school- to-work partnership between local colleges, unions, and others.

When it comes to our colleges and universities, I secured funding for the Northwest Indian College to help start its cyber security program, for Washington State University to develop coursework that better prepares students to pursue work in healthcare, and for Renton Technical College to

strengthen its offerings in aerospace and manufacturing. This is a crucial field in the Kent Valley.

Another program at Green River College will help military members and their families overcome barriers to higher education.

And let us not forget our littlest learners. I secured funding for programs that help them learn and grow, from expanding the Hands On Children's Museum in Olympia with a focus on preschools and camps and a new early learning center; to expanding Page Ahead's statewide effort to fight learning loss with their summer reading program called ``Book Up Summer,'' which provides kids books to read at no cost and hosts book discussion nights for their families; to supporting the 253 Skills Center which is developing an interactive curriculum to teach hundreds of students about the maritime sector; or to replacing failing infrastructure at NatureBridge's facilities in the Olympic National Park, which gives students an incredible opportunity to explore one of our State's amazing national parks.

Last but not least, we funded a hands-on gardening program that helps young kids learn and grow along with their garden.

When it comes to education policy, this President gets an F from this former preschool teacher and former school board member. I ripped up Trump's budget and made clear Congress would not abolish the Department of Education. Instead, we funded Washington State's title I schools. We continued to invest so students with disabilities can get the education that they deserve, and we supported so many of the critical programs administered by the Department of Education.

I am sure this President would love nothing more than to tear apart our public education system and sell off the scraps to Betsy DeVos, but not so long as former educators like me have anything to say about that.

It is not just the little ones who are going to make big discoveries around the world, as I was able to secure funding for important research priorities across Washington State from modernizing the Kirsten Wind Tunnel testing facility and the radiocarbon lab at UW, to purchasing high-performance storage infrastructure that will bolster UW's AI research, to establishing a new scientific research center at WSU that is focused on aquatic resources and ecosystems, to research on Orcas Islands tracking the health of killer whales and learning how we can best protect that endangered species.

That is not even considering all the medical funding we protected by rejecting Trump's sabotaged proposals, rejecting his 40-percent cut to NIH, and instead increasing medical research.

It is not even considering the funding we protected for the Department of Energy research and for the National Science Foundation which means we are continuing to invest in groundbreaking work that is constantly happening at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and rejecting Trump's attempt close in the LIGO facility in the Tri-Cities.

And, of course, anyone who knows me knows I am always focused on childcare, which is why I am very pleased to say, in addition to increasing funding for the childcare development block grant and Head Start and protecting preschool development grants, I was able to direct funds to several important childcare initiatives in Washington State.

From $6.2 million for the construction of the Bremerton Early Learning Center, which is going to be located near one of the largest employers in Kitsap County and provide a crucial new childcare option for working families there; to over a million dollars for a program in Clark County, which is focused on increasing the supply of quality, affordable childcare; to $600,000 for the organization Open Doors for Multicultural Families so it can work on starting up a new early childhood education center at Kent/Des Moines light rail site.

Now if you believe, like I do, that a budget is a statement of your values, then President Trump's budget was morally bankrupt. It ignored fiscal reality and human consequences. The President wanted to drastically cut funding and access for housing and homelessness programs. He effectively wanted to kick millions of people out on the street, and that is just plain wrong. Having a roof over your head is about as fundamental as it gets. So I again tore up the President's budget, and instead, I secured a $4.1 billion or 6-percent increase in rental assistance and a $366 million-increase in homeless assistance programs.

It is not everything, but you better believe it matters, and it will make a difference. So that is a win in my book

People deserve a safe place to sleep. They deserve help in tough times. Housing and homelessness are a crisis in Washington State. So I made certain to secure funding for very local projects to address homelessness and increase affordable housing across Washington State.

In Seattle, this funding will support 150 units of affordable housing through the Low Income Housing Institute, 181 units through Bellwether Housing, 162 affordable housing units through the Seattle Indian Services Commission, and another 500 through the city of Seattle's Fort Lawton redevelopment program.

I also funded projects that will support 60 affordable housing units for seniors in Spokane, 40 new units plus a library and community center in Kelso, 38 affordable housing units for families in the foster system in Renton, 20 affordable townhome rentals at the Pea Patch Community Campus on Orcas Islands, 12 sleeping units for homeless youth at the Shelton Family Center in Mason County, safety upgrades to retain 38 units for housing for Community Roots Housing, and a transit- friendly housing project that is focused on serving farmworkers in Lynden.

