Floor Statements

Mr. President, I have been through a lot of events on Capitol

Hill in my life. There was one, last night, that was worth remembering. It was a gathering for a rally for medical research investment by Congress and the President for the good of all of our country and beyond, and there was one presentation which really had an impact.

A former colleague of ours in the U.S. Senate, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, is fighting a heroic battle against cancer. He was diagnosed quite a few months ago with pancreatic cancer, and it spread throughout his body.

I recall when it was first reported. Senator Sasse was candid, honest, and levelheaded in saying this is considered a death sentence, but we are going to fight it.

Well, there he was last night and in communication with this group that gathered on Capitol Hill--doctors and researchers and scientists from all over the United States--to report on his progress. Nine months after they predicted he would not survive, he has survived.

He talked about the fact that he was going to enjoy a meal with his family, and he counted every meal that he had with his family as a triumph over the early predictions that it would never happen.

The reason I raise that point is that there are a lot of issues that come before us in Congress, and there are a lot of political opinions on those issues. What I have found over the years is that a few issues transcend politics.

Medical research is one of those issues. It is a situation where I don't care if the researcher, scientist, or doctor is a Democrat or a Republican or even votes. I want to know if they are doing worthwhile research that can lead to cures, can save lives.

Most every one of us has been in the circumstance where some terrible diagnosis comes out affecting someone in your family or someone you love. One of the first questions you ask, of course: Is there anything we can do? Is there a drug? Is there a surgery? Is there a procedure? Hoping beyond hope that there will be good news and at least the promise, the possibility of the one you love being spared--medical research does that.

When I had a chance, about 12 years ago, to go to the National Institutes of Health, which is the premier medical research agency in the world--in the world--I met with Dr. Francis Collins. He is a legend. He served under Presidents of both political parties, headed up the NIH, and was really part of the solution and cures of so many things in front of us.

And I asked him, when I visited 12 years ago: What can I do, as a Member of the Senate, to help medical research in America?

And he said: Senator, if you can just give us 5 percent growth each year on a consistent basis, my researchers will have confidence that they can stick with their research and maybe find that cure. But when you go up and down with the research money, it is almost impossible to get that level of confidence.

That inspired me to come back to Capitol Hill to meet with then- Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who chaired the subcommittee that funds NIH, and I told him that story about Dr. Collins.

So Roy Blunt and I, a Republican and a Democrat, reached out to enlist people to gather support in our cause, 5 percent real growth each year. Among those who were contacted was Patty Murray, who has been committed to medical research throughout her Senate career, as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is now chairperson of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and many others.

It was a bipartisan effort, and it was successful. Over the last 10 years, we have increased the spending for medical research at NIH from $30 billion a year to $49 billion a year. That substantial 60 percent increase was what Dr. Collins was asking for.

Now, we have challenges that we have to face. The administration, in the first two budgets of the second Trump administration, has asked for dramatic cuts in medical research.

You didn't hear me wrong. They have asked for dramatic cuts in medical research.

And you say to yourself: Why? Why in the world would we take a step backward when it comes to medical research?

Our former Senator Ben Sasse is living proof--living proof--that ``research leading to cures'' works. It is the right investment.

Ask any family who is facing a terrible disease if research is important to them, and you know the answer already.

So now comes a proposal from the Trump administration, not only on the budget to cut the NIH, but the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health have supposedly reached a 10-year agreement--these two Agencies.

The Department of Defense, of course, is the largest Department in the Federal Government. The NIH is far from the largest.

The agreement sets up a path for the Department of Defense and NIH to collaborate on chemical and biological defense research and development.

That is a good thing, isn't it? Of course, it is.

But who is going to pay for it? Who is going to pay for this research? The Department of Defense, which has a trillion-dollar annual budget--a trillion-dollar annual budget? Or is it the NIH, an Agency that struggles at $49 billion to fight off cuts in the budget proposed by the President?

