Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, you know, there is an old saying that I have used quite often, but it bears repeating: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

It is a simple yet insightful concept. Human beings often like things to be easy. It is just in our nature. But the reward for easy is very short-lived. Sometimes, if you don't earn it, you don't understand it. If we work hard and challenge ourselves to improve, we reap the benefits for much longer. That is the American way.

I would tell this to my players over the years that I coached. You know, lessons learned that are applied to the football field also apply in life. You know, this country owes you one thing: an opportunity. Sometimes people just need to be shown where that opportunity is at and encouraged to take it, and that is what everyone in this body should be focused on doing: opening doors for opportunity for the people of this country.

President Biden seems determined to close those doors of opportunity by creating, it looks like, a future massive entitlement state.

My Republican colleagues and I have talked a lot about the reckless tax-and-spend plan and the cost of that plan on American families. We are seeing rising inflation, which means dollars from your paycheck are not going as far. We are seeing costs rise on everyday goods that families need: food, gas, diapers--you name it; it is going up. This is a direct result of untargeted spending this year as we are trying to recover from a pandemic, which is the worst time in the world to be throwing government money at a pandemic.

And, now, our Democratic colleagues, it looks like, want to spend $3.5 trillion more, after spending $1.9 trillion back in February. And what gets talked about less than the cost of this spending is the social and societal cost of all of these new and expanded programs. While it may not be easy to see or measure, it is no less important, and that is what I want to talk about today.

Let's remember how this started and how we got here. It started with President Biden's announcing two plans--great names. First was the American Families Plan, and then there was the American Jobs Plan. Despite their confusing and similar names, on the face they don't sound that bad. I am for American families, and I am for American jobs.

These plans are not about American families or American jobs. They are full of progressive items that can only pass the Senate through a reconciliation process. There won't be any--there won't be any-- Republicans that will vote for this, and Democrats know this. So, now, here we are with our colleagues stuffing the worst parts of President Biden's agenda--I am talking about the most progressive items that only appease the far left of their base--into their latest package. And all of President Biden's progressive programs cost money, lots and lots of money. And they are going to pay for them with your taxpayer dollars, not the government dollars--taxpayer dollars.

A lot of my colleagues have expressed concern with the Democrats' tax-and-spend spree, but they aren't the only ones sounding the alarm. Folks back home have started to take notice, and there is a lot more collective wisdom among the folks back home than there has been here lately in Washington, DC.

So I brought a couple of letters with me today. These are folks from Alabama who wrote to me about their concerns with President Biden's massive spending plan. Here is what James Merrill from Huntsville, AL, wrote to me:

I have been studying this atrocious ``Biden American

Families Plan'' and it is clear that not only is the cost

staggering, the implications of all the rules that will go

with it will terribly impact all family life and our freedoms

to manage our lives. It blatantly makes the middle-class

dependent on the government--cradle to grave. A clear path to

socialism.''

James, you are exactly right.

And Rosa Hill in Birmingham, AL, had this to say:

I have just listened to President Biden . . . and the ideas

are ridiculous. [We] should be helping each other, [not] the

government . . . [getting] involved.

Ms. Hill makes an important point. Much of this work can and should be done by our neighbors, churches, and people in the communities. The problem is, we have been conditioned to wait for the government to do the hard work of helping the less fortunate for us rather than doing it ourselves.

Half a century ago, President Lyndon Johnson launched the ``War on Poverty.'' He and leading liberals at the time thought the answer to poverty was to dramatically increase the benefits the Federal Government would give out to the poor. Well, the War on Poverty didn't work like its backers thought it would. The following decade was filled with economic stagnation, high inflation, gas lines, spikes in drug addiction, and a horrifying rise in crimes across our country. Sounds familiar--doesn't it?--just like what is happening today.

Folks, the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. We have already tried this. President Biden is determined to try the same worn out policies today: throwing trillions and trillions of taxpayer money at the problem and hoping the problem goes away. It has been and still is the wrong solution.

President Biden's reckless spending spree won't help struggling American families. It will trap them in the endless cycle of dependence on Big Government and taxpayer money. Just take a look at what President Biden has proposed in his American Families Plan:

government-subsidized childcare, free preschool, free community college. Free, free, free; that seems to be the slogan of this administration.

Of course, we all know that there is no such thing as free in this country. I have talked before about the fact that President Biden has proposed 30--you heard me right, 30--new taxes that the Democrats can choose from to pay for these free programs in their next spending package--30 new taxes during a pandemic.

According to one analysis by the Hoover Institution, President Biden's American Families Plan would add 21 million Americans to the Federal Government's list of beneficiaries--21--21 million more people living off the government. Now, there are certainly people out there who need help. We all know that. But this plan opens the floodgates to taxpayer-funded benefits instead of concentrating on those who mostly need it. Under President Biden's plan, your family could make up to $200,000 and still qualify for Federal healthcare--$200,000.

We don't have to comb through the history books for examples on how these progressive policies fail. We don't have to look far. Just look at what we have done here recently and the insistence on keeping unemployment benefits historically high.

My Republican colleagues and I have spoken about how these misguided benefits essentially paid people not to work, destroying small businesses all over the country, and our economy's progress has gone down as we try to recover from this pandemic.

Republican Governors across the country recognized the problem and decided to cut out the overly generous benefits months ago. Folks who needed help would get it, but they wouldn't be paid to sit at home, and then they wouldn't be sitting home when they could have been working at jobs that would help their family. Just about every Democratic Governor has insisted on keeping these benefits. Now, what does that tell you, insisting on keeping the benefits and not keeping the benefits?

We have made some terrible decisions just in a short period of time. Well, we can already see the results of what is happening with these benefits. According to the monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, States that cut the Federal expanded benefit are closer to returning to prepandemic employment levels than the States that kept them. Thirteen of the top 15 States with the best unemployment numbers have all ended their Federal expanded unemployment insurance.

Why don't we learn from this misguided policy and not repeat it by spending money on bad outcomes? We seem to continue to do that every time we turn around.

The reckless tax-and-spend spree to advance President Biden's progressive agenda isn't just unaffordable; it is un-American. The United States was founded on the ideas of personal liberty and self- reliance. It makes you feel good about yourself earning your own way, not government handouts best known as socialism.

Since our founding, people have flocked to the United States because of the opportunity it gives citizens to succeed, not because of cushy government handouts. Our society valued and values hard work, grit, and determination more than the countries most of these folks have left behind.

Again, this country owes you one thing and that is an opportunity to succeed through education and hard work. Democrats want you to believe that you can only succeed with the government's help. Republicans believe in self-reliance and that you have within you God-given skills and potential to work hard and succeed. You have that. That is what this country gives you, which is why President Biden's reckless spending spree and expansion of government programs is so, so disappointing.

The President and Democrats think success is measured by how much taxpayer money the government can spend, but real success is measured by how many people no longer need the help in the first place. Our efforts need to empower people to be free to live and work to build a better life for themselves and their families. The most successful anti-poverty program should eventually put itself out of business.

