Floor Statements

Madam President, I remember, as a kid in Sunday school, thinking what it would have been like to live in Israel in the age of the apostles, in the time of miracles. And yet, perhaps we have been transformed to another time of miracles.

Yesterday, I was at the White House, where President Trump signed into law bipartisan legislation--my legislation--the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which I authored with Senator Amy Klobuchar to protect women, to protect teenage girls, to protect young people online from nonconsensual intimate images.

We saw both parties come together and pass landmark legislation, and just a moment ago, 24 hours later, we saw the same thing happen.

So I thank my colleague from Nevada for moving for this to pass by unanimous consent. And I want everyone to reflect on what you just saw happen because it is consequential.

Last year, in the midst of the Presidential campaign, President Trump, at a rally in Las Vegas, announced his policy proposal of no tax on tips. And the Presiding Officer will recall that, the week after he announced that, he came and had lunch with the Republican Senators, and he told us the backstory of where the idea came from.

He said he was sitting at a hotel in Las Vegas, getting ready to go to his rally, and he said he was having lunch there. And he said a waitress came by, and he said: She was beautiful; she was beautiful-- which I believe him. And he said she was complaining about the burden and the paperwork of paying taxes on tips and how challenging it was.

And he said he pulled out a pad of paper, and he just wrote on the pad of paper: No tax on tips.

He said: What do you think of this?

And she said: Great.

And he went to the rally, and he announced it. And as he told us, the entire crowd went nuts.

Now, I have to say, when he announced that policy, I thought that was policy genius. The next week, I drafted legislation to implement no taxes on tips, and I introduced it in the Senate the very next week. And within days, both Senators from Nevada joined my bill as cosponsors.

As the Senator from Nevada just described, she told me on the floor-- she said 25 percent of all workers in the State of Nevada are tipped workers. And this is commonsense, bipartisan tax reform.

Look, I think we ought to be fighting for waiters and waitresses. We ought to be fighting for bartenders, taxicab drivers, Uber drivers. We ought to be fighting for beauticians and nail salon workers. We ought to be fighting for all the men and women who are working and working hard. We ought to be fighting for casino workers. Sorry to leave them out. As a longtime poker player, I certainly don't want to leave them out. But we ought to be fighting for blue-collar workers across this country.

And I will say, I have been urging--I have urged the House of Representatives and I have urged the White House that we should take up No Tax on Tips in the House and pass it. And I said: Look, if the House passes it, I think there is a very real chance the Senate will pass it. It is bipartisan legislation.

And what we just saw is the Senate passing No Tax on Tips 100 to 0. Every Democrat voted yes. Every Republican voted yes. And, by the way, the backstory--just kind of pulling the curtain back on how this process operates--the way the process operates is, when you are seeking to pass something by unanimous consent, you circulate what is called a hotline, and every Senator gets the chance to say: Are you going to object?

And on the Republican side, every Senator said: Nope, good by me.

And on the Democrat side, every Senator said: Nope, good by me.

And so this is now passed, and we are sending it to the House of Representatives.

Here is the good news. With what we just saw now, the certainty that we will see No Tax on Tips become the law of the land, I think, is very close to 100 percent. As the Senator from Nevada mentioned, it is included in the House's One Big Beautiful Bill, and whether it passes freestanding or as part of the bigger bill, one way or another, No Tax on Tips is going to become law and give real relief to hard-working Americans.

So I am proud of what the Senate just did, and I commend Democrats and Republicans, even at a time of partisan division, coming together and agreeing on this commonsense policy. I think that is terrific for workers in all 50 States.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I rise today with both sorrow and gratitude in my heart to honor and celebrate the life of an extraordinary woman, the Honorable Diana Denman.

Diana has rightly been described as the ``Godmother of the Texas Republican Party.'' She was a fierce warrior for freedom, but she was also a radiant spirit, a source of wisdom and kindness, and the embodiment of grace, conviction, and truth. Diana was a patriotic American. She loved this country. She was a true daughter of Texas and a very dear and cherished friend.

Diana was born in Abilene, TX. Her grandfather, Jefferson Davis Sandefer, Sr., led Hardin-Simmons University for decades, and Diana often said she inherited her lifelong passion for service and scholarship from his example.

But Diana's journey took her far beyond Texas. She left Abilene for Washington to study at George Washington University, from which she graduated with a degree in journalism. From there, she traveled to Hollywood to be an actress. She worked with legends like Cecil B. DeMille as well as a young actor named Ronald Reagan. Ever quick with a smile and a story, Diana used to say that the very first vote she ever cast for Reagan was for president--of the Screen Actors Guild.

