Floor Statements

Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 276, to protect seniors relying on Medicaid, and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. President, Medicaid is a lifeline for 8 million seniors who rely on the program to access healthcare. Medicaid helps almost two-thirds of all nursing home residents have a safe roof over their heads.

Republicans would like us to believe that their proposed cuts are tackling waste, fraud, and abuse. But make no mistake, stripping away healthcare and nursing home funding for our parents and grandparents is not reform nor is it eliminating waste. Rather, it is a deliberate choice to give tax breaks for their billionaire friends instead of ensuring that seniors across the country have access to the long-term care and support they need. It is a deliberate choice to prioritize tax cuts for billionaires over ensuring that nursing homes can keep their doors open. It is a deliberate choice to take away healthcare from millions of seniors.

Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act, I move to waive, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

I rise today to speak about the importance of Medicaid for families in Wisconsin and across the Nation. I will be joined by my colleagues tonight to shine a light on what Republicans in the House and the Senate are up to. They are moving forward with their plans to literally rip away healthcare from millions of Americans in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest and large corporations.

I am going to start with some facts: Medicaid provides healthcare to over 70 million Americans, including over 30 million children and 8 million seniors. Medicaid provides essential care for about 10 million adults with disabilities.

Medicaid helps almost two-thirds of all nursing home residents have a safe roof over their heads. Medicaid is a lifeline that helps rural hospitals keep their doors open. It is also the single largest payer for treatment of opioid and other substance-use disorders, and it covers care for other serious mental illnesses.

Now, in my home State of Wisconsin, more than 1.2 million people are enrolled in Medicaid. One out of three children get their healthcare through Medicaid, as well as one in three people with disabilities.

Four in seven nursing home residents rely on Medicaid, and more than one-third of all births that happen in Wisconsin are covered by Medicaid. But at the end of the day, this is about the people behind those numbers. It is about the grandmother living in a nursing home. It is about the pregnant woman planning to give birth at a rural hospital.

It is about the child who grows up in a low-income home who otherwise would not have access to healthcare. It is about a hard-working mother trying to keep herself and her kids healthy. It is people like Lynn from Northeast Wisconsin. She is a mom to a 23-year-old son named Henry. Henry has cerebral palsy and autism. Lynn wrote to me a couple weeks ago after learning about the Republican budget.

Lynn wrote:

Henry's needs are significant, and he requires full

assistance in all aspects of his life. While we have private

insurance through my husband's job, Medicaid has funded a

great deal of care throughout Henry's life, from private and

school-based therapies, to medications, to orthopedic

surgery, to incontinence products, to transportation to and

from school, to the day program he is currently in. I am not

sure what his life looks like without Medicaid.

Renee, a 60-year-old cancer patient from Milwaukee also wrote to me. Renee has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. It is incurable, and she relies on Medicaid for the treatment that is keeping her alive. Renee shared with me:

Without Medicaid, I would be forced to ration or forego

cancer treatment, hastening my death, or send me and my

husband into bankruptcy trying to keep me alive.

That would be an impossible choice. I can tell you after hearing from my constituents who are learning about these Republican plans to gut Medicaid, people are scared. They are scared about what their lives are going to look like without healthcare. I am hearing from doctors; I am hearing from nursing homes, clinics; I am hearing from hospitals; I am hearing from Native American Tribes and Tribal organizations. They will all have impossible choices to make that impact the healthcare of millions of Americans if Republicans are successful in pushing through their cuts to Medicaid.

This isn't a red or a blue State issue. Cuts to Medicaid hurt people in all States, and when people find that their healthcare is ripped away, Republicans are going to have to explain why they decided to give their billionaire friends a tax cut and pay for it by taking away healthcare from seniors and children.

To them, that is the whole ball game: to fight every which way to make room in their budget to give big corporations and the wealthiest a tax break.

You will hear this evening from several of my colleagues about why Medicaid is so vitally important, and I am sure they are going to tell you stories from their home States.

Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle need to understand the consequences of their proposals and make a decision: Are billionaires really more important to you than the seniors and children and people with disabilities that you represent?

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, tonight, you have heard from me and my colleagues about the importance of Medicaid and what this critical program means for our constituents, those we represent here in the Senate. You have heard about parents concerned about what their child's life would look like without Medicaid. You have heard about people concerned for their elderly parents. You have heard about cancer patients who would face bankruptcy or an early death if they lost Medicaid.

The stories that have been told tonight are just a few examples of the monumental impact that Medicaid has had on communities across this great country. Medicaid is a lifeline for children, for seniors, for rural communities. It helps keep hospitals and community health centers and nursing homes open. Cutting Medicaid is, quite simply, an attack on the health and well-being of families. It is an attack on children and seniors. It is an attack on our neighbors, our friends, and our families. It is an attack on our most vulnerable.

These cuts will be falsely framed. They will be falsely framed as reforms or minor alterations to a program in the guise of saving money. These cuts will falsely be framed as tackling waste, fraud, and abuse. But make no mistake, stripping away healthcare from a low-income kid or nursing home funding for our parents and grandparents is not a reform for getting rid of fraud.

If my colleagues really wanted to go after waste in Medicaid, they would support and empower the inspector general, whose very job it is to root out waste, to root out fraud, to root out abuse, not sit idly by while Trump fires her. Yes, that is right--President Trump fired her. And the money that would be so-called saved will just be going to line billionaires' pockets even further, not to lower costs like Republicans have promised or to help hard-working Americans. These cuts go against the wishes of 70 percent of the American public, who want to see Medicaid protected.

My colleagues and I have made it clear that cuts to Medicaid are damaging to the entire country, and I hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will take that to heart when they are thinking about taking Medicaid away from our constituents.

I know you have heard a lot of stories tonight, but I want to close with just one more.

Taylor from Appleton, WI, wrote to me about her son Oliver. Oliver is almost 2 years old, and Oliver has a rare disease that impacts his kidneys, his eyes, and other organs. Oliver relies on Medicaid for lifesaving medications, therapies, and treatments. Without Medicaid, the cost of medication that slows the progression of the disease and his specialized care would be absolutely unaffordable.

