Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine) 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, it was nearly 40 years ago President Ronald Reagan went to the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, and he said to the Soviets, ``Tear down this wall.'' Ronald

Reagan understood all too well what the Soviet regime was all about: It was a regime that had seized Eastern Europe and condemned millions of individuals to live under a cruel and repressive communist dictatorship.

My mother's family originally came from Lithuania, once an independent country, then a republic of the Soviet Union, now an independent democratic country again. That country meant a lot, and still does, to my family. I certainly recall the stories of my grandparents leaving the Russian domination and coming to America.

Until recently, Americans across the political spectrum, including Republican Presidents and Members of Congress, saw Russian tyranny for what it was--until now.

Today, we see President Trump doing the bidding of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. That is right: The President of the United States of America is using talking points that sound like they were whispered in his ear by the Kremlin, all while denigrating and bullying our true allies in the region.

If you don't believe me, listen to these quotes and try to guess whether Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump said them.

First, outrageously claiming Ukraine started the war with Russia:

It's they who have started the war.

Or:

You've been there for three years. You should have ended

it. You should have never started it.

How about attacking the legitimacy of heroic wartime Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy, who was democratically elected in a free and fair election--something that has never taken place in Russia.

The legitimacy of the incumbent head of state of Ukraine is

over.

Or calling him ``a dictator without elections.''

In each of these stunning examples, one was spoken by Putin, the other by Trump. It is impossible to guess which is which, but you would be hard-pressed to figure it out because they are both using the same Kremlin propaganda.

It gets worse, with Donald Trump having negotiated away in public the key concessions to Russia to end the war, including appeasement of Ukraine's sovereign borders or possible future NATO membership.

Trump, with not even a phone call, gave those away without even negotiating and certainly didn't involve the Ukrainians, who have lost 46,000 brave Ukrainians who have died because of Putin's invasion.

Today, in a stunning, shameful move, the United States voted with Russia, North Korea, Belarus, and a handful of other dictatorships at the United Nations against a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine.

I want to repeat that because it is so historic and so mind-boggling. There was a resolution before the United Nations condemning Russia on the third anniversary of their invasion of Ukraine, and the United States' representative voted against it, joined in that effort by Russia, itself, North Korea, Belarus, and a handful of other dictatorships.

What in the world is going on here? Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said of this tragic and unbelievable state of affairs that it sounded like there was a handout prepared by the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov from which the Trump administration was reading.

He warned if Trump continues to back Russia:

Threats to Ukrainian security will grow immensely. Putin

will get braver. Meaning, there will be more war, more

invasion, more death in Moldova, the Baltics, Georgia, maybe

even Poland.

President Trump's affinity for autocrats like Putin and selling out or bullying our allies isn't going to make America stronger or our world safer. Nor will his petulant and bumbling weekend gutting of our top military officers--a troubling act that raises serious questions about politicizing our proud, professional fighting force in America.

Let me be clear: We cannot let President Trump rewrite history or upend proven alliances with decades of bipartisan support. Because of the NATO alliance, we have avoided a third world war for more than 75 years. That is a fact.

Ultimately, only the Ukrainian people can decide Ukraine's future. For the United States to be party to any other scheme or conspiracy is just unacceptable.

Doing the bidding of foreign dictators and playing politics with our own military only undermine America's ability to be safe.

Today is the third-year anniversary of Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. I am glad to join Senators Shaheen, Tillis, Wicker, and others in leading a simple resolution that expresses continued solidarity with the people of Ukraine and condolences for the loss of thousands of lives to Russian aggression. I would think that every Senator of both political parties would sign on, but fortunately we do have a few, and it is bipartisan.

The resolution goes on to reject Russia's attempts to militarily seize sovereign Ukraine territory. It reaffirms U.S. support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. That used to be so obvious and so easy, no one would enter a resolution into the Record, but because of the new statements by President Trump and Vice President Vance, it is necessary to state unequivocally that Ukraine must be at the table for negotiations over its future.

Think of that--46,000 people in Ukraine died to stop Putin's advance and invasion of Ukraine--46,000--and there was a suggestion that the negotiations for peace in the country would take place without Ukraine seated at the table. How can that be possible?

This resolution is straightforward. It expresses what would have-- before this current administration--been seen as a cut-and-dried statement of American values when standing up to bullies and tyrants like Vladimir Putin, a known war criminal.

I am also introducing a bill to grant Ukrainians who fled the war and are already legally present in the United States with temporary guest status. Oh, I know, it is immigration. It is an explosive issue. How in the world could we consider it? Let me tell you what happened in the city of Chicago.

