Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Gallego) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Gallego) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Jordan Pratt to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Judge Pratt has repeatedly demonstrated his partisanship and extreme views over the course of his career. While working in the Florida Department of Legal Affairs, he argued in support of restrictions on abortion rights and voting rights.

He later worked for the first Trump administration and a far-right legal organization, First Liberty Institute. In his role at First Liberty, Judge Pratt belittled abortion rights, opposed transgender rights, and argued against firearms restrictions. During his tenure with First Liberty, the organization was a member of the advisory board of Project 2025. Judge Pratt participated in meetings regarding Project 2025 and provided research as part of that effort.

My colleagues may claim that Judge Pratt did these things during his time as an advocate and that he understands the difference between the role of an advocate and the role of a judge.

However, following his appointment to the State bench in 2023, Judge Pratt continued to act in a fashion more befitting a political activist than an even-handed arbiter of the law. Earlier this year, he wrote an opinion in which he held that a Florida law allowing minors to seek abortions without parental consent was unconstitutional. In commenting on Judge Pratt's opinion, one lawyer said that ``[j]udicial overreach doesn't even begin to describe it.''

We do not need to wonder how this nominee will rule if he is confirmed to the Federal bench. We already know. Like other judicial nominees put forth by President Trump, Judge Pratt has strong ties to rightwing organizations. He is an active member of the Federalist Society, and he has stated his intention to remain affiliated with the Federalist Society if he is confirmed to the Federal bench.

Judge Pratt's record clearly reflects a level of partisan ideology and judicial activism that is inappropriate for someone nominated to a lifetime position on the Federal bench.

I will oppose Judge Pratt's nomination, and I urge my colleagues to join me.

I announce that the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, for the last 2 months, the people of Illinois have been living under President Trump's so-called Operation Midway Blitz. I have watched it up close. I have seen its victims, and I have seen its methods. I want to tell you that this Operation Midway Blitz is trampling over Illinois residents' constitutional rights and civil liberties. This reckless campaign is not aimed at public safety; it is a calculated show of political theater and force that is designed to spread fear and terror in our communities.

Every weekend since this operation began, I have returned to Chicago to visit these communities and to meet with members and leaders who have been targeted by Donald Trump with Federal, militarized agents. I have reported back on what I have seen and heard on this floor for weeks now.

What I see time and time again are good people whose only desire is to raise their children, go to work, and contribute to their communities. These same people are now afraid to leave their homes, to walk to school, to church, to the grocery store, or to a restaurant out of fear of being caught in one of these cruel raids.

The President insists his immigrant enforcement operations focus on the worst of the worst. Oh, you have heard him over and over again. At his rallies, he would give the speeches, and he would rail about the rapists, the murderers, the terrorists, the criminally insane: These immigrants, we have got to stop them.

Well, I can tell you this: More than 70 percent of the people who have been detained have no criminal records whatsoever. They are American citizens--some--and they are workers and parents with clean records. They are peaceful protesters and community members who are carrying whistles. They are even children.

Federal agents have been sweeping up anyone they encounter, including bystanders who pause to record their activities. Then they scramble later to justify the detentions.

When you ask what happens to an individual who disappears from one of these scenes, you wait--sometimes for hours, sometimes for days--to find out where they have been taken. These actions violate due process--full stop. A democracy cannot survive with a law enforcement strategy of ``arrest now and ask questions later.''

The reach of these actions is only growing more brazen. Federal agents have confronted people outside of childcare centers and schools. Some Head Start Programs have moved online to protect families. Children have been zip-tied and yanked away from their families. In many cases, peaceful protesters have been met with tear gas. At Funston Elementary School near Logan Square, an entire playground had to be evacuated. Residents who locked arms to protect their neighbors were gassed in their own streets.

U.S. district court judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month that prohibits agents from using tear gas indiscriminately on peaceful protesters, journalists, or anyone else not posing an immediate threat to law enforcement.

The orders of the court for these people--for these law enforcement agents sent in by President Trump--to wear video cameras, like so many police do every day, routinely, have been largely ignored. It is time for this court order to be enforced.

Just this weekend, chemical canisters were thrown into a crowd of residents who had gathered in the Old Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. For what reason? Was it a terrorist meeting? No. It was a children's Halloween block party, and they threw in tear gas canisters.

Concerned onlookers and their children watched as Border Patrol agents tackled a landscaper to the ground and arrested him on a resident's front lawn. Agents then deployed multiple tear gas canisters at the neighbors without warning and even arrested one unsuspecting resident in his late sixties who had just returned from a morning run. The video footage shows the agents' recklessness, their seemingly disregard for the court order, and their ongoing violations of due process.

It is hard to describe what is happening here, but I don't have to; it is all captured on videotape.

Our Armed Forces are banned from using tear gas on the battlefield, but ICE and the CBP have no problem using it on Main Street in Chicago, IL. Recent footage even shows Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander-at-large, who has been tasked with leading Operation Midway Blitz, deploying a tear gas canister on a crowd

of peaceful protesters in Little Village with no advance warning-- despite a court order, with no advance warning.

