Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Ms. Hassan) and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, in 1993, Quincy, IL, experienced the worst flooding in the Gem City's history. Over a span of a few short weeks, thousands of acres of farmland were covered with multiple feet of water. Businesses and livelihoods became submerged, and Illinoisans were in desperate need of disaster relief. And before the era of smartphones and social media, there was a time when broadcast stations were many people's only source for local news. For Quincy, that station was WGEM-TV.

Owned by the Oakley family, who at the time had more than five generations in the news industry, WGEM provided nonstop coverage of the floods across west central Illinois. WGEM told families where to go for shelter, informed concerned citizens of how they could help, and dispelled rumors that undermined disaster response. For more than 600 straight hours, WGEM was in the eye of the storm, giving Illinoisans the information they needed to stay safe. Ralph Oakley, station vice president and general manager, worked to ensure the station spared no expense to cover the flood. WGEM, without concern for ad sales or commercial revenues, showed up for its community in its time of need. On March 3, the National Association of Broadcasters will be awarding Ralph with the Chuck Sherman Television Leadership Award in recognition of his contributions to his community and local broadcasting. I can think of no better recipient for such an honor than Ralph Oakley.

While working in the broadcast industry is the dream of so many, for Ralph it was destiny. Since 1891, four generations of Oakleys before him had managed the various Quincy newspapers and television stations. Thomas, Ralph's father, was president and CEO of Quincy Newspapers, Inc., and worked diligently to bring the company's papers and channels to more homes across Illinois. In 1977, when he was just 21 years old and still pursuing a degree at Quincy University, then known as Quincy College, Ralph joined the family business. He learned the ropes at Quincy's own WGEM AM-FM-TV before traveling to Indiana and West Virginia to work at QNI's various stations.

But Ralph would not stay away for long. By 1993, he moved back to Quincy and was promoted to vice president and chief operating officer of QNI's Broadcast Division. He continued to rise through the ranks of QNI, eventually becoming president and CEO of the company in 2009, after his father's retirement. As he thrived at QNI, Ralph also became involved in national broadcasting advocacy. He served as chairman of the Illinois Broadcasters Association and as a board member of the National Association of Broadcasters--working to ensure Americans in any city, town, or county had access to the emergency alerts, educational content, and community news that broadcasting provides. While Ralph has since retired from QNI following its sale in 2021, he remains involved in broadcasting, owning a station that serves Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Ralph's passion for broadcasting is only matched by his commitment to Quincy, carrying on his father's advocacy for development in western and central Illinois. In 1997, Ralph led the establishment of the Community Foundation with one simple goal: to make it possible for ``anyone and everyone to realize their philanthropic wishes.'' For 29 years, the Community Foundation has raised more than $10 million for various nonprofits in west central Illinois and northeast Missouri. Organizations ranging from Quincy's own Blessing Hospital to the Quincy Symphony Orchestra have received generous support from the Community Foundation, allowing them to continue their great work in service of their community. In 2022, the Community Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary, and in honor of this milestone, Ralph donated $2 million to establish the Ralph Oakley Family Fund, cementing his support for families and communities across Illinois for years to come.

Ralph's philanthropy for Quincy and the surrounding community extends beyond the Community Foundation. He served on the boards of both the Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce and the Quincy Public Schools Foundation and chaired the United Way of Adams County's annual campaign. Ralph also continues to support his alma mater Quincy University, after serving as chairman of the university's board of trustees from 1999 to 2004. In 2021, Ralph and the Oakley family made the largest contribution in the university's history to create new scholarships, classrooms, and programs. Quincy University is the lifeblood of the Gem City, and the Oakley family donation will help ensure that it remains ready and able to support the region for generations to come.

Ralph's legacy can be felt in the broadcasting industry and across Illinois. His work both in and outside of the studio makes him well deserving of the Chuck Sherman Television Leadership Award. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to my friend Ralph on this accomplishment and thank him for all he has done in service to his community.

Mr. President, let me associate myself with the remarks of the minority leader, Senator Schumer.

What happened yesterday in the courts of the District of Columbia was, on one side of the equation, frightening and, on another side, encouraging--frightening that any administration would think that they can quash the free speech of Members of Congress, that they can be indicting people and charging them with crimes for simply speaking out as an elected Member of Congress.