If you guessed the NIH, you are right. You see, what the announcement failed to mention was that this so-called agreement at the Department of Defense and NIH, which costs as much as $2 billion, is being paid for by virtually eliminating the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Let's be honest about this. A move to siphon funds away from the Nation's premier medical research Agency, which struggles with lifesaving research, to further bankroll the Pentagon, the most heavily funded Agency in our government--what is wrong with this picture?

By implementing this agreement, the Trump administration will, once again, undermine the NIH, when they should be boosting it, supporting it, on a bipartisan basis.

Since day one, the Trump administration has been hellbent on cutting NIH funding. This latest decision is another foolish gesture on their part, which should be stopped in its tracks.

For years, this investment and research at NIH have been worthwhile. This proposal to transfer one-third of the Agency's budget on infectious diseases is a mistake.

DOD is increasing its investments in medical research, and that is a good thing, I have been a supporter of that myself, when I chaired the subcommittee of appropriations on defense spending. But we need to be committed all the way when it comes to funding NIH.

Federal Aviation Administration

Mr. President, I want to talk about the treatment of air traffic controllers by this administration.

Later this afternoon, I will take an airplane ride from Washington to Chicago. I think it is likely to happen today, if the Senate schedule allows it.

Once again, as I have done hundreds of times--literally thousands of times--I will entrust my safety, my future, and my survival to a competent aircrew, as well as the air traffic controllers of America.

It is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. They work 6-day weeks. Unfortunately, there have been proposals that they should not receive the pay raise that was promised.

In April, Congress authorized a 2.8-percent pay increase for our Nation's air traffic controllers. It should be a priority. Instead, they have only received 1 percent of the 2.8 percent.

This wasn't a mere oversight. It was intentional, and the administration admitted it.

In a recent interview, the FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford was asked what was delaying this payment to the air traffic controllers. He told the reporter the administration needs to ``unlock more productivity,'' and that the data regarding controller productivity is ``really, really poor.''

I would like to quote Secretary Duffy back to his own Agency head, by saying: ``[Controllers] need support [and] they need money. . . . ''

We are currently understaffed when it comes to air traffic control. They are working 6 days a week on one of the most stressful jobs. Give them the pay

raise that we promised, and do it in a timely fashion.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Kasdin Mitchell to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Ms. Mitchell's record demonstrates that she prioritizes corporate interests over people. In private practice, she has represented Big Tech companies and industrial polluters. She also represented the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association in the 2022 Supreme Court case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which led to gun safety laws across the country being struck down.

Ms. Mitchell previously litigated against reproductive rights, and she argued for gutting the Voting Rights Act in a brief she submitted in Shelby County v. Holder. In addition to her professional record, she has strong ties to the Federalist Society and other rightwing organizations.

I oppose her nomination and ask my colleagues to join me.

I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), are necessarily absent.

Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Matthew Byrne to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Judge Byrne is one of the most extreme anti-choice judicial nominees the Senate has considered. While serving as a visiting justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, he objected to the court's

dismissal of a case defending the State's abortion ban even after voters' decision to enshrine reproductive rights in the Ohio Constitution.

While campaigning to be a State court judge, Judge Byrne stated that he opposed abortion for any reason other than to protect the life of the mother. He opposed exceptions for rape or incest and further wrote: ``I believe the `life of the mother' should be strictly defined so as to avoid creating loopholes.''

Judge Byrne's extreme views extend beyond his opposition to reproductive rights. Nearly 5 years after the Supreme Court recognized the right to same-sex marriage, he stated that he still believed the judiciary does not possess the authority to expand the definition of marriage to include anything but one man and one woman. Judge Byrne has also written: ``There is no reference to a `right to privacy' in the Constitution.''

In his public commentary and his judicial decisions, Judge Byrne has repeatedly demonstrated his extreme views and how he will rule if he is confirmed to the Federal bench.

I oppose his nomination and urge my colleagues to join me.

I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons) and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, last week marked 1 year since President Trump launched an assault against my home State of Illinois and characterized his Operation Midway Blitz. For months, chaos and terror reigned supreme in the streets and the city that I loved and am honored to represent.

This operation was supposedly targeting ``the worst of the worst,'' as President Trump has claimed: Rapists, murderers, terrorists, child predators, we are going after them. We are going to arrest them, and if they are not properly documented, we are going to deport them.