DHS was quick to publish statements on social media regarding the incident. They stated that a ``mob of rioters'' provoked the attack, but the video shows that was a lie.

Judge Ellis called Mr. Bovino to court this morning to answer for the Federal agents' continued indiscriminate use of tear gas in the streets of Chicago, pepper spray, and other excessive force. She opened the hearing by reading her previous order out loud. Given recent events, she wondered whether her order wasn't clear. Immigration agents didn't bother to read it, or if they read it and understood it, they decided to ignore it and challenge the authority of the court.

Judge Ellis said:

[K]ids dressed in Halloween costumes, walking to a parade,

do not illicit an immediate threat to the safety of a law

enforcement officer. They just don't.

At the hearing, she instructed Bovino to appear before the court to provide daily reports moving forward. Bovino also agreed to undergo training for body cameras and begin wearing one as soon as Friday.

In light of these alarming abuses, I am working to fulfill my role under the Constitution as a Member of Congress with the authority to conduct oversight of the executive branch. The Trump administration claims to be the most transparent in American history, but when Senator Duckworth and I recently arrived at the Broadview ICE processing center to provide oversight, we were barred from viewing it.

If this were truly a lawful operation targeted on public safety threats--the rapists, the murderers, the terrorists, and the criminally insane--they wouldn't stop us from seeing who was being held. DHS would welcome the oversight. Instead, they hide. What do they not want us, the American people, to see?

The Trump administration has turned Federal Agencies into tools of political intimidation. They have targeted cities and States run by Democrats who didn't vote for the President in the last election.

Operation Midway Blitz is a desecration of all the basic liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. But Chicagoans and Illinoisans are not backing down. We have survived a flood; we have survived a fire; we have survived disco night in Comiskey Park, and we will survive this as well. They are linking arms and demanding accountability, and they are refusing to be silent in the face of intimidation and injustice. I am going to continue to be part of that effort.

There is a guarantee under this Constitution of freedom of speech. As long as we are engaged in nonviolent activity, that Constitution protects us. The people of Chicago and Illinois deserve so much better. They deserve a Federal Government that honors one of its highest duties, the duties to defend the rights and freedoms of all people.

I will continue to do everything I can to try and ensure our government once again lives up to their promise, and I hope my colleagues will join me.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, a few weeks ago, the Catholic cardinal and archbishop of Washington, DC, gave a homily on the occasion of the annual celebration to honor and support immigrants. He made special note of what is currently happening across America, what he called an unprecedented assault upon millions of immigrant men and women and families in our midst.

He said:

This campaign [by this administration against immigrants]

relies on fear and terror at its core, for the government

knows that it cannot succeed in its efforts except by

bringing new dimensions of fear and terror to our nation's

history and life. ``Its goal is simple,'' the cardinal said,

``to rob undocumented immigrants of any real peace in

their lives so that in misery they will `self-deport.' ''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this homily be printed in the Record in its entirety.

A few days ago, some Jewish rabbis in the Chicagoland area sent a letter to the editor of the Chicago Sun-Times on the same immigration crisis. They wrote:

On behalf of Jewish clergy serving communities across

Chicago and Illinois, we write in opposition to the

escalating campaign of fear and repression carried out by

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in our city and

suburbs.

In recent weeks--

These rabbis wrote--

ICE has disappeared people, used tear gas in residential

neighborhoods and shot at least two residents with live

rounds, one fatally.

At Broadview, agents fired rubber bullets on demonstrators,

including clergy members. In South Shore, ICE and Border

Patrol staged an overnight raid on an apartment building,

dragging families from their beds, separating children from

parents and leaving them handcuffed outdoors for hours.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this letter to the editor from the Jewish rabbis in Chicago be printed in its entirety in the Record.

Mr. President, I make a point now, since the arrival of the military from President Trump into the Chicago area, to go home each weekend and visit the neighborhoods that are under assault from the ICE agents.

I did that last weekend. I visited a suburb of Chicago known as Elgin, IL. People have heard of it, I am sure. It is the sixth largest city in our State.

The mayor, Dave Kaptain, is a true bipartisan man. It is no surprise that he has been mayor for almost 12 years. He is a good mayor and a good person. We met in his office and talked about what is going on.

Elgin was one of the first targets of President Trump and ICE. They sent in the agents in the early morning hours,

along with Secretary Noem of the Department of Homeland Security. They broke down a door to a home, raided it by removing the family and accusing one of the occupants of being undocumented. There was no allegation made that these people were dangerous criminals, nor was there any question that they are the ``worst of the worst,'' in Donald Trump's words.

Do you remember how many times he gave speeches at his rallies talking about these people who are now being disappeared by ICE? Remember how he referred to them--rapists, murderers, terrorists, sexual predators, criminally insane?

It turns out that of all of the people who were arrested, detained, and disappeared by ICE, 70 percent of those have no criminal record whatsoever.

So what is actually happening? The cardinal from the District of Columbia and the Jewish rabbis know, and we all know. It is a reign of terror--a reign of terror from this administration--not to make America safer but to make sure that people who weren't born here leave.