So I say, enough. Enough of continuously growing the Federal Government. Enough of the reckless taxpayer-funded spending sprees. Enough of trapping people in a cycle of dependence, because a culture of dependency is a culture in decline.

I say we work together to encourage people to seize the many opportunities in our country, not have them wait around hoping the government will fix every problem life throws their way. We can't do that. It is long past time we get back to teaching folks to fish, to learn to fish themselves, to be self-reliant. That is a culture of hard work and resilience. That is a culture of the United States of America, the best country on the face of the Earth.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, I am starting to feel a little bit like a broken record. I am here on the floor again to echo the concerns of my constituents and so many folks across our great country. People across the country are cautiously checking their bank accounts, and they are looking at the price of milk, bread, and things that they have to buy every day. They are driving out of their way to see which gas stations even have gas, and when they do find that, they are looking for the lowest price.

Just as we are starting to come out of the pandemic, prices are starting to rise, and our dollar isn't going as far. Why? Because the Democrats want to spend their way out of a pandemic, and it really makes no sense. They are throwing trillions around like it is Monopoly money. It is not targeted to those who need it the most. It is on policy items that only appease their base--the far left--not even a majority of their party. They are flooding the zone with borrowed money like a credit card with no limit. They did it with their stimulus package earlier in the year, and it was disguised as a COVID relief package. Now they are getting ready to try the same thing again.

Last week, Leader Schumer announced that the Democrats had reached an agreement on a budget reconciliation resolution, which is like the pregame warm-up to the next reconciliation package. The pricetag for that agreement has been set at $3.5 trillion. Let me take a minute to highlight what I think is wrong with the bill.

First of all, I am not sure how anyone can call this an agreement. One Democratic Senator, who doesn't appear to have been consulted on the so-called agreement in the first place, said the package needs to be fully paid for. Let me translate that to you. That means we need tax increases. Last week, we talked about the 30 new tax increases that will probably be in this bill. On the other hand, we have Democratic Senators saying it is OK if this package adds to the deficit--$3.5 trillion added to the $30 trillion that we are already in debt. We already know at least one Senator wants the top-line number to be as much as $6 trillion while others are calling for $2 to $3 trillion, which, by the way, is still too much spending.

It doesn't seem like everyone has fully committed to this so-called agreement. It appears the Democrats are in disarray when it comes to agreeing to this. Announcing there is an agreement when they still have Members of their own party arguing over the final top-line number and how it will be paid for is a pretty interesting strategy. The only thing I can guess is that the strategy is really to pull the wool over all of our eyes. Trying to sell the agreement of a top-line number as a win is like saying that you have won the game after the first snap.

Folks, you have to play the game. You can't go by the first quarter's results. You have to play the entire game.

Second, I can't understand why some of my colleagues across the aisle are still trying to sell this tax and spending bill as human and soft infrastructure. Most people have never heard of that. I haven't been up here long, but I know enough to know there is really no such thing as human and soft infrastructure. For some reason, we keep adding definitions to Webster's Dictionary. It appears that our Democratic colleagues have, once again, duped a few members of the media, as they can't stop parroting this ``human infrastructure'' phrase.

Let's just call the package what it is: a spending plan on progressive social justice policies that will be paid for by the American taxpayers by 30 tax increases. It has nothing to do with infrastructure, even if they could define what infrastructure of the human and soft variety is. I know reckless tax and spending spree is not as catchy as soft infrastructure, but at least it is accurate.

Lastly--and this is the most important part--there are costs associated with the level of spending that the Democrats are laying out, real costs that hurt American families. Whether it is fully paid for by tax increases or whether it adds to the deficit, it all boils down to the same thing: the cost to American families across our country, the small business owner, the operator, the manufacturing worker, the farmer, the moms and dads. Hard-working Americans across the country will be impacted at the absolute worst time, when they are trying to recover from a pandemic.

Take the cost of tax increases on small businesses, for example. According to the Job Creators Network, 1 million--that is 1 million-- small businesses will feel the financial strain of tax increases through this bill--1 million. Many of these small businesses are still struggling after having been shuttered in place for a year and having battled against government-induced workforce shortages. With only 8 percent of small businesses on a solid economic footing after this past year--only 8 percent of our small businesses are really, actually, getting back on their feet--we should be working to help every small business see the light at the end of the tunnel, not increasing the heavy hand of government and keeping them in the dark. It makes no sense.

Then there is the ``let's just keep spending and add to the deficit approach.'' The cost of spending so much and adding to the deficit means more inflation. More inflation means your dollar doesn't go near as far as it has in the past.

In the June jobs report, we saw inflation up 4.5 percent, and the consumer price index increased by 5.4 percent, the biggest monthly jump in over a decade.

The rising cost of inflation means that Americans are making tough choices on what is most important to them, like filling up your car with gas or buying food for your family. There is no reason why we should have to be making these choices.

In a nation as great as ours, hard-working Americans shouldn't have to choose. American families are caught in the middle of rising prices and the Democrats' never-ending need to appease the far left.

And then there is the Democrats' view of America, one where Big Government reigns supreme. Well, let me tell you, the Big Government approach does not work, and it never has.

Alabamians want Big Government to get out of the way because they know that Big Government programs only tie their hands and stifle innovation and growth.

We need to give folks an opportunity, not a handout, and right now, Democrats are on the wrong track with that. A government-subsidized economic recovery is not an economic recovery. It is an entitlement state. We need to get back to work.

Prosperity is not purchased through the expansion of Big Government. How many times have we heard that? The expansion of Big Government safety net programs does not make people prosperous. Prosperity is found within the ideas of the American people. It always has been, and it always will.

Democrats are signaling that they are OK with the cost of American families if it means that they can pay for a whole grab bag of far-left policies, like the expansion of Medicare, free college, and amnesty for illegal immigrants.

If all this wasn't bad enough, here is the worst of it: Our Democratic colleagues have taken their priorities that are too radical to pass the Senate and creating an if-then scenario with true infrastructure negotiations.

Forced by far-left voices in their party, Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi have decided a massive spending bill that has nothing to do with the pandemic or infrastructure should hold actual infrastructure legislation hostage. In their world, if we pass a partisan spending bill, then we can pass infrastructure.

Well, that doesn't sit right with a lot of folks. By linking a bipartisan proposal to a partisan reconciliation package, our Democrat colleagues are showing their cards. The cards show that they really want this reckless tax-and-spend spree to pass, and they are fundamentally unserious about a true infrastructure package that would make needed improvements to roads, bridges, and broadband possible, and that is a shame. By tying budget reconciliation to infrastructure, the American people are the ones who will be left out to dry.

I have always said that I would be in favor of infrastructure. We all would be--a great infrastructure deal, where every penny of every dollar goes toward roads, bridges, broadband, and waterways.

But the American taxpayers know they have to pay for it. They know eventually they will have to pay for it, but they need something that they are putting their money into that they can get something back. But we cannot let a partisan tax-and-spend spree bog us down and hold back the American taxpayers.

This summer, so many Americans are traveling across the country. This includes most of us who travel across our States, me across Alabama. As I have been on the road, I am reminded once again that we need improvements to our infrastructure.