The Governor of Texas sent 50,000 migrants in buses--800 buses--to the city of Chicago to dump these migrants into a situation where there was no place for them to stay, no provision for their food. It was an emergency situation. We did the humane thing. We did our best to take care of them and the children--50,000 from Texas. It was a controversial issue, and there were some who said ``Don't spend a penny on them; spend it just on American citizens'' and others who said ``We have an obligation that goes beyond simple citizenship. It is a human obligation, a moral obligation,'' and we did it.

At the same time that took place, there were 50,000 Ukrainians coming into the city of Chicago as well--different circumstances. They had to have a host family that would stand by them as they settled down in the city of Chicago, and they had to find jobs.

Do you know how much controversy there was about those 50,000 Ukrainians? None. They were assimilated into the economy and have become an important part of the city and our State, and I am proud that they are there.

So now what happens to them? The uncertainty of the continuing war in Ukraine, the embracing of Putin by President Trump--what is going to happen? With this United Nations resolution today, where we were just asked to acknowledge the war of 3 years and to stand by the Ukrainians, the United States voted no. The United States voted with Russia, with North Korea, and with Belarus.

We have to do something to help these Ukrainians who are here, who escaped the invasion of Putin and found peace and security in our country.

When the war started, across the country, Republicans opened their arms and hearts and communities to these desperate Ukrainians, even actively petitioning President Biden to protect them from deportation. So far, not a single Republican has cosponsored my bill. It is a new day in Washington. But I urge them to join this simple act of American compassion. Standing up to dictators and speaking out for victims of war should never be a partisan issue.

I want to end with a photo.

The year was 2014 when the late Senator John McCain and I led a bipartisan delegation to Ukraine that included current colleagues from Rhode

Island, Wyoming, and North Dakota. At the time, Russia had begun its attempts to seize Crimea and capture additional territory in the eastern part of Ukraine. Ukrainians had just bravely stood up for their own democracy, many paying with their lives in Maidan Square--an aspiration for freedom and democracy that frightened Putin and confirmed my belief in the strength of the human spirit.

You see here in this photo we are laying flowers on the makeshift shrines to those Ukrainians who were killed in the earliest days of their heroic effort to save their nation.

We should show no less courage here today on a bipartisan basis in making sure Ukraine's sovereignty and future are secure and not giving in, in appeasement to Putin--a move that could cost us dearly in the future.

It is personal to me. I mentioned to you earlier that my mother was born in the Baltic nation of Lithuania. It has been my good fortune to visit it during Soviet times and see the terrible impact of communism on the freedom of those people and to be standing by their side when they fought to have the day when they could have their own democracy and their own elections.

They survived. They prospered. They are great nations--Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia--and I know that their future is at stake by this decision by President Trump.

You cannot embrace Vladimir Putin and ignore the obvious. He is a thug. He has sent his invading troops in and killed 46,000 Ukrainians. Well, they say he has lost 800,000 of his own. Well, I am sorry that happened in a way, but he asked for it. He invaded Ukraine--don't make any mistake. It didn't happen the other way around. The Ukrainians didn't invade themselves. What kind of nonsense was that being spoken by the President?

We have to stand by the people of Ukraine and for the people of the Baltics, Moldova, and other states, like Poland, that are vulnerable to attack by Vladimir Putin. This is not a political charade. It is not a political game. It is the life-and-death reality of this dangerous world we live in.

Once again, the United States should be leading in democratic values and certainly not embracing the war criminal Vladimir Putin.

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

Mr. President, in about 2 hours, the Senate will vote on whether to confirm Kash Patel to serve as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the next 10 years--10 years. If Senate Republicans confirm Mr. Patel, I believe they will come to regret this vote--probably sooner rather than later.

I, for one, am convinced that Mr. Patel has neither the experience, the judgment, nor the temperament to lead this amazing criminal investigative Agency. It appears my Senate Republican colleagues are ignoring the many redflags in Mr. Patel's record, probably because they fear retribution from the President and Mr. Musk.

Let me be clear: This is not a partisan issue. During my time in the Senate, I have voted for four FBI Director nominations before this one. Each one was clearly a Republican, and I voted for them nevertheless. Historically, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been apolitical.

I oppose Mr. Patel because he is dangerously politically extreme. He has repeatedly expressed his intention to use our Nation's most important law enforcement Agency to retaliate against his political enemies. Even before President Trump took office, Mr. Patel announced that he would force out FBI Director Chris Wray, whom he nominated in his first term before firing former FBI Director Jim Comey.

The Director is the only political appointment at the FBI.

Congress took steps to ensure that this Agency remains as apolitical as possible by providing for a single term of 10 years for Director and subjecting the appointment to the advice and consent of the Senate. Fifty years ago, we made this reform. We may see it all fall to ashes today.