But, unfortunately, if you are a student of history, you know that is the story of America: immigrants who came to this country seeking freedom and opportunity and making this a great nation. My family tells that story, and I am sure most of the people listening to my voice can tell the same story. But what is going on now is a reign of terror.

I went to a section of Chicago known as Little Village. Little Village is primarily Mexican American. It is a great community--miles and miles of shops and stores and restaurants.

When I visited with them on Friday, they were largely empty. One fellow at the grocery store told me 50 percent of the customers have disappeared. Why? Because they are afraid. They are afraid to leave their homes. For what? To be arrested, to be detained, to disappear.

Oftentimes, we are asked to try to find someone who has been detained and get little or no cooperation from the Federal Agencies. These are the tactics of dictators in faraway countries, not American due process, but that is the reality of what we are facing.

I asked the mayor of Elgin what he thought about the population--the Hispanic population--in his town.

He said: Senator, 50 percent of the people in my city of Elgin are Hispanic. Many of them are immigrants. They make for a great community. We just had a beautiful festival, with 10,000 people showing up. It has been a tradition in Elgin for a long time, and one we are proud of.

He made a point of telling me that they are changing the ordinances in Elgin so as to make those who are protected by DACA eligible to apply to be firefighters and policemen. The one for policemen has been on the books for a while. Now they have expanded it to firefighters, and they have a long line of people interested--immigrants who are prepared to risk their lives to keep their community safe.

That, I think, is a great story of a great town, and I am proud to represent them.

But we cannot be proud of the tactics that are being used by ICE and by the Department of Homeland Security. If you are going after serious criminals, ``the worst of the worst''--the litany that is often given by President Trump in his rallies--count me in. I will be part of that. But to terrorize people in their homes, to make them afraid to go to church, afraid to go to the market, afraid to go to a restaurant, is not what this country is about.

There is only one parallel in history that I can think of that has occurred in my lifetime, and that, of course, would be the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. It was a discriminatory policy in the midst of a war that took these people from their homes and their businesses and held them in camps scattered around the West of the United States.

We look back on that, years later, and say: That was a terrible mistake. That is not what America is all about.

I was a Member of the House of Representatives when the U.S. Government, under President Clinton, issued a formal apology to Japanese Americans for that policy.

Sadly, we are building up another occurrence in the United States with the actions of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, when it comes to Hispanic Americans. Profiling is part of the process, and it is a disgrace that it is. That is the reality of what we face in Chicago, and that is the reality of what they are going to face in other States to come.

It is time for not only the clergy to speak up but the people who care to speak up, who believe in human life and the value of it and who believe that people need to be treated with respect.

Russia

Mr. President, on an unrelated issue, over the weekend, we witnessed another brutal Russian onslaught against Ukraine--a scene brazenly repeated after overtures made to Russian President Putin to end the war.

I do not begrudge President Trump for trying to engage with Putin. I have met with my fair share of autocrats in my political career. But Putin is not serious about negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. He is not driven by real estate or personal financial motivations but by deep personal grievances and twisted readings of history and nostalgia for the Soviet Empire--so much so that Putin has been willing to slaughter thousands of innocent Ukrainians, kidnap children, and send more than a million Russians to become war casualties in pursuit of his myopia.

We should also be under no illusions that this is just a Russian assault on Ukraine. It is an assault against the United States' values, and it is an assault against NATO and its allies.

Last week, again, Russia entered NATO airspace--this time, in Lithuania. The move followed years of increasingly provocative Russian incursions. And Russian planes have entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone at least nine times this year.

I welcome President Trump's recent decision to tighten sanctions on Russia. He can and should take further steps to increase military and economic pressure on Putin, and we in Congress should finally pass sanctions legislation, which has 80 cosponsors from both political parties, and we should do it soon.

Healthcare

Mr. President, on an unrelated topic, today, my constituents in Illinois will begin to receive letters from health insurance companies outlining the prices for next year's health insurance premiums. For many Illinois families, these letters will inform them that their premium costs will double.

Do you want to know why we are in a government shutdown? It is because of that letter that is being sent around by insurance companies to residents of Illinois and many other States this week. They are going to learn, unfortunately, that the cost of their health insurance, in many instances, is going to double--$1,000 or more for each one of these recipients--all because congressional Republicans have chosen to allow the Affordable Care Act's enhanced tax credits to expire.

These credits have helped millions of people in every State, but the Republicans want to get rid of them. They want American families to have to pay more for health insurance.

Last week, I sent a letter to the health insurance companies in Illinois, asking them what it will mean to lose these tax credits. Major health insurers, like Blue Cross Blue Shield and United, told me that the expiration of these tax credits will be a disaster.

In Illinois, these tax credits lower premiums by an average of more than $500 a month--$6,000 a year. Families who are struggling to try to pay electric and utility bills, struggling to pay grocery expenses, now face up to $6,000 a year more for the same health insurance they enjoyed this year.

