Floor Statements

Mr. President, my husband and I sheltered in place right

here in this building and prayed that our lock would hold. Five years ago, we had to hunker down in the Capitol as alarms blared, glass shattered, and rioters stormed the Halls of this building chanting ``hang Mike Pence.''

We heard them just outside the room I was in, feet away from this Chamber. They were looking for any lawmaker they could find, screaming ``kill the infidels.'' We felt them bashing against our door trying to get in. We held our breath and waited for what seemed like forever.

And this time every year, it feels like I am still holding my breath because I know it wasn't just my husband and I that were in danger that day and it wasn't just the windows that were shattered. It was our democracy that was under attack--our democracy--and the very idea that we use our voices and our votes in this country, not violence.

And the same forces that ignited the insurrection 5 years ago are still here. The same lies are still being spread about the 2020 election--you just heard some of them--by the same bad actors; the same President who told the crowd just hours before that violent insurrection that he would march to the Capitol with them is now accusing Democrats of treason and sharing calls to execute them.

And the same violent people--the people who stormed and battered our Capitol Police, the people who brought bats and knives and zip ties, the people who left blood and feces and broken glass littered throughout the Halls of this building--they are walking free today because President Trump thinks they were the victims.

On his first day in office, Trump pardoned rioters who assaulted officers with pepper spray and metal poles. Trump pardoned people who crushed police with riot shields. Trump pardoned an insurrectionist who violently punched, slapped, and swatted police and even choked one officer to the ground. Trump pardoned someone who plunged a stun gun into a Capitol Police officer's neck.

Trump pardoned those people and many like them with no care for how dangerous or violent they were.

He even let the leader of the Proud Boys out of prison.

The story doesn't end there because several people that Trump let out of prison are now back in jail for other crimes: gun charges, breaking and entering, burglary, a fatal drunk driving accident, child pornography, aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault--even plotting to kill the FBI agents who investigated them.

Months after Trump pardoned Christopher Moynihan--one of the first rioters to breach the police barricades--he was arrested again for threatening the life of Leader Jeffries.

Make no mistake: Trump's mass pardons were a dangerous endorsement of political violence, telling criminals you can beat cops within an inch of their life as long as it is in service to President Trump.

They are also part of an all-out effort by the President and his allies to rewrite the history of the insurrection of that day. President Trump's Justice Department just took down the public database that laid out the thousands of investigations.

He just put up a website that blames Capitol Police for escalating the situation. Seriously. Trump isn't just siding with the rioters; he is trying to blame our law enforcement.

And President Trump's allies in Congress, to this day, have refused to hang a plaque honoring our Capitol Police officers for their sacrifice.

We lost a Capitol Police officer that day. Several others took their lives in the trauma that followed. Capitol Police officers suffered severe injuries--cracked ribs, smashed spinal discs, brain injuries, even the loss of an eye--and yet, Speaker Johnson has turned a plaque that was meant to be proof of their bravery into proof of his own cowardice.

No matter how many criminals Trump pardons, no matter how many lies he tells, and no matter how loudly he tells them, no President can rewrite history unless we stand by and let him.

I, for one, am never forgetting the truth of that day. It is burned into my brain, and I am never letting our country forget it either. This is a battle I have no doubt we can win. But the challenge before us at this moment is greater than just fighting for truth and history.

It is not enough to make sure that we simply remember the truth of the January 6 insurrection. The real fight is to ensure we learn the lesson of the January 6 insurrection because there is no reason to think the same insurrectionists that are now free and the same President--now bolder than ever in challenging our laws and our Constitution--won't try once again to get their way through threats and through violence.

Trump has already made clear where he stands on democracy. He made it clear 5 years ago when he promised to march on the Capitol. He made it clear last year when he pardoned everybody that did storm the Capitol. He makes it clear every single day.

That is why it is incumbent on all of us in this country to be just as clear where we stand on democracy, especially when it comes to standing up to Trump. Our government of the people, by the people, for the people is an amazing accomplishment, but it is not automatic or inevitable. It takes work. It takes people speaking up. It takes Congress listening and acting.

At the end of the day, our democracy is only as strong as our resolve. It is as enduring as our courage. January 6 was a day that tested that resolve. It was a day that tested that courage.

Frankly, some people in this body failed that test, but 5 years ago today, as I sheltered in place steps away from right here, it wasn't just the locks that held. The courage of our Capitol Police held. And most importantly, the resolve of some leaders to put country before party held.

To my colleagues and to the American people: I know we can continue to protect this democracy, but only if we tell the full truth about the threat that we faced 5 years ago and the challenges we face today.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, you know, over the past week, my home State of Washington has experienced catastrophic and recordbreaking flooding due to an ongoing atmospheric and winter weather event. It has been devastating. And with more rain coming and further evacuations underway today, it remains dangerous. Earlier this morning, we saw the first reported death connected to the flooding, a tragic and sobering reminder of what is at stake.

And as response and recovery efforts continue across my State, I want to take a moment to recognize the valiant effort of first responders and teams at all levels, coming together to get lifesaving information out to our communities so people can prepare and evacuate and to go in and rescue people whenever and wherever needed.

Last week, I led the Washington State delegation in requesting an expedited emergency declaration to get Federal disaster response resources out to our State. I was glad to see that request quickly approved by FEMA. That is how it should always work. We should always come together in times of tragedy and focus on helping people.

And that is exactly what I saw happening this past weekend, when I was on the ground in Washington State. I met with local officials, with business owners, with families. I saw up close and personal what our communities are facing and how they are responding. And I want to share a few things that were very clear to me this weekend.

This flooding showed, plain as day, how the decisions we make here in DC really matter for families back home.

Mr. President, 20 years ago, I fought for funding so the city of Mount Vernon could secure a flood wall. This week, that wall paid off big time, preventing major flooding from devastating downtown Mount Vernon.

We also saw how the flood prevention infrastructure made a huge difference protecting communities all around my State. That is an important reminder. I want all of my colleagues to remember, as we work on these funding bills: Prevention matters. Preparedness matters. Having strong infrastructure and a quick response saves lives.

That is why I champion these kinds of investments every year-- topnotch weather forecasting, resilient infrastructure, disaster preparedness and response, and more--because the only thing we ever know about the next crisis is that we need to be ready before it strikes.

Another thing I saw when I was visiting the frontlines of the flooding this past weekend is how our local, State, Tribal, and Federal officials are all coming together to do incredible work. I really can't say enough how grateful I am to all the experts and heroes who have been putting in very long hours, solving hard problems, and even putting themselves at risk to save lives and protect our communities during these floods--from the meteorologists and experts who are monitoring and updating all of us on constantly changing conditions to local officials, firefighters, and police departments, getting out important warnings and getting people out of harm's way; to the Coast Guard, which is doing search operations and flyovers to help evacuate people who are in danger; to the National Guard, which is supporting rescue and response missions, staffing traffic control points, and filling sandbags to divert flood water; and, of course, neighbors, everyday people, stepping up and lending a hand wherever they can help. It truly is inspiring to see.

Now, one of the most important things I saw this weekend, when I was hearing from folks about the flood damage, is that we are not out of the woods yet in Washington State--not even close--not when it comes to the immediate threat of these floods, since the rain is continuing right now, this week.

Just this morning, we saw a levee breach on the White River, and ``Go now'' evacuations have been issued for the city of Pacific, in South King County--not when it comes to landslides, which remain a huge risk at this moment, and, certainly, not when it comes to recovery.