Taylor said:

Medicaid is not just a program--it is a lifeline for

children like Oliver. Without it, families would be forced to

go without life-saving care or face crippling medical debt.

The burden of his treatments, therapies, and future kidney

transplants would be impossible to bear without Medicaid's

support. I urge you to protect Medicaid funding and ensure

that children like Oliver have access to the care they need

to survive and thrive. The future of children with complex

medical needs [absolutely] depends [upon] it.

Listen to people like Taylor, and think about children like Oliver. Stripping away healthcare from Americans--all to pay for tax breaks for big corporations and billionaires--is not what the American people want. It is not what the American people need.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Healthcare is not just a policy to me; it is deeply personal. I got into public service because of my own healthcare journey. When I was 9, I was hospitalized with a serious childhood illness. It was similar to spinal meningitis--that wasn't the exact diagnosis but similar. While I fought to survive and then ultimately to get better and fully recover, my grandparents, who raised me, struggled to figure out how to pay for the lifesaving care that I needed and received. In total, I spent 3 months in the hospital in Madison, WI.

When I talk about healthcare, I don't just speak as a U.S. Senator or as a Wisconsinite; I am speaking as a person who knows what it was like to spend months in a hospital bed. I am speaking as someone who knows the emotional toll and the financial stress that it put on my loved ones. I am speaking as someone who knows firsthand how important it is to protect our children from serious illness and the dire consequences when our children do get sick. That is why I was so disturbed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s nomination to lead our Nation's largest public health Agency.

As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I was able to question Mr. Kennedy at one of his nomination hearings. I watched as he over and over again parroted the same answer when pressed about his anti-vaccine views. ``Show me the data,'' he would say. When asked if he still believes that vaccines cause autism, he would not commit. He again said, ``Show me the data.''

Well, Mr. Kennedy has had every opportunity to review the overwhelming consensus of doctors, researchers, and experts that vaccines are safe and effective. He certainly had the opportunity to do so not just before his confirmation hearing but before spending a decade peddling misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines.

Apparently, he didn't look at the research before traveling to Samoa to rail against the measles vaccine. Perhaps if he had, the 83 people-- primarily infants and children--who died from a subsequent outbreak of measles would still be with us.

I think it is clear that he also didn't bother to review the research before spreading misinformation online, with one study finding that among verified Twitter accounts, Mr. Kennedy was by far the top purveyor of vaccine misinformation, garnering more than three times as much engagement as the second most retweeted account.

Now, we are supposed to believe that if we simply show Mr. Kennedy the research, he will change his tune. Well, I believe someone applying to be the top health official in this country shouldn't have to be convinced to follow the science. We shouldn't have to hold their feet to the fire on whether they would be willing to protect our children from polio or measles. They should already be an expert in the field, not an expert at evading responsibility and spreading conspiracy theories.

Americans deserve a leading health official who believes in science, not in conspiracies. If Mr. Kennedy is not willing to believe or even review the overwhelming data on vaccines before spreading dangerous lies about their safety, then I highly doubt he will change his tune when leading the Department of Health and Human Services. And it is not just his statements like ``No vaccine is safe and effective.''

By the way, he really did make that statement. I have seen it on a podcast. But he has repeatedly made claims with no evidence. He said Wi-Fi causes cancer. He said antidepressants caused school shootings. He questioned whether HIV does, in fact, cause AIDS. And time and again, he is showing us who he is. By his own admission, he is not interested in the research. He has no time for the data. And these claims may seem outlandish. They may seem harmless, but they all point to a fundamental truth about Mr. Kennedy. He not only does not believe the science, but he is willing to actively undermine it. He spreads dangerous conspiracy theories, and he puts families' health and safety at risk.

RFK, Jr., will put Americans in harm's way. Kids will be at risk of getting preventable diseases like measles and mumps. Women will have essential healthcare ripped away. Families will be further away, not closer, to having cures to diseases like cancer. And, sadly, the list goes on and on.

So I urge my colleagues, especially those who understand how dangerous vaccine skepticism is, to ask themselves this simple question: Will this nominee keep your constituents safe? Or will he harm them?

For Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the answer is clear. I oppose this nomination on behalf of Wisconsin families and encourage my colleagues to vote no.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, like my colleague Senator Kaine, I will be uplifting the words of some of my constituents who have been contacting me in a panic, really, over the last several days. But I want to remind folks why we come here at this hour to speak on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

We are here today to consider President Trump's nominee for the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought. Many Americans may not be familiar with Mr. Vought; however, you may be familiar with his most infamous work: Project 2025. That is right. President Trump's nominee for the Office of Management and Budget was one of the lead authors of Project 2025. It is a document which President Trump repeatedly denied having anything to do with during his campaign.

First, I think it is important to break down the responsibilities of the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB. What does it really do? OMB oversees the preparation of the President's budget request. This is a budget proposal that they send to Congress. OMB evaluates the effectiveness of Agency programs, policies, and procedures. OMB oversees and implements the appropriations bills and mandatory spending programs enacted by laws we pass in Congress.

The Office does not have a magic wand that allows it to create new laws, fund only programs they want and slash others that they don't, except through specific authorities that Congress provides. The Director of OMB is not, in fact, the 101st Senator, nor the 436th Member of the House of Representatives or even a second President. The operative word here is ``implement.''

A second stated mission of OMB is called the open government directive, which emphasizes the importance of disclosing information that the public can readily find and use.

Folks, the good news about Mr. Vought is that he has been clear from the start on his goals. Case in point: Project 2025. For those who didn't read that 922-page document, I can share some of the lowlights.

For economic policy, Project 2025 further shifts the tax burden from the wealthy onto the middle class, while giving American households with $10 million in annual income an average tax cut of $1.5 million per year.

It seeks to raise the retirement age, when Americans can receive Social Security benefits, from 67 to 69.

It also proposes limits or lifetime caps on Medicaid benefits. In Wisconsin, 595,300 Medicaid enrollees would be at risk of losing coverage because they are low-income and lack access to alternative affordable coverage.