When Illinoisans go online at getcoveredillinois.gov, today, to check their health insurance premiums for next year, they are going to see two devastating things: First, nearly 400,000 Illinoisans will have to grapple with the reality that they may no longer receive the premium assistance they received this year. These losses could reach hundreds to thousands of dollars a month, depending on the family size. Second, they will see that, across our State, health insurance premiums are going up approximately 30 percent next year, fueled by these expiring tax credits and the ``Big Beautiful Trump Budget Bill.''

It is a double hit--loss of the enhanced tax credits and underlying costs skyrocketing--all because the Republicans in Congress refuse to sit down with us now--now--and fix this problem.

Listen to what Melanie from Elmhurst shared with me. She said:

I receive a $379 monthly tax credit . . . without the tax

credit [my insurance] is unaffordable, plain and simple.

She is not alone. She is 1 of 100,000 people in my State and more than 4 million nationwide who stand to lose their health coverage because of this Republican decision.

Democrats tried to address the expiration of these credits this year, but the Republicans have refused to cooperate. Now is the time to get it done for families. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, whether they vote or not, should have access to health insurance.

If you are looking for leadership from the White House, we have to hope that the President will return from his trip and take up this cause.

I hope that the House of Representatives will actually come to the Capitol for the first time in 4 or 5 weeks. Their presence is long overdue.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I am sure that those who are following the opening remarks of the Senate today can sense the frustration, bordering on anger, with the current situation, the current status quo. It is shared on both sides of the aisle.

I have had the good fortune of serving in the House of Representatives and the Senate, representing parts of Illinois and then the entire State, for a big part of my life. I have watched these institutions, the House and the Senate, face frustrating, disappointing, challenging situations. I have found that the rule of thumb is, basically, if reasonable people will sit down to the table and put the items on the table and say, ``Let's see if we can find common ground,'' it usually works. It could work here too. We could reopen this government by the end of the day. I believe it. It is going to be even more difficult because the House of Representatives is not in session. I believe it has now been 3 weeks--maybe even 4 weeks--that they have been out of session. They need to be here, doing their job, helping to work to find a solution to this frustrating situation.

What exactly is behind the shutdown of this Federal Government?

Let me tell you. It is a serious issue that affects virtually every American.

Do you have health insurance?

I do. Most of us do.

Is it expensive? Yes.

Do you still need it? God, yes.

Without it, it would be even worse. With one automobile accident, one broken bone, one serious diagnosis, you could wipe out the savings of most American families. That is the reality. So health insurance is critical. People need it.

Do you know what is going to happen soon? I am sorry to say we are going to see a dramatic increase in health insurance premiums.

There was a debate here several months ago on what the President called his big, beautiful budget. The big, beautiful budget did many things, but in addition to some spending decisions, it made the decision that we were going to give a tax break to the wealthiest people in America, people like Elon Musk. His tax break, if I remember correctly--I don't have it written down here--was $230,000 a year. I would say that is a lot of money for most Americans. Mr. Musk, though, is so rich--a multibillionaire--he probably wouldn't even notice it.

But the $230,000 tax break for the wealthiest Americans meant that other programs needed to be cut. One of the programs that President Trump and the Republicans in Congress decided to cut--one was Medicaid.

Medicaid is a pretty universal program that affects millions of Americans and the services that they receive from clinics, from hospitals, even living in nursing homes. Medicaid is an important part.

The Republicans, in order to provide the money for tax cuts for people like Elon Musk, needed to cut $1 trillion out of Medicaid over the next 10 years.

What does it mean in my State? Well, we worry. Will rural hospitals or inner-city hospitals survive if Medicaid is cut? Will the nursing home people be able to stay in the nursing homes? Those are important and critical questions.

The second part of the decision by the Republicans in the big, beautiful budget to provide a tax break for the wealthy was basically to eliminate the tax subsidy that is available for middle-income families under the Affordable Care Act.

What does that mean? Well, for some people, they are going to see the results in the mail in just a matter of days. The target date in Illinois, which I represent, is October 27. Watch for the mail then because on October 27, you will receive a notice about what is going to happen to your health insurance premiums January 1. They are going to go up an average of 114 percent. So take a look at what you are now paying for health insurance and anticipate that it is going to go up. How much? I am not sure, but it could easily double.

For a lot of families who are struggling to survive, that is going to become a difficult challenge. How are we going to pay this premium? These are the same families who come back from the grocery store every Saturday and Sunday and say: I can't believe what has happened to the price of beef. I can't believe what has happened to the price of produce.

Across the board, people see the cost of living going up. And now an essential service--health insurance premiums--we are going to see this dramatic increase.

It is this increase that is going to affect millions of Americans-- over 20 million Americans--that is at the heart of this decision about whether this government is going to reopen.

We have said to the Republicans that we believe the American families need a helping hand and need it now--not something we talk about later but now--so that we can do something to stop these premiums from going up dramatically.

You know what is going to happen. When the premiums go up, some families will say: No problem. Making plenty of money. Hate it, but we can pay it.