As we have seen for weeks now, the Trump administration's purge of the FBI is a political exercise that has spread to service career officials. There is the FBI Agents Association, and the two leaders of that association came to see me recently in my office to talk about the situation.

Both of them are women. One is serving 17 years in the career job at the FBI and the other, 22. They were quick to add that their fathers had been FBI agents before that. It was clearly in their blood. They came to tell me about the situation at the FBI today because of this transition and because of the prospect of Kash Patel heading their Agency.

They said morale has never been lower. They have gone through many Presidential transitions and have never seen anything like this. The declaration that is required now of FBI agents is to whether they will participate in the investigation of the January 6 rioters who assaulted this United States Capitol Building.

Let's be honest about what is going on here. There is an effort to have Soviet-style historical revision. The Trump administration and the people they are pushing into leadership have to, basically, pass a loyalty of--in terms of the outcome of the previous Presidential election and what happened on January 6.

They are somehow asked to ignore the obvious that we see on the videotape over and over again. The rioters that assaulted this Capitol are so dangerous that the Vice President of the United States sitting in your chair was physically removed by the Secret Service for fear that he was going to be hurt if he stayed in his position.

Those of us who were on the floor of the Senate on January 6 were asked to evacuate this Chamber as quickly as possible. This was not simply a question of tourists getting out of line. These people who assaulted this U.S. Capitol Building were hell-bent on stopping the constitutional process of counting the electoral votes in the 2020 election.

And now the FBI and others are being asked to say the opposite, that this wasn't somehow a breach of law, a horrendous, terrible chapter in the history of this country, and that there was danger afoot.

Because the President has given a sweeping pardon for the 1,600 that were prosecuted for trespass, seditious conspiracy, and use of firearms in the Capitol and the like, we are supposed to somehow discount this as a significant moment in American history. It was.

For the FBI agents who participated in the investigation of that day, I say they were doing their job, they did it well, and now to remove them from the FBI because of that has obviously hurt the morale of the FBI Agency. When you stop and wonder what the future holds for them if another President comes in with another political agenda, will they be victims again?

As we have seen for weeks now, the Trump administration's purge of the FBI is a political exercise that has spread to senior current officials. In the FBI's long, long history, this has never happened before. This purge has dramatically weakened the FBI's ability to combat national security threats and make America less safe.

Senior leaders with collectively hundreds of years of experience have been forced out, creating a leadership vacuum. Thousands of line agents fear losing their jobs simply because they were assigned to work on cases involving the January 6 attack by President Trump.

I have heard directly from FBI agents who now fear for their safety and the safety of their families. To understand why, let me tell you about a January 6 rioter named Edward Kelley. Mr. Kelley was convicted of assaulting law enforcement during the attack on the U.S. Capitol. We saw it, didn't we, in terms of the videotapes that showed our law enforcement agents trying to stand their ground of this Capitol Building being beaten back and assaulted by these mobs?

Mr. Kelley was convicted of assault on law enforcement, and he was given a full and unconditional pardon by Donald Trump. But Mr. Kelley has also been convicted in his home State of Tennessee of conspiracy to murder the FBI agents who investigated his role in the January 6 attack.

Understand this: Now he is arguing that President Trump's blanket pardon--Mr. Kelley--should cover his attempt to kill FBI agents.

When asked about the possible firings of career FBI officials at his confirmation hearing, Mr. Patel under oath--under oath--said ``I don't know what's going on right now,'' at the FBI.

Mr. President, that is not true. Thanks to multiple brave whistleblowers, we now know that Mr. Patel likely committed perjury in making that statement. Even before being confirmed as an FBI Director, Mr. Patel is already directing the ongoing purge of honorable, career public servants, despite his status as a private citizen. He has no right to be part of this awful process.

I urge my Republican colleagues to seriously consider these credible whistleblower allegations before you vote on Mr. Patel's nomination.

Mr. Patel's claim about an FBI purge were not his only misleading statements under oath. At his hearing, Mr. Patel implausibly told me he could not recall Stew Peters, a man who has been identified as an anti- Semitic Holocaust denier.

I asked him repeatedly: What about Stew Peters?

Don't know the man, don't recognize the name.

This is simply not true, considering that Mr. Patel appeared on Mr. Peters' podcast eight times, Mr. President--eight times and he couldn't recall the man's name.

Mr. Peters has since revealed that he and Mr. Patel directly communicate via their personal cell phones ``constantly''-- ``constantly'' was the word he used. As far as Patel is concerned under oath: Never heard of the man.