Mitigating disaster, responding to disaster--that is crucial, and we have done a good job so far, but our work is not done until we have tackled recovery.

And while we still don't know the full scope of this destruction, what we do know is that the damage that has already been done is massive. Entire neighborhoods and huge swaths of farmland have been flooded. Some roads have buckled. Some are covered in debris. Some were just simply swept away. Businessowners are returning to flooded shops and ruined inventory. There are families coming home only to find their house is gone. We have downed trees. We have downed powerlines, damaged wastewater facilities, and breached levees. And, again, there will be more destructive flooding to come.

The painful truth is we have a lot of broken pieces floating across Washington State right now, and it will be a slow, hard process to put this all back together again and help people get their lives back on track.

So here is my message to everyone back in Washington State who is dealing with the tremendous aftermath of these devastating floods: I know you have a long road ahead, but I promise you will not walk that road alone. I will be with you every step of the way. I will be your voice here in Washington, DC, and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you get the support you need to build and to recover.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, right now, families are trying to get health coverage for next year--a few weeks away--and they are coming face to face with the MAGA healthcare hike. That is not some theory or talking point; that is the stone-cold reality. Just talk to folks back home, and they will tell you that premiums are doubling, on average, for people losing the ACA-enhanced premium tax credits. In some cases, they are tripling or quadrupling or even worse.

I have heard from seniors who will see their premium jump more than $1,000 a month. I have heard from a family in Washington State whose premium will jump $2,000 a month.

A new KFF poll found that one in four people will just go without health coverage if their premium doubles. Again, that is the average increase families are facing because of Republican inaction.

That is the reality we are staring down this very moment. This is hitting seniors who are too young for Medicare but can't afford to roll the dice on their health. This is hitting small businesses that rely on the exchanges and tax credits to get coverage for themselves and their employees. It is hitting farmers, many of whom are covered on the exchanges.

I have to say, the reason that I call this the MAGA healthcare hike is because it is going to hit MAGA States the hardest, even as Trump calls affordability a scam. The 10 States where premiums are jumping by the highest percentage are all Republican States, every single one. The vast majority of these dollars go to Republican States, and yet the vast majority of my Republican colleagues couldn't be bothered when it came to saving the health tax credits and stopping folks back home from losing their coverage.

Not only are most Republicans not serious about stopping the MAGA healthcare hike, many of them are cheering it on. You don't have to take my word for it. Just look at what Republican leaders said about saving the healthcare tax credits earlier this year. Republican leaders said, and I quote, nothing--nothing. Or just look at the only healthcare plan Republicans ever rallied around: cutting $1 trillion from healthcare. Or just listen to Speaker Johnson argue that Republicans strengthened healthcare by making the biggest cut in Medicaid in history. That is like saying you strengthened the ship by throwing the passengers overboard. That is the one thing they all agree on. That is the one health policy they are all proud of. Do Republicans want an award for all the hospitals that are now going to shutter? Do they want a thank-you card from all the families that are getting priced out of their health coverage?

Another clear sign Republicans are not serious about healthcare: Their message has been all over the place, everywhere from hypocritical, to nonsensical, to straight-up lies.

One of the first Republican talking points we saw was the outright lie that all this money is for illegal immigrants. Their latest spin is just as ridiculous because now Republicans--the same party that proudly brought you the biggest billionaire tax giveaway in the history of our country--the same Republicans who have never met a corporate CEO they didn't want to shower with tax cuts are scandalized to learn that health insurance is provided by health insurance companies. That is pretty darn rich.

When Republicans were just giving money away this summer--literally a billionaire free-for-all--it was so important that they cut healthcare. But when Democrats want to help families buy healthcare coverage, that is a bridge too far.

If Republicans--the party of Trump and Elon Musk--want to play who is buddies with billionaires, go ahead; make my day. Remember, Republicans made tax breaks for billionaires permanent--permanent. They exploded the national debt by trillions to do it. They cut healthcare to do that. And they pretended that it cost zero dollars by using ridiculous, make-believe budget gimmicks. But saving healthcare for a few years is too expensive?

Republicans don't see anything outrageous about Trump shoveling billions of dollars at Argentina? They have no objection with a new private jet for Secretary Noem or bulldozing the White House for Trump's latest gold-plated vanity project, but they can't imagine making sure their own constituents have healthcare?

And, please, when Republicans try to pretend it is unthinkable we want to do this for 3 years, don't forget they already voted down doing it for 1 year. In fact, one Republican actually called it ``political terrorism.'' Give me a break. Trump can post a video where he bombs protesters with feces. He can repost someone calling to hang Democrats. But when Democrats want to save healthcare for working families, that is political terrorism?

Let's not forget one of the most incredible Republican excuses for letting these premiums double--that they never wanted to lower healthcare costs with these tax credits in the first place.

They say: Look, Democrats passed these tax credits without a single Republican vote.

Well, you bet we did, and that really shows the differences in priorities, doesn't it?

When Democrats were in power, we passed the strongest, longest tax credit we had the votes for to help working families get healthcare because Democrats actually think it is a problem that millions of people are going to lose coverage. But Republicans think the real problem is that too many people were able to get coverage in the first place. They are even doubling down on that in their new, half-baked proposal to pretend they have some kind of healthcare agenda.

Just look at the ideas that Republicans are putting forward. The Republican healthcare plan is to bring back--back--the bad old days of high-risk pools, when preexisting conditions were not protected and a cancer diagnosis meant you couldn't get health coverage.

The Republicans' healthcare plan is more junk health plans that bury patients in debt when they have an accident or they get sick. The Republican plan is finding new ways to attack access to abortion and block women from getting the care that they need. The Republican healthcare plan is ``just let mom shop around for healthcare,'' as if

moms didn't have enough to worry about and as if shopping is even an option when you need urgent care or specialty care that is hard to find or you only have one hospital for miles.

And here is the doozy. The healthcare plan the Republicans put forward this week does not even bring down premiums--not a single cent. That is right. Their plan does nothing about the skyrocketing premiums. So if your premium is too high for you to afford coverage in the first place, the Republican plan for you is tough luck.

They want to replace tax credits that actually make sure people can enroll in a quality health plan with a mere pittance that you can only get if you are poor enough to qualify but still make enough to afford health coverage in the first place--and only if you buy the lowest quality plan, even if that is not what you want. Only then are Republicans offering you a meager $83 or $125 a month, which comes, by the way, nowhere close to covering your deductible and does nothing to keep families' out-of-pocket healthcare costs from going through the roof.

Instead of reducing the uninsured rate or getting people quality coverage, Republicans are saying to you: What if we only give money to people who can afford health coverage instead of supporting those who cannot? And what if we spent that money pushing people toward the worst coverage, which leaves them on the hook for huge deductibles?

Instead of bringing premiums down, Republicans are saying: What if we spend the same funding in a way that doesn't lower premiums at all but just leaves them sky high and even ends up with them soaring for patients with preexisting conditions by driving younger, healthier people into lower quality catastrophic plans or out of the market entirely.

The Republican plan is like ``Squid Games'' for healthcare. You can't afford health coverage? Here is a coupon. Spin the wheel and see if you make it through the year. If you lose, if you get cancer, or if you get pregnant, or if you have some sort of medical emergency more expensive than a thousand bucks, you get buried in debt. And win or lose, you are going to have to play the same twisted game again, year after year, for the rest of your life. And one year, you are going to lose because we all get sick eventually. We all get older eventually.