Like Senator Schumer said, there is no precedent that I can think of in American history. There has never been a President who used the Department of Justice to quiet Congress in this way. We have gone through many events in the history of the United States that are earth- shattering--the Civil War being the worst--but we have never seen this happen.

The fact that the grand jury of residents in the District of Columbia stood up and rejected this indictment of two Senators and several Members of the House is proof positive that people still understand the basic values of our Constitution. And one of them is our freedom of expression, freedom to speak, freedom to express our point of view. They stood up yesterday in an extraordinary fashion.

Why did it ever reach this point that the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia tried to quiet Members of Congress because of the objection of the administration to what they were saying? This was a test. I hope it was the last test. We shouldn't be so naive as to believe it is. It is up to us, Democrats and Republicans--for the good of the Congress and the value of the Constitution--to stand behind those Members who are exercising their rights as elected Members of Congress.

Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, in another event which is worth noting, the FBI descended on Fulton County, GA, to seize hundreds of thousands of ballots from the 2020 Presidential election. Reports indicate President Trump personally ordered the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a prominent 2020 election denier, to go to Georgia for the raid. The President then spoke directly to the FBI agents who conducted the raid.

To state the obvious, it is completely, completely inappropriate for the President and the Director of National Intelligence to be personally involved in a domestic criminal investigation, but Attorney General Pam Bondi has allowed the President to weaponize her Department and Federal law enforcement to pursue his personal and political goals.

Why did they target Fulton County? It is notorious because this jurisdiction has been at the center of President Trump's false and baseless claims concerning so-called fraud in the 2020 election, an election he still refuses to acknowledge and concede. I remember well that recorded conversation on the telephone between the President of the United States Donald Trump and the Georgia secretary of state. It was in early 2021. And President Trump directed the Georgia secretary of state to ``find'' the 11,780 votes he needed to swing the election his way. He said it. Those were his words, his voice.

And I remember when he incited a mob of his most ardent supporters to

storm this very Capitol, this very Senate Chamber, to subvert the will of the people and overturn the results of a free and fair election.

He failed. But now his endgame for 2026 has become clear. He is working to rewrite the rules of the game and to rig the system to ensure that he maintains his grip on power, beyond the reach of the American people in a free and fair election.

Don't believe me? Think about the past. Last year, in the spirit of this order to Georgia officials to find 11,780 votes, President Trump demanded that the State of Texas find him five more congressional seats before voters headed to the polls this coming November. Donald Trump demanded Republicans in the Texas Legislature gerrymander five red seats in a redistricting scheme so that he could cut his losses-- literally--and hold onto the House after the upcoming midterm. In the meantime, the administration has deployed thousands of immigration enforcement agents to cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, cities in States that did not vote for President Trump.

I never thought I would witness an America where masked Federal agents in military tactical gear violently arrest innocent Americans because of the color of their skin--the so-called Kavanaugh stops--an America where citizens like Chicagoan Marimar Martinez can be shot five times by Federal agents with impunity and be branded falsely as a domestic terrorist.

Thankfully, unlike Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Silverio Villegas Gonzales, Ms. Martinez survived and testified 2 weeks ago.

DHA has directed immigration agents to crash down the doors of our private homes to arrest people without any judicial warrant, in blatant disregard of the clear language of the Fourth Amendment.

In the wake of this immigration enforcement surge and the ensuing chaos, Attorney General Bondi had the nerve--the nerve--in a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, to offer him a reprieve. All he had to do was to turn over the voter files of his State. Thankfully, he refused. An attorney from the State described it as a ``ransom note'' from the Attorney General.

If you are Donald Trump, you want these voter rolls to push unwarranted purges and disenfranchise voters--especially voters who are unlikely to support you in the next election. In fact, the Justice Department has now sued dozens of States for their voter rolls.

All of this is textbook authoritarianism, vintage fascism, and I fear the President of the United States is working to rig the system to ensure the Republicans never lose another election. Has that thought crossed their minds? Listen to what Trump ally Steve Bannon said last week:

We're gonna have ICE surround the [polling places]. . . .

We'll never again allow an election to be stolen.