Why in the world would he do that? Why wouldn't Mr. Patel admit the obvious--eight podcasts and constant communication with this man. And an even larger question: What is he doing as the man who wants to direct the FBI

in concert with anti-Semitic Holocaust denier Stew Peters? What is going on here? Is he showing good judgment? Is this the kind of person you want to put in charge of 38,000 criminal investigators?

Mr. Patel also claimed he ``didn't have anything to do with'' the recording of the so-called January 6 prison choir, which included at least six rioters who violently assaulted police officers. Mr. Patel thinks there is something interesting, maybe even amusing, about the fact that he created a choir of these individuals who had been prosecuted for what they did on January 6.

Here is what Mr. Patel said to Steve Bannon after he denied knowing anything about this recording before the Judiciary Committee's recently. He said to Steve Bannon:

We got this idea to record the January 6 prisoners who

recite the national anthem every night from the D.C. prison.

Then we took that to the studio. So we mastered and digitized

that.

So as Steve Bannon showed, he is the mastermind behind this recording of these prisoners saying something about the national anthem every night. That particular tape that he created of the January 6 choir was taken to Trump rallies to be played as some kind of interesting display of what Patel insists are just political prisoners.

One of Mr. Patel's choir boys, Julian Khater, K-H-A-T-E-R, was convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers with pepper spray. One of those officers was Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Brian Sicknick suffered multiple strokes and died a day after the attack. Mr. Khater was one of the people who assaulted him.

Mr. Patel has called these violent January 6 rioters political prisoners. That includes Guy Reffitt. Guy Reffitt was sentenced to 87 months in prison for his role in the January 6 assault--87 months.

Mr. Reffitt brought a gun to the Capitol on January 6 and recorded himself saying the following, which I will paraphrase because I don't want to use profanity on the floor of the Senate: We are all going to drag them out kicking and screaming. I just want to see Pelosi's head hit every effing stair on the way out and Mitch McConnell, too. Eff them all.

Mr. Reffitt's 19-year-old son Jackson turned him into law enforcement after the attack, despite Reffitt's threats to shoot Jackson and his sister.

Here is what Reffitt said to his own children:

If you turn me in, you're a traitor, and you know what

happens to traitors? Traitors get shot.

Mr. Reffitt received a full and unconditional pardon from President Trump. Guess where he was on January 30 this year? Back at the Capitol complex at Mr. Patel's confirmation hearing. Here is what Mr. Reffitt posted on social media from the hearing room:

Present and in support of @KashPatel as the

leftist commies continue to spew lies, misinformation and

disinformation. My man Klean House Kash . . .

Stew Peters: constant communication, holocaust denier; this gentleman he has become a hero to for his appearance before the committee; and we are all commies for questioning Kash Patel's politics and what it has led to. These are Mr. Patel's allies: Stew Peters; Julian Khater; and Guy Reffitt.

On the other hand, consider who is warning us about Mr. Patel: former Trump officials who know him, like Attorney General Bill Barr, CIA Director Haspel, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and National Security Adviser John Bolton. All of these were Republican appointees who worked with Patel, who know him well, and warn us not to do this, don't give this responsibility to this man--all Republican appointees.

Mr. Patel has left a long trail of grievances, lashing out at anyone who is not completely aligned with him. He calls Democrats ``vindictive, evil, and vicious'' and repeatedly attacks Republican Senators who don't toe the MAGA line.

I read Mr. Patel's book ``Government Gangsters.'' It includes an enemies list at the end of the book, 60 names, ``members of the deep state'' in the word of Kash Patel, which includes distinguished public servants for both political parties.

What do they all have in common, the 60 people on this hit list? From Attorney General Bill Barr and Merrick Garland to former FBI Directors Bob Mueller and Chris Wray, they all had the misfortune of crossing paths with the vindictive Kash Patel.

Mr. Patel claims he respects law enforcement, but his words and actions demonstrate his disdain for the FBI. He said on day one he plans to ``shut down'' the FBI headquarters, and he has falsely claimed that the FBI ``was planning January 6 for a year'' beforehand.

There is no truth to that statement, Mr. President. He is casting aspersions on the FBI that are undeserved. Mr. Patel's record demonstrates that he is dangerous, inexperienced, and dishonest. He should not and cannot serve as an effective FBI Director.

Mr. Patel has been crystal clear that he plans on using the FBI's vast surveillance and investigative authority to ``come after'' the President's enemies.

It is shocking that my Republican colleagues are willing to support him, despite the serious threat he poses to our national security. And I am sorry to say I believe that we will quickly come to regret this vote. When I think of giving this man a 10-year--10 years as the Director of the leading criminal investigative Agency in the world, I cannot imagine a worse choice.