It is more than just fixing potholes on a city street. We rely on infrastructure every day, during our drive to work, trucks moving our goods up and down the highways, when a ship leaves a port with cargo, or when we just get on the internet. All those are infrastructure.

Good infrastructure allows people to move freely, keeps our products flowing, and maintains America's competitiveness in the global economy.

In Alabama, we have got 100,000 miles of public roads, and we need them to be in good shape. Driving on poor roads costs Alabama drivers a total of $4.2 billion every year. Because of things like vehicle operating costs, traffic congestion, and car crashes, we can tell our roads need work.

We have got 1,000 condemned bridges--1,000--just in the State of Alabama. Out of 16,000 bridges, we have 1,000 that have been condemned that need to be repaired in the worst way.

In an increasingly online world, getting our rural areas access to reliable internet is more important than ever. Whether it is for work, healthcare, or going to school, we need broadband across our entire State. Investing in our infrastructure is investing in our future success. It is way past time to step up and act on this. The American people need help with infrastructure, and that is what we should be concentrating on.

But despite that, our colleagues on the left still can't resist playing politics here. Before the actual bill text of the bipartisan infrastructure framework could be written and before the pay-fors were negotiated, Leader Schumer has called a vote on the framework.

Now, I know it is pretty hard to get a majority of skeptical Senators to vote on anything, much less something that has not even been written yet. We don't even have the bill written, but we are going to vote on it.

But these are serious times that call for serious actions. So we should be very careful considering this framework, not rushing toward arbitrary deadlines.

As our country's economy is trying to recover from the pandemic, anything and everything we do has to be thoughtfully considered, especially when it comes to passing legislation that costs money in the long run. And this is going to cost a lot of money.

Because this is the taxpayers' money, after all--your money--we owe it to the taxpayers to spend their money in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Personally, I don't think it is ever a good time to raise taxes, but I can tell you the absolute worst time is when we are still coming out of an absolute global pandemic.

There are commonsense ways to pay for some of this new infrastructure spending. Chief among them is redirecting all that unused COVID money that the Democrats insisted on spending earlier this year, and there is a lot of it left.

Let me be clear. Raising taxes on the American people should be a nonstarter for any potential bill. It certainly is for a lot of people.

Folks, simply put, a dollar spent on traditional infrastructure is a dollar well spent. But it has got to be done in a smart and targeted way, and we can't allow Democrats to hurt Americans by creating an if- then scenario.

Let's spend some time on the infrastructure bill and do it the right way. Then we can turn to debating all the spending that our colleagues on the left have their sights set on. But we have to do the infrastructure bill first.

Hopefully, Congress can deliver the targeted results our country deserves, results that don't increase the tax burden on the American people.

Throughout this debate, you can count on a lot of us to be a strong voice for making infrastructure work for three or four things: Alabama, our neighbors, our country's rural areas, and the American taxpayer.

We can get this done. Let's just do it the right way.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, Members of the Senate were all home last week for 2 weeks during their State work period. It was a good time to get back--to get back to reality, as I call it, because we all know here in Washington, people aren't always operating in reality. If we were, we wouldn't be seeing some of the policies that are coming out as we speak.

These State work periods are a great time to hear directly from the people we represent, and that is who we work for--what they care about and how they are affected by what is happening here in our Nation's Capital.

This is what folks back in Alabama were talking about. They were talking about small businesses that can't find people to work because the government is paying more in unemployment benefits than folks make on the job. And that is understandable. We have to understand that, and we have to understand the problem and how we rectify

that problem. We need workers in the State of Alabama in the worst way, almost in every business and in manufacturing.

They were talking about an economy that is hurting--really hurting-- for hard-working Americans. They were talking about the real costs of rising inflation--rising prices on goods and services that the average family possesses.

While driving around, I fill my truck up with gas. The cost was double what I spent just a few months ago, and that affects every American in this country.

By the way, in June, consumer prices increased 5.4 percent. I got an earful from people about bread, eggs, and milk, all across the State of Alabama. I am sure that the people of Alabama are not alone in their concerns.

This didn't happen by accident. This is the direct result of us up here spending way too much money, flooding the country with money that is out--I call it invisible money--out there just going into people's pockets that either they are saving, putting in the stock market, or spending on goods.

This makes the timing of the President's proposed tax increases even worse. Simply put, President Biden's proposal is launching an all-out assault on the working Americans in this country, people who work hard for the money they put in their pocket to pay for the things that their family needs.

Altogether, President Biden has called for 30--let me repeat that--30 different tax increases on the American people that total over $3 trillion.

This is the worst time--the worst time--that we could be pushing a new tax increase, especially during this pandemic, which we thought was coming to a close, but it looks like we are not even close to that. So this would be the worst time for us to be raising taxes. Businesses and families have worked very hard to make progress after a very, very tough year and a half, and it has been tough. Higher taxes would set most, if not all, back even further.

The President's budget laid down a marker. It lays out straight the priorities of the administration. It spotlights areas where the American public can expect a political emphasis. Well, with his budget, President Biden has telegraphed the types of tax increases that Congress can deploy to pay for his progressive policies. We are sure to see a few of them in the new reconciliation package. I am not going to talk about all 30 proposals, but let's take a look at some of the big tax increases that President Biden is going to propose.

President Biden wants to raise the corporate rate from 21 to 28 percent, which was lowered just a couple of years ago and put money in people's pockets all across the country. Now we are going to raise it from 21 to 28 percent on corporations. That is not a tax on corporations; that is a tax on the people who work across this country, especially for these corporations.

If our Democratic colleagues get their way, Communist China will have a lower corporate tax rate than the United States. Let me repeat that. If our colleagues pass this tax, we will have a higher corporate tax rate than China. Take a moment to think about that.

The Biden budget targets certain industries that our Democratic colleagues don't like, such as the oil and gas industry, which supports more than 10 million good-paying jobs in this country. It would face nearly $150 billion in industry-specific tax increases. That is in addition to the already massive corporate tax increase.

Once again, the President is undoing the progress made over the last few years. The United States became fully--and I mean fully--energy independent for the first time in decades. As a net exporter, we exported oil and natural gas. What are we doing now? We are buying it. Since Biden has come into office, we have become increasingly dependent on Saudi Arabia, OPEC, and Russia for oil and gas.

Colleagues on the left want the government to subsidize expensive and inefficient energy, like wind and solar, so we can put oil and gas out of business. We are all for natural energy, but you can't do it all at one time. You cannot do it all at one time. Just look at the people with the Keystone Pipeline who are out of work. They were told they would get shovel-ready jobs. I hear from them every day. There are no jobs out there for them like they had when they worked on the Keystone Pipeline.

Many other preferred green energy sources require critical minerals that only China produces. In enforcing their Green New Deal policies on Americans, our Democratic colleagues are forcing us to be more dependent on China for key resources.

I want to say one thing about what is going on in China. They are getting ready to use a molten salt reactor that we invented years and years ago that we decided not to use. Now, they are starting to build it, and we are helping them. We are helping China to become energy independent off of coal in the future because of these nuclear reactors. We invented it and shut it down, and now, we are going to help China with the progress of putting these in all over their country.