What Republicans have put forward is not a healthcare plan. It is a sick joke. I can hardly believe they can say it with a straight face.

And speaking of jokes, are Republicans going to stand up this new fangled disaster before open enrollment begins? Well, guess what. It is too late for that.

This is not just out of touch with families; it is out of touch with reality. Even if these plans were not a joke, there is scarcely time left to do something half as complicated.

That is the kicker. If Republicans were serious about reforming the tax credits, the time to do that was before we were a month into open enrollment.

Democrats were at the table all year. Republicans were nowhere to be found. The truth is, if Republicans actually wanted to reform the tax credits, they could have done that without Democrats. They could have done that actually in their ``Big Ugly Bill.'' They could have extended those ACA tax credits completely on their own terms, if it was important to them. But they did not because they did not care.

And when Democrats insisted and insisted and insisted, ``Republicans, just come to the table,'' they chose to shut down the government rather than talk about healthcare.

But now, when rates have already been set and families have days to get coverage for January--a few weeks away--Republicans are not only trying to pretend they care about stopping the MAGA healthcare hike; they are now trying to pretend it is realistic to negotiate major changes and new programs in time for January 1.

What are they talking about? Forget how long negotiations take. Even if we pass that bill today, there is not time to implement anything more complicated than a clean extension.

Now, I am always at the table to talk about how we can save healthcare. I am happy to sit down next year and negotiate serious bipartisan reforms for the 2027 season. But the key word here is ``serious.'' It is not serious for Republicans to act like they care about healthcare now, when they were silent on this during their tax- cutting bonanza. It is not serious for Republicans to act like there is time for major negotiations and reforms now, when we are over halfway through open enrollment. And it is not serious for Republicans to act like they just want simple tweaks, when they are actually demanding new abortion coverage bans that they know are a nonstarter.

Let me close with this: If Republicans truly want to have a serious, bipartisan conversation about healthcare, we can do that. Democrats are happy to do that. But there is a fire burning right now, and a lot of people are about to get burned if we don't put it out.

So the first step has to be passing the bill Democrats have put forward, simply extending the tax credits and saving healthcare for millions of families in the country.

We could have talked about reforms earlier. And once we do this, we can still talk about reforms later. But right now, we have to put this fire out, and we have a bill that does that.

Now, I am hoping against hope and against history that reason wins out and Republicans join us to pass this bill. But I will say, if Republicans refuse to do the right thing--the thing their own constituents are begging all of us to do--they should know Democrats are not going to walk away from this fight. I am going to continue to hold Republicans accountable. And, more importantly, the American people are going to hold Republicans accountable, too, with their voices and with their votes.

Democrats will also keep sharing a vision for how we do rebuild a stronger healthcare system after this Republican wreckage, because, as much as we want to save these health tax credits, I think everyone knows that is a starting point. It is a bare minimum. We still need universal healthcare in America. We have needed it for a very long time. It is what I have always been fighting for. And whatever happens in the next few days, I am going to keep pushing for reforms that make high-quality healthcare that is actually affordable a reality for every American.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to acknowledge the service of an extraordinary public servant who is retiring later this month, U.S. Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro of the Government Accountability Office.

Gene's service to GAO and Congress is truly remarkable, spanning an incredible 52-year career at GAO, with more than half of that time spent leading the agency as Chief Operating Officer, Acting Comptroller General, or since December 2010, Comptroller General. Gene is just the eighth U.S. Comptroller General, and the first to come from within GAO. In these and his other roles working at GAO, he has served Congress by helping us better manage taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse while also improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the critical Federal programs and services our constituents depend on.

I have seen the importance of GAO's work firsthand. Over the years, Gene and the hard-working staff at GAO have assisted my work in overseeing the Committees on Veterans Affairs, Budget, HELP, and Appropriations. I can attest how greatly Congress depends on the expertise of the staff at GAO. And in the case of Gene Dodaro, few have done more to serve this institution and the American people. I want to thank and commend Gene for his many decades of excellent public service to GAO, the Congress, and the Nation and to wish him and his family all the best in his much-deserved retirement.

I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Gene for his dedication and service to us and the American people.

Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate MAJ Brian Dulzo for his exemplary dedication to duty and service to the Nation and Washington State. Major Dulzo served as an Army congressional fellow in my office, and he currently serves with distinction in the Army Congressional Budget Liaison Office, assisting my office and many others in serving our constituents.

Originally from Novi, MI, Major Dulzo's commitment to service began with his graduation from the University of Michigan in 2011, where he earned a bachelor of science in nursing and received his commission as an officer in the Army Nurse Corps. He continued to prove himself as a hard-working team member as he earned a master of arts in international relations from American Military University, a master of professional studies in congressional affairs from George Washington University, and a graduate certificate in global health engagement from Uniformed Services University.

Throughout his 14 years of dedicated service thus far, Major Dulzo's selfless dedication to our Nation and his fellow servicemembers has been apparent in every role he has taken on. Major Dulzo has demonstrated exceptional leadership in a variety of essential positions, including as a critical care nurse, aide-de-camp to a commanding general, company commander, and officer-in-charge of a critical care section. During very uncertain times, he deployed to Iraq and Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Prior to his selection into the Army congressional fellowship, Major Dulzo led the critical care section at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis- McChord, in Washington State.

I have had the distinct pleasure of working directly with Major Dulzo over the past 3 years. His professionalism, unwavering commitment to our Nation and Washington State, and insightful contributions have earned the respect of me, my entire staff, and countless other offices. His work on servicemember healthcare, housing, childcare, and military families has been invaluable. Throughout his career, Major Dulzo has consistently demonstrated a profound dedication to the well-being of his peers and superiors alike.

I offer my deepest appreciation for Major Dulzo's leadership and continued dedication to our Nation's servicemembers. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing his outstanding contributions to the U.S. Army and wishing Major Dulzo the best on his next assignment.

Mr. President, like so many people in this country, I am so outraged that Republicans have refused to lift a finger to save so many families from the skyrocketing healthcare premiums all year long. I voted no on last night's vote because I do believe we need to address healthcare costs before we move forward.

There is simply no time left to kick the can down the road when it comes to saving the ACA tax credits. We are already 10 days into enrollment. Yet we have Republicans saying: Why should we stop premiums from skyrocketing when we never really wanted lower premiums in the first place?

We have Republicans talking about going back to the good old days of high-risk pools, which meant people with cancer could not get health insurance. We have Speaker Johnson bragging that Republicans strengthened healthcare by making the biggest cut to Medicaid in history. That is like saying you strengthened a ship by throwing the passengers overboard.

And when Democrats offered a clean 1-year extension of the tax credits, which is truly the most straightforward and commonsense thing we can do for people facing gigantic premium hikes this year, Republicans said: Never ever, ever, ever.

They called it ``political terrorism.'' And to really put a fine point on it, they fired up the old bad ideas machine to try and find a new way to repeal the ACA. Republicans have gone from saying nothing about healthcare costs all year long to saying later, later, later, even after we are over a week into open enrollment and wasting every bit of time we had for real negotiations.

Then, incredibly, Republicans started saying: Let's scrap the Affordable Care Act altogether. Let's end protections for preexisting conditions. By refusing to work with Democrats on a solution before open enrollment started, Republicans have already pushed millions of Americans off the healthcare cliff.