Other families are going to say: How in the world are we going to do this? We are going to have to get a health insurance policy which has more copays and deductibles that are paid by us for virtually everything. So we are going to pay through the course of next year for this increase in premiums anyway.

Some will walk away and say: I just can't afford it. Can't make ends meet. Can't pay utility bills. Electric bills are going up and other things that we face, and this health insurance premium too. We are just going to have to drop the insurance and hope for the best.

I am sorry for those people because it not only means that they are facing risks in life without the protection of health insurance--we know statistically that when you don't have health insurance or any basic health insurance, that you forgo treatment and examinations. That is not good, it is not healthy, and it doesn't lead to a good result.

Is that an important issue for your family? I bet it is. It is an important issue for every single family.

That is what is at the heart of this government shutdown--the need for Republicans and Democrats to sit at the table and say: How can we spare American families from this premium increase that they are going to face inevitably--millions are going to face--with bad consequences?

Can we do it? Of course, we can. People of good will can reach a conclusion that they are going to find a way to compromise and see this issue come to an end. We need to do it now--not next week, not the week following, but now. There is too much hardship going on with this government shutdown, and it should not continue.

So my appeal is to the President: Delay your trip overseas.

My appeal to the Republicans in the House: Come back home--I shouldn't say ``home''--come back to Washington. Leave your home, come back to Washington, and go to work with us on a bipartisan basis.

Is that what America wants? You bet it is. To address this issue of health insurance premiums--do it on a bipartisan basis, and end this government shutdown. We can do it today.

There is a lot of furniture in this Capitol--I have seen it over the years--and there are a lot of tables. There are many tables big enough for the leaders in Congress and the President to sit down and reach an agreement. That sitdown ought to happen sooner rather than later.

Illinois

Mr. President, on another issue unrelated, last Friday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to green-light the deployment of National Guard troops in my home State of Illinois after the lower courts had temporarily blocked the deployment. In her decision, District Court Judge April Perry said the Trump administration has produced ``no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion'' in Illinois. Rather, Judge Perry found that ``the unnecessary deployment of military troops, untrained for local policing, will escalate tensions and undermine the ordinary law enforcement activities of state and local entities.''

Three judges on the Seventh Circuit Appeals Court, including one appointed by President Bush and another appointed by President Trump, considered that decision by the lower court and agreed with Judge Perry. They found that ``the facts do not justify the President's actions in Illinois. . . . Political opposition is not rebellion.'' That panel is right.

Last Saturday, I was part of the No Kings demonstration. We estimate there were 100,000 people in Grant Park at the Petrillo band shell. It was nonviolent. It was orderly. Oh, they were loud once in a while, but no one was involved in any sort of rebellion. They were exercising their constitutional right to express their opinion about the policies of this government.

I have been honored to represent the great State of Illinois for over 40 years in the Senate and the House. And, yes, like every State, Illinois has its challenges, such as addressing crime. But for the last two decades, the murder rate in Illinois has been lower than murder rates in Republican-led States like Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama. Violent crime is down dramatically in the city of Chicago.

We should work together to build on this success and reduce the crime rate even more. But the President's actions in sending in National Guard troops even from the State of Texas to Illinois is not about public safety; it is about politics. His unjustified and unlawful attempts to deploy troops to Chicago and other American cities are a threat to our basic democratic institutions.

The Supreme Court should reject the President's petition to use these troops in America. There is no emergency that justifies bypassing the regular appeals process and resolving this issue on the Court's shadow docket without the full public scrutiny this issue deserves.

Just last week, I received a heartbreaking message from one of my constituents, PO2 Jessica Wendlandt--a hard-working provider at Lake County Health Department in Waukegan, IL. In her letter, Officer Wendlandt mentioned that some of her patients have stopped showing up for their appointments because ICE officers are camping out in front of the facility.

Picture it, if you will: People, families, taking their children in for a doctor's appointment--afraid to go, leave their car, and walk the short distance to the clinic because ICE officials, in their combat uniforms and masks, in unmarked vehicles, were lurking outside the clinic.

She said in what she wrote to me:

My patients have not been able to come to their medical

appointments out of fear of being taken.

These raids are impacting the ability of medical providers to provide basic family treatment.

Jessica also mentioned that she was treating a mother at the health center when the mother ``received several phone calls and messages that ICE [agents] had raided the apartment buildings right behind the facility.'' The patient was so distraught and in tears that treatment could not be completed that day because she needed to rush home to her other children.

Imagine for a moment the fear that a mother must have felt receiving a call from her kids, scared and screaming that masked men are trying to break into their home. Is this America? Can you imagine the confusion and fear those children must have felt seeing those men at their door, wondering who they were and if they were there to help them or hurt them.

It is not just at health centers in Illinois; ICE is camping out in front of city halls, schools, churches, regularly

outside of Home Depot, where they detained a father who was the sole provider for his two children, including a daughter with stage IV cancer.

Do you remember what led us into this situation? You heard it over and over at President Trump's rallies. Rapists, terrorists, murderers, the criminally insane, sexual predators were coming across our border.

