Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, a lot of people are asking the question: What exactly were people voting for in the last Presidential election?

Well, many things. We have many citizens who are voters in this country, but the recurring theme seems to be the cost of living for the average family, the ability of mothers and fathers to make ends meet and to see a realization of their dreams and aspirations. We were told, over and over again, that families across this country were being overwhelmed by the cost of living--gas, groceries, housing. So they gave a majority of the votes to President Trump, who promised he would make America great again.

Since taking office, I don't believe that the President has come near to keeping his promise. Instead, he has hired many of his billionaire buddies and cut deals with the ultrawealthy that will harm the same Americans who voted for him.

I am not going to get into his cryptocurrency scheme and how it has enriched him and his family. Let's set that aside for a minute and talk about issues that apply to every person.

Hidden in more than 1,000 pages in the bill that passed the House of Representatives is a plan--a laundry list of things--that I don't believe Americans even considered voting for in the last November election. They are going to have a devastating impact on families and States, red and blue alike.

The main takeaway from this ``One Big Ugly Bill'': Billionaires are going to win, and American families are going to lose.

Do you think the voters in last November's election for President of the United States would actually vote to close down their local hospital? That is what is looming.

You say: Oh, you Democrats and your scare tactics--that can't possibly be true.

Well, let me tell you what happened.

Three weeks ago, 20 hospital administrators from across the State of Illinois--from Chicago down to the southernmost part of our State--all took a special trip to Washington to warn me that the bill that was pending before the House of Representatives threatened the survival of hospitals across our State. These are hospitals which are not only critical for providing professional medical care, delivering babies, and saving people's lives who are in automobile accidents but also major parts of the local economy.

You come to rural, smalltown Midwest America and ask about the impact to the local hospital, and they will tell you: We don't know that we can keep a business or attract a business if we didn't have it. We count on it every day to be there when we need it. And, secondly, it is a major employer--in

fact, in most towns, the biggest employer in Downstate.

Then they warned me: Many of these hospitals are hanging on by a thread. The money that they receive from government insurance programs like Medicaid keeps the doors open and the lights on and the doctors in town.

And now we have a proposal from the Republicans to cut that Medicaid benefit for 16 million Americans. This would be the largest cutback in health insurance protection in the history of the United States. That is what has been sent over by the House of Representatives and is presently under consideration by the Republican leadership here in the Senate.

Nationwide, half of all rural hospitals already operate in the red, and more than 300 rural hospitals are at immediate risk of closure--26 in Kansas, 22 in Alabama, and 9 in Missouri.

How many closed hospitals will the Republicans accept as part of their plan?

Let me tell you, I am from downstate Illinois--proud to represent the city of Chicago all these years but prouder still of being from downstate and trying to keep track of all the needs they have for this economy to prosper. I know rural hospitals are the backbone of many communities in downstate Illinois. Critical emergency medical care anchors the local economy.

Now you dig deeply into this Republican budget bill that has come over from the House of Representatives, and it turns out they are not just eliminating health insurance coverage for 16 million Americans, they are also cutting Medicare.

Medicare is a program primarily for elderly people in this country. It has been a miracle worker. Medicare was created in the 1960s, and it is no coincidence or surprise that the life expectancy of Americans went up as Medicare took root and became part of healthcare in America.

Despite promising to leave Medicare alone, which everyone said, from Donald Trump on down, Republicans couldn't help themselves. They slashed Medicare benefits and reduced access to hospitals, nursing homes, and medications for seniors in all 50 States--Medicaid and Medicare.

So why would Republicans in Congress take a wrecking ball to these two major parts of our healthcare system? To provide money from tax breaks to the wealthiest people in America.

I will bet you that he is making it up. I will bet you it is another one of those political schemes of his.

It is not being made up. It is true. They want to generate enough money to give tax breaks to wealthy people.

Based on a new update from the Congressional Budget Office today, up to 16 million Americans are now estimated to lose their health insurance coverage under this Republican plan that passed the House and is now being considered by the Senate Republicans.

I can just tell you this from a personal basis: There is no more helpless feeling in the world than to be a father with no health insurance and being told that your beautiful baby has a serious medical complication. I know. I have been there.