And it is not just housing we are building for people, it is the wraparound services that help people get on their feet and stay on their feet when times are hard.

In Vancouver, funding for the Council for the Homeless will support expansion of the Housing Solutions Center, so it can increase capacity and connect more families to housing and resources, and funding for the Akin Family Resource Center, which will allow long-needed renovations, including better storage space for family essentials like diapers and hygiene products, a behavioral health wing with a dozen large therapy rooms, a community kitchen with an attached childcare room, and more.

All told, this will help double their capacity and continue their crucial work connecting struggling families to the resources they need.

There is also support in this bill for the United Way King County's home grocery delivery program, which helps fill a crucial gap in food security, and funding for renovations at Partners Inland Northwest, which operates the largest food pantry and clothing bank in Spokane County and the largest free diaper bank in the Inland Northwest. This will help them renovate a new space to increase their warehouse capacity by over seven times and to give room to partner organizations that connect these families with other services.

To improve access to care for our rural communities, I secured funding to help expand and modernize the clinics for surgical services at Kittitas Valley Healthcare, which sees 4,500 patients annually.

Another crucial challenge I know communities are continuing to struggle with is the mental health and substance abuse crisis, so I fought really hard to secure funding for several projects that tackled this head-on.

In Spokane County, the funds I passed will help convert an old public works property into a 23-hour crisis relief center that will provide much needed, continuous behavioral health care, like mental health care and substance use care.

Additionally, I secured more funds for the Spokane Mobile Alternative Response Teams--or SMART--Program. SMART units free up police, firefighters, and EMTs by offering another response option for emergencies like overdoses and mental health crises. They already respond to 2,000 calls a year--increasing the capacity of other first responders--and these funds will help build on that work.

In King County, I secured funds for Seattle Children's Hospital to provide a safe and comfortable space for kids in crisis who are at risk of seriously harming themselves or taking their

own lives; funds to help Seattle Fire Department's Post-Overdose Response Team provide wraparound services; and funds for the Seattle Indian Health Board's new Thunderbird Treatment Center on Vashon Island, which will provide crucial residential recovery care.

In Whatcom County, I secured funding for the Lummi Indian Nation to establish a dedicated space for community members to hold Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will also get new funds to help expand a mobile medical unit to provide opioid use disorder treatment, primary care, behavioral health, and wraparound services.

Meanwhile, another mobile clinic I secured funds for will help put substance use treatment in reach of rural patients in Clark, Klickitat, and Skamania Counties.

There are still a lot of other projects I funded in these bills that will make their impact felt across the State. Funds for the Washington State Hospital Association will help improve maternal care in rural communities through training and assistance and simulations at 43 rural hospitals across our State. Funds for dental equipment at Sea Mar Community Health Center in Tacoma will help establish a new dental school that will also serve Yakima and Kennewick and help address a statewide dentist shortage. Funds for the Washington Recovery Alliance will help establish a network of regional coalitions to coordinate our response to substance use and mental health challenges across the State. Funds for Communities in Schools of Washington State will help expand their mental health support network, which equips schools across our State with experts and resources to meet their students' mental health care needs. Funds for the Washington Poison Center will update emergency infrastructure and better serve the many families who call them for free, lifesaving advice.

Let's not forget some other incredible programs that support our communities which I fought to fund in this bill. We included funds for Need of the Community Society, which provides young adults with disabilities the chance to enjoy the great outdoors, which we all love in Washington. I funded the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging Helpline, which offers crucial assistance to seniors across the State when English might not be their first language. I funded the Northwest Native Chamber Technical Assistance Program, which gives no-cost business support to small business owners based on their needs, and the Seattle Good Business Network's plan to establish a shared food facility to help small businesses, bakers, and professionals access the kitchen space they need to grow and thrive.

I also fought to provide crucial funding to help the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center to continue its important work getting survivors the support they need.

I am proud to say that after years of fighting to stop Donald Trump from selling off the National Archives and Records in Seattle during his first term, this year, the tables have truly turned, as I secured $30 million in this bill for a new National Archives facility in the Seattle area so we can better preserve Washington State's rich Tribal and local history for generations to come.

Of course, I have to note that I was once again able to secure record funding for Hanford cleanup and resources to support the incredible workers who power that mission.

A lot of Presidents have tried to cut corners when it comes to Hanford, and I always make sure to set them straight. I remind each and every one of them of our legal and moral obligation to Hanford. If that doesn't work, I make sure to write the appropriate amount of resources we need for Hanford into our funding bill, and then I make sure the President signs that into law.