You want the person who has that job and that power to destroy people simply by investigation to show some temperament and some judgment. Kash Patel shows just the opposite. He is neither qualified nor prepared to assume this responsibility.

I will be voting no and plead with my Republican colleagues: Please think twice before creating this situation and making it even worse.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

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

Mr. President, my Republican colleagues know, as I do, that President Trump's cuts, freezes, gag orders, and firings are devastating medical research at NIH. Since we get sick on a bipartisan basis, shouldn't we stand together on a bipartisan basis for medical research at NIH?

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, it was nearly 3 years ago that the world watched in horror as Russia pursued a bloody, full-scale invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

I was in Vilnius, Lithuania, with my colleague Senator Chris Coons on that cold, dark morning in the airport when we heard reports first trickle out that the war was, again, starting in Europe.

Three years ago, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not a partisan issue in the United States. Congressmen, Senators on both sides of the aisle agreed on the basic facts: Russia was waging an unprovoked, illegal war and must be stopped at all costs. And for the past 3 years, we have supported Ukraine with the funding it needed to beat back Russian aggression and defend the frontline of democracy in Europe. And the Ukrainian people have done just that. Forty-six thousand Ukrainian lives have been lost--46,000 defending their Nation against Putin.

We have joined with our NATO allies and many other countries around the world standing by Ukraine, and they have shown an extraordinary courage, a courage for the history books. But it turns out that the new President of the United States, Donald Trump, does not see this the same way as I do and as we have for 3 years.

The fact of the matter is that President Donald Trump is a pushover for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has always been, and he will always be. Since Trump took office, he has played right into Putin's hands. The outrageous comments he posted today on Truth Social make that painfully clear. In the post, Trump attacked not Putin for the invasion but the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy--blaming him for Russia's invasion which, as I said, has killed more than 46,000 Ukrainians and displaced millions more.

It is disgusting to say that President Trump called Zelenskyy, the President

of Ukraine, a ``dictator without elections.'' Can you believe it? An American President is selling out a democratic leader who is bravely defending his country from an actual dictator, Putin--a former KGB apparatchik at that. It is insulting to say that--it is shameful--but from this President, it is no surprise. President Trump is doing nothing more than parroting criminal propaganda and spreading lies that Putin whispers into his ear.

I could call on Trump to apologize to the people of Ukraine, who have suffered so much because of this disruption to their nation, but it would be a waste of breath.

Let me be clear to President Trump: You don't make America great by selling out our Nation and our allies to a Russian dictator.

Most of my Republican colleagues know this. I have spoken with them over the years. They have joined me in a bipartisan coalition to be part of the Ukrainian Caucus in the Senate, but it is time now for them to speak up. I know they are politically fearful of Donald Trump and his power. If they say the wrong thing, he, with Elon Musk's money, will come in and take them out in the primary. But there has to be a point where they stand up and say what they really believe and have the courage to do it.

I am reminded of a quote from a fellow Illinoisan, our Nation's 16th President. It was 1865. Our Nation had been torn apart by the bloodshed of the Civil War. Ahead of his inauguration for a second term, President Abraham Lincoln addressed the Nation--right out there.

He said:

Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war

rather than let the nation survive . . . and the other would

accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

Although President Lincoln was referring to the two factions of the Civil War, I believe it applies here as well. Putin has made war rather than let Ukraine survive, and Ukraine has had no choice but to accept war rather than see itself perish.

President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people have led that noble effort with strength, fortitude, and determination. As their ally and fellow democracy, which Putin certainly is not, and as a nation committed to freedom, the United States of America has an obligation to stand by Ukraine, not to appease Putin.

Mr. President, for the past five decades, Americans have relied on Amtrak to travel our great Nation. From shuttling President Biden between Delaware and Washington during his early days as a Senator to giving people across the country a way of getting to work and special destinations, Amtrak is an invaluable service to our Nation. And Raymond Lang, who recently retired from Amtrak after 30 years of service, has been an invaluable part of Amtrak.

Ray's career at Amtrak started from humble beginnings, as an intern in Amtrak's government affairs office in 1994. From the start, he was hard-working, reliable, and he loved the work. So, when Amtrak created business units, Ray saw an opportunity to join the company full time, and in 1996, he was dispatched to the Chicago-based intercity business unit's government affairs office. His territory was broad and challenging to manage, with many relationships that required careful attention. At the time, Amtrak was experiencing significant financial challenges, resulting in reduced service. But Ray worked tirelessly-- almost always traveling by train--to meet with local and State officials, bringing their perspective and experiences back to Amtrak leadership. In the end, Amtrak restored much of their service.