Project 2025 aims to further impede on a woman's right to make her own decisions about her body, calling to eliminate emergency contraception and safe, effective abortion medications like mifepristone. Mr. Vought himself called on Congress to outlaw that medication.

The document also calls for the Department of Education to be abolished, which can only, by the way, be done by the Congress of the United States. But

the Department of Education is already clearly a target of this administration.

Important for our discussion here today with regard to education is that Project 2025 outlined a plan to take a hacksaw to the services and programs that families rely on the Federal Government to provide, slashing essential programs like title I grants that go to more than 80 percent of public school districts around the Nation. That includes sending about $227 million to Wisconsin in the current school year.

These chapters in Project 2025 were primarily authored by none other than OMB nominee Russell Vought.

Now, I would be the last to say that our Federal Government is perfect. It is not. But the career civil servants who have served under Republicans and Democrats are essential to ensuring that services Americans rely on run smoothly--from Medicare and Social Security, to Head Start and childcare, to making sure that folks get their tax refunds from the IRS. These are essential services that hundreds of millions of Americans rely on every year.

Getting rid of the people who are working for working families will not fix our Federal Government. The doctors of the VA and staff sending out Social Security checks--they are not the enemy.

By confirming Russell Vought as Director of OMB, we would be putting one of the chief architects of Project 2025 in charge of an Agency that is tasked with getting critical funding out the door that our communities depend upon. And I hate to use this idiom, but we are, in fact, asking the fox to guard the henhouse.

We don't need to guess whether Russell Vought will turn to his Project 2025 playbook if confirmed as OMB Director. We are already seeing the destruction of his extreme views and how they are causing problems with allocation of Federal funding.

Before last week, I am sure that most Americans had never heard of the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, let alone what role it played in their lives, but all that changed last Monday night when OMB sent a 2-page memo on the President's plan to cut virtually all Federal grants and loans. This is tantamount to stopping Wisconsin taxpayer money from going back into the very services they rely on. The Trump administration is trying to steal from Wisconsinites to implement its own agenda. More on that later.

This messy, haphazard, and frankly illegal action immediately started causing chaos and confusion in my home State. Our phones were ringing off the hook from constituents and organizations worried about what this would mean for them. Was the funding for childcare centers impacted? Was the Medicaid coverage they relied on in jeopardy? What about nutrition programs that keep food on the table? What about rental assistance or funding to help pay for heat in the winter?

Sadly, my office didn't have answers for these folks due to the chaos that President Trump has created. All these essential programs that they rely on for healthcare, safety, and food on the table--they were all on the chopping block.

I even had a constituent write in asking these exact questions. She wrote to my office:

Do what you can to stop this freeze because both short- and

long-run impacts are dire. Will rural hospitals get Medicaid

reimbursements for the services they provide? Will nursing

homes receive payments for care they're providing to elders?

Will schools bounce checks and be charged late fees because

Title I grants that finance ongoing operations are disrupted?

The long-term consequences would be catastrophic--causing a

steep recession--the Federal government gives $1 trillion in

grants to State and local governments alone, and removing any

significant portion out of local economies will create a huge

economic shock, fatally harming the valuable resources these

governments provide to citizens, many of whom voted for

Trump.

With a 2-page memo, the Trump White House unleashed a wave of chaos as folks in my State and across the country worried whether this freeze would impact the programs that they rely on. I would like to share some of the stories I have heard from folks in my State about how these cuts impact real people in a very real way.

I heard from a single mom who lives paycheck to paycheck. She was laid off because Federal funding was paused for the National Science Foundation, a grant that pays her salary. She wrote to me to say:

I have enough money to pay February rent, but I'm going to

stop paying credit card bills and other loans. I'm not sure

I'll even be able to afford to pay my WiFi and phone bills--

things crucial in finding a new job. But I can do without as

long as I have rent, heat and electric paid, and groceries in

the fridge.

I also heard from a deputy fire chief in Central Wisconsin. Without Federal grant funding, he would have to lay off as many as nine officers--nine firefighters. Would this mean a longer wait for a resident if their house was on fire?

Another fire chief in Northern Wisconsin called me to ask whether his volunteer department could go ahead with needed upgrades for their equipment. Without their Federal grant, which was more than half of their operating budget, they would not be able to purchase new equipment that the department desperately needed.

From Western Wisconsin, a local mayor reached out to share that a pause in Federal funding would be catastrophic for their ability to make timely payments on a loan they took out to make necessary renovations to their fire department.

I heard from an administrator at a women's shelter for survivors of domestic abuse based in Southwest Wisconsin. Without Federal funding, they would have to turn away women looking for a safe place away from their abusers for themselves and sometimes their children too.

As communities across Wisconsin continue to battle the opioid and fentanyl crisis, a community organization specializing in drug prevention told me that they would not be able to pay their staff and continue their vital work if funding was cut.

Another organization that provides supervised visitation and safe exchange services between kids and parents who are separated due to court orders reached out, worried about whether they would be able to continue to serve their community. They employ a staff of therapists who supervise the visitations and ensure that kids are able to safely see their parents again.

I heard from a community dental center in Southeastern Wisconsin that serves thousands of patients every year, the vast majority of whom are children. They told me that without their Federal funding, they would be at ``significant risk of closing within a matter of a few short months, and as a result, thousands of children would have nowhere to go to receive dental care, and 45 individuals would be out of employment.''

They wrote to me:

We understand with each administration comes change and

different priorities, however, these orders to freeze federal

funds have very real implications for communities we live,

work, and play in.

I have heard from so many Wisconsinites confused by this chaos, wondering whether their childcare center is about to close, their Head Start--many did close.

So, Mr. Vought, will you be willing to fill in as a mentor for all the kids who lose their mentors from Big Brothers Big Sisters or will you help pitch in as a firefighter at some stations in Wisconsin that might have to lay people off? Will you be a substitute Head Start teacher in a classroom to ensure that parents have the childcare and early education they are counting on?

If there is one word we can use to describe the first 2 weeks of this administration, it would certainly be ``chaos.'' While the White House seems to be contradicting itself and putting out mixed signals on these drastic cuts, the level of panic and chaos it has created should be upsetting to every American.