Let me tell you, I will sign up with the President. We don't want those people coming into this country. And if they commit a crime while they are here, they should be gone, period.

Now let's talk about the others, the 11 million who have been in America working jobs, raising families, going to church, paying their taxes. They are the ones they are targeting. Seventy percent of the people who have been stopped by ICE in the State of Illinois--70 percent of them have no criminal record whatsoever. They are not rapists and murderers and terrorists. They are people who overstayed a visa. And they may be American citizens. The ICE officers obviously don't distinguish any difference there.

When will my colleagues on the other side of the aisle decide that the cruelty and fear tactics of this administration must stop? This is America. When will they choose to put an end to the racial profiling which is going on and the detention of even American citizens, including veterans of children?

This is all supposed to be about violent crime? It is not. Enough. If this was actually about reducing crime, President Trump would not be slashing programs that actually help local law enforcement. This cruelty is all for show.

While Americans continue to pay inflated prices at the grocery store and face the prospect of skyrocketing healthcare premiums, this is what the President is focused on: tearing families apart and separating kids from their parents.

Our country is better than this. It is better than this cruelty and lawlessness. Now is the time for us to stand up for the rule of law and our Constitution.

President Trump's claims of ``invasions,'' ``rebellions,'' or ``emergencies'' to justify calling the military into American cities are shameless attempts to bypass our constitutional checks and balances.

It was the Republican Governor of Oklahoma who said last week that if Governor Pritzker of Illinois tried to send his National Guard troops to Oklahoma, the people of Oklahoma and that Governor, a Republican Governor, would resist it. But that is exactly what is happening in my home State of Illinois. This President, without invitation, is sending National Guard troops in from Texas.

The Supreme Court should stand up to this administration's attempt to cut both Congress and the courts out of decisions squarely given to them by the Constitution.

Political opposition, peaceful protests, and nonviolent civil disobedience are not rebellion; they are the bedrock of our democracy.

Local law enforcement officials have proven they are capable, in Illinois and most places, of handling any unlawful or unruly behavior.

Illinois State Attorney General Kwame Raoul explained to the court:

No protest activity in Illinois has rendered the president

unable to execute federal law.

If the Supreme Court enables President Trump to deploy troops to American cities over the objection of State officials before the courts rule on the legality of the actions, I fear it is going to cause lasting harm to America.

I ask my Republican colleagues: Are you really prepared in your home State for the next President after President Trump to send in troops to your State without permission, without the consent of your government? Are you ready for masked soldiers to grab your constituents from their homes?

My constituents elected me to represent them in this fight. I implore you to do right by your constituents and push back against the President's illegal power grab before your State is the next victim.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I strongly oppose the nomination of Stephen Chad Meredith to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Like several of President Trump's other judicial nominees, Mr. Meredith has a long history of taking extreme positions on women's reproductive rights.

As a Republican political appointee in Kentucky, he sought a functional ban on the most common second-trimester abortion procedure and attempted to shut down what was, at the time, the last remaining abortion clinic in the State.

And he insulted women everywhere when he argued, in court, that doctors should be required to provide certain information to female patients because these women ``don't understand'' their own medical needs.

In addition to his extreme record on reproductive rights, Mr. Meredith's involvement in pardoning a host of violent offenders--and his total lack of candor on this issue--is disqualifying.

Then-Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin pardoned hundreds of violent offenders during his last days in office. Mr. Meredith served as Governor Bevin's chief deputy general counsel during this time.

There is incontrovertible written evidence that Mr. Meredith worked on at

least some of these pardons. Yet, during his hearing, he swore to this committee, under oath, that he had no involvement.

He testified, ``I learned about the Governor's last minute controversial pardons in the media after we left office.'' He also testified that he didn't have anything to do with Governor Bevin's controversial pardons. This is demonstrably untrue.

In written questions, Mr. Meredith admitted that, at Governor Bevin's request, he had personally gone to a prison to inform two inmates, in person, that they had received pardons.

One of those inmates had committed vehicular homicide. The other had been convicted of sexually abusing his six-year-old stepdaughter.

Mr. Meredith has radical views far outside the mainstream and was not forthright with this Committee about his record. I cannot support his nomination.

I announce that the Senator from Virgina (Mr. Kaine), and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) and the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, local papers are the lifeline of our communities. They inform citizens of not only what is going on in their city halls, but their wedding halls as well. These papers connect Americans and remind us that we are part of a community greater than ourselves. This was something that Bruce Sagan understood well, and for more than 70 years, he saved newspapers, theatres, and helped preserve Chicago's cultural vibrance. Bruce was the embodiment of an engaged citizen; he was someone who constantly strived to support his community, and it is with great sadness that I share the news of his passing.

Bruce was born in Summit, NJ, and at just 16 years old, he moved to Chicago to study at the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. While professors may have missed Bruce in the classroom, they could not miss him in the pages of the Chicago Maroon, UChicago's newspaper. Bruce was an avid writer and supporter of the Maroon, constantly working to ensure that the paper covered the important issues of the day.