The only question was--and is--could we throw them a rope back up? Could Congress get something done and stem some of the bleeding Republicans already caused? Yes. By passing a clean

1-year extension of the ACA tax credits.

But right away, Republicans said they wouldn't even consider it. I believe that we should keep pressing on that fight as time is of the essence, and the clock has nearly run out. The reality is, there is a point where it will be too late to make a meaningful difference on the healthcare premiums, and I don't believe there is some magical date set in stone, but that is coming up pretty fast.

It is pretty much now or never, and Republicans are essentially saying never to stopping the worst of the MAGA healthcare hike.

Now, here is the important thing: This fight is not over, far from it, because I and many of us have no intention of letting Republicans off the hook. No one should doubt for a single second who is to blame for the skyrocketing healthcare costs: Republicans and Republicans alone.

When families across America are paying the price that they will see for Republican inaction every month, I will make sure every single one of them remembers the same Republicans who did everything in their power to make tax breaks for billionaires permanent refused to even negotiate one year of healthcare tax credits for working families at a tiny fraction of the cost.

Unfortunately, here we are, and it seems clear Republicans are feeling no urgency to act on healthcare before it is too late, even a quick simple extension to help families.

But, I want to be clear, while I cannot vote for this overall deal today, not when we still need to address healthcare, I do absolutely support the appropriations bills and CR that we will move forward which do take meaningful steps to reject drastic cuts and extreme policies pushed by both Trump and House Republicans and make sure that Congress--not Trump--is in charge of Federal spending.

It is important that Democrats were at the table on the CR and our first three funding bills and used our spot at that table to fight for hard-working families in America. The difference is clear and a sharp contrast between the bills that were released yesterday and the bills written by the House Republicans and the budget put forward by President Trump.

In our bills, Democrats were able to secure real wins for folks back home and fight off painful, senseless cuts and extreme policy.

On the CR, we made sure to protect Federal workers, both by ensuring they receive backpay they are owed, something that has been debated extensively, and by reversing the punitive RIFs done by this administration during the administration and blocking them from doing more this year.

In the Agriculture appropriations bill, while Trump and House Republicans fought to make steep cuts to WIC that would have seriously cut benefits for millions of women and kids, we successfully fought together to keep WIC fully funded. This bill ensures that 7 million moms and babies will get the full nutrition benefits they rely on.

We also sustained key investments in our rural communities because we rejected a Trump funding takeover. We protected housing support in rural communities and vital agricultural research happening across the country, including in my home State of Washington at WSU.

We stopped Trump from blowing a truly massive hole in FDA's budget which would have slowed drug approvals and seriously endangered our food supply.

None of this is inconsequential. All of this matters. And I want to thank Chair Hoeven and Ranking Member Shaheen for all of their good work on that vital bill to our communities. In the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bills, we were able to secure funding to make sure we were taking care of our veterans and our servicemembers and ensure that this administration keeps its promises to our veterans by ensuring staffing of critical services such as the crisis hotline centers.

I want to thank Chair Boozman and Ranking Member Ossoff for all their good work on this critical bill to our veterans and our servicemembers.

And, lastly, on the Legislative Branch bill, which is the smallest bill, it covers the important needs of this institution, from protecting GAO and CBO, the Architect of the Capitol, our Capitol Police, and other Agencies that actually make this place work, to make sure our offices have what they need to take care of our constituents and keep our campus safe.

We should all appreciate the hard work that went into completing this bill. I want to thank Chair Mullin and Ranking Member Heinrich for all of their work on that important bill and the critical matters within to every Senator in this Chamber.

Now, obviously, those are not the bills I would have written on my own. I have concerns we were not able to address in these bills, and Republicans were not open to some of them. But I still want to do more when it comes to delivering critical investments for communities in our country, and I will, as always, keep pushing my colleagues every day.

But we did secure real wins for folks back home when Democrats and Republicans were able to sit down at the table together on funding, and they are immeasurably better than Trump and Vought holding the pen-- which is what the slush fund CR that we have been operating on this year allowed.

I am proud for what we have been able to negotiate to protect key programs our families and communities rely on and protect our authority as lawmakers who are here to be a voice for our constituents. I want to emphasize that I really appreciate the work of my counterpart, the senior Senator from Maine Susan Collins, who has done incredible work on all these bills.

I want to thank our subcommittee chairs and ranking members and all of our staff who have worked hard to put these bills together, and I want to make clear I deeply appreciate the partnership of my colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee who have all worked in good faith during these very difficult times and these very difficult negotiations.

No matter what, these bills need to get done and our staff put in late nights and our chairs and ranking members held countless conversations to compromise and work toward solutions.

I hope to continue building on that progress and showing what it does look like when we come together and put families before politics.

I look forward to getting our next minibus up on the floor to move multiple needed bills along that we have marked up in the committee and give those to conference, and I hope we can be on that package as soon as possible.

I look forward to working with the Senator from Maine and working to get those final bills completed, so they, too, can be conferenced with the House as soon as possible.

And I want to thank all of our committee members and staffs for their incredible work on these critical bills. We have a lot of work ahead, and I know we can get there.

Passing full-year funding bills helps to ensure that Congress--not Trump or Russ Vought--decides how taxpayer dollars are spent. We should never turn the keys over to Trump and his Cabinet Secretaries, allowing them to make unilateral cuts and shift funding around however they please.

Every day, they prove in a new way how critical it is that Congress assert its authority and rein in their chaos, and I will continue to work to do that on the Appropriations Committee.

But I also need to continue fighting to stop the MAGA healthcare hike for as long as there is still time left on this clock to fix this. The reality is, there is a point where it will be too late to make a meaningful difference, but until we reach that point of no return, we do have to fight tooth and nail to force Republicans to actually work with us on that issue. And because, in this package, Republicans have still refused to address the healthcare crisis families are facing right now, a crisis that gets worse and harder to fix every single day, I will be voting no.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I join all of my Democratic colleagues here today to offer this proposal on the healthcare issue that has been holding all of us here and all of the American public for weeks now because after Republicans refused to work with us to save the premium tax credits all this past year, what we hear Republican leaders saying now is they maybe, possibly, will talk about healthcare. It just has to be later.

We are so far past that. Open enrollment is happening right now. Republicans have already pushed millions of Americans off that tax credit cliff. If we truly want to help these people, Republicans need to work with us as fast as possible to pass this clean, 1-year extension.

This is not some pie-in-the-sky request. As the previous speaker alluded to, if Republicans had no problems with Trump's shoveling nearly twice as much money at Argentina, why would they oppose giving this kind of support to our own American families? Is there no time for working families? Are there no funds for healthcare?

I cannot accept that. We cannot accept that. We can act, but we have to do it now. Every day that passes, this damage gets worse, and, by the way, harder to reverse. The best and quickest way to address the MAGA healthcare hike is this clean 1-year extension of the enhanced premium tax credit written into the CR that we ultimately will vote on to reopen the government.

Like my colleagues, I have heard so many heartbreaking stories from people in my State. They are not political. They don't care about Democrats, Republicans, but I will tell you, they are at a breaking point. Some of them have been on the verge of tears as they talked to me, explaining how they simply cannot afford to buy healthcare for next year. That weighs heavily on me and all of my colleagues. We carry their stories with us. Their words are on repeat in my mind every minute I walk through these halls.