There are so many other programs where Americans are unsure if they should anticipate cuts.

Community health centers, which I am a proud champion of, were awarded $48 million grants across Wisconsin in the year 2023, largely in the form of Federal grants designed to help these health centers provide medical care and other services to communities traditionally located in healthcare deserts.

Wisconsin has 17 federally qualified healthcare centers located around the State, whose funding could be in jeopardy. There is also funding for law enforcement that could face cuts, including community- oriented police grants that go towards Tribal law enforcement assistance, hiring mental health

training, school violence prevention training and technology and commitment upgrades.

Wisconsin receives $17.5 million in funding for counties, Tribes, and cities across the State to fund community-oriented policing practices.

You know, small businesses could also be harmed if loans for entrepreneurs are impacted. In fiscal year 2024, small businesses received nearly $237 million in small business loans for projects in Wisconsin. These are businesses that just need a little support to get their idea off the ground, or maybe they are loans for those impacted by a national disaster. Cutting off this funding would mean fewer businesses and fewer jobs.

President Trump's egregious overreach of his Presidential power is plainly unconstitutional and a power grab. It is illegal to withhold this funding from the American people. This is their money, and these are the programs they rely on. Period.

This funding was provided in bipartisan laws, and I remind my colleagues of that. On a bipartisan basis, we passed the laws and budgets and appropriation bills. And I hope my Republican colleagues are just as angry at President Trump for this confusion his administration has created as I am. But I fear they are not.

This directive has put real people in real distress, and it begs the question of why. I will tell you why: They want to claw back taxpayer money supporting programs that serve taxpayers to ensure that they can give their tax breaks to the biggest corporations and billionaire friends.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has done this. And this is their plan: cut programs Wisconsinites rely on and give tax breaks to billionaires and multinational corporations. It certainly doesn't help that while my constituents were wondering if they would be able to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and drop their kids off at childcare, the richest man in the world--worth nearly $500 billion--was handed access to our Nation's checkbook and to Americans' most sensitive information.

First, it was shutting the doors, literally, to the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, an Agency that keeps Americans safe, protects people worldwide from disease and famine, and stands up to our adversaries like China and Russia.

But their next target is reported to be a shutdown of the Department of Education, the very Agency that ensures all kids across America get a good public education and young people are set up with the skills to land a good-paying job. It ensures that schools serving low-income students receive the high-quality education they deserve and students with disabilities get the services that they are required to receive and have the opportunity to thrive.

And we are watching, before our very eyes, Russell Vought and Elon Musk illegally trying to shut it down. And if that wasn't enough, reporting today shows that the DOGE is coming after the Department of Labor, the Agency that supports apprenticeship programs so people can earn while they learn and land good- paying jobs. It is the Agency that makes sure that big corporations are held accountable for stealing wages from workers. It is the Agency that ensures workers on factory floors are safe on the job.

Again, this is what we are watching Russell Vought and his billionaire pals put in jeopardy.

Donald Trump has, apparently, given an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, who is, again, literally the richest man in the world, free reign to run roughshod through Americans' most sensitive information. He has the ability to put programs people need on the chopping block with absolutely no transparency or accountability for what he is doing, much less any legal authority.

The President claimed he would lower prices for families on day one, if elected. But how does taking childcare away lower prices for families? Does taking away people's treatment for opioid use disorder help their lives? How about cutting firefighters, will that lower costs for families and keep them safe?

Raising costs on families all while Republicans work to jam through big tax breaks for billionaires is not what Wisconsinites want. Billions in tax cuts for the ultrawealthy in exchange for programs that my constituents need to feed their families, pay their rent, and stay healthy is not a good deal.

I have always said that I will work with anyone to deliver for Wisconsin and invest in the programs that my constituents rely on. But bipartisanship is a two-way street. We have to be able to trust one another that what gets signed into law is actually going to get implemented.

And right now, we are watching Elon Musk, Trump's billionaire Cabinet, and Donald Trump himself flout the law and cut funding from bipartisan programs that my constituents rely on.

And all this brings us back to President Trump's nominee to run OMB who has openly called for the President to defy Congress and take control of Federal funding decisions that are constitutionally vested in the legislative branch.

He said he supports the illegal practice of impoundment, a strategy to circumvent the checks and balances that are baked into the fabric of our Constitution. Mr. Vought even said during his confirmation hearing last week that President Trump believes the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional. And he agrees with that assessment.

What that means is he thinks the President is free to withhold appropriated funding without limitation. And let me be clear, everything that we have seen in the last two weeks, including examples that I provided about the chaos and confusion across Wisconsin--this is just the first step. It is the tip of the iceberg. But in the future, Russell Vought will just withhold funding at the beginning for anything that he doesn't like or that Elon Musk posts about on X.

What this means is Congress could pass an annual funding bill that, maybe, increases funding for Head Start, which we actually pretty routinely do. Russell Vought thinks he can say to Congress: Thanks, but no thanks. I am going to eliminate Head Start and not allow any future grants to Head Start programs. Maybe Russell Vought will ignore Congress and the laws we pass and eliminate or significantly reduce funding for opioid treatment programs or the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or whatever he feels like opposing that day.

Even setting aside the very real impact I think cutting funding for programs like these would have on families and communities across the country, I hope my Republican colleagues will stand up against this blatant disregard for this body. How are we supposed to negotiate annual appropriations bills when an administration is saying it can just ignore what we do?

If confirmed, Russell Vought would be the tip of the spear in his fight to take away funding for programs families rely on and give it to billionaires as a tax cut.

We know that this administration intends to make every effort to override Congress's power of the purse. We have already seen Mr. Vought do it. During Mr. Vought's time as OMB director during President Trump's first term, the Agency withheld roughly $214 million in security assistance to Ukraine, which the Government Accountability Office later found violated the Impoundment Control Act.

I know it can be difficult to flout the party line, but we are not just talking about party politics anymore; we are talking about our Constitution. So many of my Republican colleagues declare themselves to be originalists when it comes to our Constitution, sworn supporters of interpreting this document as our Founders intended when it was written.