All of this will effectively be a tax on regular working- and middle- class Americans since their energy bills will go sky high as a result of this all-out assault on our oil and gas. It makes no sense.

Not content with raising taxes at home, our President wants to implement a 21-percent global minimum tax on income that U.S. businesses earn overseas. Now, they are going to pay taxes overseas already, and we are going to turn around and tax them 21 percent more. Again, this is basically a double tax on the companies with international operations. Since they already have to pay taxes overseas, too, this tax would destroy American competitiveness. It would incentivize U.S. firms to headquarters overseas and move production offshore. We have got to rethink that. We have got to rethink it. Again, we are working for the American people, not for us here.

President Biden is also calling for a 15-percent global corporate minimum tax based on the misguided assumption that other world powers will play fair. Well, I can guarantee you one thing: Russia and China are not going to play fair. We cannot count on anybody other than our allies. Everybody else is on their own. Even for the countries that do play fair, this international rate is lower than the 28-percent rate that companies headquartered in the United States would have to pay.

So what does that mean? It means inversions are going to spread like wildfire, and large business corporations are going to move their headquarters overseas. We cannot allow that to happen. We are going to lose jobs.

What is more, the President's budget calls to increase the IRS's budget by $80 billion over the next decade and add thousands of new agents. The President wants even more tax collectors to knock on your door and shake you down for all you are worth. I don't know if you have ever been audited. I have been several times, and it ain't a lot of fun. So what we are going to do is add even more people. If you get a tax refund, you are going to be audited. If you get some kind of refund, they are coming.

We are talking about the same Agency that aggressively targeted conservative groups and individuals during the Obama administration. Now that there is another Democrat in the White House, the IRS is up to its old tactics again. We cannot politicize the IRS again.

In just the past few months, the IRS has leaked the tax returns of American taxpayers to other groups. Now, to me, that really needs to be investigated. It has all gone down in the wash. For some reason, nobody is looking at this.

Even more outrageously, news recently broke that a Christian organization based in Texas was denied tax-exempt status by the IRS. They were denied. Why? Because the IRS, for some reason, thinks the Bible is too closely associated with the Republican Party. That is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. It is sad commentary on where America is today. What is next? Is the IRS going to start pulling the tax-exempt status from churches? I hope not, but if we are adding all of these other agents, we are going to run into more and more problems.

Before Congress even thinks about giving the IRS a dime more, the Agency must demonstrate that it treats all Americans--and I repeat, all Americans--equally and protects our personal tax information. Individuals responsible for the most recent leak must be prosecuted. We have to get control of the IRS. For some reason, they are out of control.

Sadly, there is more. The President's administration also has its sights on small business owners--this is huge in my State and in a lot of other small States in this country, especially in farming communities--family farmers, middle-class Americans who would like to pass on to their children what they have worked so hard to build. By ending the longstanding step-up in basis rule, the President would force anyone who inherits something to pay capital gains tax on that asset at the time of inheritance.

I want you to think about what that is going to do to millions of people, to millions of family members. This doesn't just apply to folks who inherit millions in wealth, and I know, as we all know, that is probably what this is aimed at; it would slam middle-class folks who inherit family farmland or a house or a small business.

I am going to say this: After campaigning for 2 years and in going throughout my State of Alabama and talking to our farmers, if we lose our family farms in this country to big corporations, we are going to be in huge trouble. This is exactly what this is going to do. If we tax them at the time of inheritance, we are going to have huge problems. Many would have to sell their businesses just to pay the taxes, and it would destroy American jobs in the process. We need to give incentives to small businesses, farmers, and the like to make sure they understand and know that they can work hard and pass it down from generation to generation.

Opposition to this particular tax increase is bipartisan. Congressman

David Scott of Georgia, a Democrat and chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, wrote to President Biden:

Step-up in basis is a critical tool enabling family farming

operations to continue from generation to generation. The

potential for capital gains to be imposed on heirs at death

of the landowner would impose a significant financial burden

on these operations.

This is a terrible--I mean a terrible--tax on small business and the American people. I agree with the Congressman.

The American dream is about working hard so that your kids can have a better life than you did. That is why my parents worked so hard to give me and my brother and sister a chance. My dad never made over $15,000 a year, and we thought we were rich. We were actually poor, but they never let on to that. They worked hard to give us the opportunity to go to school, to get an education, and to try to make something of ourselves. I know that millions of mothers and fathers across the country feel the same way.

When you boil it down, the tax plan is really just a tax on the American dream. We cannot take away the American dream from the American people. That is what we have lived off of. That is what we believe in.

So why do we need to raise taxes so badly? It is in order to, obviously, finance all of the money that, in the last year and a half or 2 years, we have pushed out onto the public and for what we are going to do in the future. We have to tax.

I keep hearing people say: Well, we are not going to raise taxes.

Let me tell you that money doesn't grow on trees, so we had better find some way to understand that in the very near future or we are going to lose the future of our kids in this country. We can't let any of these tax proposals creep into the legislation that we are seeing. We can't let them do that. We can't let our policies overtake the things that will overcome our kids' future--and not just that of our kids. I used to say our kids and grandkids. Heck, it is us too. We are getting to the point now of no return, but we are looking at a package here in the next few weeks that is going to be $3.5 trillion, possibly even more. That is unfathomable. It is hard to understand.

We have got to get this country back going again after the pandemic. Let the American people do it. We don't need to do it in this building. That is not our obligation. Our obligation is to give the people of this country the opportunity to get a job because growth and prosperity are what have made this country great, and that is what we need to continue to do.

The root of the problem, I believe, is that a lot of people think that they can spend the hard-working people's money better than they can. They say: Trust us because Big Government knows best. Folks, Big Government is going to put us under--6 feet under. Governments have been making that argument to people for centuries.

I would say this: In our growing up, look at the things that we as the government have taken control of, and you name me one thing that has been prosperous. I have thought long and hard about that. We try to put people to work through the Federal Government, and it doesn't work. We have got to allow it to happen through small businesses and corporations.

Kings and Queens would demand more money from the people, but the monarchy felt that they were entitled to it. That was normal throughout the world until the United States was formed.

We formed this country because of Kings and Queens saying: We know how to spend your money. We know how to spend your money more than you do.

So the Founders wanted a country that was of and by and for the people, and that is why the United States of America was formed-- because the people built this country, not government.

Thankfully, they set up a system that allows us to voice our opposition to taxes through democratic means. When the government tries to raise taxes, the American people have the opportunity to let their voices be heard at the ballot box.

Just remember that when you earn, grow, and work hard to preserve your money, it is your money, not the government's.

Our President would do well to remember that he serves at the will of the American people and not the other way around.

Madam President, last week, when we were all back home, we all got to celebrate the Fourth of July. Cooking out, spending time with our family and friends, watching fireworks is always special.

Sitting there with my family, I thought about how blessed we are to live in the United States of America. We get to live in the most free and prosperous country in the history of the world. We owe that freedom and prosperity to the people who declared their independence on July 4, 245 years ago.