Ray carried this specialized knowledge with him for the rest of his career with Amtrak. Learning about the communities his company served helped them to become some of the strongest advocates for the future of rail. There were very few mayors, city managers, State legislators, or rail advocates in towns served by Amtrak who did not know Ray. He and his team were ambassadors for rail, mobilizing mayors to speak up on behalf of expanding and improving Amtrak service and making station revitalization a priority in their communities.

Over the years, Ray left his mark on Amtrak, resulting in promotions into positions with greater responsibility and authority. He was integral to keeping the legendary Southwest Chief--a long-distance route between Chicago and Los Angeles--on its current route, thereby keeping rail service in several Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico towns. He provided testimony to State legislatures and formed partnerships with State departments of transportation staff and leadership. He helped inaugurate service on countless routes and was instrumental in helping Illinois double its service in the 2000s. And, by the early 2000s, he was running the Chicago government affairs office, later becoming responsible for all State and local government affairs and leading a staff based in New York, New Orleans, Seattle, and Oakland.

Ray was a visible, respected, and accessible leader. And he truly cared about Amtrak and all of the communities it served. He worked for eight CEOs, all of whom relied on Ray for guidance across the network. Ray, always sharply dressed, would escort them to meetings, hearings, and local communities. On one such trip, Ray was traveling to communities along the California Zephyr route with CEO David Gunn. Visiting a mayor in Mount Pleasant, IA, Gunn chose to wear a shirt and slacks while Ray wore a suit and tie. When the mayor welcomed them, he went straight to the man in the suit, shook Ray's hand first, and said: ``It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gunn.''

In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amtrak promoted Ray to be vice president of State supported services. His vast experience and relationships with communities across the country made him the right person for the job, and he was a steadying hand through Amtrak's pandemic recovery. Highlights of his tenure in leadership include new service in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Ray's career has been nothing short of exceptional. He has been a trusted partner to my office over the years, and Amtrak is better off because of Ray's leadership--as are the millions of Americans who depend on Amtrak. I wish Ray and his wife Brenda the best of luck in this next, well-deserved chapter of their lives.

Mr. President, in 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain touted the now-infamous Munich Agreement as a way to stave off Hitler's Nazi Germany. Prime Minister Chamberlain claimed it would ``secure peace in our time.'' A year later, Hitler invaded Poland and triggered World War II, a devastating conflict that left Europe in ruins and millions dead and displaced.

Over time, Chamberlain's name became synonymous with the word ``appeasement'' for good reason. You see, while Chamberlain's goal of peace may have been honorable, he was dangerously naive about the human nature of a tyrant in Germany who was bent on territorial ambition, pursuits that could only be thwarted with a show of strength. Well, President Trump's ``Art of the Deal'' opening negotiation with Vladimir Putin has the same odor of appeasement.

Last week, Donald Trump announced he was ready to make a deal with Russian President Putin over Ukraine while, apparently, ignoring Ukraine's key demands for peace. In fact, Trump and his fledgling Defense Secretary publicly gave away huge concessions at the start, signaling they would not insist on a return to Ukraine's sovereign 2014 borders or future NATO membership. It is also not clear from the administration's bewildering Munich Security Conference's remarks if President Trump plans to even include Ukraine or our European allies in the negotiations for the future of Ukraine.

It is no wonder that, in the United Kingdom, where they remember Chamberlain's folly all too well, Donald Trump's early pronouncements were lambasted for their misreading of history by leaders across the political spectrum. Let me share some of the things that have been said by our ally United Kingdom about Trump's opening bid to end the war in Ukraine.

One member of Parliament lamented that the West now ``might be facing the worst betrayal of a European ally since Poland in 1945.''

And another said:

Surely, in Europe, we understand that no matter what we

give Vladimir Putin, he is always going to want more.

And one final member of Parliament, in a refrain, I think, that best summarizes the situation, said:

[There] is less the Art of the Deal and more a charter for

appeasement.

President Trump has always had a strange affinity for autocrats and dictators, a troubling character weakness for the leader of the free world to have. He almost seems to want their adoration and admiration, especially compared to the clear-eyed leadership of previous leaders even on the Republican side, like Ronald Reagan, who knew how to deal with the Soviets. But there are real consequences to Trump's autocratic liaisons for America and allied security, ones that Republicans in the Senate ought to take pretty seriously. His crazy rants about Greenland, Canada as the 51st State, Panama, and the so-called Gulf of Mexico may be amusing to some, including himself, but it certainly does not portend well for a foreign policy of the United States. Simply caving in to Putin and walking away from Ukraine--just as Chamberlain did to Hitler--is an invitation for more confrontations in the future.