It ended up targeting not that population but American citizens and immigrants who have built their lives and raised their families in Illinois, people who posed no threat whatsoever to the public safety.

Let me give you two examples. One was when an ICE agent in the streets of Chicago killed Silverio Villegas Gonzalez minutes after he had dropped off his children at a daycare in Franklin Park, a suburb of Chicago. Mr. Gonzalez lived in the Chicago area for nearly 20 years. His children were forced to enter foster care because of his murder.

Immediately after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security claimed Mr. Villegas Gonzalez had hit and dragged an ICE agent with his car when he and another officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop causing serious injuries. However, there was a video of what actually happened, and it contradicted the claims made by the Department of Homeland Security.

In fact, Mr. Villegas Gonzalez is not shown hitting or dragging any officer with his car; and in the aftermath, one of the officers said his injuries were ``nothing major.''

In another disturbing example of the horrors of Operation Midway Blitz, an agent of the Department of Homeland Security shot my constituent Marimar Martinez--not once, not twice, five times. Afterwards, the shooter texted his fellow agents and bragged ``I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.''

The administration called Ms. Martinez a domestic terrorist. Ms. Martinez was on her way to her church. She had some clothing she was going to donate to the church clothing drive. That is when the ICE agents pulled her over. She was driving while Hispanic, which under the Midway Blitz rules was enough to stop her, threaten her, and shoot her five times.

What happened to the charges against her? All dropped. Not one single charge was prosecuted. This poor young woman, on her way to her church to give some clothing to a clothing drive, shot five times by ICE agents, and no charges filed against her at all.

Normally, when Federal agents engage in excessive force like I have just described, the Federal Bureau of Investigation steps in to investigate. They follow up, gathering evidence, videos, witnesses.

Instead, following the shooting of Miramar Martinez, FBI Director Kash Patel took to social media to falsely accuse Ms. Martinez of attacking immigration agents.

He said, ``Attack our law enforcement, and this FBI will find you and bring you to justice.'' Tough talk when the video shows that this young woman did not engage in any illegal conduct.

Today, when I asked Kash Patel when he appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his failure to investigate the shootings of Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Martinez, he claimed there are ongoing investigations. We will see. It has been more than a year. He refused when he had a chance, and I gave him that chance, to apologize for attacking Ms. Martinez.

I don't have much faith in the director of the FBI Kash Patel, but if the FBI is, in fact, investigating these shootings, they must cooperate with State and local officials to bring these people to justice as well. If you go to the website of the FBI and look under the issue of civil rights, you will find the claim of that Agency that they are the leaders in investigating crimes involving civil rights; and historically

that has been the case, but not under this administration.

If there is wrongdoing by an ICE agent or a DHS official or any suspicion that a crime has been committed, you hear nothing but crickets when it comes to the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Thankfully, the people of my home State are stepping in and shining a light on this administration's wrongdoing. Governor Pritzker established the Illinois Accountability Commission, an independent State board to investigate and document the conduct of Federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz.

After a 6-month investigation, the Commission found that most of these arrested under the operation were ``not the worst of the worst.''

The Commission found that from September through December of 2025, last year, the Department of Homeland Security detained over 3,900 people in Chicago; an estimated 85 percent had no criminal convictions. The worst of the worst? No.

And Operation Midway Blitz had negative economic consequences as well. I have been to these neighborhoods: Little Village, Pilsen. I have seen what is going on. People live in fear. They don't come out of their homes to go to church or to go shopping; they ask neighbors to do it for them, which they willingly do. But they are afraid of what will happen if ICE returns.

A new report by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago shows that the failed operation of Midway Blitz of the Trump administration cost Cook County $1.26 billion in lost retail activity and restaurants.

Unfortunately, this administration has not stopped circumventing the Constitution and the laws of this country. In immigration courts around the country, immigration judges, employees of the Justice Department, I might add, have been holding so-called ``mega master'' court hearings. In these hearings, a single judge hears between 100 and 200 cases over the course of just a few hours.