Mr. President, I know I have been speaking for a while, so while there are many wins I haven't covered, I will wrap up. But for as long as I have been speaking, I can assure you I fought for these programs much longer. And if I have to fight even longer still, my colleagues should know and President Trump should definitely know I won't slow down a bit.

You know, a lot of critics like to say: Patty, you are a bleeding heart. You care too much about childcare and schools and the environment.

Well, yeah, you bet I do. And you better believe that is going to be reflected in how this Federal Government spends our taxpayer dollars.

Trump might want money to build an arch that is named after him, but I want money to fund rental assistance and healthcare. So I don't care who calls me a bleeding heart--when it comes to fighting for Washington State, I don't give an inch, and I bring back every single dollar for my constituents that I can down to the penny.

I am here to be a voice for my people--the moms and dads who are both working full-time jobs and the people who had to take loans out to go to school. Moms and dads in tennis shoes have just as much right to be heard in how we spend our taxpayer dollars as the lobbyists who crowd the hallways here in DC.

So that is who I am here to speak up for and make sure it gets heard when it comes to our Nation's spending bills. That is a power we all have, each and every Senator. We have the power of the purse, and this is why it is so important we use that power and we defend it from Trump and Russ Vought.

We saw last year just how much damage they can do with a slush fund CR. Well, the bills this year showed just how much good we can do when we refuse to leave the table, refuse to take no for an answer, and refuse to give up our power to President Trump.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, all week, Democrats have made clear that there is a simple, commonsense path forward.

First, pass these five critical funding bills that we all overwhelmingly agree on and prevent a serious shutdown. Secondly, split off the DHS bill so we can negotiate reforms to rein in ICE and the CBP. It is what the vast majority of Americans want Congress to do.

It is good news that we have a deal to fund these key programs that families count on while work continues on serious DHS accountability over the next 2 weeks. It could not be more clear that ICE and the CBP are out of control and that we cannot just wait for the same President who caused this mess to address it.

Congress cannot pass a Homeland Security bill until real restraints are in place. It is that simple.

Today, I ask my colleagues to join me in voting for this package. Let's pay our troops, fund clinical trials right now, work to rein in DHS, and end the chaos that is happening on America's streets.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, this amendment would strike funding for one Member's project simply because the Senator offering the amendment doesn't like the project. That is not how this process should work. Every Senator has the opportunity to submit requests to have projects in their State funded in our appropriations bills.

Those requests are vetted for compliance with critical guardrails, and Senators must attest they have no financial stake in the project. If a project meets that criteria, it is eligible for funding. And if eligible projects are funded in a bill, we need to respect each Senator's ability to fund the projects that are important to them and their State. Full stop.

This amendment completely overrules another Senator on a project they have secured funding for and threatens to really derail a carefully negotiated bill.

Motion to Table

Mr. President, I oppose this amendment. I move to table the Lee amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Vote on Motion

Mr. President, earlier tonight, we voted to pass five crucial funding bills while splitting off the DHS bill so that Congress is forced to reckon with the horrific killings we have all witnessed. And negotiations can continue to secure the reforms that Americans are demanding. This is the commonsense path forward the Democrats have been laying out all week. We have a lot more work to do on DHS, and I will have a lot more to say as those negotiations now continue.

I want to focus right now on the 5 bills we just passed, which fund 95 percent of the remaining Federal budget. From the start of this process, I made clear we needed to tear up Trump's budget and reassert Congress' power of the purse to make the voices of our constituents heard.

These are not the bills I would write on my own. There is much more I would want to do to rein in Trump, and there is much more I want to do invest in our communities.

There is always more work to do. And that is especially true when Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. But these bills show that when Democrats roll up their sleeves and demand a seat at the table and drive the hardest bargain we can, we do have the power to reject devastating cuts proposed by President Trump, protect programs that families rely on, and take power back from this out-of- control administration.

Truly, the difference between the bills we have in front of us and President Trump's absurd budget request or

the House Republican budget that cuts like there is no tomorrow or another yearlong CR that enables all kinds of misuse and corruption by Trump is night and day. Because Democrats were at the table, there are real meaningful wins that we secured in this package, real funding that will help families who are struggling to get by, real progress to reject some of the sabotage Trump has done to our economy and our standing in the world, and real accountability that will help stop Trump and Vought from stealing from our States.

Take a look at the Labor-H bill. Last year, Trump did everything he could to sabotage lifesaving medical research that was happening across the country. He fired thousands of Federal researchers. He froze critical research midstudy, and he held up billions of dollars that should have been going to researchers nationwide, including in Washington State. Work on cancer treatments, Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease, and much more, all of that was put in grave jeopardy.

