Floor Statements

Mr. President, I missed the following votes, but had I been present, I would have voted:

No on rollcall vote No. 196, Motion to invoke cloture on

Executive Calendar No. 779 Jeffrey T. Kuntz, of Florida, to

be United States District Judge for the Southern District of

Florida.

No on rollcall vote No. 197, Confirmation of Executive

Calendar No. 779 Jeffrey T. Kuntz, of Florida, to be United

States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I missed the following votes, but had I been present, I would have voted:

No on rollcall vote No. 177, Confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 760, Michelle Steel, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

No on rollcall vote No. 178, Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 763, George Holding, of North Carolina, to be United States Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Yes on rollcall vote No. 179, Motion to discharge S. Res. 616, a resolution requesting information on Honduras's human rights practices pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

Mr. President, I rise today to mark an important step in the fight against wildfires with the passage of my Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act.

Like many Western States, my home State of Arizona is a patchwork of Federal, State, Tribal, and private lands. The fires do not stop at property lines. That is why we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to reducing wildfires and improving wildfire mitigation across land ownerships no matter who owns that land.

When fires move faster than governments can coordinate, the fire has the advantage. The Cross-Boundary Wildfire Solutions Act takes a practical step to fixing that. The bill supports the kind of collaboration between Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners that we know works. By studying and identifying the gaps in current Federal rules that present coordination between land ownership boundaries, we can bolster our firefighting efforts.

This couldn't be more timely. The West is getting hotter and dryer every year. In Arizona, we watched more than 200,000 acres burn across the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the Kaibab National Forest.

The Dragon Bravo fire, one of the largest in Arizona's history, devastated iconic landscapes and the local businesses that depend on them.

In the face of these conditions, it is vital we have the research and coordination tools to ensure effective wildfire management.

At the same time, funding for the Forest Service's State, Tribal, and private forestry program is at risk. That is the funding that enables exactly the kind of cross-boundary collaboration this bill is designed to work with.

Congress needs to send a signal that we know this work matters, and we have the chance to do so today.

As we approach peak wildfire season, I have heard from people on the ground that cross-boundary collaboration is a top priority to keep our fire season from growing more dangerous and more expensive, and they are right.

The cost of inaction in lives and lands and dollars keeps climbing. So thank you, Senator Hoeven, and his team for helping me lead this effort. Today we take a very important step in that direction.

I yield the floor.

I call up my amendment No. 5813 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, it is a very simple amendment. It is simply an amendment that says that we need to recognize that there are many, many of our Dreamers right now that are terribly affected by their status as Dreamers.

They have been in this country. They have been serving their country one way or the other, whether it is as firefighters, as police officers, just as members of society. And under this administration, what used to be a 2-month--2-month--on average process for them to actually get their permits renewed as DACA recipients has now extended to 8 months. In that time period, these families have been exposed to potentially being deported, potentially being separated from their families for no good reason and no good cause. This amendment simply says that we change that.

So I really encourage everyone to join us and protect the tens of thousands of DACA recipients that have now become part of this country, and we can all do this in a manner that we can all agree would be best for this country.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 387, S.J. Res. 131.

Mr. President, imagine this: Your kid is studying abroad, and they call to tell you their laptop has been stolen; they can't do coursework--or, worse, that they were in an accident and ended up in the hospital. They need your help financially. So you send them an international money transfer.

Your kid needs help very fast. So you use a company that promises it will get money to them in 24 hours. In reality, however, the transfer takes days. On top of that, you are hit with a hidden junk fee of 8 percent or more. That is a scenario the Trump administration has made a whole lot more likely.

In 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned companies against deceptive remittance advertising like claiming that transfers will be delivered within a certain timeframe, even if that is not true, or claiming the transfers are free when, in fact, fees are charged.

The Trump administration withdrew this commonsense guidance, signaling to bad actors that they can engage in deceptive marketing about remittance transfers without fear of facing any real consequences from the current CFPB.

My joint resolution of disapproval, which comes before the Senate today, would restore the previous guidance and make clear that we don't stand for companies that deceive and overcharge Americans.

Right now, hard-working Americans are struggling just to get by. For those who use what little they have left over to help family and loved ones abroad, we shouldn't be making life any harder for them. Consumers deserve clear, honest pricing. That is why I have introduced the One Fair Price Act, to outlaw surveillance pricing, and the Junk Fee Prevention Act, with Senator Blumenthal, to crack down on deceptive, excessive, and hidden fees on everything from hotels to concert tickets.