On UChicago's campus, the issue of racial discrimination was dominating the discussion. A group of students were working to expose the medical school's practice of rejecting Black students, and while students lined the streets in protest, Bruce was busy behind a typewriter, working to publicize their efforts and shine a light on discrimination. His work at the Maroon in support of integration was an early sign of the values Bruce brought to journalism.

Bruce's passion for journalism couldn't be satisfied by a student paper, so he left college and the Chicago Maroon to go work for the City News Bureau. Known across Chicago as the ``reporter's boot camp,'' City News

was a consortium of newspapers that coordinated routine coverage. It was an incubator of journalistic talent that helped launch the careers of legendary Chicago journalists like Mike Royko and Seymour Hersh. At City News, Bruce was one of the overnight editors, working from midnight to 8 a.m., or as he described, ``the mafia assassination beat.''

But 2 years after he joined City News, Bruce received an offer that would change the course of his career. One of Illinois' oldest local papers, the Hyde Park Herald, was failing, and a group of concerned citizens asked Bruce if he would buy the Herald to keep it in circulation. While the prospect of buying and saving a paper was daunting, 24-year-old Bruce charged ahead and took out a $2,500 loan to purchase the Herald. Thanks to Bruce, the paper did not miss a single issue. This began Bruce's long career as an owner and manager of local papers. Soon after Bruce purchased the Hyde Park Herald, he acquired the Southtown Economist, which he grew into dozens of local newspapers spanning across the Chicago suburbs. Under Bruce's leadership, these papers reached hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans as Bruce modernized their printing processes and pushed them to take a moral stand on the issues.

What made Bruce so successful was that he recognized the civic value of newspapers. In a Time Magazine interview, Bruce once decried how it was harder for someone to know what is going on in their own city than to find out what Khrushchev is doing in Cuba. Bruce wanted to demystify what was happening in Illinois. He took on topics that impacted every part of civic life, ranging from the corruption of political machines of Springfield to the protection of Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Robie House. Anyone who worked at the Herald often would see Bruce's office light on late into the night, a symbol of his tireless work in support of his city.

But Bruce's commitment to public life in Chicago did not stop at the edge of the bullpen; he also was a passionate supporter of the arts. In 1965, Bruce bought the Harper Theatre to create an ``off-Broadway'' experience in Chicago. Bruce moved the Hyde Park Herald's offices to the second floor of the theater and renovated the space as a ``monument to urban renewal.'' For decades, the Harper Theatre supported local musicians, dancers, and actors as they honed their crafts and shared their talents with the city. The Harper Theater was also where Bruce saw the Joffrey Ballet for the first time as part of the first modern dance festival in the Midwest, which he organized. Three decades later, Bruce helped facilitate the Joffrey Ballet's move from New York to Chicago.

While mentioning all of Bruce's contributions to support and save Chicago's various cultural institutions would be difficult, his efforts did not go unnoticed. In 2022, then-President Biden awarded Bruce with the National Medal of Arts. Cheering that selection was David Axelrod, who got his start working as a cub reporter for Bruce. I can think of no one more deserving of this honor than Bruce, a man who spent seven decades fighting to strengthen the ties of community and the richness of cultural life in Chicago.

But Bruce did not work alone. His wife Bette Cerf Hill was Bruce's faithful partner as they both engaged in and supported every aspect of Chicago's art scene, from literature festivals to architectural centers. Loretta and I send our deepest condolences to Bette; their five children Paul, Alex, Catherine, Teresa, and Diana; their 12 grandchildren; and their 9 great-grandchildren.

Chicago will be forever grateful for all that Bruce has done to enrich our cultural heritage. While we will miss Bruce dearly, his legacy will continue to benefit our city for generations. Whether someone watches a play at the Steppenwolf Theatre or reads the latest article in the Hyde Park Herald, I hope they take a moment to remember Bruce.

Mr. President, my friend and colleague from Wyoming believes that he knows who was in the streets last Saturday. I don't know where he was, but I was in the streets of Chicago. We estimate over 100,000 people were there. Were they the Marxists? the radical left? the anti-police? the pro-criminal? No. They represent the families of the State of Illinois who believe that the situation with this government is unfair to them, and I agree.

Why is this government shut down? It is basically an issue that goes to the heart of why we occupy these chairs, why we run for these offices.

Are we listening to the people who send us to Washington? If we are listening, they are telling us that something is about to happen to them that they cannot manage and control. What is it? It is that health insurance policy costs are going to go up dramatically.

On January 1, those costs are going to go up an average of 114 percent. That means double--double--your health insurance premium. Now, some people are comfortable and well-off, and they can live with it, but others cannot. That is the bottom line.

When you look at what happened here--the passage of the big, beautiful Trump budget--it ended up eliminating a tax credit that was available for people in middle-income categories to pay for health insurance. We know that is going to happen.

In my State of Illinois, on October 27--just a few days from now-- everyone who is in the Affordable Care Act is going to receive notice of the increase in premiums--like I said, an increase of 114 percent. So if you are paying $1,000 a month for health insurance now, on January 1, it goes up to $2,000 a month. That is the kind of thing that people have to cope with. We want to save them from that. All we ask is that Congress do its job.