If that weren't enough, Trump proposed taking an ax to medical research with a whopping 40-percent cut.

Now, the bill that we just passed, we said: No. We are not going to do that. Instead of slashing medical research funding by 40 percent, we are going to invest nearly half a billion dollars more. It rejects Trump's plan to gut NIH funding. It, once again, rejects his illegal plan to set a cap that would devastate biomedical research institutes across the country, and it rejects Russ Vought's scheme to have NIH reward all its multiyear grants in one lump sum, something that would mean thousands of fewer grants that were rewarded and thousands of fewer chances to discover medical breakthroughs.

Protecting NIH funding is a huge deal for researchers across the country, including in my home State of Washington where places like UW, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and so many others are leading the way on medical research that save lives.

Now the Trump administration has also attacked our public health infrastructure in all kinds of ways. Earlier this month, his administration came this close to outright canceling billions in funding for mental healthcare and substance use prevention and treatment before the outcry forced them to reverse course.

Well, our bill rejects President Trump's asks to rubberstamp his public health sabotage. Instead, it doubles down on lifesaving public health investments. It rejects Trump's efforts to slash opioid response funds. It rejects his proposal to chop the CDC in half. It rejects his call to end programs like title X, the teen pregnancy program, essential HIV initiatives, and more.

In another sign of just how out of touch Trump is, we have seen him attack childcare, trying to rip out a cornerstone of our economy regardless of how many kids and working parents it would hurt and regardless of how many small businesses it would send spiraling. Trump also tried to eliminate preschool development grants. Our bill sustains this funding, and it increases funding for programs like Head Start and the child care and development block grant.

Make no mistake, this was an uphill battle given the really tough funding constraints we faced this year, but I fought hard, and we got this done.

This bill also rejects Trump's dream of slashing public education funding and instead provides a bit more for our K-through-12 schools.

All told, we rejected $12 billion in proposed cuts at the Department of Education and President Trump's request to abolish the Department. President Trump wanted to slash the maximum Pell grant by over $1,000, and we said: Absolutely not.

Right now, we are still learning new details about how Trump and his DOGE flunkies misused Americans' Social Security information and did untold damage to the Social Security Administration. Every American should be outraged by the way this administration has tried to sabotage Social Security, and I made sure that our bill increases funding so SSA can start to repair some of the damage--and that is just in the L-HHS bill.

In the T-HUD bill, Democrats refused to go along with Trump's deep cuts to rental assistance programs. Instead of letting our billionaire President kick millions of Americans out of their homes, in this bill, we are investing over $4 billion more in rental assistance to help families keep a roof over their heads.

Instead of Trump's plan to saw the Department of Housing and Urban Development in half, we secured a historic $7.2 billion increase that will help our families stay in their homes and build more affordable housing and address homelessness across the country. This bill provides $366 million more for homeless assistance grants.

We rejected Trump's push to zero out programs that help our low- income families with legal assistance when they face eviction and give people a hand up by helping them improve their financial security and job skills. Trump even wanted to eliminate several programs that support affordable housing and community development.

This bill says no to all of that. It says that we are not going to stop making progress, and we are not going to stop building affordable housing and critical infrastructure in our communities.

It also includes tens of millions of dollars I worked hard to secure for affordable housing projects in communities across Washington State.

Make no mistake, there is way more we need to do to tackle the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. This is an issue that is always top of mind for me as a Senator from the State of Washington. But every bit of progress we can get is progress we must take.

When it comes to transportation, we were able to increase funding for air safety. We secured crucial investments for highways and bridges, ports, and more. We rejected the House Republicans' plan to zero out funding for Amtrak, making sure to meet the full Amtrak funding request so our trains could keep running safely and on time.

We also rejected the House Republicans' proposal to slash funding for capital investment grants by an unthinkable 98 percent. Washington State and many States rely on these capital investment grants to fund many of their transit projects that really matter to their communities.

Decimate our Federal investment in public transit? Not on my watch. Instead, we secured $1.7 billion for CIG, and we took new steps to specify which projects to fund at which amounts. For example, this bill sets aside $100 million for light rail on the I-5 bridge for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program and $82 million for bus rapid transit in Spokane. Both projects, I have been fighting for, for a very long time.

The guardrails that we secured for CIG are one of several updates we fought for throughout these bills, to protect those funds from political interference if Trump and Vought were to try to rob our communities again.

