Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Alsobrooks) and the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, let me first thank my colleague from Rhode Island. I don't know how many years he has been delivering this message on the floor, but he has become the spokesperson for a cause that we all should share and try to make certain we address the deterioration of this planet that we live on; that our kids, our grandkids, and their children have a fighting chance against elements that they can't personally control. It is up to our generation. And Senator Whitehouse comes to the floor and reminds us on a regular basis about our moral and economic and environmental responsibility.

I thank him for his statement today. I want to join him in that respect.

S.J. Res. 55

Mr. President, last month, the Senate Parliamentarian analyzed the GAO's opinion ruling that Senate Republicans cannot use the Congressional Review Act to overturn a waiver granted to California by the U.S. EPA to regulate its own vehicle emissions.

I remember a time in the House and, again, in the Senate when we had a hardy debate here over miles per gallon and what was reasonable. I remember the automobile industry saying that we shouldn't impose a standard that they could never live up to, never produce cars that meet that standard of the higher miles per gallon.

I remember that California stepped out ahead of the rest of the Nation and said: Let us prove we can do it. Our economy is so big, you can't miss it if we succeed or if we fail. And they succeeded. They proved that if you create the right incentives, technology will move in that direction, and it has, successfully, when it comes to miles per gallon.

Now Republicans have decided, with the new President, to attempt to block a California law requiring all new cars sold in the State by 2035 to be zero-emission vehicles. It is an ambitious goal. It is as ambitious as some of the MPG goals they set in earlier times.

That is right. Despite the claims of being the party of States' rights, Republicans want to end the State-level regulation in the State of California. And get this, Elon Musk--the unelected adviser to the President--previously wrote to the EPA in favor of California's waiver. Now he has joined the Republican majority to try to gut the rule.

The Parliamentarian's decision was not one of party loyalty. It followed decades of precedent showing California's Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act.

Despite the Parliamentarian's decision, my Senate Republican colleagues want to override the GAO and Senate Parliamentarian to advance the fossil fuel agenda. It is ``burn, baby, burn; drill, baby, drill.''

Now, I understand using the CRA might be faster than Agency rulemaking or even considering legislation. Think about this. There was a time when we actually legislated on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I can vaguely remember, it was so long ago. Rather than deal with legislation, hearings, and public review, we are all about these shortcut methods, which in some cases are disastrous. In fact, President Trump, in his first term, took administrative action to rescind California's Clean Air Act waivers and can take that path again.

But what Republicans are pursuing today is a procedural nuclear option, a dramatic break from Senate precedent with profound consequences. Let me repeat. Should my Senate Republican colleagues overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, it will have a major long-term impact for the Senate and the legislative filibuster.

This move is unprecedented. The Senate has never overruled the Parliamentarian regarding the CRA or allowing a bill to pass by majority vote. Before, when the tables were turned and the Senate Democrats were in the majority, my Republican colleagues were singing a very different tune about never breaking from the Parliamentarian. Leader Thune, himself, acknowledged in January of this year that overruling the Parliamentarian is ``totally akin to killing the filibuster. We can't go there,'' Leader Thune said, ``People need to understand that.''

If Senate Republicans disregard the Parliamentarian's decision, they would set a new precedent in the Senate, eliminating longstanding guardrails and paving the way for future Senate majorities to overrule the Parliamentarian to achieve its partisan goals. I caution my Senate Republican colleagues from toeing this line and setting the wrong precedent.

As I said, time and time again, there cannot be one set of rules for the Republicans in the Senate and another set of rules for the Democrats. I hope my Republican colleagues will heed my

warning and make the right choice--the only choice: accept the GAO and Senate Parliamentarian's decision.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, it was my good fortune as a young man to work for a Senator from Illinois named Paul Douglas. He was known as Mr. Ethics in the U.S. Senate. He believed--and he shared that belief with me and all who worked with and for him--that the first obligation of a public official is to not betray the trust of the voters when it comes to self-dealing or making money out of public office.