They fought and won their freedom for an idea called America. That American idea lives on two-and-a-half centuries later, thanks to the generations of men and women who, like many before them, put on the uniform to defend this great country. Many gave their lives, the ultimate sacrifice, to defend the United States. But many more are still with us, and future generations will continue to volunteer to protect the freedoms and liberties this country affords us every day.

Today we have got almost 20 million veterans in the United States, and 400,000 of them call Alabama home. I have had the honor and pleasure to meet many Alabama veterans the past few years. I am always heartened to talk with them about their service to our great country, but what I hear over and over again is that there is more we can do for all of our veterans: better access to care, better opportunities to reenter civilian life.

Taking care of our veterans is personal for me. My dad served in World War II and died on Active Duty after the war. But he taught me so many valuable lessons, like work ethic, perseverance, and love of country. When I meet with veterans, I see the same patriotism my dad lived out every day of his life.

You know, I never served myself. The Vietnam war was over before I got out of college, but many guys I knew from back home served in Vietnam. I saw how badly they were treated by the media, by Hollywood, and even by their fellow Americans. They were just trying to serve their country. They watched their friends die, and when they got home, they weren't treated very well.

I thank God we treat our veterans today better than we did when I was growing up. And veterans from the Vietnam era are still the largest of the veteran group in this United States that we live in today. More than 100,000 Vietnam vets live in Alabama.

But there is still more we can do to give them the care and resources that they need and deserve. I am honored to be a member of the Senate's Veterans' Affairs Committee, where we can hear about the problems facing our veterans firsthand and work together on commonsense solutions.

The biggest challenge our veterans face is the access to quality care. We have all seen it in the news. We have heard about it firsthand. Far too often, veterans can't get the care they need in a timely manner. One veteran who doesn't have access to care is one too many.

My main priority is to get veterans the care they need and they well deserve by whatever means at our disposal, period. A solution to help address that problem is the GHAPS Act, Guaranteeing Healthcare Access to Personnel Who Served, introduced by my friend and committee ranking member Senator Moran from Kansas.

The GHAPS Act would identify persistent gaps that veterans face and would help craft innovative solutions to make certain all veterans receive quality and timely care, especially our veterans living in rural areas. The bill would also direct the VA to create a telehealth strategic plan so that we can use modern methods to improve access to care.

I am proud to cosponsor that legislation and will be working with Ranking Member Moran to get this bill passed.

We also need to do more to address the scourge of veteran suicide. It is absolutely tragic that more than 18 veterans take their own life every day. I have partnered with groups like America's Warrior Partnership, who are gathering data on veteran suicide across the country to determine how we can combat this terrible epidemic, leveraging both the VA and community resources.

At the same time, we must do more to make additional treatments available to veterans who haven't had success treating their traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder. One step we can take is to pass my bill, the HBOT Access Act. HBOT stands for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

My bill would permit HBOT as a treatment option for those veterans who have tried other evidence-based treatment options for TBI or PTSD but have not seen substantial improvement. I have heard from veterans and veterans service organizations that point to HBOT as a treatment that has produced positive results for individuals suffering from severe head and brain injuries. Many former football players, including ones who played for me, found success with HBOT in treating their head injuries after suffering from concussions.

HBOT is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment option for more than a dozen different conditions, including severe burns, infections, and decompression sickness. But the FDA does not recognize HBOT as an approved treatment option for TBI or PTSD, meaning veterans can't receive this care at the VA facilities or elsewhere and must pay for it out of their own pocket if they do use it. My bill would change that.

If veterans are saying they have improved after using HBOT and if veterans service organizations have seen similar success, I say we listen to them. We should not leave quality options on the table while the veteran suicide crisis worsens.

I want to thank my colleagues Senators Hoeven and Cramer as well as the American Legion and the Patriot Angels for supporting this important legislation. I hope my fellow colleagues will join me in passing this commonsense bill.

Finally, we need to improve resources for veterans to find jobs after their service in the military. Too many face unnecessary hurdles in rejoining civilian life. They have some of the best skills you can ask for. Yet sometimes our veterans, like so many others, can fall prey to addiction, homelessness, or just be flat out down on their luck.

Thankfully, we have got quality organizations that are doing good work helping veterans in need. One of these organizations is Three Hots and a Cot, based in Clay, AL. Three Hots is a small nonprofit organization founded by veterans for veterans. They get funding mostly through donations but also through a Veterans Affairs supportive housing grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Three Hots offers temporary assisted housing to 18 veterans at a time. They will drive the veterans to healthcare appointments at the VA, to grocery stores, to job interviews, and to church until they can get back on their feet. And the job doesn't stop once the veterans are settled in an apartment on their own. Three Hots will help with the transition by doing tasks like stocking their pantry, getting them furniture, and checking on them regularly.

In their 10 years of operation, Three Hots has helped more than 1,600 veterans and family members with an 83-percent success rate. This is the holistic type of approach to a tough issue that we need more of. They meet veterans where they are at in the community and help them find the resources available.

There are more great organizations across the country offering to help veterans in need, but oftentimes our veterans don't know these resources are available. I will be working closely with my colleagues to better connect veterans with the resources that are out there so they can be equipped with the skills they need to succeed at home.

Folks, simply, without the brave men and women who wear the uniform, we wouldn't have the freedoms we enjoy and sometimes take for granted every day. Our service men and women risked everything by joining the military. The least we can do is to repay their service and sacrifice by taking care of them when they return home to the country they gave so much to defend. That is what I will be doing on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and throughout my time here in the Senate

Madam President, in that spirit, I want to call up my bipartisan Senate resolution honoring the ``greatest generation,'' S. Res. 238.

As if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 238.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, before I begin, I want to first take a moment and remember those that lost their lives in a horrific car accident in Butler County, AL, this past weekend.

Ten people lost their lives. Nine of those were between the ages 9 months and 17 years old. A majority of those killed were in a Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch bus. The girls ranch is an organization that I have been involved with for 20 years. It handles young kids who have been abused, young kids who have no parents. They start at this ranch at most any age, and everything is paid for all the way through graduation of college.

These kids were on a field trip coming from Baldwin County, AL, this past weekend and were involved in this horrific crash. There are no words that can bring comfort to these families or these children, but my family and my staff and the people of Alabama are praying for peace for all those affected during this unimaginable time.

For the People Act of 2021

Madam President, as I and others have noted, Democrats call their flagship voting bill For the People Act, but a better and more fitting title is the ``Nancy Pelosi Power Grab Act.''

My Republican colleagues have done a good job of highlighting the many flaws of this legislation in the last couple of weeks, including doing away with commonsense fraud protection like voter ID, forcing mandatory same-day registration on every State, allowing paid political operatives to harvest voter ballots, and directing taxpayer dollars to the campaigns of progressive politicians. Sadly, there is plenty more.

But let me also note that this recent ``compromise'' is anything but. A compromise among Democrats should have been their starting offer to Republicans, not their final offer.