I am here today fighting with my heart and soul. I am giving Republicans every opportunity in the world to do the right thing. I have been out here on this floor. I have spoken ad nauseam about how letting these tax credits expire will actually hurt people in Republican States the most.

So we are here today to say our hand is outstretched. We are ready to go, a 1-year clean extension, and we can reopen the government and save so many families misery in this country.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, let me just say this: We should make sure that every Federal worker gets the paycheck that they are owed, and the right way to do that is for Republicans to finally join us and get serious about passing a bipartisan CR so we do reopen the government and prevent healthcare costs from exploding.

Instead, the bill that the Senator from Louisiana is asking unanimous consent for actually lets Donald Trump and Russ Vought decide whom they want to pay during a shutdown, and that will allow them to stiff everyone else. President Trump has said he will only pay the people he wants to.

He literally said:

[W]e're going to take care of our people. There are some

people who really don't deserve to be taken care of, and

we'll take care of them in a different way.

This bill would actually let Trump do exactly that.

We should make sure all of our workers get paid, not just the workers Trump likes. So the best way to do that is, of course, for Republicans to sit down with us, as Democrats, and work out a solution to reopen the government. If, instead, you do as the Senator from Louisiana suggests here, then, at a minimum, it should cover all employees, and that proposal is out on the table with Senator Van Hollen and Senator Peters.

For that reason, I object.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from New Mexico for coming out here and making it very clear who we are fighting for. And it really is Americans across this country, who are seeing their costs skyrocket across the board. And, as Democrats, we want to make sure that, yes, they are paid, but they also have the ability to get their healthcare.

I heard the majority leader just now say they are not going to operate with a gun to their head. I would say to the majority party that the gun to the head is to all these people who are opening up their healthcare notices this week and are finding out that their costs are skyrocketing. Why? Because what the Republicans have said--and just said again--is that they want to talk about it. Talking about it is going to do absolutely nothing for those people who are getting those bills and those payments today.

So I wanted to come to the floor today and talk about that. And I would say to my Republican colleagues: Yeah, we all want to have bipartisan bills. We want to work on bipartisan appropriations.

But what we have in front of us is a CR that is partisan, that says: Do it my way or the highway, and do not discuss the priorities of the Democrats.

When you are asking us for votes--when you are asking for Democratic votes--you can't just demand whatever you want and say: If you don't do it, then we are going to sit here--which is what the Republicans have done.

I would ask the Republican leader, as I have done so many times: Talk to the Democratic leader. Bring the President in the room.

I have been here many, many times when we have had to find a way out of a challenging situation. And you know who has always been at the table? The President, the majority leader, and the Speaker of the House, and the minority leaders--on both sides of the aisle. And that has not happened yet.

And that is why we are sitting where we are, where, today, my constituents who are hurting are saying to me: Where are the Republicans, and why are they not talking to you about how we solve this issue?

The majority leader said: Well, there are problems with it.

They could have done this months ago. And they say: Oh, now, we can open up the government, and we will talk about it.

What does ``talk about it'' do to my constituents? Because, last week, window shopping for next year's health plans actually started in my home State, and, this week, open enrollment begins nationwide. I am hearing from families in my State today who are panicked.

While Republicans are refusing to act on this and saying they are going to talk about it, their premiums--their family's premiums--are going through the roof, and their healthcare coverage is slipping out of reach.

There are so many stories. I have talked to small business owners. I have talked to patients, and I have talked to parents. And I have lifted up their concerns here on the Senate floor, and I am going to keep doing everything I can to shout out these stories from the rooftops, because, right now, Republicans are doing everything they can to ignore this and to say: Deal with it later.

And what is ``later''? Well, later never comes.

Why do I know that? Because we brought up this issue, time and time again, throughout the summer, when the Republicans were giving away tax breaks to billionaires, and saying: This is an issue that is confronting us.

And it was ``later'' then. It is ``later'' now, and ``later'' is way too late.

There are many stories about this, too awful to ignore, and there are millions of families that are facing absolutely catastrophic price increases. I have heard from seniors whose premiums are increasing eightfold.

So in order to make the scope and scale of the problem that Republicans want to ignore and talk about later, I thought I would share a list--just the top lines--of what I am hearing from my constituents about how their healthcare costs are going to skyrocket if Republicans refuse to work with us, or even talk to us, about this issue and help us find a solution so we can all move on by saving the healthcare tax credits.

I am going to share some of those stores today.

There is Kathleen. She lives in Bellingham. Now, if Republicans refuse to act, she is going to see her monthly premium triple.

Sharon, in Thurston County, in my State--if Republicans refuse to act, her premium is going to double, increasing by over $100 a month.

And we are just getting started, because if Republicans refuse to act, Nanette in Tumwater and Stacya in Seattle are both going to see their premiums increase by $400 a month--not a year, a month.

If Republicans refuse to act, Leslie's husband in Brewster is going to see his premiums increase by $780 a month. Tom will see his premiums increase by over $800 a month. Jennifer will see her premium go up by at least $890 a month.

And, I have to emphasize, we are talking about families, seniors, small business owners, people who cannot afford that kind of increase.

And yet if Republicans refuse to act, Jason in Seattle is going to see his premium increase by over $900 a month; Maya in Woodinville, $1,000 more a month. I can't even imagine that.

But if you think that is outrageous, well, Republicans don't think it is worth talking about--or talk about it later, when it is way too late, or pretend that they are going to do something about it, but not really.

Talk about a gun to their head, if we do not act, Diane in Wenatchee is going to see her premium increase by over $1,400 a month.

Leighann told me $1,500 a month that her premium will increase; Terry, a $1,600-a-month increase; and the Banergee family told me they are going to see their premium go up by more than $1,600 every single month.

The Republican plan: talk about it; do nothing. For all of us who have been here, we have been waiting for the plan for a long time and have never seen it--have never seen it. It is always just a plan.

Rebecca in Seattle will see her premium increase by more than $1,700 a month.

By the way, that plan is not in writing. It is a thought in somebody's head that has never been told to anybody. What do we have here today? Republican silence.

James and his wife are going to see their premium go up by a completely unreasonable $1,800 a month. Damian said his is going to go up $2,000 a month. Why? Because Republicans are refusing to act. That is whom we are fighting for here today.

I could go on and on, but those cases I just told you about all came from Washington State. That is a drop in the bucket. There are several million more examples just like this in red States across the country.

Bob in Idaho told me his premium will jump by nearly $1,900 a month; Nancy in Florida, $1,000 a month; Cheri in Tennessee will see her monthly costs go from $10 to $1,140.

I mean, we could do this all day. Yet Republicans can't be bothered to do it at all. These are their constituents. Nearly 4 million people in Texas rely on these tax credits. Republicans don't want to save over 4 million in Florida.

The increases they are going to face are unthinkable. In five States--all red States--families who rely on these tax credits are going to see prices more than quadruple. That is on average.

It is unthinkable, it is unconscionable, and totally untethered from reality for Republican leaders to think they can just ignore this tsunami or this price hike.

So I say to my Republican friends: You have to get your heads out of the sand. This is a real problem for families. Later is way too late, and I don't think it exists.