That vote was the start of a lifelong commitment to conservatism. From Reagan's 1976 campaign to his election and through the Presidency, Diana stood shoulder to shoulder with the movement for freedom and optimism that defined the era and which we so badly need today. She later served in the Reagan administration in roles ranging from the Peace Corps to the National Museum Services Board. She did not see that as a break in the work she had been passionately doing.

She brought to Washington the same conviction as President Reagan, the same impulse that had brought both to Hollywood--that politics requires persuasion, that it requires winning hearts and winning minds, that we need to tell stories, that we need to bridge the gaps between generations, between communities, between ideologies.

Diana knew exactly what and why she was doing. When she was nominated by President Reagan in 1986 to be a member of the National Museum Services Board, her bio read:

Since 1983, Mrs. Denman has been vice chairman of the

Republican Party of Texas. She owns and operates a ranch in

San Antonio, TX, and was formerly an actress in Los Angeles,

Mr. President, for the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation I report favorably the following nomination list which was printed in the Record on the date indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that this nomination lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to call up my resolution to undo a regulation about appliances, which was imposed by the Biden- Harris administration weeks after American voters had overwhelmingly rejected that administration and its policies and which, if left in place, would increase costs and limit the options of everyday Texans and everyday Americans across our Nation.

After the election, President Trump and the new Republican Congress systemically moved in exactly the opposite direction to decrease costs and to expand the options of Americans.

Indeed, on January 20, in his Executive order on American energy, President Trump made it the policy of the United States ``to safeguard the American people's freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including, but not limited to, lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries.''

What refreshing common sense that was missing from the previous administration.

My resolution deals with a rule imposed by the Biden-Harris Department of Energy in December, after the election, and which deals with what they describe as the energy efficiency of non-condensing tankless gas water heaters, which millions of Americans rely upon in their homes.

The Biden-Harris administration knew that they were increasing costs on Americans. Indeed, that is what they were deliberately doing. They acknowledge that because of their rule, the cost of each affected unit would increase by at least $200--and industry experts say the true increase is double even that estimate. The administration's own numbers show that as many as 40 percent of affected customers would experience a net cost increase over the appliance's lifetime.

They didn't care, and it is worth discussing some of the reasons they didn't care about the hardship they were inflicting on hard-working American families and why it is so important today for the Senate to pass my resolution to undo their actions.

First and foremost, hypocrisy. The Biden administration believes in rules for others but not for themselves and conveniences for themselves but not for others. This was an administration that believed in shutting down businesses and banning events all across the United States because of COVID but exempting themselves and what they cared about. If you were at an antifa riot, the COVID virus could not affect you, but God help you if you wanted to go to church, clearly, everyone in the congregation was going to die of COVID that day.

The American people saw that hypocrisy play out again and again, including with appliance regulations such as gas stoves, and, indeed, the hypocrisy played out again with the water heater regulation that my resolution will overturn. Left in place, this regulation would force American consumers to either pay more for these heaters or, if they can't afford to pay more, to shift to less efficient models.

Democrats used to pitch themselves as the party of the working class, as a blue-collar party. No more. Today's Democratic Party is the party of rich coastal elites, and the blue-collar working men and women, Mr. President, that elected you, that elected me--blue-collar workers are now the base of the Republican Party.

Second, corruption. The administration used regulations, mandates, and grants to enrich their allies, including especially radical climate activists. Just to give you an example in one of these infamous ``gold bar schemes,'' Biden's EPA funneled $2 billion--that is billion with a ``b''--into Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams' ``Power Forward Communities.'' They said the money was going toward purchasing new home appliances for low-income families to help ``the decarbonization of homes.'' But that funding was only available to families who worked with Power Forward Communities after the grant was issued.

Biden's very generous, taxpayer-funded gift went to Stacey Abrams' coalition in a brazen attempt to buy Georgians' votes.

And, third, power. For advocates of these regulations, limiting consumer choice is the point. It is a feature, not a bug. Their goal is to control the choices and freedoms of Americans.

I believe it should be you, the consumer, that makes those choices, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington.

Last year, I spoke on this floor about a different Department of Energy appliance regulation. That regulation was about gas furnaces. It would have required over half of American households to purchase new furnaces, which they also didn't care about. Their goal was to target the natural gas industry.

Today's vote is about protecting such fundamental issues as fairness, consumer choice, and affordability. I strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote yes, especially if you care about blue- collar workers, if you care about families struggling to make ends meet. Vote yes and vote to end this government mandate driving up the costs on Americans across this country.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the previously scheduled rollcall vote occur immediately.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 17, H.J. Res. 20.