You heard that right. Donald Trump and his allies want to deploy militarized agents to polling locations to intimidate and deter Americans from actually voting.

In deploying ICE and attempting to deploy the National Guard, Trump has already established a precedent for a paramilitary force that answers only to him patrolling our streets.

Last week, Trump said the quiet part out loud. Here is what he said:

The Republicans should say, ``We want to take over. We

should take over the voting in at least . . . 15 places.''

The Republicans ought to nationalize . . . voting.

Those are the words of Donald Trump.

Article I of the Constitution and decades of Supreme Court precedent make it clear that the President cannot take over the administration of elections from the States.

I am old enough to remember when Republicans actually cared about the Constitution and the concept of federalism.

Imagine for a moment if Barack Obama or Joe Biden had called for nationalizing elections and told Federal agents they can raid private homes without judicial warrants of approval.

The President's aims are clear: He wants to make the case for the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him so he can assuage his fragile ego and justify directly interfering in the 2026 and 2028 elections.

Republican Senators won't speak up, but the American people at the polls will. In the streets of Minneapolis and Chicago and in the Halls of the U.S. Capitol, we hear their voices. We will do everything in our power to save our democracy from a President with such disdain for our Constitution and our democracy.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Washington (Ms. Cantwell) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Daniel Burrows to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. I will oppose the nomination.

Less than a year ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on President Trump's first nominee to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, Aaron Reitz. Mr. Reitz was selected for his commitment to President Trump and the MAGA orthodoxy. He was the first Trump nominee, but sadly not the last, to refuse to say whether a public official must always follow a court order.

We are now considering Daniel Burrows, nominated to replace Mr. Reitz after he spent less than 3 months on the job. Mr. Burrows' record demonstrates that he is yet another Trump nominee who is a MAGA culture warrior.

As the legal director of a conservative organization in Colorado, Mr. Burrows filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to side with an individual who did not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples. Prior to joining the Trump White House last year, Mr. Burrows worked for controversial Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. On behalf of that office, Mr. Burrows litigated a case barring transgender Kansans from acquiring birth certificates consistent with their gender identity. Mr. Burrows' record demonstrates that he is committed to erasing civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans.

I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing his nomination.

I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, Friday marks the deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Last week, Congress--House and Senate--passed the five outstanding, bipartisan government appropriations bills that funded 96 percent of the Federal Government. Senate Democrats drew the line when it came to funding this Department, the Department of Homeland Security, after what we had seen in Minneapolis, in Chicago, and so many other places.

We successfully removed that bill from the government funding package to allow for negotiations with respect to Federal immigration enforcement agents and their operations.

Republicans have had a week to work with Democrats to reform ICE and the border patrol and rein in the campaign of terror we witnessed in Chicago, Minneapolis, and across the country. I am sorry to say we have made little progress in reaching an agreement.

The administration's campaign of terror has led to the detention of innocent people, serious injuries, and deaths, including those of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis--both American citizens who were exercising their constitutional rights to observe and protest ICE enforcement.

Americans are seeing this chaos play out in countless videos, and they are demanding change. President Trump has justified these militarized immigration enforcement operations as targeting the ``worst of the worst'' and ``murderers, rapists,'' terrorists, the criminally insane. But the statistics of the Department of Homeland Security tell a much different story--the real

story. New reporting from CBS News shows that less than 14 percent of the nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in 2025 had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses.

The President was railing at his rallies: We are going after the murderers, the terrorists, the rapists, the child abusers--and then take a look at the numbers. Less than 14 percent of the 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in 2025 had charges or convictions for violent crimes or offenses. And this data from DHS indicates that only 2 percent--2 percent--of those arrested by ICE over the past year have any alleged gang affiliations--2 percent. Nearly 40 percent of all those arrested by ICE in 2025 did not have any criminal record at all-- none. And that is the truth of the matter.

These militarized immigration enforcement operations are not really designed to lock up the ``worst of the worst.'' They are designed to sow fear in a community. I saw it Saturday. St. Pius V church in a little village in the city of Chicago, a Hispanic community--the people all wore masks, very careful where they walked and where they went shopping, when they went to a restaurant, when they went to church. That is the climate of fear that has been created by this operation.