The majority leader just said that families don't know that they get this. There is something wrong with that? They find out that their healthcare--that they are being helped by their neighbors and their friends and the people in this country who say it is important for all of us to make sure our healthcare premiums are lowered? I would say to my Republican colleagues: Listen to your constituents. It is their health. It is their lives. They are telling you that. They want action. Open enrollment for this country starts Saturday. The time to act is now. So I hope they start listening.

Please join us at a negotiating table, not out here on the floor just throwing things around. Join us. The majority leader can call the minority leader and the President and get them in the room, which is what we always do when we have a challenge in front of us. That has not happened. That is unconscionable because people in this country are hurting.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, you know, President Trump has singlehandedly raised taxes more than any President in my lifetime. He has, without any consultation or approval from Congress, imposed billions of dollars in new tariffs.

These are taxes. They are paid for by the American people. They hurt small business owners who need raw materials that just aren't available here in the United States.

They cut off crucial export markets for our farmers when other nations inevitably retaliate, and they are sending prices soaring across the board, from big things like cars to everyday essentials like groceries.

Trump's tariffs have already raised retail prices for families by 5 percent--5 percent--and this year alone, his tariffs are expected to cost American households an average of $1,800. That is staggering.

Still, nearly every Senate Republican has refused to vote with us to end this chaos. I will say it another way: Republicans are refusing to stop President Trump from raising taxes on working families.

Now, we all saw Republicans move Heaven and Earth this year to shovel more tax breaks at billionaires. But you know, when it comes to taxes on working families, well, they are downright eager to force families to pay more every time they go to the supermarket.

I am not going to let this get swept under the rug, especially not when Trump shows us every day that his tariffs are not about any sort of economic strategy or any real emergency. Trump's tariff policy is as strategic as a toddler who plays with a light switch.

Last week, we saw Trump raise taxes on Americans. Why? Because he was mad that Canada ran an ad quoting Ronald Reagan. That is about as ridiculous as it gets.

My State shares a border with Canada. There are countless families and businesses that span our northern border, people who have built businesses that rely on strong trade relationships, from farmers who send their crops north to shops that bring in products, to towns that serve tourists and visitors that come down from our neighbors. And these Washington business

owners are all having their livelihoods completely turned upside down on a whim by President Trump.

And, again, let's be clear. All Canada did to unleash more blind fury and boneheaded tariffs from President Trump was quote President Ronald Reagan.

Now, for all the policies I disagree with, Reagan at least had enough sense to understand that we, the American people, are the ones who pay those tariffs.

For my colleagues, these are the words that Donald Trump does not want you to hear. This is what Reagan had to say about tariffs, verbatim:

Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American

worker and consumer.

Then the worst happens: markets shrink and collapse;

businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people

lose their jobs.

But do you know what? If Republicans don't want to listen to Reagan this time, well, then how about they start listening to American families and farmers and small businesses back in their own home States, because as someone who has had countless discussions about tariffs with the people that I represent back home, I have no doubt Republicans' own constituents will tell them firsthand just how painful Trump's trade war has been for them.

I have heard from businesses across my home State of Washington that are getting crushed by Trump's tariffs: an Asian grocery store that sells goods you simply have to source from abroad, like green tea; coffee shops that are getting hit, as the Senator just talked about, since most of our country can't grow coffee beans; clothing stores that tell me they are struggling with higher prices for cotton canvas, or zippers, threads, and buckles.

And then there are farmers--across my State and, really, across the country--that are getting boxed out of key markets by these trade wars Trump is starting left and right for no reason.

And there are the jobs at our ports that are threatened as every new chaotic tariff Trump decides to tweet out whittles away at imports and exports alike. It grinds our really busy, bustling ports to an absolute standstill, and that puts thousands of jobs in jeopardy.

Foreign imports are now down by a third at our ports in Seattle and Tacoma--a third. The reality of Trump's tariffs is painfully obvious to families and business owners who are bearing the brunt of this ham- fisted trade war.

You can't just ``make it in America'' when the ``it'' in question is fruits and vegetables we can't grow at scale here in the United States. You can't just ``make it in America'' when even making something here requires parts and raw materials from across the globe. There are just higher prices for working families, tighter margins for our struggling businesses, and even more worry for our families and our businesses who are being pushed to the edge.

Families are feeling those price hikes every single day. Small businesses in my State and across the country are facing very difficult decisions right now in trying to decide whether they can even keep their doors open. Right now, people across America, across party lines, across economic backgrounds, and across nearly every divide imaginable are now speaking out.

The time has come now for Republicans to actually listen. The time has come to hold President Trump accountable for raising prices on families across the board. The time has come to end President Trump's new taxes on everything. And the time has come for Congress, us, to start asserting our authority on tariffs, instead of ceding every single part of our jobs to a President who is joking he is the Speaker of the House.

Is he going to start calling himself majority leader too?

I urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting for this resolution so we can start rolling back Trump's taxes on Americans and take some pressure off our families and small businesses in the States that we are all here to represent.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, we are now on week four of Republicans insisting that they would rather keep the government shut down than talk about how we can stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing.

In a sign of how serious Republicans are taking all this, House Republicans are still not even here. They are still on a vacation that has now lasted over a month. Senate Republican leaders are still refusing to sit down with us and do anything other than pull the same failed vote on their partisan bill over and over and over.

President Trump is gloating and lying about having more power than ever. He is illegally mass firing people who do important work for the American people. He is illegally hacking away at ``Democratic'' programs, and he is tweeting out more lies and truly obscene videos.

Let's be clear. President Trump does not have to fire people and slash funding. He didn't do any of this during the last shutdown he caused. Instead, Trump is choosing to cause pain and chaos because he wants to use the American people as leverage. Meanwhile, he is doing nothing about the fact that millions of Americans--the majority in red States, by the way--are about to see their premiums double. Open enrollment starts next week. In fact, it already began in Idaho. And where are the Republicans? They are on week 4 of sticking their heads in the sand. Again, House Republicans are not even here.

But, in a shock to no one, Republicans' ignoring reality has done nothing to change it. That became even more obvious today, as health plan window shopping started in my home State of Washington. It is going on in many other States as well, which means that right now, today, families are logging on and looking for plans for 2026 and seeing the full cost of the Republicans' inaction.

For millions of families, they are seeing for the first time that their premiums are going to double next year because Republicans are refusing to act. For many families, it will be even worse: Premiums will triple or even quadruple. I have heard from seniors not yet old enough for Medicare who have learned that their premiums will jump by more than $1,000 a month. I have heard from many small business owners who are trying to figure out if they are going to give up on their dream jobs or risk going without healthcare.

The Republicans' response is silence. The Republicans' solution is, just wait.

To my colleagues, what are you talking about? Wait? Until what? Until those premiums get locked in? Until people are officially priced out of coverage?

The billionaires did not have to wait for their tax cuts. Republicans made sure to pass that last July.

Why do working families have to wait for you to talk about healthcare?

It is completely absurd to me that Republicans are trying to say that they won't talk about this during a shutdown, but ``Trust us because, later, we may possibly think about or talk about something that is going to be way too late.''

It is just not credible for Republican leaders to insist that they won't talk about healthcare until the shutdown ends. After all, they wouldn't talk about it before the shutdown. As a matter of fact, I think they have talked about healthcare more during the shutdown than they have all year. They have been ignoring this issue. And their only offer to Democrats right now is to say we should ignore it too? No deal. I will not ignore my constituents.