The most recent versions still run afoul of the Constitution by trampling on First Amendment rights of free speech and taking away redistricting from the States. While ID is still required to vote, the bill expands what kind of ID meets that requirement, such as a utility bill. But the last time I looked, there was not a photo on our utility bill. The most secure form of identification is a government-issued photo ID. States shouldn't be forced to water that down.

Americans want faith and trust in the integrity of their election process. This bill does not provide solutions to strengthen these processes, and once Americans learn what is in this bill, they will agree.

The Pelosi power grab yanks power from the States. The Pelosi power grab lets politicians stuff their pockets with taxpayers' dollars. And guess what, folks. A slightly different version of a Federal takeover of elections is still a Federal takeover of elections. That is exactly what this new version of S. 1 is. It is hard to even call this version of S. 1 a compromise when the Democrats only compromise with Members of their own party. This was not a bipartisan negotiation to get an end product that both sides of the aisle could support. The last time I checked, we still have a 50-50 Senate. There has been no negotiation with our side.

But regardless of its form, this bill does not solve the problems currently facing our election system; it makes the problems worse.

You know, in sports, one team changing the rules by themselves is called cheating. It is seen for what it is--a power grab. It is stacking the rules to win the game instead of doing the hard work necessary to get the job done.

Folks may be scratching their heads as to why one political party thinks they can completely change the rules of elections all by themselves, but if you have been paying attention to what the progressives have been up to recently, it won't come as a big surprise. Changing our country as we know it is the end game. That is why they want to pass this Pelosi power grab--so those who disagree with them have a harder time winning at the ballot box.

But it is not just elections. Remember when they tried to hoodwink us with defund the police last year? Remember when they tried to walk that back? But they had made their position very clear. Now we are seeing the same thing with education, as critical race theory is pushed on school districts across the country. Simply put, critical race theory reinforces divisions on strict racial lines. It doesn't teach kids moral values, like treating everyone with respect regardless of race; it is just the opposite. Critical race theory teaches kids to hate one another. That is one thing schools should absolutely--absolutely--not be teaching. But, again, for Democrats, it is about changing the way we view our country.

What we should be focusing on is actually improving education all over this country. The American people need to realize how far we have fallen behind.

As columnist Mark Steyn wrote, ``Education is the biggest structural defect in our society. We have an almost entirely corrupt and abusive education establishment.''

Here is where that education establishment has gotten us: We are 37th in the world in math, 13th in reading, and 18th in science. In 2019, only 35 percent of our fourth graders were able to read at the fourth- grade reading level--35 percent. Embarrassing. That was lower than 2 years before, and it was before the teachers unions kept kids out of school all of this past year. You can imagine how it is today. It is unacceptable. It should be unacceptable to every Member of this body.

We have got China outpacing us in every industry and at every level of our economy. But Democrats are too busy painting the United States as the world's villain. How can we expect our young people to defend the United States abroad if they don't learn about the things that make America the greatest country in the history of the world?

We, as elected representatives of Americans across the country, should be doing everything--and I mean everything--we can to create opportunity and to protect the freedoms that make this country great. It seems like folks across the aisle aren't interested in that. They have a completely different vision of and for our country--one that most Americans don't agree with at all.

I bet if you ask folks back home if they want a bigger government and less State and local power, they would say no way. I bet if you asked them if a Federal power grab sounds like a good idea, they would say no. I bet if you ask them if they want their kids to learn to be more divided by race, they would also say no. They would tell you they want their freedoms protected. They would tell you they want the Federal Government out of the way. They want an education for children that provides opportunity because education is the key to freedom and success. Education can unlock every student's God-given potential, but critical race theory swallows that key. The Pelosi power grab just fills the lock with cement.

Ladies and gentlemen, this For the People Act is one party's attempt to rewrite the rules--rewrite the rules of the game in hope that they will get a permanent advantage, plain and simple.

It is really a shame. We are spending so much time on bills that the American people don't want, bills that don't have bipartisan support. So I urge my colleagues to come together and find solutions that will unite us as Americans, not divide us further as a country.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today, I want to discuss an issue that many folks may not be familiar with, but they should be. After today, they will be. When I first heard about this, I couldn't believe it was true, but I have learned up here that just when you think you have seen or heard the worst, the swamp will always surprise you.

One of the many important roles of the Department of Justice is to represent the United States in civil and criminal trials. Sometimes the DOJ decides that a pretrial monetary settlement for a lawsuit is the best route to take. The DOJ directs the money from the settlement to the victims or to the Treasury. That is the way our system is supposed to work.

But during the Obama administration, the DOJ took a different course. Rather than direct settlement money to victims, the DOJ pushed the defendants to give money instead to third-party organizations favored by the Department. This was a slush fund for groups chosen by the DOJ. What is more, the DOJ would count the dollar amount of any donation as double toward the settlement. Money paid to the victims or the Treasury would only count dollar for dollar. So it was a huge incentive for these defendants to pay a third party, and these third parties often had nothing to do with the lawsuit.

When companies like JPMorgan, Bank of America, or Citigroup had to pay settlements based on mortgage lending practices, the DOJ intentionally directed millions of dollars to liberal activist groups. You don't have to take my word for it; here is an email from the Office of the Associate Attorney General in 2013 talking about the DOJ settlement with JPMorgan:

Can you explain to Tony the best way to allocate some money

toward an organization of our choosing?

Those are the key words there: ``of our choosing.''

Let me continue to quote: We have been discussing having the agreement provide that JPM agreed to pay $9 billion but that, if, by the time we sign the settlement agreement, JPM has given $60 million to X, they will have to pay only 8 billion.

I think that is OK. We understand that we would not have control over what X organization does with the money.

The ``Tony'' referred to there is Tony West, an Associate Attorney General, who was at that time No. 3 in the Department of Justice.

Two days later, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights wrote to the Office of the Associate Attorney General to lobby on behalf of a group called VOICE. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights includes the biggest activist arms of the political left, including the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Big Labor's AFL-CIO, and the teachers unions.

On No. 3 here, but when the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights contacted the DOJ, it was because VOICE wanted funds from the JPMorgan settlement. Not surprisingly, VOICE ended up receiving $1 million from JPMorgan.

They had a listening ear in the Obama administration. This is what he wrote to Tony about the settlement with Citigroup. Chart 4.

They were concerned with the possibility of Citi picking a group like, ``The Pacific Legal Foundation does conservative property rights free legal services.'' The DOJ was clear: Conservative groups couldn't have the access to the same funds that liberal groups could. It was obvious.

Here was the result, chart No. 5.

From Bank of America alone, the National Council of La Raza, now known as UnidosUS, received $1.5 million. The National Urban League received $1.2 million. VOICE got another million dollars, on top of the first million.

This won't shock you, but both La Raza and the Urban League were big supporters of President Obama's agenda. They are also both members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights today. La Raza consistently lobbied Congress to pass President Obama's misguided immigration reform bill. Urban League was a routine cheerleader of the Obama administration's Big Government approach to public housing. They were rewarded for their advocacy with millions of dollars from the DOJ.