He started me down the path in my early years in politics of making a complete disclosure--both my income tax return and net worth in detail, specific amounts--every year. I have done that for over 40 years. I believe he was right.

I remember Paul Simon, my predecessor in the U.S. Senate, used to say: People may not agree with my vote, but they know I didn't cast it to make a buck.

It is just that simple.

So what has happened at the highest level of the Government, the Office of President? Throughout our history, there have been examples of corruption which have been well documented. The Teapot Dome scandal comes to mind, and certainly the departures of previous Vice Presidents for wrongdoing have been well documented.

What we have going on in the White House now with the Trump administration is unprecedented not just in the amount of money involved going to the President and his family but also in the very real fact that the bottom line is that he is bold and states clearly: I have done it, and I defy you to do anything about it.

It is one of the reasons I am opposing the pending legislation on the floor on cryptocurrency. The President, as has been documented by my colleague from Connecticut, is making millions of dollars exploiting cryptocurrency, and he is inviting those who buy into his scheme--his profit-making scheme--to official gatherings and occasions at the White House. It is the most bald-faced demonstration of corruption we have ever seen in the Office of the Presidency. And this plane now--this $400 million airplane--says it all.

Mr. President, so that you understand, Pam Bondi is the Attorney General of the United States, duly appointed, and she has supposedly released a memo justifying the transfer of this airplane to the U.S. Government and then to Donald Trump personally as being acceptable--no objection. I am still looking for a copy of that public opinion. It should be public, if it hasn't been yet.

There has been reference made to the Constitution on this issue. In the Constitution, article I, section 9 is explicit:

[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under

them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of

any present, Emolument, Office, or Title of any kind

whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

How clear can you be? This President has no authority to accept this gift. And the notion that he would accept it, use it for the remainder of his Presidency, and then take personal title to the airplane is outrageous.

The fact of the matter is--those of us who have taken the time to check--it will cost the American taxpayers a fortune to take this gift from Qatar and to make it safe for any President to travel in it.

As one of my colleagues has said, if the Qataris said ``As a favor to the people of the United States, we are going to redesign and pay for the redesign of the Oval Office, the Situation Room, and the President's residence. We will do it on our dime,'' the American people would never fall for it. Why would we ever let them get that close to the decision making at the highest level in America? That is exactly what we are doing here if we accept this airplane. We have taken all those three functions of the President, added wings to the equation, and said the Constitution doesn't count.

Republicans have claimed for years that Joe Biden, during his administration and his time as Vice President, engaged in wrongdoing due to his family's business dealings. I am sure we remember congressional Republicans' endless investigations into President Biden's son and his past business dealings as a private citizen. But despite multiple investigations and a failed impeachment inquiry against President Biden, Republicans are largely silent and willing to disregard the overwhelming corruption of President Trump and his family as they pocket millions of dollars personally at the expense of the American people.

In the latest of a long line of shady dealings, President Trump is receiving a private jet as a gift from the royal family of Qatar and is claiming that it is simply a gift to the Defense Department.

This aircraft that we are talking about is sitting in San Antonio, TX. It would be retrofitted to act as Air Force One for the remainder of Trump's term in office before ownership is transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation.

The President claimed it would be ``stupid [to] say `No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane.' '' However, what he doesn't say is that it will cost American taxpayers millions more to retrofit the plane to meet the President's security, communication, and intelligence needs.

Mr. President, what is stupid is retrofitting a very expensive plane from a foreign government, which constitutes a major counterintelligence risk, on the American taxpayers' dime when an American company is already manufacturing the next Air Force One.

The Constitution, as I have read, explicitly gives Congress the power to control whether any officer of the United States, including the President, may accept a gift from ``any King, Prince, or foreign State.'' This unprecedented gift clearly violates the Constitution and laws enacted by Congress to govern such gifts. Yet Attorney General Bondi reportedly concluded it would be ``legally permissible'' for President Trump to accept this gift. I am calling on the Attorney General today to release this opinion and report in its entirety to the U.S. Congress.