And that is why I introduced this resolution. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

Vote on Motion to Proceed

Mr. President, when I talk to people in Arizona, they tell me they want their politicians to focus on helping them afford healthcare, buy a home, put groceries on the table, and fill up the tank.

Not once has anyone said to me: You know what we need? Another war.

And yet, that is exactly what this administration keeps delivering, one conflict after another.

Right after New Year's, Trump illegally invaded Venezuela with no plan for democratic transition. Less than 2 months later, he led us into a war with Iran with no justification or definition of what victory looks like.

Now, 13 servicemembers are dead; we are deploying more troops overseas; and gas prices are up 40 percent as a direct result of Trump's failing foreign policy.

But as if the disaster of the Iran war and the resulting spike in oil prices weren't enough, Trump is continuing to threaten to invade Cuba as well. What we have seen in the past 5 months tells us we can't just ignore these threats.

Trump's go-fast-and-break-things approach doesn't work. When you rush into a war without a plan, people die. When you send servicemembers overseas with no clear justification, they come home broken. And we can't afford the consequences of that, not when it comes to American lives.

Trump has zero understanding of what it means to make life-and-death decisions because he has never served a day in his life. It is not his or his friends' children he is sending to die; it is young working- class Americans.

I know. I served in Iraq with many of these men and women. Twenty- three of them did not make it back. Their lives, the lives of our servicemembers, are what Trump is playing with right now.

The American people are not asking for this. They want us to focus on building up our communities, not nation building abroad. They want us focused on building housing in Arizona, not bombing houses in Havana. They want us to lower the cost of healthcare and not condemn a generation of veterans to a lifetime of hospital visits. And they want us to make their lives more affordable, not spend their tax dollars on unnecessary wars.

But instead of focusing on what the American people want, President Trump has decided instead to focus on satisfying the neocons in his circle, like Marco Rubio, who are always asking for a new war and who see every crisis as an opportunity to score political points in South Florida.

Donald Trump, the man who ran on ``America First'' and ending forever wars has handed over the keys to the war hawks, and it is American families that are going to pay the price.

This resolution is very clear: No unauthorized war in Cuba, and no more bypassing Congress. If military force is necessary, then Trump and Rubio need to come to Congress and make their case in full view of the American public and let the country decide if it is really in America's best interests.

But the people I talk to in Arizona, the troops I have served with, and the families who have buried loved ones who didn't come back, they know the answer. They know what the final answer would be. It is: Do not do this. It is not in our interest, and it is not what America wants.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I missed the following votes, but had I been present, I would have voted no on rollcall vote No. 63, Confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 696 Markwayne Mullin, of Oklahoma, to be Secretary of Homeland Security.

Mr. President, I missed the following votes, but had I been present, I would have voted no on rollcall vote No. 64, Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #697 Colin McDonald, of California, to be an Assistant Attorney General.

Mr. President, 12 days ago, Donald Trump took us to war against Iran. Since then, 7 American servicemembers have been killed, and 140 more have been wounded. Instead of protecting our troops, Trump is making it easier for enemies to kill them.

None of us are mourning Ayatollah Khamenei. The moment this war started, oil prices spiked. Anyone who has looked at a map knows that a war in the Middle East affects oil prices. It has happened every single time. But apparently no one at the White House looked at the map. So now, American families, who are already struggling to put food on the table, are paying 20 percent more for gas because of Trump's war.

The administration's response to the crisis they created is to back off sanctions on Russian oil. So American families are hurting while Trump is making more money for Vladimir Putin. The administration has given Russia a lifeline just as they needed it.

U.S. officials confirmed last week that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran to help target U.S. servicemembers. Russia is telling Iran where our troops are and where the military assets are. Just think about that. Russia is giving Iran a map to find and kill Americans, and in our response, we are going to allow them to sell their oil to other countries to fund their war machines--all while Steve Witkoff, the President's envoy, is happy to take Putin, a professionally trained liar, at his word when he says they aren't sharing intel with Iran.

We started a war with Iran, and we are now rewarding the ones that are helping shoot us. How is this putting America first? How many times do we have to remind this President that Putin is not our friend?

This is what happens when the administration starts a war without a plan. They are scrambling to clean up their mess and thinking twice about the consequences.