Listen to the people you represent back home who are going to tell you: You just added a burden on my home budget that we can't handle. Senator, do something to help.

That is not unreasonable. I have done this job for a few years. Many people come to us asking for help, just like this.

How many people across America are going to be affected by this increase in premiums--this dramatic increase in premiums? Some say 24 million people--24 million people.

We say, on the Democratic side of the aisle, we were sent here to fix it. Let's fix it. When we say that to the Republicans, they say: We would rather shut down the government.

Shut down the government? It was your vote that created this premium increase.

Can't you join us now, Democrats and Republicans, and fix it?

Of course we can, and we ought to do it as quickly as possible.

Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, but our government has been shut down for 21 days over this issue. We have taken show vote after show vote on the Republican-crafted plan to fund the government. All of them have failed.

There is an obvious way out of this. I have been in Congress for a few years, and I know how this problem is solved. It is when people of good will sit down at the same table. There are thousands of pieces of furniture in this Capitol Building and lots of tables and chairs. Why is it we can't sit down and do it?

One of the problems is that the House of Representatives has gone AWOL; it has gone on vacation. I believe this is the fourth week that they have stayed on vacation instead of coming to Washington to help solve this problem. How do you explain that? How do you explain men and women elected to the House of Representatives who face a looming deadline on the increase of health insurance who don't even show up for work?

I talked to a number of Democratic Congressmen this morning. They said that you can't explain it. Everyone on the committee has important work to do, but the Speaker of the House refuses to call them back.

As for the Republicans in the Senate, well, today is going to be a spectacular day for them, I guess. They have been invited to a meeting--maybe even a lunch--in the Rose Garden of the White House with the President. If one or two of them would break off of that lunch and sit down with one or two Democrats, maybe we could start the conversation to solve this problem--and it is a real problem.

In Illinois, a 60-year-old couple with an income of $82,000 a year can see their annual health insurance premiums increase by $17,000 a year--more than 254 percent. That is $1,400 more a month for health insurance starting on January 1. A family of four earning $64,000 could see their annual premium increase by $2,571 a year. That is a 226- percent increase.

We ought to be concerned about that; we ought to care about it a lot more than any political position. Ask any American if they can afford to pay double for their healthcare insurance, and most of them will tell you that they can't.

These looming premium spikes are causing Americans to panic. Don't take my word for it; listen to the people I represent.

Karissa wrote and said that she has chronic conditions and takes several medications every single day. Karissa gets cancer screenings several times a year for breast and GI cancer because she is at risk, but if Republicans allow the increased premium tax credits to expire, Karissa said that she ``won't be able to continue those [treatments].''

Think about that. What a choice to make--your money or your life. What is going to happen if she is not able to get screened for cancer? Karissa may

have been able to prevent a serious issue early on by that screening, but now she may not know until it has progressed and costs even more to treat, if it can be treated at all--all because of this political difference wherein Republicans in Congress say that her health insurance premiums, even though they are unaffordable, are not a worry to them.

Ingrid from Springfield wrote to me, and she said she is ``in distress'' because she is afraid she won't be able to afford her medical treatment next year. She has a disability. She is retired. She struggles to pay a mortgage, utilities, student loans, and other debts.

Ingrid is also fighting cancer right now and needs ongoing medical treatment. When she checked her health insurance premium for next year, her jaw dropped. Ingrid wrote that all the options were quite impossible for her. The cheapest option for her health insurance came with a $1,400 a month premium and a $14,000 deductible. Ingrid is worried that she may lose her home just to pay for basic coverage.

No American should be forced to choose between their home and healthcare, their money or their life, but if my Republican colleagues continue to ignore this issue, more Americans are going to be facing just that decision starting this next year.

If Republicans in Congress fail to extend the enhanced premium tax credit before the end of the year, premiums for 22 million Americans will more than double. If we do nothing, premiums for 22 million Americans will more than double, and more than 4 million Americans will become uninsured, including more than 100,000 people in Illinois.

What is it like to live without health insurance? I faced that at one point in my life. I never want to face it again. It is a horrible feeling.

This isn't rocket science. Republicans do not have 60 votes in the Senate to pass their partisan bill that fails to do anything to lower healthcare costs. They must work with Democrats to fund the government and to prevent Ingrid, Karissa, and millions of other Americans from losing their healthcare. We can do that today. Instead of a vacation for the House and a picnic for Senate Republicans, we should be sitting down to get to work.

Senator Thune and Speaker Johnson need to go not to the picnic table at the White House but come to the table to bargain and do it sooner rather than later. Instead, Senate Republicans are heading to the White House for lunch. I am sure it will be nice, but if a couple of them could peel off and actually sit down and bargain, that would be a much better day for America.

It is unfathomable that Speaker Johnson has chosen to give the House a 5-week vacation amid this crisis. House Republicans must return to Washington and go to work or they will have to explain to an increasingly large group of constituents why health insurance premiums have doubled under the Republican leadership in Congress.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth) is necessarily absent.