Some Republicans are downplaying these catastrophic health cuts. On the Senate floor earlier today, a Republican Senator said people on Medicaid are lazy and play video games all day. At a recent townhall meeting, when a concerned constituent raised the Republicans' proposed Medicaid cuts and said that people would die, it became a controversy in response to the Senator's comment.

It sounds like Republicans in Congress want to be the ones to decide who is worthy of healthcare in America. But Americans who depend on Medicaid are not strangers. They are your neighbors. They are people at your church, your school, and at your work. It probably is your family too.

If you or a loved one gets sick, will congressional Republicans deem you deserving of seeing a doctor? Is that what this was all about? Is that what this election was all about? Did the American people vote for tax cuts for billionaires? I don't think so.

A party like the Republicans, who claim they are the party of the working class--working-class billionaires--they refuse to put their money where their mouth is. Republicans in Congress may say they are just trying to lower your taxes, but most of the benefit is going to wealthy people who won't even notice it. Maybe their bookkeepers and accountants will be able to give them the good news that they just saved another $200- or $300,000 in taxes.

Under the Republican plan, taxpayers in the wealthiest 0.1 percent would get a $300,000 tax cut every year--$300,000 for the richest of the richest in America. Why? At the expense of healthcare for 16 million Americans? It makes no sense.

The average full-time worker making minimum wage on average would receive a tax break as well. I have to be honest about it. It is $20 a month. So $300,000 for the richest of the rich and 20 bucks a month for the working stiff. How can that possibly be fair?

Did the American people vote to slash jobs across the economy in the last November election? I don't think so. Since we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, 85 percent of investment in clean energy technology has landed in Republican districts.

Now, I know the President of the United States calls global warming and environmental issues a hoax. He has been hanging with that story for a long time even though we know something is happening. Notice the extreme weather events across the United States and around the world? They are getting more frequent and more costly. Is it a coincidence or is something going on? I happen to believe something is going on.

In just 2 years since passing the Inflation Reduction Act, businesses have announced 340 new clean technology projects. One estimate says that these projects will create 150,000 permanent jobs. I have seen it in my State. That includes more than 9,000 jobs in Texas, 4,800 in Ohio, 4,500 in Indiana, and 2,700 in my home State of Illinois. The Republicans' ``Big Ugly Bill'' puts these jobs at risk, taking a hatchet to tax policy that makes these projects possible.

The promise of a Republican repeal has already scared the private sector into withdrawing $14 billion in investment and canceling 10,000 clean energy manufacturing jobs. Why would the so-called party of the working class want to give their own constituents a pink slip? I don't get it.

Now, some of my Republican colleagues have been brave enough to raise alarms about the Medicaid cuts, the rollback of clean energy credits, and the cost of the bill, but do you know what the cost of this bill is to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people? It is $3.8 trillion more on the deficit over the next decade.

We already know the scammer in chief will try to bully Republicans into choosing billionaires over working families, using anything he can to persuade them or threaten them. My Republican colleagues must know that this plan does not make America great again; it makes our debt the greatest in the history of our Nation. Instead, it harms families in red and blue States looking for a fair shot.

Their lip service to these terrible cuts is not enough. I urge a handful of my Republican colleagues--and that is all it takes--to show some courage, show some common sense, tell the folks in the House and tell the White House as well that this approach is not going to work.

Taking health insurance away from 16 million Americans--more than has ever happened in the history of this country--is unfair, fundamentally unfair, and we all know it. We know intuitively that is just not fair. Taking Medicaid away from reimbursing hospitals and doctors of critical care in small towns and rural areas is a mistake we will pay for for generations to come.

I urge Republicans to listen to their constituents because I know that Americans who voted for Trump in November did not vote for what I have just described today on the floor of the Senate.

We need four Republicans--four--to stand up and say: This doesn't make sense--too much debt, too much pain for families, and too much of a gamble for rural areas in smalltown America.

We have to stand up and make a much better effort, and we should do it on a bipartisan basis as quickly as possible.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

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

Mr. President, last month, the Senate voted to proceed to the GENIUS Act, a bill that would regulate the type of cryptocurrency called stablecoins. Stablecoins are supposed to tie the value of crypto to the value of a dollar, but in 2023 alone, stablecoins differed from the value of the dollar more than 600 times.