I am not surprised by it. This administration continues to abuse its power at the cost of the American people time and again, while Republicans in Congress stand by and allow it.

Mr. President, do you hear it? The silence? The silence of the President's party? The silence of the lambs?

Make no mistake, this is more than just a gift that benefits the President and not the American people. The President, we understand, it has been reported, has actively solicited this gift from Qatar. The question remains: In exchange for what?

President Trump's acceptance of such a substantial gift from a foreign government could disproportionately influence the foreign policies of this country--exactly why the Founding Fathers gave Congress the power to control these gifts under the Constitution. It is clear to our foreign partners and enemies that, under President Trump, America's policymaking is open to the highest bidder.

We also see President Trump and his family profiting off the promise of influenced domestic policy. Right before his second inauguration, President Trump launched a valueless cryptocurrency token marked not as an investment but as monetary support for Trump. First Lady Melania Trump also promoted her own meme coin shortly thereafter. This scheme allowed the President to pocket millions of dollars in direct payments with little or no public disclosure or oversight. He has never denied it. He has since fired the heads of the Agencies that investigate these crypto schemes.

Donald Trump, Jr., has founded a new private membership club in DC called Executive Branch with a $500,000 membership fee. The launch party, featuring several Cabinet and other administration officials, underscored Trump Junior's efforts to sell access.

That is what this administration does. It sees a barrier to cutting corners or any check on its corruption and gets rid of it. These actions were entirely predictable because Trump and his family also blatantly used the Presidency to enrich themselves by selling access and the chance to influence policy under his first administration.

I am saddened that our colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle apparently believe that silence is the best response to these outrages. It is the ``Silence of the Lambs.''

When will they stand up for the American people and say ``enough is enough,'' or do they believe American policy should be sold to whatever country is willing to place the highest bid?

If we are talking about a swamp in DC, sadly, this is a major part of it.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

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

I announce that the Senator from new Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Heinrich) is necessarily absent.

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

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

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

Mr. President, yesterday, the Senate voted to begin consideration of the modestly named GENIUS Act, a bill that would regulate stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency.

Crypto is known as a volatile investment and more unpredictable than traditional financial assets like stocks and bonds. Last month, the value of Bitcoin, a type of crypto, dropped to $76,000, but it shot up to more than $100,000 last week.

Supporters of the GENIUS Act say that is where stablecoins come in. They argue that stablecoins are tied to the value of the dollar, for example, so they never lose their value.

The name ``stablecoin'' makes it sound secure, doesn't it? But the name is misleading. In 2023 alone, stablecoins deviated from their underlying asset more than 600 times. That does not sound like stability to me.

While I agree with supporters of the GENIUS Act that crypto and stablecoins need to be regulated, I have genuine concerns about the bill.

One is the amount of illicit finance that stablecoins could support. A recent report found that crypto facilitated $51 billion in illicit transactions, and stablecoins accounted for 63 percent of all illicit crypto transactions.

Many illegal crypto transactions involve crypto ATMs. You might have seen one at your grocery store or gas station, although you may not realize it. They allow you to trade in cash for cryptocurrency. But they also are a frequent tool of scammers and fraudsters who prey on Americans, especially senior citizens. We receive phone calls in our offices back in Illinois on a regular basis from senior citizens who have been scammed out of thousands of dollars.

Here is how it works: A scammer will call an unassuming victim, pretending to be from the government or the victim's bank.

Let me stop right there and say what I tell people over and over again. The government is not going to call you on the phone. If anyone calls you on the phone and represents that they are part of Social Security or some other Federal Agency, it is most likely a scam. That is the starting point.