Well, I can tell you, if there is one thing that was crystal clear when our Founders conceived this Nation, it is that no one person should have absolute power. The repeated brazen power grabs that we have seen by this administration could not be more out of step with the foundational checks and balances laid out in our Constitution.

And while my words might not matter to you, I hope the voices of your constituents, who I know are being adversely impacted by this administration's actions, will.

I, for one, will not sit idly by as President Trump forfeits control of our government to billionaires. I will stand up for Wisconsin workers and families,

and push back on policies that are hurting the people I represent. And I am calling on my colleagues to do the same and oppose Russell Vought's nomination.

Otherwise, we could be running headlong towards a constitutional crisis. And it is up to all of us to make sure that the people come out on top in that fight. In times of conflict and hardship, the Senate has served as the conscience of this Nation. Now is our chance to stand up to this administration and show that we are here to represent the American people and not billionaires.

I yield the floor.

I vote no on behalf of Waukesha Head Start and the 300 children that they--

Madam President, I rise today to honor the service of my administrative director Beth Nielson. Soon, Beth will retire from the U.S. Senate with more than 26 years of service to the U.S. Senate and to our Nation.

Beth joined my staff as administrative director in early 2019, merely the most recent stop on a wonderful journey of service to many Senators from across our Nation. Beth brought with her a great breadth and depth of knowledge about the U.S. Senate and how this institution works for Senators and staff. She quickly garnered the trust of my staff with her cheerful attitude to service and deft ability to navigate the many rules of the Senate. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Beth helped our team immediately pivot to working from home, providing information, support, and guidance as we learned to work together but apart.

A South Dakota native, Beth first came to the Senate to intern in the office of Senator Tim Johnson. From there, she spent time in the office of Senator Tom Daschle, learning the ropes of the Senate and managing vast volumes of mail sent to the Senator from across the country. She returned to Senator Johnson's team and served as his deputy office manager for 5 years. From there, she joined the staff of Senator Ben Nelson as his administrative director for 3 years and then took a brief pause off Capitol Hill. She quickly returned to the Senate and served in the same roles in the offices of Senator Bill Nelson and then Senator Heidi Heitkamp before joining my staff. Beth has also worked for Senator Raphael Warnock, to aid his staff as they began their time in the Senate.

My staff and I have been reflecting over the many gifts that Beth has shared with us over these past 6 years. She has been a guide to new staff, easing their transitions into the Senate and greeting them with a welcome smile. Beth has served as a mentor and sounding board to more established staff who have taken on new positions or responsibilities, helping them succeed in their roles. She was ready to answer our calls and our questions, to celebrate our milestones and ease our sorrows. We do still question her allegiances to the New York Yankees and the Chicago Bears but have agreed to let those slide.

Beth, thank you for your service to our Nation, to all the staff and Senators you have served with, and to the U.S. Senate.

Mr. President, I would like to just step back a minute and reflect on the last 10 days. That is right. It has just been 10 days since Donald Trump was sworn in as our President. Like myself, many Americans feel like it has been much longer, given the onslaught of news and chaos that we have experienced in that time.

First, there was the inauguration speech. Instead of talking about uniting our country and mapping out a real plan to address Wisconsinites' needs, he used his first moments as President to suggest we rename the Gulf of Mexico to the ``Gulf of America,'' all while his billionaire friends looked on from front-row seats.

Then there was the flood of day one Executive orders, among other things, attempting to end birthright citizenship and removing the United States from the World Health Organization and removing the United States from the Paris climate agreement.

And, of course, I would be remiss if I did not highlight that the President also pardoned over 1,500 criminals who had participated in a violent insurrection--people who beat police officers with metal batons and fire extinguishers, people who tased cops, all in the name of undermining the will of the American people and overturning a free and fair election--so much for tough on crime.

And this was just day one--chaos, chaos, chaos. I will fast-forward to Monday night of this week, when the Trump administration directed virtually all Federal Agencies to cut grants and loans that millions of Americans rely on. There were barely any details on what programs were impacted.

Almost immediately, my office began receiving calls from constituents. In fact, the phones rang off the hooks. Childcare and Head Start programs reached out, concerned that they would have to shutter their doors or lay off staff if Federal funding was paused.

One Head Start Program told me that their portal to access the funds that they need to stay open was down, inaccessible. And I heard from another Head Start Program in Western Wisconsin that serves hundreds of children. They told me that they would have to start laying off employees as soon as Thursday if their funding was cut.

Let's just think about what that means in practice. Maybe a parent is getting home from work after a long day and gets a phone call that the place that they use for daycare will be closed for an indefinite amount of time. Will they be able to go to work the next day? Who is going to come forth to care for their kid now?

A deputy fire chief in a rural Central Wisconsin community reached out to me. Without Federal funding, he would have to lay off as many as nine firefighters. Would this mean longer waits for residents for a firefighter to respond to an emergency if their house was on fire?

Another fire chief in Northern Wisconsin called me to ask whether his volunteer department could go ahead with needed upgrades for their equipment. Without their Federal grant, which was more than half of their operating budget, they would not be able to purchase the new chassis needed for their department's purposes.

And from Western Wisconsin, a local mayor reached out to me to share that a pause in Federal funding would be catastrophic for their ability to make

timely payments on a loan they took out to make necessary renovations to their fire department.

I heard from an administrator of a women's shelter for survivors of domestic abuse based in Southwestern Wisconsin. Without Federal funding, they would have to turn away women looking for safety from their abusers for themselves and their children.

As communities across Wisconsin continue to battle the opioid and fentanyl crisis, a community organization specializing in drug prevention told me that they would not be able to pay their staff or continue their vital work if funding was cut. I also heard from a community dental center in Southeastern Wisconsin that serves thousands of patients every single year, the vast majority of whom are children. They told me that without their Federal funding, they would be at significant risk of closing within a matter of a few short months, and, as a result, thousands of children would have nowhere to go to receive dental care, and 45 individuals would be out of employment.