Before I was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1970s, I was a guest of an organization known as the American Council of Young Political Leaders, ACYPL. They take young men and women who are aspiring to public office on trips to various parts of the world where you spend an extra amount of time to come to understand the situation. I was lucky. I had an opportunity to visit the Soviet Union in the worst Cold War atmosphere and environment--more than 2\1/2\ weeks in the Soviet Union moving from one city to the other and seeing what Soviet communism looked like.

During the course of that trip, we visited what was then the Soviet Republic of Lithuania. It had a personal appeal to me for family reasons. My mother was born in Lithuania and was an immigrant to the United States at the age of 2. I had never been there before, and I was shocked by what I saw. This once great country had become a vassal of the Soviet state, and the poor people there were struggling to maintain the most basic of freedoms. Lucky for me, a few years later, I was elected to Congress, serving first in the House and now in the Senate, and I have been able to see a dramatic rebirth of Lithuania.

Of course, at the end of the Soviet Union, they had their chance and fought for democracy. They gave lives and blood for that purpose, but it worked. They won their freedom, their independence.

Lithuania is not a big country with a big military budget. It is a small nation with a good military but certainly no match for anyone like Russia today. They have been concerned ever since that the day would come when Russia would reassert its ownership of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. So that is why they became members of NATO. And what a celebration that brought on to realize, finally, that they were allies of the United States and had a NATO treaty to back them up, to protect them.

The same is true of Poland. Of course, Poland means a lot to Chicago and Illinois, and they are worried about the same fate: Now having won their independence, will they see it threatened by Russia in the future?

And so this decision by President Trump to reach out directly to Putin and negotiate is worrisome to me in many respects. First, what does it say if the NATO alliance, an alliance which used to bring together some of the greatest nations in the world to stand by their side one by one and protect the future of their country--President Trump is not even engaging the NATO alliance in this conversation about the future of Ukraine. In fact, he is hardly engaging Ukraine in this conversation.

I worry about where this is going to lead. I hope it leads to peace in Ukraine, the right kind of peace that we can count on. And I hope that the people of that country, who have shown such extraordinary courage with the support of the United States and NATO up until now, realize that we are still committed to the values that they value as well. That is in our future.

But I worry the opposite will occur, that President Trump will give in to Putin and his demands and Putin will then target the Baltics, Poland--and I don't know where--in his next assault on sovereignty. That is the reality of the moment.

Mr. President, on a separate topic, later this week, Senate Republicans have scheduled a vote on the confirmation of Kash Patel, President Trump's nominee for FBI Director. It is a 10-year appointment, unusual by Senate standards, but it was designed to be 10 years so it would be depoliticized.

It is unfortunate that the Republicans are moving ahead despite the many problems with Mr. Patel's record. Mr. Patel has no experience-- none--in administration and management, particularly of an organization like the FBI that has 38,000 agents in place--38,000. It is the premier criminal investigative Agency in our country, perhaps the world.

After meeting with Mr. Patel and reviewing his record and questioning him under oath at his hearing, I am deeply concerned about his fitness to serve as FBI Director. He has neither the experience, the judgment, nor the temperament to lead the FBI.

My Senate Republican colleagues, sadly, are willfully ignoring myriad red flags about Mr. Patel, especially his recurring instinct to threaten retribution against his political enemies and President Trump's perceived enemies. This is an extremely dangerous characteristic for someone who seeks to

lead the Nation's most powerful domestic investigative Agency for the next 10 years.

Mr. Patel, on day one, plans to--I quote him directly. He said this, now. On day one, as Director of the FBI, he plans to ``shut down the FBI Hoover Building and reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep State.''

He even wrote a book on the subject that I punished myself by requiring that I read it from cover to cover to understand exactly what this man believed. He has peddled outrageous conspiracy theories that benefit President Trump, claiming that January 6, the assault on the Capitol, the insurrectionist assault, was ``never an insurrection'' and that the FBI--get this; this is Kash Patel--the FBI was ``planning January 6 for a year.''

Where is this man coming up with these wild theories? And, incidentally, he compiled an enemies list and published it in the back of his book--60 names--``members of the . . . deep State,'' which includes distinguished public servants from both political parties. Patel named former Attorneys General Bill Barr and Merrick Garland, former FBI Directors Robert Mueller and Chris Wray as the so-called members of the deep State, whatever that may be.

And he has even produced and sold recordings of a song--understand this for a moment: 1,600 people prosecuted for assaulting law enforcement officials here in this Capitol Building, who were working, as they are at this very moment, to keep us safe and our visitors safe.

What did Patel decide to do? He decided to assemble a choir of the January 6 individuals who were prosecuted. Then he was involved in making a recording of a patriotic song that these prisoners were singing, and then he was selling this recording and playing it at the rallies for President Trump.