A scammer calls this unassuming victim and creates a scenario--an emergency scenario--in their mind. The scammer tells the victim that they owe money for skipping jury duty or unpaid taxes or that their bank account is frozen. The scammer warns the victim they have to pay urgently or else the fines will escalate or the victim may face jail time if they don't move quickly.

The scammer tells the victim not to worry; they can simply drive to the nearest crypto ATM, make their payment, and everything will be just fine. The scammer walks them through the steps of inserting cash in the machine, purchasing cryptocurrency, and sending it to the scammer's digital wallet. Once that happens, the money is gone, with no way to get it back and little hope of tracing the transaction to the scammer.

All throughout the scam, the fraudster will stay in constant contact with the victim to keep them from ever getting a moment to take a breath, calm down, consult a trusted friend, or maybe realize what is really going on.

In 2023, scammers used crypto ATMs to cheat victims out of $114 million, mainly senior citizens.

I first found out about these scams after reading an article in the Illinois Times, a newspaper publication in Springfield, IL. The article told the story of a vape shop owner in Springfield who was being paid $300 a month to have a crypto ATM machine on his premises. One day, the owner noticed a panicked elderly woman enter the shop and hurriedly feed thousands of dollars into the crypto ATM while talking on the phone the whole time. The vape shop owner learned that the woman was scammed out of $5,000 before he stepped in to stop her from putting more money into the machine.

Later, the owner removed the crypto ATM from the store, but there was no

way for the woman to get her money back. That owner said: I just couldn't in good conscience allow more and more senior citizens to come in and use that machine after being scammed.

This same story has repeated itself countless times across the country. An 80-year-old man in Texas lost thousands of dollars to a scammer who claimed he needed to pay bail to get his son out of jail. The man claimed:

I was scared, I hit the panic button and I let my panic

take control of my good judgment.

In South Carolina, a retired couple lost $320,000 over several months to a scam involving crypto ATMs.

Last month, a retired woman in Wisconsin lost $24,000--her entire life savings--when scammers convinced her to use a crypto ATM, claiming it was the only way to protect her bank account from fraudulent activity. Since the scam, the woman has said:

Sometimes I wake up and I shiver because I can still hear

[the scammer's] voice. It is probably something I will never

get over.

Just this month, the sheriff's office in Walton County, FL, reported that a resident was cheated out of $129,000 by a scammer claiming to be from their bank.

Crypto ATM operators will claim that their kiosks give banking and crypto access to the ``unbanked''--often those in minority and low- income communities who have historically been locked out of the banking system--but in reality, the elderly and the unbanked are the most vulnerable to scams involving crypto ATM fraud.

The crypto ATMs charge high fees, ranging from 7 percent to 20 percent, and have fewer consumer protections, if any, for the users.

States such as Nebraska, Arizona, and Connecticut have passed legislation to crack down on these scams. It is time for Congress to do the same.

It has been predicted that the result of the so-called GENIUS Act will be a dramatic increase in crypto activity. That means a dramatic exposure to fraud.

Let's make sure this amendment which I am going to offer to the GENIUS Act is adopted to protect innocent victims. I can tell you for sure, you are going to hear from senior citizens and others who have lost their life savings. That is why I am pushing for a vote on my amendment to the GENIUS Act. It creates commonsense guardrails to prevent crypto ATM fraud and empower law enforcement to combat these scams. My amendment, based on the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, would require crypto ATM operators to warn consumers about scams, provide live customer support, and develop comprehensive anti-fraud policies. With my amendment, fewer Americans will be cheated out of their entire retirement savings in just a few days, and ATM operators will no longer be able to simply turn a blind eye to the fraud at their kiosks.

These scams have already harmed thousands of Americans and cheated them out of their life savings. Enough is enough.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: Listen to the people you represent, particularly the senior citizens, who are losing their life savings to these scams, and realize that with 30,000 crypto ATMs across the country, more and more of this will occur. We need to support this amendment that provides commonsense guardrails to stop scammers in their tracks and protect hard-working Americans.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, since the start of his second term, President Trump has upended the international world order and America's leadership on the global stage. He and his allies are working decisively to erode the values that are central to our Nation. Notably, retired diplomats, military leaders, national security experts, and even former Trump administration officials have denounced these actions as undermining our democratic norms and traditions, and I would like to highlight one such open letter from former U.S. leaders.