Removing dangerous criminals? Two percent--2 percent of those arrested and detained and separated from their families had any criminal background.

While Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota has been in the national spotlight recently, the city of Chicago, as I mentioned, is no stranger to Trump's campaign of terror. Last week, I also attended a Democratic forum examining the Department of Homeland Security's use of violence in immigration enforcement operations. There, I learned what happened to a 30-year-old Montessori schoolteacher, Marimar Martinez. Listen to this story and tell me that ICE is focusing on terrorists.

Marimar Martinez, on a Saturday morning, decided to take some spare clothing in her closet to her local church to give to people who might need it. She got in her car, drove over to her church. Marimar Martinez is a U.S. citizen. She was born and raised in Chicago.

What happened to her? ICE confronted her on a major street in Chicago on that Saturday morning. And when she drove away, they fired and hit her five times. Five times they shot her, a CBP agent during the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz. Five times--she is lucky to be alive.

Ms. Martinez described that moment in her opening statement. She said:

I struggle with the memories of the day . . . the shots

ringing out and the burning sensation as the bullets ripped

through my skin and body.

What crime is she guilty of? Taking spare clothing to her church on a Saturday morning. Good enough for ICE to fire away.

The fact that Ms. Martinez is alive today after being shot five times is a miracle. I told her as much.

But immediately after the shooting of Ms. Martinez, the agent--I won't say his name; we know what it is--the agent of CBP, a 23-year- veteran, went on his cell phone and bragged about his shooting abilities in private text to fellow agents. He wrote:

I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes [in her body]. Put

that in your book boys.

He was so proud of himself. He shot this woman, this 30-year-old Montessori teacher, five times.

What happened to the van that they alleged she rammed into causing this shooting incident? Mysteriously, it disappeared from the scene. The ICE van was taken away. Well, where would they take the ICE van? They took it to Maine, a thousand miles away from Chicago. Why Maine? That happened to be where the agent lived, but it also was an effort to cover up the actual evidence of what happened that day. You see, there was no indication on the van, the body of the van, that she rammed into it, and she did not. There was no evidence whatsoever, but they removed the evidence.

So what happened when they brought the charges in court against Marimar Martinez for ramming into the ICE van and for defying the agents? What happened to those charges? They were all dropped. Five times that woman was shot on the streets of Chicago, and when it came to pressing charges, the government dropped all charges against her.

Ms. Martinez, a teaching assistant to little kids, spoke of the trauma she continues to carry with her:

The physical scars will always be there in the mornings and

evenings, when I get dressed and I stare at my body [I am]

now permanently disfigured by the five . . . bullet [holes].

She continued:

They will be there this summer when I head to the beach

with my dogs and family. They will be there when I get down

on the floor with the students.

That shooting will be with her the rest of her life.

They dropped all charges. They removed the van that was involved in this incident a thousand miles away and repainted it.

Does Ms. Martinez sound like the ``worst of the worst''? Does she sound like a murderer? A rapist? A terrorist? Criminally insane? Of course not.

Why are we letting this happen in America? For goodness' sake, the Constitution is clear. There are guarantees people have of their own freedom and liberty.

My friends on the other side of the aisle look past that. They don't want to talk about it. I am afraid I can't stop talking about it because what happened to her is totally unjust.

So now, we are trying to change the scene. We are doing this because what happened to her must stop. That is why Senate Democrats are setting to rein in ICE and CBP.

Last week, Leaders Schumer and Jeffries laid out our reforms to Federal immigration enforcement in writing. All we are asking is that ICE and other Federal immigration agents adhere to reasonable standards to maintain trust, safety, and accountability in our communities.

So what specifically are we demanding? First, stop these roving patrols. The United States is a nation governed by the rule of law. Government agents cannot indiscriminately round up people without probable cause, and they can't break down the doors of someone's home and disappear them without a judicial warrant.

Did you see the video in Minneapolis where they broke down the door of one of these families? The man was taking a shower. He wrapped a towel around himself in the freezing weather and was dragged out to the ICE vehicle. Turns out, they knocked down the wrong door. They identified the wrong person. They crashed his door, invaded his home, and had no basis for doing so whatsoever.