Not only are stablecoins and cryptocurrencies volatile but the industry has a reputation for scams and fraud. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, recently reported that last year, 2024, crypto- related crime was up 66 percent, and Americans lost--now get this--$9.3 billion to crypto's scammers. Nearly 150,000 complaints were filed following crypto fraud, including more than 6,000 in my home State of Illinois.

How does it work?

Your mom's at home, and in comes a phone call, and the person on the phone call says: Mrs. D, I work for ``so-and-so''--usually a government Agency--and I am calling you to alert you that you missed your jury duty this month. You were supposed to show up to the courthouse to serve on a jury, and you didn't show up.

Of course, your mom knows nothing about that, and says: I didn't see that I was supposed to be there.

Yes. The legal notice was sent to you, and now a fine is going to be imposed on you for your failure to show up for jury duty.

Oh, my. How much?

Five thousand dollars. You can pay that fine, and you don't have to go to trial.

Well, how am I going to pay that fine?

You are going to go to the local grocery store--at the exit--to an ATM, a crypto ATM machine.

How many of those do we have in the United States? We have 30,000 crypto ATM machines. You may not have noticed them in the store, but as you are checking out many times, there they sit. And what is your mom supposed to do when she goes to this grocery store, to the crypto ATM machine? She is supposed to deposit $5,000--and sometimes much, much more--into this machine so that she is buying a stablecoin, but she doesn't get the stablecoin. She directs it to the wallet of the scammer. So she is out $5,000 or more, thinking that she is paying a fine to avoid a trial and because she didn't show up for jury duty she didn't know anything about.

Does that sound preposterous? It is not. It happens over and over and over again. These crypto ATM machines are the vehicles that are used for defrauding people--primarily, senior citizens--to put in thousands and thousands of dollars, and you never get any pennies back because it is all phony; it is all a scam. More than a third of all filed complaints involving crypto fraud were filed by Americans over the age of 50. Many of these scams were facilitated using these crypto ATM machines.

You may be wondering what a crypto ATM is. You pass by them at the store, your place of business, and you may not have noticed them, but they are there. They are located at a local grocery store or a gas station and look like a normal ATM machine except they allow customers to deposit cash to purchase cryptocurrency, including stablecoins. They can ruin someone's life in an instant. Many times you don't hear about it because your mother, having been scammed over the phone and deposited thousands of dollars of her life savings, is too embarrassed to tell you.

In fact, seven of the largest crypto ATM operators sell these stablecoins. These crypto ATMs become a favorite tool of scammers because, once a victim purchases crypto and transfers it to the criminal's digital wallet, it can be virtually impossible to trace or to retrieve. These scammers follow the same playbook. They call up an unassuming victim, pretending to be from the victim's bank, tech support, or some government Agency. They impersonate government officials.

Just fair warning--and I say this because we receive a lot of calls in the office about scammers on the phone--major Agencies of the Federal Government are never going to call you on the phone--the IRS, Social Security, and such. They send written notices, and they should. So, if it is a fast-talking person on the telephone who says they are from a Federal Agency, be careful.

They may tell the victim they owe money for skipping jury duty or need to pay bail to get their child or grandchild out of jail. It happened in my family--exactly that scenario. Or they may tell the victim there is fraudulent activity on their bank account or computer. It happened to me one night. My cell phone starts ringing. I answer it, and this fellow says he is from my credit union. He wanted to question a transaction, and I am thinking: I have never had my credit union call me ever. What is that all about? Well, after a while, I was dubious, and he hung up on me. The victim, however, often doesn't realize fraudulent activity is even occurring. Meanwhile, they

scramble to figure out what to do, and the scammer tells them: You can just pay the fine at the crypto machine, and here is where to go to use that service.

Through it all, the scammer runs them through everything they need to know to take their life savings, thousands and thousands of dollars, and to insert it as cash into this machine--this crypto ATM machine-- sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. They purchase cryptocurrency and send it off to the scammers' digital wallet, never to be seen again.