I ask unanimous consent that this letter be printed in the Record.

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

Mr. President, let me tell you a story. It is one of the oldest in our country. It is the story of the American dream. It is one of perseverance, where anyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, can achieve success and upward mobility through hard work and determination. It means a job that pays a fair wage, a school that prepares our kids for a better life, a doctor who sees you when you are sick, and a roof over your head at night.

We are now in the midst of debating soon a ``reconciliation'' bill. For those not familiar with the term, it is basically a special budget bill. If you consider this a legislative organization or body--and I do--if we were accused of legislating this year, I am afraid there is not enough evidence to convict us.

We have been in session now for 5 months. We passed five bills--one a month. If we were being paid for piecework, we would have been left behind for the last 5 months.

But now comes this reconciliation bill that tries to do everything at once. It is starting over in the House of Representatives. Assuming it passes there, it will come over here.

What does it do, this reconciliation bill, this spending bill, budget-cutting bill? It dismantles the American dream, and it strips our institutions of essential services that help the most vulnerable people of our country--all so that the ultimate goal can be served. And what is that goal? To give larger tax breaks to wealthy people.

If you don't have time to read more than a thousand pages of these cuts in this reconciliation bill, let me give you a shortened version. It isn't pretty. Billionaires will win; American families will lose.

President Trump asked Republicans in Congress to provide a massive giveaway to the richest Americans. They want to use programs like Medicaid, food and nutrition programs, and medical research funding as a piggy bank for these tax cuts for wealthy people.

Let's take Medicaid for example. Medicaid insures one in four people in my home State of Illinois. One out of four--3.4 million--people are on Medicaid, including 1.5 million children.

How important is it? Medicaid is a program, an insurance program, that covers nearly half of all births in our State. Two-thirds of nursing home residents receive Medicaid assistance. That is your mom, your dad, your grandparents. The majority of patients with mental health counseling count on Medicaid. A majority of the money for mental health counseling comes from that program. It is a lifeline for children's hospitals. It is a lifeline for rural hospitals.

Knowing how unpopular it is to deprive Americans of healthcare, for months, the Republicans have said: Democrats have it all wrong. We are not cutting Medicaid benefits. We are simply focusing on waste, fraud, and abuse.

If there is a program that is wasteful and fraudulent, put me in line to do something about it. I don't want to see any taxpayers' money wasted. But that is not what would happen here, and I am afraid my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know it.

With their plans, Republicans are taking a chain saw to our healthcare system and ripping health insurance away. At the end of the day, their reconciliation proposal will remove Medicaid insurance from 14 million Americans.

Mr. President, if you have ever lived in a circumstance where you had no health insurance, it is a sobering, unforgettable experience. I have been there--a sick child and no health insurance. It is something you will never forget.

The reconciliation plan of the Republicans buries elderly patients in complex paperwork requirements that will wrap them up in so much redtape, they will never get the care they need.

Just think, if you have illness in the family, a serious illness, you have to go through a high-stakes government-redtape gauntlet--another government form, another telephone recording when you need a helping hand.

It decimates the funding system for Medicaid, which will force rural hospitals to cut services or close altogether. Three weeks ago, 20 hospital administrators from my State came. Most of them were from downstate, where I live, where I grew up. They told the story of what the reconciliation bill means to them--cutting services in communities, closing down critical hospitals.

Instead of 20 minutes for that pregnant woman, with her first baby, to get to the doctor, to get to the hospital--instead of 20 minutes, it will be an hour and 20 minutes. Does it make a difference? How would you like to be driving in the car under those circumstances? You will never forget it.