The FSGG bill protects some crucial investments in our communities. We rejected Trump's plan to slash funding for the Small Business Administration by 40 percent. We rejected Trump's dream of eliminating election security grants. We rejected his proposal to decimate the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. That is the CDFI Fund, and it helps our communities take on all sorts of challenges, like opening childcare centers or providing health services or building affordable housing or growing small businesses. If Trump had his way, that would have been cut by 60 percent, but he didn't have his way. We worked to maintain the CDFI Fund at the current level, and we made sure it would be adequately staffed so Trump can't try to sabotage that work with mass firings again.

We also took an important step to prevent Washington, DC, from not being able to spend its own taxpayer dollars again after House Republicans completely shortchanged our Capital last year.

The Defense bill continues crucial investments and rejects President Trump's dangerous proposal to further alienate our closest allies and defund important programs that keep our country safe.

We refused Trump's pitch to abandon our allies and eliminate funding for Ukraine and the Baltic Security Initiative. We rejected the House Republicans' cuts to the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. We rejected a proposal from Trump to cut defense medical research by 40 percent. We refused

Trump's request for hundreds of millions of dollars to support his dangerous efforts to deploy our military against our citizens.

This bill also includes a much-needed pay boost for our servicemembers and vets. It invests in critical infrastructure and repairs at bases across our country, including at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Lastly, the S-FOPS bill is a compromise piece of legislation that rejects Trump's decimation of our foreign assistance Agencies and programs. It includes some tough cuts that I don't support, but it does protect essential investments and reaffirms that there is, in fact, a large, bipartisan majority in Congress that continues to believe our investments abroad are smart and make America safer.

This bill rebuffs Trump's vision for a smaller America in a more chaotic world. It provides $19 billion more in funding than President Trump requested and includes $9.4 billion for global health programs, more than double what Trump requested.

It protects investments in nutrition programs, in reproductive health programs, for global vaccination efforts that Trump sought to outright eliminate, and to combat HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

It restores funding Trump canceled for economic and development assistance projects tackling issues like education, water and sanitation, food security, including through university partnerships in red States and blue States that Trump had eliminated, and more.

It rejects his efforts to eliminate all funding for the United States to have a seat at the table at the U.N. and many other international organizations.

It rejects the closure of USAID, the U.S. Agency for Global Media and its grantees, and other independent entities.

Critically, this bill includes new transparency and oversight requirements to close loopholes that were abused by the Trump administration and to help ensure these funds are used as Congress intended.

All told, these five bills we passed reject President Trump's and House Republicans' worst ideas to defund programs that Americans actually count on, and they reject every single new and extreme far- right policy rider that was put on the table.

But, as I mentioned at the top, these bills also do one other critical thing that is really important: They reassert Congress' power over spending. That is really important, and it is something that has guided my thinking at every step of these negotiations.

We have now passed 11 of the 12 funding bills for the year here in the Senate, and the enactment of each of these bills takes power back from this corrupt President. Unlike the yearlong CR that passed last March, these bills provide literally hundreds upon hundreds of specific funding levels and directives that this administration must now, by law, follow. Is that the answer to all of this administration's corruption? No. But it is meaningful--and, boy, does it matter. That means that President Trump and his Cabinet Secretaries will not have the legal authority again to cut or entirely defund programs Congress-- all of us--funded just to free up taxpayer dollars for their own priorities. It means Russ Vought does not again have the legal authority to pick and choose what projects to fund, robbing blue States of funding and using Federal dollars for political retribution.

No doubt, there is a lot more I would have liked to do in these bills to rein in an out-of-control administration. While I wish Republicans would have been willing to do more on that front, these bills do take a big step forward to ensure that Congress, not Trump and not any President, decides how our taxpayer dollars get spent.

Now, I said earlier that these bills are not what I would have written on my own, but I do want to underscore that they are not even close to what the President wanted if he had his way. But in this country--in this country--our budgets are not written by Presidents, and we are not governed by Kings. We are governed by people like the moms and dads back home in my State whom I hear from every day and whom I fight for. Thanks to article I of our Constitution, it was those families and this former preschool teacher--someone you might refer to as just a mom in tennis shoes--who had the final say on how these taxpayer dollars got spent.

That is the beauty of America. The people elect this Congress and their representatives--preschool teachers, doctors, farmers, lawyers, and even astronauts. We all come together, and we--Congress--decide how to fund America's budget, not the guy in the White House. Now, before I wrap up, I would like to again acknowledge my colleagues across the Capitol who came to the table with us to do the hard work of hammering these bills out.