Government agents cannot indiscriminately round up people without probable cause, and they can't be breaking down the door of your home. There is an amendment to the Constitution which was written specifically to protect us from this sort of government behavior.

Second, there needs to be accountability, including new use-of-force standards that allow local law enforcement to participate in investigating complaints of excessive force by immigration agents.

You think if there was an investigation into the shooting of Marimar Martinez that they would allow the vehicle that was involved, ICE vehicle involved, to be removed a thousand miles away from Chicago and repainted before any hearing? Of course not.

And there should be no immigration enforcement operations at sensitive locations like hospitals, schools, churches, courts, and polling places.

Finally, we are asking that body cameras be mandatory and masks come off: Masks off, cameras on. Virtually every professional law enforcement department in my State and the Nation has accepted that standard--all except for ICE. They want to be secret police, secret paramilitary, and they want to wear masks to hide their identity. What are we doing in this country?

Democrats are united in our cause for these commonsense reforms, and the American people back us up on every single one of them. This week, we need the Republicans to work in good faith to get the deal done.

In the meantime, I want to note something. Secretary Noem, she has been on television a lot, hasn't she--paid ads as well as her own appearances. She has not appeared once before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the last year. When I have asked repeatedly of the chairman of that committee to bring her in for an accountability session, he has tried, with no

luck. She says she is too busy--too busy to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee and explain the lethal mismanagement of her Agency and the damage that is being done. She says now she may come in a few weeks, if she is not too busy--I might add, and if she still happens to be the Secretary of that department.

The administration must end this aggressive immigration enforcement surge and mass deportation campaign. ICE and Federal agents need to play by the same rules as professional police forces across America. That is the bottom line.

If the police force in your town and your State can do its job without wearing a mask on the job, can do the job with a video camera recording what actually happened, why in the world are these Federal agents treated any differently? Why are they given special privileges so they can arrest 2 percent of the people that they are looking for? That is not a very enviable record.

I yield the floor.

Recognition of the Majority Leader

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Brian Lea to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

Over the course of his legal career, Mr. Lea has demonstrated his clear partisanship. In his current role with the Justice Department, he has defended the Trump administration against several lawsuits challenging the administration's grant funding policies. Federal courts have repeatedly found those policies to be arbitrary and capricious.

In private practice, Mr. Lea represented the Republican National Committee and defended tobacco companies. In addition, Mr. Lea lacks legal experience in Tennessee. He was not licensed to practice in the State until shortly before his nomination, and he has never appeared in Tennessee State or Federal court.

This nominee's record reflects how the Trump administration selects nominees based on their perceived political loyalty--and how the administration expects judicial nominees to continue to support its actions if they are confirmed to the Federal bench.

I oppose Mr. Lea's nomination and ask my colleagues to join me.

I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to confirm Justin Olson to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Mr. Olson currently serves as associate counsel in multiple matters involving challenges to trans individuals participating in college sports. This is obviously an issue of national concern, as we saw at the Supreme Court recently.

However, I was disturbed by Mr. Olson's refusal to condemn the hateful, inflammatory rhetoric used by one of the plaintiffs in his cases. I asked him about his client's statement claiming that a transgender woman wearing women's clothing is ``akin to blackface.'' I also asked him about his

client's statement that the trans rights movement is ``an attempt to normalize pedophilia.'' And I asked him about his client's statement regarding the University of Pennsylvania, which included a slur I will not repeat. In each instance, Mr. Olson stated that he lacked the ``full context'' for this language. I am unaware of any context that could possibly make such rhetoric acceptable.

He refused to condemn this language and would not even go so far as to say that these hateful statements include language he personally would not use. Further, he expressed no concern or regret upon being informed that his client's rhetoric has led to death threats against high school students.

A nominee representing a polarizing client is not disqualifying. But the lack of concern Mr. Olson showed for hateful, inflammatory language--involving an issue that often impacts young students--is incredibly disappointing.

For these reasons, I strongly oppose Mr. Olson's nomination.

I announce that the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy) is necessarily absent.

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

Mr. President, we had a hearing yesterday. It was an impromptu spotlight hearing, not in the ordinary course of Senate business. And we invited witnesses in to testify about what is happening in major cities across our country. Today, I am going to address one of those witnesses and her experience in the city of Chicago.