And to my Republican colleagues: I won't let you ignore yours either. So join us at the table, and let's get serious about ending this shutdown and stopping those premiums from skyrocketing.

I have heard from families and small businesses in Washington State about how painful this is going to be. I have also heard from my neighbors in Idaho and Montana. Why is it so hard for Republican leaders to listen to these stories? Why is it so hard for them to listen to the voices of their constituents?

We saw that same issue with the protests last weekend. The No Kings protests were possibly the most massive,

peaceful day of action in our Nation's history. From city to city, large and small, images poured in of massive crowds--a grassroots movement with handmade signs, colorful outfits, and Americans of every stripe.

Out in the crowds, you could see parents who were out to protest with kids on their shoulders, showing the next generation that this is how we make our voices heard in this country--loudly, proudly, and peacefully. You could see seniors out marching, determined to stand up for the rights they have cherished for decades and to stop this country from becoming something they no longer recognize. You could see young adults getting together with their friends, getting involved, and exercising their birthright as Americans to have a say in the future of this country.

It was an inspiring celebration of how we advocate for change in this country. Americans from every walk of life, in every stage of life, from every corner of our country, came together to speak with one voice and send one message: No Kings. That is about as fundamentally American as it gets.

Yet how did my colleagues across the aisle respond to these people, many of them their own constituents? Republicans spent weeks slandering peaceful protesters. They spent weeks saying this was a ``hate America'' rally. They actually said that repeatedly and proudly to the press.

Do you think those kids hate America, or those seniors? Do you think they hate America or that your constituents hate America?

That is disgraceful. Republicans who spouted those lies should apologize.

Let's not forget President Trump's response because it deserves to live in shame for all of history. The President of the United States responded to peaceful protesters across this country with a video of himself wearing a crown, driving a fighter jet, and bombing peaceful protesters with human waste. Are you kidding me? No one over there says anything about this? That is shameful.

Speaker Johnson said he thinks Trump is being an effective communicator. Really? What on Earth is effective about the President of the United States dropping waste on American families and seniors and our cities?

It was a vulgar, ugly, and fundamentally unstable display. It was in many ways a perfect mirror reflection of those peaceful protests because President Trump's response of showing himself donning a crown, soaring above the common people, and dropping waste on American cities and peaceful protesters is as fundamentally un-American as it gets.

So when are Republicans going to apologize for smearing peaceful protesters? When are they going to apologize for saying this weekend was a ``hate America'' rally? When are they going to apologize for all the rhetoric saying Democrats are terrorists? While we are at it, tell us when they are going to criticize Trump's completely unhinged response. What is it going to take to tell President Trump he crossed a line?

Millions of people can peacefully--peacefully--protest, and Republican leaders will slander it for weeks as a ``hate America'' rally, but there is not a squeak of criticism for the President of the United States fantasizing about bombing people with feces.

Republicans may be determined to cover their ears when it comes to our families who are speaking out about this healthcare crisis, and they may be determined to cover their eyes when it comes to Trump's tweeting out unhinged, un-American, AI slop, but Democrats are not going to let them cover up the truth. We are not going to let them ignore this healthcare crisis, and we are going to continue to speak out and lift up the stories of our families in their States and in ours. We will remain at the table, ready to work on real solutions to end this shutdown and address this healthcare crisis.

I yield the floor.

Will the Senator from Oregon yield for a question?

I thank the Senator from Oregon.

First, let me just commend you for what you are doing here throughout the night, throughout today, calling attention to a really critical issue in this country.

So many people have come up to me, you know, because we go back and forth to the west coast all the time--how many people walk up to us and say: What can I do about this? And each one of us has to say: Here is what I can do.

I want to thank you for doing what you are doing today because you are going above and beyond to point out to people that, as your chart says, authoritarianism is here, and it is here now. We can ignore it, or we can speak out.

You have spent all night long and all day standing on your feet at, I am sure,

great personal sacrifice to fight for everyone in this country and to sound the alarms, as you have been talking about. So I just personally want to thank you.

I want to reiterate something that you have said for all of these hours and, actually, many times to me over the past few months--the fact that Trump is using his place in government to control every aspect of our lives, whether it is what our schools are teaching or not teaching; it is whether or not he is prosecuting his enemies, which he is doing; it is cutting off projects and funding to punish the political opposition.

You and I both know--we represent blue States, but we have a lot of red counties and cities and neighborhoods. Even within all of our blue districts--you can't just randomly say ``I am hurting blue'' without hurting the red because these are all Americans. But he is using his power to do that.

We are seeing him, as you know well in your home State, deploying troops to intimidate Democrats. I listened to you late last night talk about what is happening in Portland. The misuse of this kind of power should be frightening to every single American. We need to stand up, and we need to call it out, which is what you are doing today. Even dictating what late night TV hosts are doing is part of this whole picture that you have been describing.

But I came to the floor today as your partner on the Appropriations Committee. We serve on that together. We all know in this body how important that committee is because we decide where the funding is going to go in the country.

I have been out on this floor, I have been at home, and I have been everywhere talking about the power of the purse, which sounds kind of like this quaint little phrase, but it is really important. For anybody who has a family, you know that the person who writes the checks in the checkbook decides where the money is going to go. Well, that power of the checkbook--that power of the purse, as it is called--lands on this side of the White House and the Congress. We have the power of the purse. Why is that? Because we represent our constituents from across the country--I, from Washington State; you, from Oregon. People from Illinois and Alabama and Florida all come here to be a voice for their constituents on where their tax dollars are going to go.

Within this country, the power of the purse means we have the ability to decide where the money is going to go because we represent our constituents. That is what they call on us to do.

I am seeing Trump do an all-out assault on Congress's power of the purse, so I wanted to come here today and ask you your thoughts on how this President is undermining the power of the purse and how it plays into your ringing the bells about authoritarianism.

Ringing the alarm bells for the authoritarian takeover.

The power of the purse is one of those fundamental ways that, in fact, the President is concentrating his power.

The difference between a democracy is that--in a democracy, the legislature says: Here are the programs, here is how we want to run them, and here is how we are going to fund them. It brings together the collective wisdom of a large group that comes from every portion of the Nation, like we do here--100 Senators from 50 States. We not only bring our geographic differences; we bring our life differences and our life skills. All of that helps us form a pretty complex set of decisions about the programs that need more support because of the challenges we are facing as a nation at that moment and those that can do with less support. That is our responsibility. But all those voices together are just so central to that.

In an authoritarian nation, all of that responsibility--design the program, fund the program, choose whether the program will live or die--is all transferred to the executive. So we are thinking, authoritarianism is over here, and the power of the purse is with the executive; democracy is over here, and the power of the purse is with legislature.

Russell Vought, the current head of OMB, is a well-trained, clever man, and he is saying: Well, let's see how we can actually take the power of the purse. You passed a bill for fiscal year 2025, and now we are in--we are no longer in fiscal, but let's say we were. Well, maybe I can just slow-walk the funds for the programs I don't want to fund. That way, the decision is transferred to the Executive. Maybe I can freeze them. Maybe I can impound them, basically permanently take them off the table, see if I can get away with that. Maybe I can send over a request to have Congress formally undo the programs they have funded.