Getting these funding bills written and passed is not simple, even under the best of conditions. But it is important that we were able to come together and write full-year bills that reassert our congressional power of the purse and protect many investments that your families rely on.

So I want to thank my counterparts: Chair Collins, Chair Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, and all of their staff for the endless work on all of these packages.

And I also want to thank our subcommittee leaders: Senators Baldwin and Capito on L-HHS, Senator Gillibrand and Senator Hyde-Smith on T- HUD, Senator Reed and Senator Hagerty on FSGG, Senator Coons and Senator McConnell on Defense, and Senator Schatz and Senator Graham on

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to amend Leader Thune's closing script to include that morning hour be deemed expired.

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

Mr. President, Democrats have been very clear. We have five bills in this package we would be happy to pass today on their own. We are all in agreement on funding for childcare, cancer research, air traffic controllers, our troops, and more. But we have also been clear that we cannot and will not move the DHS bill without real progress on accountability.

ICE and CBP are out of control, and we cannot approve that bill until commonsense reforms are included. That is

what the vast majority of the American people are demanding, and many Republicans now also say that must happen as well.

So Congress, all of us, need to act. Peaceful protesters and American citizens are being targeted, detained, attacked, and killed. We have to say no to what this President is doing.

So while I am very glad to see that the White House and Republicans are now talking with Democrats to finalize a plan to pass the five bills and split off DHS, until that deal is finalized, I will be a no on this vote.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, there are two simple truths here: One, there is absolutely no reason for a shutdown. Five of the bills before us, covering 95 percent of the remaining budget, everyone agrees we can pass. And, two, after

the horrific killing of Alex Pretti last weekend, after so many vile, shameless lies from Trump officials, and after the flagrant abuses we are seeing from ICE and CBP agents, it is painfully and brutally clear this out-of-control Department must be reined in, and Congress must take action to make that happen.

What we have seen happening in Minnesota and all across the country is simply un-American. Trump and Noem sent ICE and Border Patrol into Minneapolis, not on a targeted mission to retrieve actual criminals but to go door to door terrorizing communities and asking to see the papers of anyone who doesn't fit their idea of what an American looks like.

Secretary Noem and her masked agents are haphazardly dragging off people with no criminal record, people who are here legally, people who are citizens. And, of course, they are even dragging off children.

No one has to take my word for it. We all saw them march a man--a citizen--out of his house in the freezing cold in nothing but his underwear. We all saw them cart away a 5-year-old with his Spiderman backpack and a bunny hat on. And when people protested peacefully, the Trump administration cracked down with a level of force as brutal as it was unjustified.

Again, no one needs to take my word for it. We all heard about the family who had their car tear-gassed on their way back from a basketball game, and their baby stopped breathing and needed emergency care. We all watched the woman who was dragged out of her car on the way to a doctor's appointment. We all saw that unforgettable photo of an unarmed man pinned on the ground with one of Trump's Federal officers pepper-spraying him directly in the face.

We all bore witness to the murder of Renee Good, and then, last weekend, we all saw the horrific killing of Alex Pretti, a lawful observer, exercising his rights, murdered in cold blood by Federal agents.

And how did Trump's team respond? They lied about what we all saw with our own eyes. They slandered Alex as a domestic terrorist. This man was a VA nurse. He was beloved by his patients.

They falsely claimed that he wanted to massacre law enforcement when he was simply exercising his constitutional First Amendment rights.

They said he attacked law enforcement when he was only helping a woman who law enforcement had assaulted. They said he brandished a gun when he never touched it. In fact, he was already disarmed when they shot him in the back.

And yet, right now, the only Department they will let investigate this tragedy is the Department that was responsible for it.

That cannot be how things work in this country, not if we are going to keep the democracy that we all cherish. We need real, independent investigation. We need real accountability, and we need real reforms. And until that happens, until we begin reining in this out-of-control Department, we cannot pass the DHS bill as it stands.

The DHS bill needs to be split off from this larger package, and that needs to happen so we can prevent other parts of the government from shutting down while we work to reform the DHS bill.

Now, I want to be straight with everyone: Not passing the Homeland bill will not stop ICE right now. Why? Because Republicans already gave ICE tens of billions of dollars without a single Democratic vote when they passed their ``Big Ugly Bill.''

As the junior Senator from Kentucky has pointed out, even without the DHS bill, ICE will have many times its annual budget because of the bill the Republicans passed last summer.