In total across the Federal Government, the money directed to third parties added up to a total of $668 million, according to the nonpartisan Regulatory Transparency Project.

On chart No. 6, out of the $668 million, at the end of the day, they could only locate $9.5 million, which is 1.4 percent of the total money given. We don't even know exactly where or how the rest of the money was spent.

Folks, I have one word for you on this. This is called corruption. This is the swamp. The fact that this practice ever existed should make Americans' blood boil. Political appointees at one of the most powerful Departments in the country used their position of power to extract money from companies, and then they gave that money to their like- minded friends. That is what is wrong with Washington, DC.

We have grown used to hearing about this type of behavior from dictatorships around the world, like Russia or Venezuela. We should not, we cannot accept this type of behavior here in the United States of America.

Well, President Trump didn't. His administration, very early in his tenure, put a stop to this practice. They were right to do so. It should never have happened in the first place. But now, with a new President in office and with so many high-profile Obama administration retreads throughout the administration and in the White House, this corrupt practice could and probably will return. Congress cannot allow this to happen. I don't care if it is a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent in the White House; the power of the purse lies with us, the folks in this building. It is called the 117th U.S. Congress-- elected officials, not bureaucrats.

We need a permanent fix. If the Federal Government is diverting settlement funds away from victims into politically connected groups, they are undermining Congress's role. There is a way to stop this. Earlier today, I introduced the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act. This bill would ensure that all settlement funds would go first to the victims and then to the Treasury--no third party. No administration should be allowed to force donations to politically connected groups at the direct expense of victims.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this commonsense solution. Let's ensure our Federal Government works on behalf of all of its citizens, not just the ones with connections to people in power.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Will Taylor, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of Congress.

Madam President, Ronald Reagan said:

We maintain peace through our strength; weakness only

invites aggression.

The United States of America remains a beacon of strength and freedom. Generations of Americans purchased this strength through blood, treasure, and self-sacrifice. We do not want to be the first generation of Americans to abandon that tradition, but we will unless we give our men and women in uniform the tools they need to do the job.

The President's proposed budget does not deliver for our military. In fact, it tells our military to do less every day than what they have in the past. President Biden's budget proposal cuts money from the Department of Defense when accounting for inflation. I have said before that this budget is disappointing, dangerous, and a disservice to our men and women in uniform

The President's advisers surely know the threat our country faces. Here is what the Office of National Intelligence said in its annual threat assessment: The Chinese Communist Party will continue to undercut the United States, drive wedges between Washington and its allies and partners, and foster international norms that favor the authoritarian Chinese system.

That is from the President's own Director of Intelligence. But talk is cheap, and cheap talk is what we are getting because this budget does not rise to meet that threat.

Question: Does the President not believe the dire warnings of his own advisers?

At the same time, President Biden and congressional Democrats' policies are giving us a weak economy when it should be roaring. The last two job reports fell way short of expectations. In April, economists expected 1 million jobs, but we only got one-fourth of that--25 percent.

Democrats' out-of-control spending is driving inflation to levels we haven't seen in over a decade. President Biden's own budget assumes policies will only lead to a weak 2-percent GDP growth--2 percent--when it should be double that amount.

Democrats aren't stopping at a weak military and a weak economy. They have put forth thinly veiled attempts to strip our country of what makes it so great. They want to undo our very system of federalism and local control by eliminating States' right-to-work laws through the PRO Act. They want a Washington takeover of every State's election laws through S. 1 or, as I like to call it, the corrupt politicians act. But worst of all, it is teaching our kids to hate our country. The Biden administration has embraced the divisive curriculum of critical race theory to rewrite history and paint the United States as a villain.

Question: How can we expect the Biden administration to defend America's ideals abroad if the President won't even defend them at home? This isn't Building Back Better.

Teddy Roosevelt, another successful Republican President, always said: ``Speak softly and carry a big stick.'' President Biden is certainly speaking softly all right, but he is whittling away our big stick down to a twig.

We are already seeing the results. Weakness invites aggression. President Biden and his aides seem to believe that a return to the appeasement policies of the Obama administration and a rejection of President Trump's policy of strength are the best way to ensure peace. That is going to be tough for them and for the American people. We are already seeing how these policies do not work.

Take Palestine, for example. Just 2 months ago, the President decided to send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians. And I ask, For what reason? Why are we sending millions of dollars to Palestine at this time when we are having a tough point in our country with this pandemic?

They just took American dollars and turned around and rained terror on our No. 1 ally in the Middle East, with thousands of rockets aimed at Israeli civilians. It triggered the worst fighting between Israel and Hamas since 2014. The President's policy and millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted. They did nothing but arm Hamas. The President's policy did not work.

President Biden made no secret that he wanted to bring back the failed Iran nuclear deal that was the pride of President Obama's second term. Well, Iran responded by supplying Hamas with those rockets to kill Israeli civilians. Iran is also sending warships to help their socialist ally, Venezuela. Again, the President's policies did not work.

One of President Biden's first acts in office was to cancel the Keystone Pipeline with our northern border neighbor in Canada. Yet the President is allowing Russia to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, further isolating Ukraine from its Western friends. Russia has responded by amassing troops along the Ukraine border. Once again, the President's policies did not work.

The week after President Biden announced his skinny budget proposal with no increase to the Department of Defense, China sent a record number of fighter jets into the Taiwanese airspace. That is a clear pattern that the President's policies aren't working, and they are emboldening our enemies.

The fallout from the Biden administration's weaknesses isn't just limited to far-off countries across the sea, we are seeing the very real cost at our southern border. The Biden administration refuses to take this crisis seriously. The number of illegal immigrants crossing the border this fiscal year is already the most since 2006, and there are 4 months left to go.

In May of this year alone, Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than 180,000 illegal immigrants along the southern border. And it is not just folks coming from Central America. According to the CBP, there have been at least 59,000 illegal immigrants apprehended who were not from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras.

They are from as many as 90-plus countries, as far away as Bangladesh, Ghana, and Nepal.

And the problem is that it is not just people seeking a better life. Customs and Border Protection reports that they have arrested 95 convicted sex offenders attempting to enter the United States since the beginning of the fiscal year, and those are just the ones that are being caught.

Biden, 2 months ago, said: ``What's wrong with 2 million illegal immigrants?''

So what the Biden administration is doing is they are not stemming the tide. President Biden threw his hands up and put Vice President Harris in charge.

Has she visited the border since she has been put in charge? No.

She thinks her words, ``Don't come,'' are enough to stop the flood of illegal immigrants. Well, they are not. Her words are too late and too little.

I remember how then-Candidates Biden and Harris pushed back against President Trump for wanting to secure the border, for wanting to enforce our immigration laws as written, and folks across the globe were listening. They heard the rhetoric. They packed their bags, and they made the dangerous journey.

They took then-Candidates Biden and Harris at their word. It is why so many illegal immigrants wear T-shirts saying: ``Biden, let us in.''

Why would they listen to her saying ``Don't come'' now?