The clerk will report the motion.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that as if in executive session, the nomination of David Fogel, of Connecticut, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service received in the Senate on February 11, 2025, be jointly referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 10; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of Calendar No. 17, H.J. Res. 20; further, that at 11 a.m., all debate time on Calendar No. 17, H.J. Res. 20, be expired, the joint resolution be read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage of the joint resolution; further, that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion with respect to the Meador nomination ripen following disposition of Calendar No. 17, H.J. Res. 20; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Thursday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

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

Mr. President, it is a distinct honor for me to speak today on behalf of Aaron Reitz as he continues through the confirmation process to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Throughout his career, whether in law, government, or on the battlefield, Aaron has earned the respect and the admiration of all who have had the privilege of working with him.

I have worked closely with Aaron day-to-day, and I can attest to his exceptional career, unrelenting commitment, and strong moral values. He is an ideal candidate for this position.

The Office of Legal Policy is integral to the Department of Justice. It is the cornerstone of the Department's most significant policy initiatives and serves as a key driver of its legislative and programmatic agendas. OLP plays a critical role in facilitating the relationship between the executive and the legislative branches, particularly regarding legislation, regulations, policies, and judicial appointments.

Aaron possesses the vision, the experience, and the leadership needed to excel in this role, and I have no doubt that he will lead the office with the same dedication he has shown throughout his career.

But before diving into his professional credentials, it is important to highlight that Aaron is more than just an outstanding legal expert. He is a dedicated family man. He is blessed and fortunate to have his wonderful wife Meredith and four beautiful children. All of them have much to be proud of.

Allow me to share a few highlights from Aaron's distinguished career, which demonstrates why he is so well-qualified for the position.

Aaron graduated magna cum laude from Texas A&M University, where he earned the role of Regimental Commander at the Corps of Cadets. Following his education, Aaron served with distinction as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. During nearly 5 years of Active Duty, he deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand Province, where he worked alongside the Afghan National Army, leading logistics in one of the world's most challenging environments. He didn't merely oversee operations from behind a desk; he led from the front, ensuring mission success and safeguarding the lives of our troops in a combat zone.

Aaron then attended law school at the University of Texas, where he served as President of the Federalist Society's student chapter, and he also served as the editor in chief of the Texas Review of Law and Politics, and then he clerked at the Texas Supreme Court.

After completing his military service in law school, Aaron continued his leadership in the legal and public policy fields, working in private practice and later as deputy attorney general for legal strategy in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. While serving in the Texas Attorney General's Office, Aaron was instrumental in shaping the State's most important legal and policy initiatives.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Aaron stands out for his ability to build consensus, unite people, and navigate complex situations with poise and effectiveness.

I have witnessed this firsthand while he served as my chief of staff here in the Senate. Aaron's contributions have been indispensable in advancing my legislative agenda, which includes securing the U.S.- Mexico border, protecting children from online harm, and expanding our economy through investments in semiconductor manufacturing and tech infrastructure. He also played a key role in the efforts to build critical bridges across the Rio Grande River, and he was instrumental in shepherding the Justice for Jocelyn Act. His deep involvement with my Judiciary Committee team will serve him well when he is confirmed for this position.

Now to the heart of why Aaron is the best candidate for Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. OLP is vital to the Department of Justice, as it shapes and executes the Department's most important priorities. Leading this office requires someone with experience managing complex, cross-departmental initiatives, and a proven ability to get things done at the highest level. That is Aaron.

Aaron has a demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate efforts that have meaningful, measurable impacts, whether in the courtroom, on Capitol Hill, or within a broader policy landscape. His extensive experience across legal, governmental, and political sectors, combined with his exceptional team-building skills, make him very well-qualified for this role.

But beyond his professional qualifications, what truly sets Aaron apart is the strength of his character. He is a man of faith, family, and unwavering principles. He stands firm in his commitment to doing what is right, even when faced with challenging circumstances. His integrity is evident in all his actions.

With his leadership, Aaron will be an invaluable partner to Attorney General Pam Bondi. I have every confidence that OLP will continue to advance the Department's most important policy priorities under his guidance, ensuring that they are grounded in justice, fairness, and the rule of law.

I strongly support Aaron Reitz's nomination. He is the right person for this critical role, and I am confident that he will bring the same dedication, leadership, and integrity to the Office of Legal Policy that he has demonstrated throughout his career.

I urge my colleagues to support his nomination, and I look forward to the outstanding work Aaron will continue to do in continued service to our Nation.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I ask for the yeas and nays.