They did send one of those over, and it was voted on. It needed a majority vote in both Chambers. But the problem with that is you have a bipartisan vision to serve the entire--these desks to me are now representing the geography of the United States--to serve the entire breadth and depth of our Nation, with all of our differences. Then, on a partisan basis, meaning half the room, they decide what programs to cut. That means a deal was done in the beginning between Democrats and Republicans, and then it was undone. The programs that were cut were the programs, by and large, the Democrats had advocated for. How do you do the next deal in that situation?

Then we have Mr. Vought saying: What I will do is pretend I am going to spend it, but then in the last 45 days, I will send a notification that I would like Congress to undo it. But there is a waiting period, so therefore I know what I have done is set it up so that before those 45 days are up, the end of the fiscal year comes, and that bucket that goes to that program goes poof into thin air.

That is the fancy term that is used, ``pocket rescission.''

So here we are saying to our Republican colleagues: If you negotiated in good faith to serve the interests and concerns that all hundred Senators bring here, than a bill forged in that bipartisan manner can only be done in a bipartisan manner.

We do rescissions in a bipartisan manner. We do undo funding. We take 1-year, 2-year, 3-year funding that turned out not to be needed or better spent elsewhere, and we pull it back, and we put it into a different program. But we do that readjustment in the same bipartisan way we did the initial program.

We are saying to our colleagues across the aisle, if the power of the purse means something--and it does: the difference between an authoritarian government and a democracy--then work with us to defend our Constitution, defend that what we have done together cannot be undone by the Executive.

So far, we have not received a ``Yes, we will defend the Constitution.'' What I hear is mainly ``Yeah, President Trump would never go for that.'' When you hear that, you know you are trapped in authoritarianism because the vision of our Nation is that we the Congress will forge these programs and decide how to fund them, how much. And when it is like ``Can't do that because Trump would be upset,'' well, that just confirms that we are in authoritarianism now. And it is not just the power of the purse, of course; it is an attack on due process; it is an attack on free press; it is an attack on freedom of speech; it is the weaponization of the Department of Justice; it is the ignoring the laws that apply to the Executive completely, like firing all of the IGs and getting rid of all of the referees.

In the book that I really spent the night trying to use as a framework in order to say, hey, experts have studied how democracies die--they don't die with people with guns anymore; they die with people who get elected, and then they follow the authoritarian playbook on how to basically undo the checks and balances and amplify the power.

And another piece of that, that we should be very concerned about in the Northwest right now--more in Portland, but who knows what happens in Seattle--is trying to carve a path in which Trump has court rescissions that say he can put troops into the street whenever he wants. And that is a massively dangerous amplification of authoritarian power, and that is why what we do this year makes such a difference.

And we have to protest and say this is not normal. We have to ring the alarm bells. We have to praise the 7 million people who got out there and said: No Kings in the United States. And that is such a beautiful, short way of saying: No authoritarianism; we

want our Republic back, and we are going to fight to make that happen.

And we want our voices to be heard. That is what you are doing, and I thank the Senator from Oregon for all he has been doing for so long, for so many years, but especially for the last 20-plus hours that you have been on the floor--

--too many hours on the floor, reminding us all of why this is so critical.

Mr. President, while Republican leaders continue trying to ignore this healthcare crisis and insisting on shutting down the government rather than even considering talking to us about how we prevent these premiums from doubling across the country, I have been listening to folks back home who are painfully aware healthcare premiums are about to skyrocket and who are deeply concerned about what it is going to mean for their families and for their communities.

So last week, when the Republican leader sent us home, yet again, instead of working with us to end this shutdown and address the healthcare crisis, I made a visit to Sea Mar Community Health Centers' Oak Harbor Clinic. Why? To hear from doctors and healthcare providers about what is just beyond the horizon if Republicans insist on inaction. I heard about how healthcare cuts Republicans passed are going to devastate our hospitals, devastate our clinics and health centers, and I heard about how these massive premium hikes that are being announced right now--the ones Republicans are trying very hard to ignore--are going to push millions of people off their healthcare plans.

One person I spoke with serves on the board of an insurer on the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. He warned me that, if we do not save these ACA tax credits, they are anticipating so many customers will be priced out that the number of individuals they cover through the marketplace will drop 35 to 50 percent.

You know, there is already a loud chorus of people speaking out concerned about this in my State and across the country. I have spoken with small business owners who are going to see their premiums double, even triple, and some quadruple, who are having to rethink whether they try to keep their small business doors open and maybe go without coverage or, alternatively, just pack it in and try to find a job with an employer-sponsored plan.

I have spoken with retirees that are not yet old enough for Medicare who have gotten notices that their monthly premiums are about to go through the roof. In some cases, we are talking about thousands of dollars a month.

And here is the thing, not only do I know there are more stories like this across the country, I also know there are going to be many more stories pouring in very shortly because the reality is, there are rate hikes in the mail right now going out to people who had no idea about the Republican healthcare crisis and that it was going to hit them in the end. Rates are being set now. People are window shopping in many States and panicking from the sticker shock.

In Idaho, open enrollment is now underway. It has started. That means right now families are seeing the cold, hard numbers and the sharp increase it will cost them to stay covered.

And in 2 weeks, that same nightmare is coming to every State in the country.

Who do Republicans think they are fooling when they try to just ignore this? What in the world are they talking about when they say ``deal with it later''? These price hikes are going to get locked in. There is no later. We need to act now.

There was ``an earlier,'' though. Perhaps we should talk about that for a minute because Democrats have been calling for action on this for months. And where were Republicans? Why wouldn't Republicans sit down with us to talk about healthcare in September? Why wouldn't they talk about healthcare in August? Why couldn't they find a single minute to work with us on healthcare in July or June or even May? After all, they had plenty of time this summer to shovel tax breaks at billionaires and put over a trillion dollars in healthcare funding on the chopping block.

They spent months on billionaires, but they can't be bothered when it comes to healthcare. They can't be bothered to help our working families. They would rather shut down the government than sit down and talk about preventing these premiums from doubling.

But Democrats are going to talk about healthcare, whether Republicans want to or not.

House Republicans have been hiding from this issue for a month. I am not kidding. They have literally been on vacation for nearly a month now. Hiding from this problem will not make it ago way. Those rate hikes in the mail--they are going out to our constituents. Window shopping is going live. Folks can now go online in many States and see the exact cost of Republican inaction.

And open enrollment is still marching ahead. It is underway now in Idaho. And in a few weeks, it is going to be across the Nation.

If you are a Republican who thinks that somehow families will not notice their premiums doubling, somehow they won't mind that their healthcare costs jump a couple hundred dollars a month--or, in some cases, by the way, a couple thousand dollars a month--here is your advice: Stop taking your marching orders from billionaires like President Trump and start listening to those people back home. Talk to the farmers. Actually, a quarter of them are covered on these exchanges. Talk to small business owners like I have; talk to employees, many of whom are covered through the exchange, because they are the ones who will feel the pain from this and they know it and they are begging Congress to act.

And do you know what? Three fourths of the people who rely on the ACA tax credits live in red States. And the 10 States where folks who lose these tax credits will see the largest premium increases? They are all red States. So shutdown or not, Republicans can only ignore this issue if they ignore their own constituents.

So to our Republican leaders: Don't hide from your constituents. Don't hide from this healthcare crisis you are causing. Quit hiding from the negotiating table. The clock is not just ticking; the alarm is going off. We need to act now before these premium hikes become unavoidable.

Democrats are at the table. We always have been at the table. We are ready to work out a deal that reopens the government and addresses the healthcare crisis.

I yield the floor.