Republicans are also targeting food and nutrition programs like SNAP. Forty million Americans rely on these programs to put food on the table, including nearly 2 million in Illinois. They are looking to cut food and nutrition benefits by as much as $290 billion--the largest cut to anti-hunger funding in our Nation's history.

I was home in Springfield over the weekend. My wife came back from the grocery store, and she said, ``I can't believe these prices.'' Prices are too high, and they keep going higher. What do the Republicans want to do? Cut the benefits to pay for this food that the people need to put on the table. It will take food assistance away from 6 million Americans.

How much money do people receive? Well, it turns out the average SNAP recipient--the food nutrition program at the Federal level--the average recipient would be paid $5 a day. Try to live on $5 a day. Imagine what their life must be like.

That is right--the Republican reconciliation bill will take food off the tables of seniors and children so they can pay for these billionaire tax cuts. If that sounds like an exaggeration, it is not.

As Republicans strip Americans of their healthcare and SNAP benefits, millionaires and billionaires will continue to see tax breaks coming their way. In their bill, Republicans give huge tax breaks to multibillion-dollar corporations. They exempt up to $28 million in taxes from estates that the wealthiest Americans pass on to their children.

In the same breath, they fail to expand the child tax credit, which is one of the most effective tools to reduce poverty and put money back in the pockets of working families. Remember, it was Democrats who expanded the child tax credit in the American Rescue Plan, which led to a historic reduction in poverty in the United States. Research showed that child poverty fell immediately and substantially to the lowest on record--5.2 percent.

So who needs a tax break--working families or the wealthiest people in our country? For me, the answer is obvious.

Republicans are also planning to eliminate the clean energy tax credit enacted in the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, which would derail efforts to strengthen U.S. energy security and lower costs. This would hurt American families and small businesses by hitting them with higher energy bills and the loss of nearly 800,000 jobs over the next 5 years. Some States could see double-digit percentage increases in electricity bills, which means hundreds of dollars out of Americans' pockets each year.

Just a few hours ago, the White House claimed their reckless plan ``does not add to the deficit.'' Someone said that with a straight face. But in reality, it explodes the deficit under the guise of fiscal responsibility. The White House and Republican reconciliation plan would add $3.3 trillion to the Nation's deficit over the next 10 years for tax breaks for wealthy people. President Trump's recordbreaking deficit in his first term will reach new depths of debt to pay for billionaire tax cuts.

Donald Trump is claiming that his sprawling trade war will somehow pay for this bill, but no one buys that, and no one can even explain it the way he does. America's small businesses, workers, farmers, and families are hurting because of this administration's tariffs, while the President continues to weaken America's credibility and alienate us from our biggest trading partners.

If all of this wasn't bad enough, Republican Speaker Johnson cut a deal for Members of the House Freedom Caucus over the weekend in order to move this bill. It is reported that they discussed accelerating the plan to condition Medicaid health coverage on redtape requirements-- these were originally set for 2029; they now want to end people's insurance as soon as possible, maybe by the end of next year--as well as a quicker phaseout of clean energy tax credits that were put into law as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

That is right--the package isn't bad enough for conservative Republicans to support, so they are considering making it even worse for American families.

Americans of all political affiliations rely on the critical services that Republicans plan to cut, not just Democrats. Slashing lifesaving healthcare and cutting food and nutrition benefits for mothers trying to feed their families will hurt Americans in blue and red States.

I heard my colleagues give speeches about tough choices. Let me tell you, choosing to line the pockets of people like Elon Musk while cutting lifesaving medical research isn't tough, it is shameful.

American families aren't asking for special treatment. They are asking for a fair shot at the American dream. They are asking us to remember that this country works best when we invest in its people.

We need four Republicans with good sense to join Democrats and say no to this disaster. Two have already stepped forward. We need two more. The sooner the better.

I yield the floor.

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

I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly) and the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz) are necessarily absent.