I know the consequences because I have lived them. Twenty-one years ago, I was a Marine infantryman in the Al Anbar Province of Western Iraq. Every day, someone was trying to kill us. I lost a lot of best friends there. That is why I am standing together with you here today-- because I know what happens when we send soldiers into harm's way without thinking through what comes next and what we are asking these kids to do. And I know the people who pay for wars are never the politicians who started them; it is the American people, the kids from working-class neighborhoods who enlisted and their families.

What this administration did was not just wrong; it was illegal.

In 2017, Congress passed the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act--signed by Trump himself--requiring the White House to notify Congress before making any significant change to U.S. policy toward Russia. We passed a law because we understood that decisions of this magnitude--decisions that touch our national security and affect the safety of our troops--require transparency and accountability. They require someone to be able to look the American people in the eye and explain themselves.

But this administration did not notify Congress. Apparently, this administration doesn't think it owes anyone any explanation. They don't think they owe the troops they are putting in danger any explanation at all, and they don't think they owe the families of the seven Americans who are not coming home an explanation. They are making it up as they go and asking Americans to pay for it with their lives.

If this administration wants to bring gas prices down, stop the war.

Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of my resolution at the desk; further, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, 25 years ago, I made the best decision of my life and became a U.S. marine. I fought in Lima Company 3/25 alongside some of the bravest men I have ever known, and some of my closest friends didn't make it back. Coming home, knowing it was for an illegal war for oil was devastating, and it is still devastating. And now, 20 years later, here we are again at that same crossroads. We cannot blindly go into another illegal war for oil. I know I am not the only one--not the only veteran seeing the parallels: the oil, the regime change, quick declaration of victory without a long-term plan. And we do not want our country to go down this path again.

Of course, we know Venezuela has different geopolitical realities, and this won't go down exactly as what we saw in Iraq. But what is the same is this: Trump's reckless use of military power without a plan for what comes next or respect for the men and women who will be sent to fight this war--will engage in it--is going to cause problems.

He has shown us he could care less about the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are screaming from the rooftops right now not to make this mistake again. If we allow this to continue, I will have to look into the eyes of young men and women in Arizona--working-class kids like everywhere in this country who are disproportionately the ones who serve in our military--and explain what they are risking their lives for.

And I can't because it is for oil.

The American public does not want this. They do not want to be the world police. They don't want their sons and daughters from Florida, from Arizona, from New Mexico, from New York sent to fight for Big Oil. They don't want another forever war, and that is the slippery slope we are going down right now.

When I talk to people in Arizona, they want their politicians to focus on healthcare, on housing, on work--so kids actually have a job when they graduate college--not these oil companies in Venezuela. That is what Trump campaigned on. But that is what Trump is now saying he is going to do, invest in oil instead of Americans.

Who does this war really benefit? It is clearly not the American people--Trump has done little to help them--but certainly to help Big Oil and to satisfy trigger-happy neocons like Marco Rubio. This is exactly the moment that Marco Rubio has been itching for, and he played Donald Trump like a puppet. Marco Rubio came into the Senate and lied straight to our faces when he said this was not about regime change. That was not true.

And now, it is clear to everyone that regime change was always the goal. That is exactly why I introduced a War Powers Resolution last month--because I knew this moment was coming. The Constitution is clear. Only Congress has the authority to decide when to go to war. Whatever you call this something we are in right now--whatever spin Marco Rubio puts on it--at the end of the day, when people are shooting, it is war. When the President deploys the power of the U.S. military, it is war.

Now, the Trump administration has to answer to what comes next. They must tell us who will govern Venezuela or how this will end. And they just can't do that now.

As a veteran, that terrifies me, and it should terrify you. This is the same trigger-happy neocon logic that dragged us into Iraq, into a forever war killing thousands and thousands of Americans, many of them my friends. And the American people have been clear that we do not want to be in another forever war.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today marks 5 years since January 6, the day a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn a free and fair election and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. It was not a protest. It was not a misunderstanding. It was an assault on our democracy.

I was there that day, as many of my colleagues were. I remember the pounding on the door of the House Chamber. I remember seeing staff stacking chairs against these doors to stop the mob from entering. I remember helping evacuate the floor as a mob was taking over the Capitol, and I remember looking around thinking about my family and whether we would make it out safely. That day left scars on this institution, on our democracy, and on the men and women who put themselves in harm's way to defend it.