Once that happens, the money is gone. There is no way to get it back, and there is little hope in tracing the transaction to the actual scammer.

These types of scams led to nearly $247 million in losses last year, a 31-percent increase over the previous year, and the crypto ATM companies know their kiosks facilitate this fraud.

I am not a big fan of vaping, but I do want to say this. There is a vaping store in my hometown of Springfield, IL, that finally despaired of all of the older people who came in in tears, shoveling money into the crypto ATM machine. The owner of the premises was given $300 a month for allowing crypto ATM machines in his business, but he couldn't take it anymore. Too many people were clearly being scammed, and he was party to it. And he had it removed.

A large crypto ATM operator, Bitcoin Depot, wrote in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission exactly what I have said. They said:

Our products and services may be exploited to facilitate

illegal activity, such as fraud, money laundering, gambling,

tax evasion, and scams.

That is as close to a confession as you can get.

The SEC filing, though revealing, doesn't give the whole picture. It doesn't tell the actual human story.

Imagine a person who is retired, up in years, worried day to day whether their Social Security check is going to stretch far enough, and now loses thousands of dollars in their life savings to the scam.

In Illinois, an elderly woman with MS lost $40,000, her entire life savings, to a government grant imposter scheme facilitated by a crypto ATM. Since the woman can't get around very well--listen to this--the scammer called an Uber to pick her up and drive her to the local crypto ATM--how kind to drive your victim straight to the crime. They took her personal information as well. She is devastated, since this is all the money she has been able to save in her entire life, and there is no way to recover it from the crypto ATM.

Elaine, a 76-year-old woman from Florida, was a victim of crypto ATM scam after her late husband's death. She looked up the Apple support number to try to secure his Apple accounts, but, unfortunately, the number she called was an imposter. The criminal convinced her that she was the victim of identity theft and told her to immediately take $30,000 out of her bank account and deposit it into a crypto ATM. Now she is recovering not only from her financial loss but also from the loss of her husband.

Many States, including Minnesota, Iowa, and North Dakota, have decided to make a move, since Congress has not. They have passed State legislation to try and crack down on those crypto ATM scams. Just a few days ago, I am happy to report, my home State of Illinois passed a similar State law.

Now, it is time for Congress, because 13 States have acted, to learn something from their example. We must act so that all Americans know the risk of crypto ATMs and have proper documentation when seeking help from law enforcement to try to get their hard-earned cash back.

That is why I am pushing for a vote on my amendment to the GENIUS Act, which would create commonsense guardrails to prevent crypto ATM fraud and empower law enforcement to combat these scams. My amendment would require crypto ATM operators to register with the Federal financial regulators, provide warnings to customers about scams, and create daily transaction limits so customers cannot lose their entire life savings in an instant.

With my amendment, crypto ATM operators would not be able to simply turn a blind eye to the fraud that is happening at their crypto ATM machines. We must put an end to these scams.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support my amendment to stop scammers in their tracks and provide protections for people whom they represent.

I want to say a word to the industry. You have 13 States now that are trying to do what we should do on a national basis. Let's establish this national Federal standard that applies in every State in the Nation to protect people from this exploitation that is clearly growing in intensity by the day. Let's protect senior citizens and many others who have been scammed using crypto ATM machines.

Cryptocurrency has its detractors, and it has its champions, but I hope we can all stand together on a bipartisan basis to say that we are not going to help scammers steal money from unsuspecting people.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Gallego), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

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

Mr. President, let me join in the bipartisan comments that have been made on the Senate floor this afternoon relative to the tragedy in Boulder, CO. The point is obvious: The use of force and violence is never--underline ``never''--appropriate in a political context in an exchange of ideas.

As I understand it, there were people who were peacefully demonstrating on behalf of the hostages being held by the Hamas terrorists in the Middle East, and they were brutally attacked by a person who was shouting slogans about his political views.

Who that person is, where they are from, is really important at this moment in the investigation but not critical to the observation I am about to make. That sort of conduct--physically attacking other individuals over a political issue--is never--never--appropriate nor consistent with the guarantees given to us in the Constitution.