Her name is Marimar Martinez. She is 30 years old. She is a teacher in a Montessori school. In October, she decided that she was going to take some extra clothing that she had in her apartment to her church and leave it so that other people might be able to benefit from it.

Driving over there, she encountered a truck that was clearly being driven by ICE officials, Border Patrol officials. She beeped her horn because of their presence. They stopped the car, and the agents got out of the car with their guns. They started shooting her automobile. They ended up shooting her five times--five times. The agent who shot her, a 20-plus-year veteran of the Border Patrol, bragged on the text that he sent shortly thereafter that he caused seven holes in her body with five bullets.

What happened to her afterward is a grim story. She was able to drive about a mile to 35th and California in Chicago and got out of the car and passed out. And a fellow came to her aid and called an ambulance. They took her to the local hospital, where she was bleeding profusely. They were trying to save her life. Again, she was in and out of consciousness and asked to go to a second hospital when the bleeding wouldn't stop.

The FBI was then present, monitoring her every step of the way. This went on for hours and hours afterward: A victim with gunshot wounds. She was trying to survive, and they were trying to arrest her.

The charges, as I mentioned, were that she was ramming a Federal vehicle. She denied it. And this is an interesting part of the story. ICE and the Federal officials decided to move the vehicle from Chicago, IL, to the State of Maine--1,000 miles. Why would they take the vehicle, after this incident, 1,000 miles? Well, it turned out, they had some work to do on it so it wouldn't show that her damage was on the side of the car--on the side of their car and wasn't the result of any ramming whatsoever.

Of course, the Agencies involved described her as a domestic terrorist--this 30-year-old Montessori schoolteacher with no criminal record, born and raised in the United States. It took several months of hearings for the decision to be finally made by the government to drop all charges against Marimar Martinez.

Think of that experience for a minute: in America, driving your car, being shot five times by the Federal agents. That, unfortunately, is becoming commonplace.

We saw the terrible executions that took place in Minnesota--innocent people who were protesting within their constitutional rights are dead today, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

What is going on in the streets of America does not reflect who we are and what our goals and values must be. I think about that repeatedly.

That young lady bears the scars of those wounds for the rest of her life and experience. She was asked: What does she want from this experience? What would she like to have, now that all the charges have been dropped?

She said: I want the government to clear my name. They branded me a domestic terrorist, and I am not one.

Is that too much to ask, for the government to say they were wrong, that they shot her five times in a car as she was leaving, and they were wrong in the charges they were bringing against her? I don't think it is too much to ask. What is too much to ask is that this continues.

There is a conversation underway between the leaderships of the House and the Senate and the White House about changing the rules when it comes to these ICE agents. The fact that they would wear masks is being argued as one of the points.

I have yet to meet a Senator or a Congressman arguing that they should be able to wear a mask, who tell me their State police wear masks on a regular basis. They don't. There may be a peculiar circumstance where it is required, but it is unusual. This Agency, ICE, wants to make this routine, that you could wear a mask and conceal your identity.

We believe that the masks should come off and video cameras come on. The video cameras will tell us what happened, good or bad, for the officers involved. They are being used in police departments across America. Why wouldn't they apply to this situation?

When it comes to the right of individuals to be safe in their homes, that is one of the basics of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. The home is, in fact, a critical symbol of that constitutional right.

I think back to my courses that I took in law school on the Bill of Rights and the circumstances involving the British and the monarchy that led to the Bill of Rights. One of the things was that people wanted to be safe in their homes.

Now, it is being argued by these Federal Agencies that they don't need any warrant to batter down your front door and enter your home, and look and see if someone who is suspicious is inside. That is just unacceptable and unconstitutional.

A year ago, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Pam Bondi as Attorney General. As I said during her confirmation hearing, last year, the Attorney General must be committed, first and foremost, to the Constitution and the American people, not to the President and his political agenda. I was unconvinced then that Ms. Bondi shared that view. Over the course of the last year, my concerns sadly have been borne out.