I served in the U.S. Marine Corps. I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I know what it means to take that oath seriously, not just in uniform but in life, which is why I will be offering an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill to ensure that military funeral honors remain reserved for those who have defended the Constitution, not for those who have sought to overthrow it.

Last year, the administration offered military honors for Ashli Babbitt. Ashli Babbitt was not a hero; she was part of the violent mob that tried to overturn our democracy. She ignored repeated lawful orders from Capitol Police. She pushed to the front of the crowd. She helped to smash a window into the Speaker's Lobby and attempted to force her way through a barricaded door while she was armed

with a weapon. She did not die defending her country; she died trying to tear it down.

Military funerals are sacred. They are reserved for those who upheld their oaths, who defended the Constitution and the rule of law. To grant those honors to someone who participated in an attack on this Capitol would dishonor every servicemember who actually served to uphold that oath.

I have seen real sacrifice. I have buried marines who gave their lives in protecting others. That is honor. Those who serve are expected to uphold military standards even after they leave service. When you violate the law and betray your oath, you forfeit the privilege of having military honors.

If we equate the January 6 insurrection with genuine sacrifice, we cheapen everything our servicemembers have done in the defense of this country. We erode trust in our military, and we feed the dangerous lie that January 6 was anything other than a betrayal of our democracy.

Taxpayer money should not be used to provide a military funeral to someone who took part in an attack on this Capitol. This is about accountability. It is about honoring those who have truly served with integrity, and it is about making clear, 5 years later, that we will not rewrite the history of January 6.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and to remember the men and women who have defended this country honorably--those who upheld their oaths, who protected our democracy--and those who continue to serve with courage and sacrifice.

I rise today to recognize the recent visit to America of the spiritual leader of the world's second largest Christian Church, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. His All-Holiness has been a leader in the causes of religious liberty, religious tolerance and international peace.

According to the record of Greek Orthodox history, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the 269th direct descendent of the Apostle Andrew. He has committed his life to fostering a greater understanding among God's people.

After several meetings in Washington where he met with the President in the Oval Office and professional leaders in the Capitol, His All- Holiness' work was recently recognized for the prestigious Templeton Prize for his leadership in fostering our understandings of humanity's relationship with the natural world.

It was an honor to welcome this internationally noted religious leader to our great country.

Mr. President, I ask consent to speak for 5 minutes.

Mr. President, I have come to the floor three times now to call for release of the Epstein files. Earlier today, the House voted to release the full files, and later today, I hope, this Chamber will do the same.

Before we vote, I want us to remember what is really at stake here. This isn't about Democrats versus Republicans. It is about real girls who were hurt, abused, and trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and the powerful people who surrounded him.

One of those girls was Virginia Roberts Giuffre. She was forced to stay silent for years, but today I want to let her speak in her own words.

Virginia was just 16 when she started working at Mar-a-Lago where she met Epstein's recruiter Ghislaine Maxwell. She writes in her memoir:

Maxwell says she knows a wealthy man--longtime Mar-a-Lago

member, she says--who is looking for a massage therapist to

travel with him. . . . My lack of experience doesn't concern

her a bit. I'm sure you'd be terrific,'' she insists, looking

me up and down. ``Will you come for an interview?''

Even today, more than 20 years later, I remember how

excited I felt. Could my dreams of becoming a professional

masseuse be coming true so quickly? Something about how this

proper, well-spoken lady focused on me made that seem

possible. I told her I had to get permission from my dad

first, but that I really wanted to come.

That wealthy man, we all know now, was Jeffrey Epstein. That moment began years of trafficking and abuse for Virginia.

Later in her memoir, she writes:

I was about to spend more than two years in Epstein and

Maxwell's orbit. My job: to do whatever they asked whenever

they asked it. There were no bars on the windows or locks on

the doors. But I was a prisoner trapped in an invisible cage.

Those are the words of a child--a child who should have been safe from predators like Epstein and Maxwell.

She talks about how Epstein gave her money to rent an apartment so her parents wouldn't question why she had to go to meet Epstein's clients in the middle of the night.

Here is the thing: Epstein did not act alone. He had help. And the men who helped him target and abuse young girls and protected him are still out there walking around like nothing happened. This can't just be another news cycle or another Tuesday. There needs to be justice.