Ukraine

Mr. President, on a separate topic, there recently were efforts in Istanbul to advance peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. After 3 years of this bloody war in Ukraine, it is clear that we should move as quickly as possible to a peaceful resolution and the end of hostilities.

I wish I could say I was surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to attend, but I wasn't. Anyone following this war can clearly see that Vladimir Putin isn't serious about ending this bloody conflict which he started.

There was some confusion in the early days of the Trump administration, and they were blaming the Ukrainians for invading themselves, which made no sense whatsoever. It was Putin's idea, and he executed it.

Let's not forget that 11 years ago, he militarily seized Crimea and other parts of eastern Ukraine. More than 3 years ago, Putin tried to take over Ukraine itself and install a puppet regime beholden to him.

With advanced warning and weapons from the United States, the brave Ukrainians defied the experts. They said the Ukrainians couldn't last 2 weeks defending their country against the second largest military in the world. The experts were wrong. Those Ukrainians have protected their independence from brutality but at great cost in lives, destruction, and territory.

The costs have been staggering: Thousands of individuals have lost their lives because of this Russian invasion; countless children were abducted from their schools and homes by the Russians and sent for indoctrination in Russia itself; desperate use of North Korea and Iranian assistance; Russian sabotage, mayhem, and threats to our NATO allies across the world, all inspired by one man: Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia.

Why do I revisit the obvious? Because it has been obvious for more than a decade that Vladimir Putin isn't interested in ending the war, obvious to everyone except perhaps our own President.

President Trump promised that he would end this war on his first day in office. Instead, Trump and his Vice President publicly humiliated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy when he visited the White House and made embarrassing overtures to Putin. Putin's response has been to thumb his nose at the United States and peace efforts.

In fact, already this year, civilian Ukrainian deaths from Russian attacks are higher than they were last year, and assaults on civilian targets in the last 2 weeks alone have been relentless. Innocent people are dying because of these drones and bombs and artillery.

I want this war to end, but it should not be a blatant giveaway to Vladimir Putin or driven by any illusion about Putin's long-term intentions to control Ukraine and weaken the NATO alliance, nor can it be done at the security expense of Baltic and Polish allies who are also in Putin's crosshairs.

That is why Leader Thune, here in the Senate, needs to immediately put Senator Graham's Russia sanctions bill--which I and 80 other Senators have cosponsored--on the floor for a vote.

Let me tell you about this bill. Senator Graham's Russian sanction bill, on which I was an early cosponsor, now has 80 total cosponsors-- maybe more now--80 cosponsors, Democrats and Republicans. This bill would impose primary sanctions on Russia and secondary sanctions on those supporting Russia's war in Ukraine if Putin refuses to engage in good-faith peace negotiations or initiates another effort, including a military invasion, that undermines the sovereignty of Ukraine after any such peace is negotiated.

This bipartisan legislation imposes a 500-percent tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium, and other products.

Fortunately, many European countries have already eased their dependence on Russian gas and oil.

Behind the scenes and amid brazen indifference by Putin to negotiate, Senator Graham, a Republican, and other Republicans, such as Senator Grassley of Iowa, have wanted to move the bill forward in the Senate but keep getting asked by the White House to wait.

We cannot wait any longer. Innocent people are dying because of Putin's aggression. Russian assaults on Ukraine have continued, with attacks during the first quarter of this year even worse than last year, and Trump seems unwilling to do what is necessary to force Putin to the table.

My colleague the ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee recently argued: It is also time for us to prepare another Ukraine supplemental. Ukraine needs the equipment and the ammunition to defend this nation against Putin's invasion. We cannot give up on them. We should not give up on them.

Ukraine's delegation is back in Istanbul today and will again reiterate its support for an immediate cease-fire and call for the further release of prisoners and the return of thousands of children kidnapped by Russia and snatched away from their families in Ukraine.

Putin has yet to even formally offer his demands, and a breakthrough today is not really expected.

President Trump, the whole world is watching the United States to see if you will stand firm against Putin, especially those other adversaries. Putin is not our friend and is not a friend of the United States. Mr. President, you do not want our legacy to be appeasement and surrender to Russia and a weakening of our Transatlantic security.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) are necessarily absent.