Even before Attorney General Bondi was installed atop the Justice Department, Donald Trump had moved swiftly to purge DOJ and the FBI of senior career law enforcement officials. In their place came partisan hacks, including a January 6 rioter who encouraged his fellow insurrectionists to murder law enforcement officers protecting the Capitol. He was shouting the words ``kill em'' when he came to the police who were defending this Capitol Building. That person ended up being pardoned and then becoming part of the Department of Justice staff. Can you believe it?

Under the direction of Attorney General Bondi, these MAGA loyalists pounced on President Trump's perceived enemies. In addition to the now- dismissed indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal prosecutors have opened criminal investigations into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Governor Lisa Cook, and others.

The list goes on and on of the enemies of the President who are being prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Why? Not because they broke the law but because the President believes they are his political enemies.

And it begs the question: If the President can turn the Department of Justice and the FBI into his own personal police force to target his personal and political enemies, what is stopping him from targeting ordinary Americans?

Tragically, we are already seeing the answer to that question in the Department of Justice's partisan response to

the Homeland Security Department's abuses in Chicago and Minneapolis. The Department of Justice has sought to press charges against Americans who peacefully protest, like Marimar Martinez in Chicago.

In addition to state-sponsored violence against its own citizens, the country is less safe as the DOJ has redirected thousands of law enforcement agents to immigration-related initiatives and away from gun violence, drug trafficking, and child exploitation.

When this President, through his Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, announced that they were going after the ``worst of the worst''--rapists, murderers, terrorists, the criminally insane, criminal children's predators, and the like--the ``worst of the worst,'' remember that?

We didn't think it was Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Montessori teacher with no criminal record, born and raised in the city of Chicago, an American citizen. That was one of the victims they shot five times, trying to kill her when leaving the scene of a confrontation.

On day one in office, Attorney General Bondi created the so-called Weaponization Working Group, a task force to investigate the investigators and prosecute the prosecutors. Recent reports suggest the group will soon meet daily with the goal of producing results in the next 2 months that reenergize the partisan criminal probes that only exist for the sake of one sad man's ego and to revitalize his dangerous conspiracy theories.

But in the quest to pursue the President's political enemies and rewrite history, Attorney General Pam Bondi has tripped over her own feet repeatedly, the most recent example being her mismanagement of the Epstein files.

Let's take a trip down memory lane. Last February, the Attorney General claimed she had Epstein's client list ``sitting on [her] desk right now to review.'' Several days later, in a media event the White House staged, she released a number of binders of files to conservative influencers and commentators that were already largely publicly available.

Then, as a whistleblower disclosure to my office revealed, in the wake of public criticism, she pressured 1,000 FBI agents to comb through thousands of pages of documents in the Epstein files and to flag any mention of President Trump.

This effort resulted in an unsigned memo released by DOJ and the FBI that walked back Attorney General Bondi's claims and concluded there was no ``incriminating `client list' '' despite the statement to the contrary.

Then, in December, the Attorney General broke the law when her Department failed to release the entirety of the Epstein files by the date mandated by Congress and signed into law. DOJ continues to slowly walk the release, and what they have released has harmed survivors by not appropriately redacting their names, images, and other personal information.

The American people deserve answers about the conduct of the Nation's leading law enforcement officers. No public servant who respects constitutional checks and balances would behave the way she did. According to an academic analysis of 400 cases involving the Trump administration, as of October 2025, at least 35 times courts have found the Department of Justice under President Trump has provided false or highly misleading information, including false sworn declarations.

It makes you wonder: What is the Attorney General concealing? What kind of precedent is the Department creating for itself under this leadership?

We cannot allow the Trump administration to stonewall and lie to its coequal branches of government, Congress and the judiciary.

The announcement today that 700 Federal agents are going to be removed from Minnesota is a minor relief to the beleaguered State. There are 3,000 agents already in place. So to take 700 away, this is still a massive force, larger than the local police force in Minnesota.

And my question for the State of Illinois is, How many of these agents are headed to my State? Who will be the next beneficiary of this outrageous conduct?

Leaders in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, have a responsibility: Hold ICE and the Border Patrol to the same standards as every other police force in America. Don't give them special privileges. Give them only their rights under the law, and make them hold to them.

That is one of the cruelties and realities that we face today--that the standards are being changed so that these people can harass innocent individuals like Marimar Martinez. That is unacceptable.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand) is necessarily absent.