Another family shelter in Milwaukee, which serves hundreds of families a year and dozens of pregnant and postpartum women, shared that a freeze on Federal funding would likely result in them having to cut wages for their 100 employees and consider staffing reductions. Without their services, more than 100 kids would remain in foster care, instead of with their families.

While the White House seems to be contradicting itself and putting out mixed signals on these drastic cuts, the level of chaos it has created should be upsetting to every American. We are talking about the most vulnerable people in our society.

Republicans who say these cuts are necessary are essentially saying it is fine if Americans don't get lifesaving treatment for opioid addiction. They are saying it is fine if kids miss a meal or can't access the medication they need to stay healthy; it is OK, in their books, if fire departments and law enforcement go without the resources they need to keep our communities safe.

Look, I agree that we need to go after fraud and waste in our government where it exists. Where I adamantly disagree with my Republican colleagues is what that waste and fraud actually is. Programs that Wisconsin families rely on every day are not waste in my book.

President Trump's egregious overreach of his Presidential power is plainly unconstitutional. It is illegal to withhold this funding from the American people, period. This funding came through bipartisan bills.

And I hope that my Republican colleagues are just as angry at President Trump for the confusion his administration has created as I am. But based on what I witnessed so far, I fear they are not.

This directive has put real people in real distress--something, it appears, President Trump and his allies don't really care about. We are going to do everything that we can to challenge this and make sure that kids can get a hot lunch at school, that cops get the funding that they need to be on the beat, and that families have what they need.

I will close with this. The Trump administration has said this is all to stop the ``woke agenda.'' Well if the ``woke agenda'' is ensuring that seniors can access healthcare, kids can have food on the table, parents can find affordable childcare in their neighborhoods, and police officers and first responders have the resources they need to keep our communities safe, I think this administration is about to learn a real lesson in just how out of step they are with the vast majority of Americans who rely on these services every day.

If this is any indication of the next 4 years, I want my constituents to know that I, for one, intend to do right by them and stand up for their best interests.

Mr. President, I rise today because the people of my State are in pain. They are confused, and they are scared. This is all because of a blatantly unconstitutional power grab from the President of the United States.

While we have rightly seen this power grab blocked by the courts, it is only temporary, and the larger issue remains.

Our Constitution is extremely clear: Congress--composed of people elected by the citizens of each of our States or districts--it is Congress that makes the law.

In the Senate, those laws are almost always passed on a bipartisan basis, and after we work out our differences and pass a law, the President then implements the law. That is it. The Constitution does not say the President can implement just the laws he likes. The Constitution does not say the President can implement the laws just when he likes. The Constitution is crystal clear on this. But the Trump administration is ignoring the Constitution and refusing to implement the laws that Democrats and Republicans passed together, and it is trying to cut funding for absolutely critical programs.

Every Senator and Member of the House of Representatives should be deeply concerned by that. I doubt my Republican colleagues would want a future Democratic administration to ignore annual appropriation laws.

So a judge's eleventh-hour decision to temporarily block this power grab may have postponed the pain, but that is all it did--by a week. The pain I am worried about will be the impact that people in every part of my State experience.

Will community health centers be able to access funding to continue to provide healthcare for the 30 million Americans they serve annually? Will title X be available to continue providing cancer screenings, access to contraception, and other preventive care for women and families? Will individuals with opioid abuse disorders be able to access medication-assisted treatment? Will homeless youth be able to access emergency shelter and transitional housing assistance? Will research into lifesaving cures for deadly diseases, including cancer and diabetes and Alzheimer's, be paused? Will patients be able to continue receiving potentially lifesaving treatments as part of critical clinical trials? The programs our veterans rely on could be cut. Programs children and families rely on could be cut. Support for our farmers could be cut. The list goes on and on.

My office saw and heard the people behind this list, like the deputy fire chief who called today wondering if he was going to have to lay off some of his firefighters or the mothers and local school district staff we heard from who called worried that their kids would not be able to get a hot school lunch tomorrow. We heard from a childcare facility in western Wisconsin that would be forced to lay off people by Thursday if these cuts went into effect. My office heard from a mother whose son is disabled, and she didn't know if his Medicaid was going to be cut or not. I heard from a substance use treatment provider and a domestic abuse shelter administrator who didn't know if they could help those fighting addiction or escaping unsafe situations.

These people are real. These are very real consequences if the President gets away with this unconstitutional power grab and cuts programs that Americans rely on.

I am calling on my Democratic and Republican colleagues to speak out against this overreach. Stand up for your constituents, and for that matter, stand up for the Constitution.

Madam President, I rise in support of the nomination of Sean Duffy to serve as our next Secretary of Transportation.

Sean Duffy and I have known each other for many years and worked together in the Wisconsin delegation during our time in the House of Representatives.

As a Wisconsin native, Mr. Duffy is a former Congressman who represented Wisconsin's Seventh Congressional District from 2011 to 2019, and, in that time, we partnered on shared priorities for our constituents, including the St. Croix bridge in western Wisconsin.

You know, during his confirmation hearing before the Commerce Committee, I shared this story. It usually does not take an act of Congress to build a bridge, but in this case, it was needed to build a new bridge over the St. Croix River, connecting Wisconsin to Minnesota.

With help from Senators Klobuchar, Kohl, and Johnson, Sean Duffy and I, without hesitation, whipped our respective caucuses and brought together a House majority necessary to pass legislation to replace the 80-year-old Stillwater Bridge. As Sean can attest, this was a decades- long battle, which resulted in a significant bipartisan win for our State and our region. It was not a matter of right or left, just what was good for our constituents, our economy, and our State.

Today, the St. Croix Crossing, which opened in 2017, has shortened traffic times, reduced congestion, and, most importantly, improved safety. This type of bipartisan work for the American people is what I expect to see from Sean Duffy as Secretary of Transportation. Our efforts show that when we work together, we get important things done.

And, as I told my colleagues on the Commerce Committee about the nominee, we haven't always agreed, and I am certain that will continue to be true. I will be the first to call out any efforts to roll back our ``Buy America'' rules or weaken safety or increase costs or cut funding for critical projects like the Blatnik Bridge in my State.