But splitting off the Homeland bill does ensure that Congress is forced to reckon with this issue. It does give us the opportunity to take much needed action to protect Americans from this out-of-control Department. And to be clear, this is not just what Democrats are demanding; it is what the vast majority of Americans are demanding.

People in this country are absolutely horrified. They are outraged that our government is gunning down U.S. citizens on the street with impunity. And this just cannot continue.

With each hour that goes by, we are seeing more and more Republicans agree that the status quo is unacceptable, that there must be change, and that Congress must do something. We, Congress, must do something, and there is a very reasonable and straightforward path here now.

There is a legislative package of six funding bills at the desk right now, right up here. Five of the funding bills in this package we all overwhelmingly agree on. We all agree on cancer research. We all agree on childcare funding. We all agree on funding roads and bridges and housing. We agree on paying our troops and supporting small businesses and so much else that is in those bills. And, by the way, the House, in fact, passed those five bills overwhelmingly.

So let's just remove Homeland Security and pass the remaining five bills without delay. There is no reason to wait, and we can get to work right away to negotiate a Homeland bill that includes the reforms and the accountability everyone knows is needed.

I am here. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work with Chair Collins and our colleagues to craft a bill with serious oversight and accountability so we can simply rein in the abuses that we are seeing.

But if the Republicans refuse to work with us on DHS and refuse to put up the remaining five bills for a vote in the meantime, they will be choosing to shut down the government across all of the Agencies impacted, cutting off funding for lifesaving clinical trials; paychecks for troops, air traffic controllers, and so much more.

We should not let that happen. So let's pass the five bills ahead of the Friday deadline. Let's focus separately on DHS, where it is clear that accountability and reform cannot wait.

We do this all the time--move forward on the areas where we have an agreement and keep negotiating on the other. That is what needs to happen here and now.

And, look, if the House has to come back to prevent a shutdown, so be it. That is part of the job they have.

Back in 2018, after the Senate cleared a spending bill and we went home for the holidays, President Trump did a 180 and had the House change the bill and send it back to us.

Do you know what we did? We came back, and we voted.

That is it. That is our job. That is what the House can do. So there is no need for a shutdown. There is no need for a delay. And there is every need for serious reforms.

Let's get it done.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I want to thank Chairs Collins and Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, as well as our fantastic subcommittee leaders and all of our staffs for working so hard to put this package together.

This vote is about returning power to the American people, protecting the funding that they count on, and making sure Congress--not Trump and Vought--decide how taxpayer dollars get spent.

We have, of course, the package of bipartisan bills, the product of hard, serious negotiations that reject devastating Trump cuts that would cut scientific research, raise energy prices, and make our communities less safe and prosperous. These bills protect key investments in scientific research, our Tribes, our public lands, and so much else, and they reassert the power of Congress to make our Nation's funding decisions--Congress, that is us.

So let's choose to exercise our power and make sure our States' voices are heard by passing these bills now and getting them signed into law.

I yield the floor.

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

Madam President, the spending bills that we write are not just numbers on a page; they affect the daily lives of Americans across the country in very real ways, like whether or not they can afford their electric bill or whether families have clean drinking water at home, whether communities have infrastructure to prevent flooding and respond to devastating weather events like the ones we saw in my home State of Washington last month, and whether they have the resources they need to keep people safe.

These are the issues at stake, the issues that are in my mind each year as I work to negotiate our appropriations bills. It is a responsibility I take extremely seriously, and it is why from day one I have vowed to rip up President Trump's budget and write a new one, because this President and his budget director, Project 2025 author Russ Vought, want to slash over $160 billion in essential investments for American communities and working families. They actually tried to cut our entire nondefense budget by over one-fifth. But even that number disguises the much deeper cuts that have been pushed for key programs. In some cases, House Republicans adopted those in their own bills alongside hundreds of extreme poison pill provisions.

Democrats said: No way. Absolutely not. And we made clear that our conferenced bills had to be closer to the bipartisan Senate levels that ensured our bills cleared our committee with overwhelming support. Throughout these negotiations, our ranking members and I focused on protecting funding that our communities rely on, rejecting sweeping, devastating cuts, and eliminating far-right, poison pill riders.

Now, this week, the Senate is taking up the package that the House cleared last week in an overwhelming vote, which contains the CJS, Energy and Water, and Interior funding bills. In each of these bills, I am very happy that we protected critical funding and fought off poison pill riders.

In the CJS bill, we rejected Trump's plan to slash funding for scientific research and the National Science Foundation's budget by 57 percent, cut NASA's science budget in half, and devastate NOAA and climate research that all of us rely on for accurate weather forecasting, whether we know it or not.