Last month, I decided I would go personally to see these courts. I went to the Chicago Immigration Court to observe one of these ``mega master'' hearings. That day, 850 people were scheduled to appear. The court was so packed that people missed their hearing times because they couldn't get from the lobby to the courtroom in time.

There is no way that individuals can meaningfully defend themselves or have due process in this kind of a hearing. I observed a particularly troubling ``mega master'' docket for children. What I saw was heartbreaking. Children who State court found had been abused, abandoned, or neglected, are forced to appear in court without parents and explain why they deserve to stay in this country, all while facing language and cognitive barriers.

The last case on the docket that morning was a high school-aged Guatemalan child. Remember, the State courts have a finding that these children have been abandoned or abused or neglected. Because of the delay in finding a translator that day who spoke his dialect, he was forced to sit and watch every other child before him before he was ordered deported.

After rambling off a litany of directives through the translator, the judge asked the child if he had any questions. The young boy said ``Why are you sending me back to Guatemala? What did I do?''

The answer is devastatingly clear. That poor boy is just the latest victim of President Trump and Stephen Miller's evil vision of a hateful America that turns its back on immigrants.

The President's reckless mass deportation campaign has steamrolled the rights and liberties guaranteed by our Constitution. Its countless victims including Marimar Martinez and Silverio Villegas Gonzalez deserve justice and accountability.

That is why my Illinois colleagues and I requested an investigation by the DHS Office of Inspector General into the patterns of misconduct and unconstitutional use of force during DHS's mass deportation operations including Midway Blitz.

Let me be clear, it is long past time that Congress holds the President and his MAGA loyalists accountable for failing to focus on public safety.

I am retiring at the end of this year. We have very few meetings of this Senate left before the new Senate is brought in to be sworn in on January 3. We still have time to pass meaningful immigration legislation. We still have time, on a bipartisan basis, to resolve some of the many issues that face us.

I just left a press conference where we talked about the restaurant industry. We talked about food service and the importance of immigrants. You may not notice in the wait staff many immigrants, but believe me, behind that swinging door are a lot of people who are undocumented and working. A friend of mine who is in the business in Chicago said if you took the undocumented out of Chicago, you could just start closing down restaurants and hotels.

These people are hard-working people taking jobs that Americans, frankly, don't want because they are so darn tough, but they do it for their families as all immigrants have done in the past, my own family included. Why do we sneer at these people who work so hard, who make this economy hum, who take the jobs which other Americans won't touch?

Why do we want to deport them back to situations that could be the scene of the crime for the very reasons that they came to the United States? That just isn't fair, and it isn't realistic.

We still have time to do something. When it comes to the Dream Act, I will continue to fight for that as long as I can stand on this floor of the Senate, and, thereafter, if necessary. We have got to come together on a bipartisan basis and do something constructive to set the immigration laws in this country on the right track. It has been 30 years since we have done anything of substance on immigration--30 years, and things have changed dramatically in this country and in this world.

We can do more, and we should do more. Operation Midway Blitz was the extreme. Innocent people were killed in the streets of Chicago and other cities across the United States.

It is only right that we investigate these crimes and find out if there is any violation of civil rights and prosecute it if there is.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons) and the Senator from Nevada (Ms. Rosen) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, on Friday, our country observed a solemn milestone: the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

I remember that morning vividly. I was just outside this Chamber in the Democratic leader's office, meeting with Senator Daschle. We had just heard the news that the first plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, and we watched in real time on the television as the second plane flew into the Twin Towers. Shortly thereafter, we were told to evacuate the Capitol Building.

From outside, we could see black smoke billowing up across the National Mall, and we knew something terrible had happened mere miles away from where we stood. But we didn't yet know that a third plane had struck the Pentagon. Nor did we know then about the heroic actions of the passengers aboard Flight 93 who lost their lives stopping the hijackers from crashing the plane into another target--likely

the Capitol Building or the White House.

