Floor Statements

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Washington (Mr. Murray), the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Welch), are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray), the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Welch) are 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.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) and, the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I wanted to join my colleagues from Wyoming. I heard they were paying a tribute to Al Simpson who recently passed away. It was my good fortune 15 years ago to be a member of the Simpson-Bowles Commission where Al Simpson, who had been retired from the Senate, cohosted that with Erskine Bowles in a bipartisan effort to deal with the deficit.

I never had a better time and a more educational experience than to be on that Commission. And, of course, you can't talk about Al Simpson's public service without referring to his sense of humor.

I said to a friend the other day on the floor of the Senate, I miss that part of the Senate. There used to be, you could count on several Senators to always have a joke, and he was one of them.

And good joke-tellers, I have found, have two qualities. First, they tell the same joke many times, but it seems like it is the first time. And, second, they usually start laughing before the punchline because they are enjoying the joke so much themselves.

But in addition to his good humor and nice way about him, he was a wonderful person to work with--really bipartisan. Being a Democrat, I didn't know quite how I would deal with him since we had never served together in the Senate, but he took me under his shoulder like any Member of his own party or family.

I might also mention for the record that Al and his wife were close friends with Paul and Jeanne Simon from Illinois, my predecessor; and Ann Simpson attended the funeral service for Jeanne Simon in Carbondale, IL, and I thought that was a nice tribute family to family.

I am sorry we don't have people like Al Simpson still serving. Maybe it is an incentive for all of us to learn a joke or two.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth) and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.

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

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

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

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

Madam President, later today, the Senate will vote on passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act. Opioid addiction has had a devastating impact on communities all across the country.

We have an overdose crisis in the United States, and we should be doing everything possible to combat it. In just a decade, fentanyl has emerged as the deadliest drug in American history. All it takes is 2 milligrams--that is a fraction of the size of a penny--to cause an overdose.

But we must do more than simply pass this bill. Since fentanyl- related substances were originally scheduled by the DEA, in 2018, Congress has never allowed this authority to expire. So, by passing this bill, we are merely maintaining the status quo. We must also address how this poison gets into the hands of the most vulnerable: our children. Too often, fentanyl is peddled in the open on some of the world's largest social media platforms.

When the Senate Judiciary Committee marked up the HALT Fentanyl Act last month, I filed amendments that would finally hold these companies accountable and demand they put safeguards in place to protect our children. One of my amendments would have repealed the liability shield that Congress granted Big Tech nearly 30 years ago, known as section 230.

At that markup, Chairman Grassley agreed to work with me to finally-- finally--allow these companies to be sued by their victims' families so they can be held accountable in a court of law. I hope the full Senate will join us in this effort. Enough teens have died due to Big Tech's deliberate indifference.

If we are going to stem the fentanyl crisis, we also must acknowledge the role the United States has played in arming cartels to the teeth-- sending hundreds of thousands of firearms south in an ``iron river''-- and facilitating the cartels' use of violence to traffic fentanyl into the U.S. That is why I filed my Stop Arming Cartels Act as an amendment to this bill.

The HALT Fentanyl Act fails to account for the role that America's lax gun laws play in arming and enabling drug cartels to traffic fentanyl. Consider this: An estimated 200,000 to 500,000 American-made guns are trafficked into Mexico annually. A study by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives found that 70 percent of crime guns recovered in Mexico from 2014-2018 and submitted for tracing were from the United States.

My Stop Arming Cartels Act would prohibit future manufacture, sale, and possession of .50-caliber rifles--a particularly powerful weapon favored by Mexican drug cartels. These high-caliber weapons smuggled from the United States have allowed cartels to shoot down police helicopters, attack military convoys, and undercut public faith in law and order. My bill would also allow victims of gun violence to sue manufacturers and dealers who engage in firearm transactions prohibited under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

We also must provide local and Federal law enforcement with the resources they need to fight against the highly armed cartels.

These Agencies are on the frontlines protecting our communities from fentanyl and other opioids. But detection is getting more difficult. Fentanyl is so potent and moved in quantities so small that high-value shipments are easily hidden. As a result, law enforcement needs access to technology and resources to quickly and efficiently detect these drugs. This includes expanding nonintrusive inspection capabilities, making lifesaving Naloxone widely available, and adequately funding State and local law enforcement.

I am also gravely concerned about the negative impact of President Trump's recent order diverting Federal law enforcement agents, including from the DEA and ATF, away from combatting fentanyl and firearms trafficked by cartels and onto working on the President's mass deportation efforts. As a reminder, the vast majority of fentanyl and other illegal drugs entering the United States are smuggled by American citizens through legal ports of entry. And lastly, I am concerned about the negative impact of President Trump's mass removals and reassignments of senior career law enforcement at DOJ and FBI and how that will affect our ability to hold traffickers accountable and cut off the supply of fentanyl.

Today, I will vote for the HALT Fentanyl Act. Still, it is only a starting point, and there is so much more that we can do, like stopping the trafficking of American guns that arm the cartels and holding social media companies accountable for peddling fentanyl to our kids. Getting fentanyl off the streets is a herculean task that will require us all to come together and work across the aisle to make this country a healthier, safer place to live. I hope this bill is a sign that all of my Senate colleagues are willing to continue working on this task with me in the future.

Madam President, on January 6, 2021, a solemn constitutional proceeding was disrupted when a mob of thugs, egged on by President Trump, attacked and trashed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn a free and fair election.