Trump also wanted to cut funding to prevent violence against women by $215 million, which was truly heartless. Democrats protected that funding and increased it by $7 million.

We shot down Trump's proposals to merge and weaken important Federal Agencies--Agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Office on Violence Against Women and COPS Office under the Office of Justice Programs.

Similarly, the Interior bill protects the Forest Service from over $1 billion in Trump cuts. It protects clean water programs from those massive cuts. It protects air and pollution grants from outright elimination. It protects the pay of our Federal wildland firefighters. It rejects nearly $1 billion in Trump cuts to Tribal programs for school and safety and self-governance.

As ranking member of Energy and Water, I worked hard to make sure these bills definitively rejected Trump's damaging proposals and made major investments that are absolutely critical both to my home State of Washington and our entire Nation.

President Trump's proposal would have raised Americans' energy bills by cutting energy and grid programs, including eliminating the Weatherization Assistance Program, but Democrats saved those and in fact procured more assistance to help lower families' energy bills.

Not only did we reject Trump's $2 billion cut to the Army Corps of Engineers, we actually increased funding and spelled out in line item after line item exactly how that funding is to be spent because last year, Trump and Russ Vought blatantly defunded Army Corps construction projects in blue States like Washington and California and steered hundreds of millions of dollars to red States instead. I called that out for what it was--a politically motivated abuse of power that was only possible because we were operating under a slush fund, full-year

Mr. President, I am beyond outraged that President Trump would commit such a brazen act of war as he has done in Venezuela with absolutely no notice, except to the oil companies and newspapers they leaked it to. No consultation with Congress, no legitimate justification for these unauthorized strikes, nor any kind of serious long-term strategy.

It is unquestionably an act of war to invade a foreign nation, kidnap a foreign leader--even a dictator--and leave dozens of bodies, including civilians, behind.

Would my colleagues still nod their heads and go along with it if a country tried to do this to American leaders? Of course not. So we should stop playing dumb. Trump can't just say magic words and pretend this wasn't a major military operation.

This is the U.S. Congress, and we have a constitutional role to be a check on the President. Only Congress can declare war, and Congress did not authorize the use of force against Venezuela.

Now, I opposed the war in Iraq from the outset. And the parallels to what President Trump has kicked off in Venezuela are glaring. And I absolutely will not support any large-scale military conflict in Venezuela or a dangerous and expansive occupation.

We have a President ignoring the problems that he has caused in our own country, all to start a war no one asked for, with no legitimate justification, no concern for the servicemembers who are being put in harm's way, and absolutely no long-term strategy.

Seriously, the only thing that was clear after the briefing yesterday is that Trump has no serious plan. First, Trump was just bombing alleged drug boats. Then Trump was just seizing oil shipments. And the next thing you know, this administration is sending the military to abduct a foreign leader.

So I have to ask: What is next and where is next? How far is this going to go? Because it is clear that this is not over, not when Trump keeps saying he will run the country.

What is Trump's plan to run Venezuela exactly? How long are we going to be there? How many of our people is he going to send? Who is even in charge? And how are we paying for this?

There are no serious answers. The only thing we do know is why Trump is doing this--for oil--because this clearly is not about ending tyranny and establishing a democracy since Trump outright dismissed any possibility of helping the opposition party to build a true democracy. And it is clearly not about drug trafficking. After all, not even a month before this, President Trump pardoned the former President of Honduras who was convicted of the same crime. But the real reason--it is so painfully obvious--this was always about the oil.

Why? Well, it is pretty simple. Trump keeps saying it. He literally said:

The difference between Iraq and this is that Bush didn't

keep the oil. We're going to keep the oil.

That was the President. Is this ``America First''? Of course not. It is ``Big Oil Barons First.'' It is ``Billionaires First.'' It is ``Trump First.'' First to rake in profits, mind you, not first to put themselves in harm's way.

And you can bet when Trump says he is not worried about boots on the ground, it is because he is not talking about his boots. He is not talking about his kids. He is talking about yours.

Congress cannot stand by and shrug our shoulders. We have a constitutional responsibility here. It is important that a majority of Senators voted to rein in this President's reckless actions. But if we want to put an end to this warmongering, we need to keep pressing until we have a veto-proof majority. Today's vote is not the end of the line. So I urge all my colleagues to join us in asserting our authority and continuing to send President Trump a simple message: No American boots on the ground. No trading blood for oil. No war.

I yield the floor.