At the end of the day, I am confident that Sean Duffy is the right person for this job and will help deliver for Wisconsin families, businesses, and workers. He has committed to being a strong partner on strengthening ``Buy

America'' rules, and I look forward to working with him on our upcoming surface transportation reauthorization. I expect that he will work with Members on both sides of the aisle to improve our infrastructure and address challenges in the years ahead.

I urge my colleagues to support the nomination of Sean Duffy as Secretary of Transportation.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Junior.

Madam President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1318, the Women's Suffrage National Monument Location Act, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, I rise today to speak to the Women's Suffrage National Monument Location Act to designate the Women's Suffrage National Monument be built on the National Mall.

I was proud to introduce this bill with Senator Blackburn, as she and I represent both the first and the final States to ratify the 19th Amendment and grant women the right to vote across the Nation.

The National Mall honors some of the most important features of our shared American story. Conspicuously

absent from this portrayal of our Nation's history, however, is the story of women's suffrage. In fact, the National Mall receives over 24 million visitors annually, and despite there being 40 commemorative works on the National Mall, none of those are dedicated to women. We have introduced this legislation to correct this glaring omission on the National Mall.

Women's suffrage was only made possible through the fight of multiple generations of activists of all backgrounds, who joined together with the steadfast belief that our country must live up to its highest democratic ideals.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls in 1848, where they declared ``that all men and women are created equal.''

Sojourner Truth gave her famous ``Ain't I a woman'' speech in 1851, where she challenged the women's suffrage movement to include Black women.

Susan B. Anthony was arrested in 1872 for violating the law and daring to cast her vote at the ballot box and went on to help found the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890.

Carrie Chapman Catt, born in Ripon, WI, took up the helm of that organization after Anthony and traveled around the country, organizing for the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Inez Milholland led on horseback more than 8,000 marchers in the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell demanded that the movement include women of color by refusing to march at the back of that very demonstration.

Alice Paul and Lucy Burns led acts of peaceful civil disobedience, including ``Silent Sentinels,'' who picketed at the White House continuously from 1917 to 1919.

There are countless other women who fought and continue to fight for true equality for women in this country. Without the story of how women fought to secure our rightful participation in our democracy, our National Mall is incomplete.

This monument is just as much about honoring our past as it is about inspiring our future. Every young girl, every child, and every adult who travels to our Nation's Capital should see themselves reflected there. They should know that they belong in the halls of government, and their stories belong in our Nation's history, and that they belong on the National Mall.

With that, I would yield to the senior Senator from Tennessee, Senator Blackburn.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate and honor the service of Sarah Benedict Anstaett, my State director. Soon, Sarah will retire from the U.S. Senate after a lengthy career serving the people of Wisconsin and our Nation.

Sarah's steadfast dedication to constituent services has set a high standard for our office that will have a lasting impact. With over 25 years of Federal experience, Sarah's mentorship and willingness to pass on her wealth of knowledge to junior staffers is not only a testament to her rare style of leadership, but to her belief in the importance of quality public service. Sarah holds a BA in psychology and a masters in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, making her exceptionally well qualified to handle any constituent service concern.

Under Sarah's guidance, my office has assisted thousands of Wisconsinites and their families who were confronted with urgent and often very serious challenges.

Sarah joined our Madison area House of Representatives staff as a caseworker. Constituents coming to our office with concerns were met with Sarah's capable and calm approach to problem solving. She was incredibly effective in addressing all manner of issues and quickly became an indispensable part of the team. She traveled throughout our district, meeting constituents where they were--especially our seniors--in places that allowed them to interact directly with the Federal Government. During this time, Sarah and her husband Dave welcomed two children, which spurred our office to embrace family- forward work policies and practices.

When I took my seat in the Senate, I was delighted that Sarah chose to continue with our team. In my Senate office, Sarah became our director of constituent services, working with a team to address Federal issues from constituents around the State. She developed effective processes and guides for our caseworkers, shared her wealth of experience and best practices, and was always ready to step in and help on the trickiest and stickiest of concerns.

She also created one of our favorite reports: a weekly roundup of casework successes, concerns and trends. Each week, the report of Sarah and her team's exceptional work was filled with stories ranging from expeditious replacement of lost passports to saving small businesses that were facing existential challenges with Federal Agencies.

In 2021, Sarah assumed the role of my State director, overseeing and guiding our outstanding team of outreach staff, caseworkers, and other support staff. Her leadership in this new role was pragmatic, focused, and inclusive. She kept our priorities at the forefront and guided staff to make the best decisions.

In her new role, Sarah immediately hit the ground running and refined and established new processes for our outreach team, in-state scheduling and travel, and continued to support our casework team. My staff often reported to me that she managed to do the impossible: make their jobs less stressful. As State director, Sarah set high standards for our staff, inspiring and bringing out the best in each of them. She led by example and demonstrated the importance and value of having women in senior leadership roles.

She traveled the State both with and without me, continually developing and cultivating important relationships with constituents and organizations throughout Wisconsin. She has been a constant presence at events around the State and always actively pursued opportunities to strengthen ties between our office and the communities we serve. My staff and I will miss the kindness, humility, good humor, and grace that she brings each day to our team.

Outside of the office, Sarah's an avid traveler and explorer, with a wide group of friends and interests. I am sure that her retirement will bring her more opportunities to travel with her husband Dave and their children Henry and Ursula.

Sarah, thank you for your service to the people of Wisconsin and to our Nation.

Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate and honor the service of Jennifer ``Jen'' Garner, my northeastern Wisconsin regional representative. Soon, Jen will retire from the U.S. Senate after a lengthy career serving the people of Wisconsin and our Nation.

Jen's well-deserved retirement comes after 46 years of working in the political sphere in some form or another. She graduated from Northern Michigan University with a BS in public administration and hit the ground running. She has worked on political campaigns large and small, for and with local union members and leaders, in community and statewide organizations, local government, and finally on our Senate team. Her more than 40-year commitment to public service is evidenced by her strong connections to labor and manufacturing communities in the region that she serves.