There were countless other unsung heroes that day across the country, who worked tirelessly, coordinating rescues, cleaning debris, serving meals, and more. And across the border to our north, Canadians opened their homes, schools, and churches to house and care for more than 30,000 stranded travelers from hundreds of flights that were diverted due to the closure of American airspace. Their hospitality, mobilization, and warmth were never in question and are fondly remembered today. Twenty-five years later, relations between the U.S. and Canada are strained due to the President's trade war, but we will never forget the generosity of our neighbors.

Ultimately, nearly 3,000 innocent victims were needlessly and cruelly killed that morning--leaving behind grieving spouses, children, parents, siblings, colleagues, and friends. More than 3,000 children lost a parent that day--parents who had left home that morning for work or the firefighter, police officer, and other first responder parents who were off duty but rushed to the scene to help.

The victims of 9/11 and their loved ones deserved justice decades ago. But a quarter of a century after 9/11, the trials of those accused of orchestrating the attacks have not even begun.

In the meantime, the children who lost parents on 9/11 have grown up. Countless family members of the victims have passed away. And many continue hoping and waiting for the closure of a trial that remains out of reach.

This injustice is the result of leaders discarding our Nation's highest values and the rule of law when we needed them most--turning instead to torture, indefinite detention, and makeshift military tribunals at Guantanamo. These fateful decisions tainted key evidence and led to years of avoidable litigation that continues to this day-- with no end in sight.

We cannot turn back time. But we owe it to those who lost their lives on 9/11 and their loved ones to salvage what justice remains possible-- not in another two and a half decades but now. At this time of division and turmoil, today's leaders should learn from these failures, not repeat them. It is upholding the rule of law and respecting universal rights that make a nation great.

Mr. President, on another topic, the Senate may consider an initial procedural vote on the CLARITY Act as soon as tomorrow.

Crypto enthusiasts and the crypto industry claim the Senate needs to pass this bill soon in the name of ``innovation,'' but I used to work for a fellow in politics who said, ``For every political issue there's a good reason and a real reason.''

And the real reason for this rush job is the crypto industry's willingness to spend millions against crypto-skeptic candidates and Trump's desire to continue to enrich himself and his allies.

Back in 2019, President Trump said that crypto is ``based on thin air'' and a ``disaster waiting to happen.'' But when he found a way to profit from it, he suddenly changed his tune.

In just the first year of his second term, the President and his family made more than $1.4 billion off cryptocurrency. And his allies, like Steve Witkoff and Todd Blanche, raked in hundreds of millions in crypto profits last year alone. President Trump has sold access to the White House through seedy schemes like his meme coin and pressured Federal banking regulators to grant his family's crypto firm--World Liberty Financial--a banking charter.

He even pardoned Changpeng Zhao, a convicted crypto criminal and founder of Binance, the same company that helped the Trump family's crypto firm launch its stablecoin.

However, my Republican colleagues want Senate Democrats to accept the CLARITY Act as written, even though it does not require President Trump to divest from his crypto fortune, which would allow the President to continue to profit off his crypto schemes.

My Republican colleagues' version of the bill also lacks meaningful consumer protections.

Although I am happy to see some provisions that regulate scandal- ridden crypto ATMs, the CLARITY Act does not do enough.

The FBI received nearly 13,500 complaints about crypto ATM scams in 2025, resulting in $389 million in losses.

Federal financial regulators have warned consumers about these scams, and it is high time for Congress to act.

However, unlike my Preventing Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, the CLARITY Act fails to require verbal confirmation from consumers before processing transactions and does not allow the Federal Government to impose civil penalties on fraudsters.

That is why legislators need to go back to the drawing board to create meaningful consumer protections.

Congress also must ban the Social Security Trust Fund from investing in crypto and ensure the crypto industry cannot get one dime from a government bailout if and when there is a crypto crash.

Americans' wallets are hurting, and they want real economic reform, not crypto regulation. Polling shows that just 1 percent of Americans rank crypto as a top priority for Congress.

Congress should not help the President get richer or grant the crypto industry their wish list of deregulation. There is no reason to rush a vote on the CLARITY Act; let's take our time and get this right.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

I announce that the Senator from Maine (Mr. King) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Welch) is necessary absent.