I am not making this up, ladies and gentlemen. This is exactly what this man, who wants to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was doing and which he denied before our hearing under oath.

He has even produced these recordings and called the choir, the January 6 prisoners, political prisoners.

Let me take one example of a so-called political prisoner. Guy Reffitt was sentenced to 87 months in prison for his role in the January 6 assault on the Capitol. His 19-year-old son Jackson turned him in to law enforcement after the attack on the Capitol, despite Reffitt's threats to shoot his son and his son's sister if they reported him to authorities--a father threatening to kill his son and daughter if they turned him in.

After being pardoned, Guy Reffitt decided to come back to the Capitol and attend Kash Patel's confirmation hearing. He posted on social media afterward:

Present and in support of @Kash__Patel as the leftist

commies continue to spew lies, misinformation and

disinformation. My man Klean House Kash.

This man, who brought a weapon into the Capitol, was prosecuted for that, serving time, given a complete pardon by President Trump, then comes back to the Capitol to attend the hearings and cheer on Kash Patel's nomination for Director of the FBI.

Before even being confirmed as FBI Director, Mr. Patel is already seeking retribution on behalf of President Trump, despite Patel's status as a private citizen. Multiple whistleblowers have disclosed highly credible information to my staff indicating that Mr. Patel has personally directed the ongoing purge of senior law enforcement officials at the FBI. Senior leaders with, collectively, hundreds of years of experience have been forced out at the FBI, creating a leadership vacuum.

Mr. President, this has never happened in the history of the United States and the history of the FBI, that a new President would come into office and decide to clean the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This has been an apolitical Agency. There is only one political appointee to the FBI: the Director. All the others are professionals who have been dedicating their lives to law enforcement for years.

Senior leaders who have shown their dedication to the United States are now being accused of suspect. Suspect for what? They were engaged in the investigation of the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, an assault which I witnessed at this desk as I watched the Secret Service agents pull the Vice President from that chair and take him out of the Chamber as this mob assaulted the Capitol. It was real. In the FBI's long history, this has never happened before. Never.

Keep in mind: The Director, the only appointee of the FBI, and the leaders have been forced out despite their career commitment to law enforcement. This purge has dramatically weakened the FBI's ability to protect the country from national security threats, and it has made America less safe.

If these whistleblower allegations are true, that Kash Patel, as a private citizen, has been orchestrating the purging of the ranks at the FBI because of political loyalty questions, I will tell you that he came dangerously close to perjuring himself during his nomination hearing when asked about the possible firings of the FBI officials and he answered under oath ``I don't know what's going on right now'' at the FBI.

Mr. President, we are told that is not true; he was personally involved in it, despite the fact that he said the opposite under oath before our committee.

Mr. Patel has been open about his plans to dismantle the FBI and seek retribution against his and President Trump's enemies. His directives as a private citizen have already thrown the Bureau into absolute chaos.

Mr. Patel's recent actions and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirm my belief that he is dangerous, inexperienced, and he has been dishonest in portraying his role in what is happening at the FBI. It will be a political and national security disaster if he is confirmed.

And let me take it to a personal level. The FBI Agents Association came to me with this and talked about the very real personal and family concerns of dedicated FBI agents. They are fearful that an environment and climate has been created which puts their own safety in question.

Let me give you an example of another one of these 1,600 people who were prosecuted for the assault on the Capitol: Edward Kelley, convicted of assaulting law enforcement and other felony and misdemeanor offenses related to his conduct on January 6. The men and women who came in and were beating on the law enforcement officials who protect this Capitol, Kelley was one of them.

As I said, he was convicted, scheduled to be sentenced this April, until he was pardoned by President Trump last month. While awaiting trial on his January 6-related charges, Kelley was separately charged and convicted in his home State of Tennessee of conspiracy to murder law enforcement, including FBI agents and employees who participated in the investigation of his insurrectionist conduct.

Kelley's Tennessee murder conspiracy case remains pending sentencing, but Kelley argues that the case is related to his Washington, DC, charges and thus covered by President Trump's blanket pardon.

Kelley is a perfect example of the danger of publicly releasing the names of FBI agents who worked on January 6 cases, and there were some 5,000 employees of the FBI and the Department of Justice who were engaged in that. If we value these men and women who risk their lives every day for the safety of the United States, we cannot allow Kash Patel to become Director of that Agency, and we cannot run the risk that he will use their names publicly, as he has in his book, identifying his enemies list to the detriment of these agents and their families. We owe it to them to stand by them, as they have stood by us.

I yield the floor.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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