The grimmest results of the insurrection were the subsequent deaths of five of our law enforcement officers and the injuries to approximately 140 others, many of whom are still paying the price for that day.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised that he would pardon January 6 insurrectionists--but it still came as a shock when, on the first day of his second Presidential term, he issued a blanket pardon and 14 commutations to all of those who had been charged or convicted for their involvement in the attack on the Capitol.

And listen to what President Trump said about his pardons at a recent press conference ``I pardoned people who were assaulted themselves. They were assaulted by our government . . . They didn't assault. They were assaulted, and what I did was a great thing for humanity.''

Trump's decision is highly unpopular, with 83 percent of Americans opposed to these pardons. This includes 70 percent of those who lean Republican.

And not only that, but these pardons also highlight the hypocrisy of President Trump when it comes to his claimed crackdown on antisemitism. Just days after pardoning these rioters, he signed an Executive order outlining his administration's efforts to combat ``the explosion of antisemitism'' in the U.S..

But, many of the rioters who Trump pardoned openly embrace violent antisemitism. Take Robert Keith Parker, who wore a black hoodie emblazoned with ``Camp Auschwitz'' on that horrific day.

Robert Keith Parker was pardoned by President Trump.

Or consider Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, whom prosecutors identified as a ``white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer.'' He told his coworkers that ``Hitler should have finished the job'' and frequently dresses up as Adolf Hitler.

At Hale-Cusanelli's sentencing hearing, Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, said ``Statements and actions like yours make [Jewish people] less safe and less confident they can participate as equal members of our society.''

Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was pardoned by President Trump. And what is more? After his release from prison, Mr. Hale-Cusanelli was welcomed as a speaker at two events held by the President's supporters last year at his Bedminster club.

At one of these events, he received an award from Ed Martin, now serving as President Trump's interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Mr. Martin called Hale-Cusanelli an ``extraordinary man'' and an ``extraordinary leader.''

Does that sound like the actions of an administration that cares about protecting the Jewish community from antisemitism? Seems more like lip service to me.

But the hypocrisy doesn't end there. President Donald Trump, in his speech to the joint session of Congress last week, said he would, ``Get police officers nationwide the support, protection, and respect they so dearly deserve.'' He said those words in a chamber that was protected by the very officers who were violently assaulted on January 6 by the rioters who he egged on and later pardoned.

Trump talks a big game about ``backing the blue--but his pardons of the very rioters who beat and brutalized hundreds of cops on January 6 show that he has no idea what ``support, protection, and respect'' for the police means.

He continues to tout bringing back ``law and order'' while releasing violent criminals onto the streets--the scope of his dangerous pardons continues to grow.

Two weeks ago, a Justice Department prosecutor struggled in court to explain the administration's view of the scope of Trump's mass pardons, arguing that the relief should apply to separate criminal conduct committed by Capitol rioter Dan Wilson, in Kentucky in 2023.

U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, a Trump appointee, questioned a Justice Department attorney about the government's shifting position on the scope of Trump's January 6 pardons.

Judge Freidrich said, ``[p]ardons have to have a fixed meaning'' on the day they are issued, and there has to be a ``clear definition of the pardon that doesn't evolve or change.''

Unfortunately, these individuals continue to pose a dangerous threat to our democracy--and law enforcement.

Just last month, dozens of former January 6 offenders joined forces on social media to compile and publicize the identities of at least 124 individuals who had been involved in their cases--including prosecutors, judges, and FBI agents.

The post, which has received at least tens of thousands of views, includes names, photos, disparaging remarks, and demands for accountability.

In January, another pardoned January 6 defendant who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers with pepper spray, Ryan Nichols, Sr., identified in a Twitter post ``officers in the D.C. Jail who need to be investigated for corruption and abuse,'' adding the names and LinkedIn profile photos of two DC Jail employees.

The men and women who bravely defended us on January 6 deserve better than this--and we should honor them for their heroic efforts that day, not excuse the thugs who attacked this body and the ideals it represents.

Law enforcement officials should not fear for their safety or that of their families just for simply doing their jobs.

I hope that all of us, regardless of our political persuasion, can agree on two things: that violence has no place in a democracy, and that our law enforcement officers are worthy of our respect and support.

Mr. President, my friend and colleague from Wyoming mentioned the New York Times this morning and reports, articles, on the economy, and so I took a quick look to see if I could find the column that he was referring to, though I couldn't find it, I did find this on page B2.

Headline: ``Stocks Decline Further As Investors Struggle To Make Sense Of Trump's Latest Tariff Talk.''

The article says:

Markets whipsawed on Tuesday, as investors puzzled through

President Trump's commitment to tariffs, with stocks dropping

in early trading before recovering late in the day. The S&P

500 index fell 1.5 percent at its low point before recovering

some ground and ending the day 0.8 percent lower.

Same page B2:

Business confidence falls as uncertainty sets in. The

confidence level of small businesses dropped for a third

straight month in February wiping away much of the gains

notched in the aftermath of President Trump's election

victory.

I don't think the Trump plan for this economy is all that clear, and it appears that the writers of the New York Times agree. Many of the people in the business community are puzzled. Some are alarmed by the tariff talk of this administration and the zigzagging approach to the economy.

So I would say, at this moment the jury is still out and sending messages to the court that they are dubious about this policy at all.

If the Presiding Officer has any question in his own mind, I suggest he starts with the farmers in his State and ask them what they think of this tariff policy. I have been meeting with them over the last several days, and they are very skeptical, to say the least.