We owe it to Virginia and every survivor of Epstein's to finally get the full truth of how this happened and who allowed it to happen. That is why I am going to, again, call for the full release of the Epstein files. Let's bring this evidence out, stop this secrecy, the coverups, and protecting these elites. The American people deserve the truth, and Virginia deserves transparency, accountability, and healing.

At a press conference earlier today, another Epstein survivor said:

Today we stand in a moment that will decide whether our

government belongs to the American people or to those who

prey on them.

We owe it to her and every survivor to choose accountability and release the files.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of my good friend and the duly elected Member of Congress for Arizona's Seventh Congressional District, Adelita Grijalva. It has now been 44 days since the people of Southern Arizona voted overwhelmingly to send Adelita to Congress. Yet still, her seat is vacant.

Since the passing of her father in March, the people of Southern Arizona have had no one to speak for them in Washington--not for 44 days. The people of Southern Arizona have been denied representation. For 44 days, the 800,000 residents of Arizona's Seventh District have been denied representation and forced to go without Federal casework services all because Speaker Johnson refuses to do his job and uphold his constitutional duty to swear her in.

It is now the longest period in history that a duly elected representative has gone without being sworn in. And why? Why does Speaker Johnson refuse to swear her in? Because he is doing everything he can to prevent accountability for those connected to the Epstein investigation.

He knows that as soon as Adelita is sworn in, she will be the final signature needed on a petition to release the Epstein files. So instead of letting that happen, Speaker Johnson has kept the House on an extended vacation, falsely claiming that he can't swear in Representative Grijalva while the House is out of session.

That is a lie. Just this year, he swore in two Representatives from Florida while the House was out of session. But when it comes to swearing in someone who will vote to expose elite predators, he refuses to act.

He also knows that if Adelita is sworn in, she will be another vote to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for 24 million Americans. He knows that if he brings back the House into session, if his Members are forced to choose between doing nothing or acting to stop yet another cost increase for constituents, they might just do the right thing and act to protect the rise in healthcare premiums.

To put it simply, Speaker Johnson is refusing to swear in Adelita Grijalva because he wants to stall oversight and avoid a vote on the Epstein discharge petition, while also allowing healthcare costs to rise for millions of Americans.

It is disgusting. The people of Arizona's Seventh Congressional District deserve representation and a voice in Congress. They deserve to have their voices honored, and Adelita Grijalva deserves to be able to get to work for her constituents. And I hope that my fellow Senators agree with me on that.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, in closing, the constituents of Adelita Grijalva have voted. They have voted, and they have spoken in the most democratic way that we have established under our Constitution. An election occurred. It has been certified by the secretary of state. It was an overwhelming victory to the point that there is no real reason-- no logical reason--why the 800,000 constituents of the Seventh Congressional District of Arizona are lacking that representation, and that is why I speak today in support of this bill.

And with that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of my resolution at the desk, which calls for the prompt swearing in of Representative-elect Grijalva; that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Extension Act, bipartisan legislation led by my colleagues Senator Peters and Senator Rounds.

For nearly a decade, this law has been one of our most effective tools to protect Americans from cyber attacks. It allows the Department of Homeland Security and its Cyber Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, to share real-time threat information with the private sector, State and local governments, and critical infrastructure.

When a hospital or water system is hit with ransomware or when a foreign adversary targets one of our Agencies, this law lets CISA warn others before they become the next victims. It is how we connect dots, stop attacks from spreading, and protect Americans in real life.

Just last year, we saw what happens when a single cyber attack can ripple through an entire sector. The ransomware attack on Change Healthcare shut down hospital billing systems across the country, delaying prescriptions and paychecks and patient care for weeks. Imagine if we didn't have the ability to share those threat indicators quickly enough to change that.

But, unfortunately, the law expired on September 30. Right now CISA is operating without its core legal framework for threat sharing, and every day that passes without reauthorization means slower alerts, weaker defenses, and more Americans put in harm's way.

We can't afford for our cyber defenses to be further degraded.

This bill is a simple, bipartisan, 10-year extension of a proven law that protects every American. We should reauthorize it today.

Notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 1377 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, the authority already is expired. Every day we delay, our cyber defenders have less information to work with, and Americans are less safe. This isn't a partisan issue. It is about whether the United States can see and stop cyber threats before they are hit.

The experts all agree the program is needed. The only people that benefit from inaction are the hackers who try to exploit our systems.

I urge my colleagues to drop the politics and restore this critical act before any more American businesses or hospitals pay the price for our delay.

I yield the floor.