I first met Jen many years ago when I was seeking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and she was working with AFSCME. She will regularly share that I ``knocked her socks off'' in our initial meeting. But really, I was the one impressed with Jen's strategic approach and tenacity. And I never forgot that during our many interactions throughout my time in the House. When the opportunity came for her to join our staff, it was an easy decision for both of us.

During her time on our staff, Jen has continually developed and strengthened relationships across her service area. Jen serves the people of Wisconsin in 11 counties--Marinette, Oconto, Waupaca, Outagamie, Winnebago, Calumet, Brown, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Kewaunee, and Door--on my behalf. When we travel around together, Jen is an instant ambassador and magnet at gatherings large and small. She is recognized and welcomed warmly in every room, and I know the reaction to her work is authentic and appreciated.

My staff fondly refers to Jen as the unofficial ``Dean'' of our outreach team. Jen knows all the intricacies on how best to interact with various groups, organizations, and stakeholders. She is a wealth of knowledge and is always available to share context, history, and recommendations on the best way to engage. She is always ready for a gut-check or to share an excellent scene-setting story and knows that details and history matter when it comes to relationship building and serving constituents. She is also game for a challenge, usually brought on by our team's insistence on the adoption of new technologies and systems.

As Jen begins this new chapter of her life, I know she will not stray far from engagement in her local community and causes dear to her heart. I am delighted that she will be able to spend more time with her family and friends, especially her grandchildren, who are the lights of her life. My staff and I will miss Jen's camaraderie, friendship, and leadership through action. We wish her all the best in her retirement, and I am pleased to officially designate her as dean emerita of our outreach team.

Jen, thank you for your service to the people of Wisconsin and our Nation.

Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate and honor the service of Christine ``Chris'' Rahlf, my veterans services representative. Soon, Chris will retire from the U.S. Senate after a lengthy career serving the people of Wisconsin and our Nation.

Chris began her career as an officer in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. Equipped with a BS in Civil Engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Chris began her Federal service managing construction projects at the Naval Training Center in Newport, RI. She later moved to California, where she directed the quality assurance program and supervised more than 100 evaluators at Diego Garcia. She finished her Active service in the Navy as the course director for the Naval Facilities Contracts Training Center, improving both course pass rates and test scores, as well as developing models for future course curricula.

Following her time in the Navy, Chris received an MBA at San Diego State University and worked in project management at several large corporations based in California. Upon her return to Wisconsin, she joined Faith Technologies located in Menasha and held a variety of leadership positions during her time on their team. She developed strong relationships in her local community, later running for a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly to serve Northern Ozaukee County and Washington County.

In early 2019, we were fortunate to have Chris join our staff. Her tireless work ethic and commitment to public service were evident from the moment we met. Chris fully dedicated herself to supporting, uplifting, and communicating with veterans across Wisconsin something you could say she has spent her entire life doing. As the daughter of a 100 percent disabled veteran, wife of a veteran, mother of two servicemembers, and as a veteran herself, Chris brought the perspective and

candor of all these different facets of her life experience together to address the specific needs of veterans and their families.

Chris immediately continued to build strong relationships with veterans and veteran's organizations across the State, demonstrating time and time again to Wisconsin's veteran community that our team works hard and gets results. She was recognized as being tough but fair in her work, holding Agencies accountable and garnering respect and trust throughout the State by her approach. She has helped veterans and their families establish closure through obtaining missing service records and medals, fought for pay and services owed to them, and tackled systemic problems in the VA medical system to address incorrect diagnoses and quality of care issues. Her efforts have made a lasting and positive impact on both individual veterans and the wider veterans community in Wisconsin.

When news spread about Chris's upcoming retirement, I heard from many Wisconsin veterans about the quality of her work, her compassion, and her dedication to service. To have earned that kind of respect says all that needs to be said for what Chris means to our office and the work she has done. We will miss her leadership, enthusiasm, and steadfast commitment to service.

Chris, thank you for your service to our nation. And thank you for your service to the veterans of Wisconsin.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Columbia Savings and Loan Association on its 100th anniversary. It gives me great pleasure to honor this remarkable organization and to commemorate this historic milestone.

Founded by Ardie and Wilbur Halyard in 1924 in Milwaukee, WI, Columbia Savings and Loan is the first--and currently only--African- American owned bank in Wisconsin. For 100 years, Columbia has been dedicated to supporting and uplifting the Milwaukee community, primarily serving low- and moderate-income families in Milwaukee. Now led by Ernest Jones and Will Martin, who continue to uphold the values of its founders, Columbia celebrates its centennial anniversary.

When the Columbia Savings and Loan Association was first founded, the beginnings of discriminatory redlining practices were emerging in Wisconsin. Thousands of Black families were forced to live in the so- called ``black belt'' in Milwaukee, with similar situations occurring across the United States. These communities struggled to build wealth as insured mortgages were not available to them. However, during that dark time, Columbia Savings and Loan was steadfast in turning the tides and to supporting the African-American community in Milwaukee.

One of the many lasting impacts that Columbia has etched into Milwaukee's history is the rise of the Halyard Park area, in the heart of the city. After the construction of Interstate 43, many homes were demolished, displacing many residents. At a time when banks still practiced discriminatory mortgage policies against African Americans, fair housing advocates Ardie and Wilbur Halyard focused on financing for Black individuals and families to revitalize the neighborhood with backing of the Columbia Savings and Loan. Throughout the years, Halyard Park grew and is now a cornerstone of the city of Milwaukee, from hosting various music performances and art shows to being home to some of Milwaukee's well-known restaurants. Without the help of Columbia and its founders, Halyard Park would not be what it is today. While other neighborhoods have seen high population turnover and decreased home values, Halyard Park residents have stayed and have boasted higher valued homes.

After the savings and loans crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, hundreds of savings and loans organizations were impacted across the Nation, with many having to close. But Columbia survived, is thriving, and is one of the only left in Wisconsin. I applaud their hard work and dedication to serving the Milwaukee community over the last 100 years. Countless people and families have had their lives changed because of the Columbia Savings and Loan Association. I look forward to the association's continued success in the years to come.