But here is what really got me. When asked why she hasn't gone to the border to see the crisis for herself, Vice President Harris laughed and said: ``I haven't been to Europe'' either. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We need leadership, not a tourist.

Well, Madam Vice President, I have been to the border, and I have seen how dangerous it is for these people coming here. I have actually listened to our Border Patrol agents, who talk about how the cartels really run things and how they have total control of the U.S. southern border. I have seen how many drugs are pouring across the border because our law enforcement is too busy processing illegal immigrants instead of catching the bad guys.

But I sat beside a teenager leaving McAllen, TX, on the flight to Houston. She had her new 3- or 4-month-old baby. She was being sent on a plane by the Biden administration to Houston and then on the way to Denver, not knowing what she was to expect when she got there.

It is not easy to see. It certainly wasn't for me. But that is the price of being in a position of power, to be able to do something about the problems facing the people and our country. The Vice President needs to see the human cost of the policies she and the President are supporting.

Ladies and gentlemen, peace is only possible when the United States is strong. That means a strong military, a strong economy, a strong educational system, and a strong border.

Unless we reverse our course soon, it will be too late to stop the violence and aggression President Biden's weakness has invited across the globe and here at home.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, I spoke recently about a serious crisis facing our economy, the workforce shortage. This has been brought on by many things that my colleagues from the left have spent and asked questions and brought about policies.

Today, I want to discuss another looming challenge to our economy, one where Democratic policies are adding fuel to the fire, if not starting the fire itself. I am talking about inflation.

Inflation is not an abstract idea thrown around by finance gurus. Inflation is a real threat to the pocketbooks of hard-working Americans throughout our great country. We haven't hit the inflation levels of Jimmy Carter's days yet, but the warning signs are here.

I recently spoke with a group of homebuilders from across my home State of Alabama. They told me how they are seeing prices increase that are even higher than the ballooning national average. As an example, in Alabama and across much of the South, homebuilding materials, such as brick, are up 10 percent. Insulation prices are up 15 percent. Sheetrock prices are up nearly 50 percent. Lumber prices are up 300 percent. And particle board prices, which are used in most homes across the country, the price is up almost 600 percent.

Although demand for houses went up during the height of the pandemic, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. homebuilding actually declined in April of this year. With the demand for housing so high right now, you would think new construction would be taking place everywhere you turn, but that is not the case. Builders are actually delaying construction projects because material prices have hit record highs. Prices are rising so rapidly that a project costing $300,000 at the beginning ends up costing more than $350,000 at the time of completion. This eats into builders' margins and discourages them from starting new projects, therefore, putting people out of work.

Folks back home can rest assured that I will be monitoring this closely. I will be listening to my constituents and other companies about their costs and supply chain experiences. But I shouldn't be the only one taking all these concerns into account. These price jumps should be concerning to all of us in this building because the national numbers don't paint a rosy picture.

In April, consumer prices jumped by 4.2 percent, the highest rise in over a decade. Energy prices went up 25 percent overall, with gas prices increasing nearly 50 percent. According to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, price increases by one metric were the highest since 1980.

This level of inflation doesn't just affect a select few; it affects all American families. For many folks, a 4-percent hike on grocery bills takes a serious toll. Rising prices like these are the definition of a kitchen table issue. Paying 50 percent more for gas or having a costlier electric bill forces families to make a hard choice on what they can and cannot afford for that month.

We must get our fiscal house in order before inflation gets totally out of control and reverses the economic progress we made under President Trump's leadership.

You know there are different ways to combat inflation--a lot of different ways--but we know what makes inflation worse: massive government spending, and that is exactly what we are getting as we speak.

President Biden and congressional Democrats spent $1.9 trillion on a stimulus bill that flooded the economy with cash just 2 months ago. Think about that--1.9 trillion. Now we want to spend trillions on a package in disguise of an infrastructure bill. And they are following this up by trillions more to fund items on the progressive priority list in the future.

Well, they are being confronted by the old truth: There is no such thing as a free lunch. Simple economics show that when the supply of something goes up, the value goes down. Money is no different.

President Biden's policies are pumping our economy with money we simply don't have to spend, and that is the definition of inflation: making money lose its value. It is the natural result of the policies that we passed in this Chamber in the last few months.

That is why Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary and adviser to Presidents Clinton and Obama, warned that the Biden stimulus would be ``the least responsible macroeconomic policy we've had in the last 40 years.'' Remember, he worked for

two Democratic Presidents. I couldn't agree more with Mr. Summers.

Democrats learned the wrong lesson from the financial crisis in 2008. They thought the recovery was slow because the government spent too little. They have been determined to spend much more this time around. The economic recovery from the pandemic was already well underway when the Democrats passed their massive stimulus in March--$1.9 trillion.

Thanks to the bipartisan emergency relief bills passed under President Trump, the economy had stabilized by yearend. We were in the middle of the most rapid economic recovery on record, but the Democrats' out-of-control spending is putting the recovery at risk, and it is the American families who will pay the price in the end.

In addition to a reckless monetary policy, they want to raise taxes on all of us, including small businesses and family farms, to fund this spending spree. They want to undo the Tax and Jobs Cuts Act passed by the Senate Republicans and signed into law by President Trump.

These Republican tax cuts helped create the best economy in a generation. They created countless opportunities for hard-working Americans. Unemployment was at historic lows. Blue-collar wages rose faster than white-collar wages for the first time in history.

If they repeal the Republican tax cuts, Democrats will be encouraging American companies to move overseas. Job creators will have to pay more taxes at the same time as they are recovering from the pandemic, and the tax increases being proposed will be passed on to working Americans in the form of higher prices and lower wages.

In fact, the only people Democrats want to lower taxes for are the people who are high earners in New York, California, and New Jersey. Higher taxes, combined with the Democrats' inflation, would be a one- two knockout punch of our Nation's economic recovery.

It only takes one match to start a brush fire. Rather than taking commonsense steps to fight inflation, Democrats are preparing for it by dumping lighter fluid on the entire field. President Biden styles himself as the second coming of FDR, but he is looking more like Jimmy Carter every day.

Americans my age will remember Carter's Presidency and how tough those times were for working families. I hope we can avoid repeating history, but that means we need to take action, and we need to take action now. I urge my Democratic colleagues to reexamine their misplaced priorities and keep pro-worker tax and spending policies in place.

Let's work together on practical ways to get our economy and our country back to work.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today I would like to speak on some amendments I have for this bill. I think it is important that we are all heard on this bill, that everybody gets an opportunity to understand what we are doing here. I think the people back home in Alabama would really appreciate that. I am getting a lot of emails and letters about things that are going on with this bill, and I just want the people back home to understand what we are laying out there to where we can--our people back in Alabama understand the direction that we are taking.

You know, I spoke recently about how the President's skinny budget is disappointing and dangerous and a disservice to our men and women in uniform.

China actively seeks to outpace the U.S. military, and in some cases, they are succeeding. This isn't a 5- or 10-year problem; the threat is right now. It is no secret that the Chinese Communist Party, or the CCP, wants to replace the United States as the world's top power.

The American people need to be aware of how the Chinese Communist Party is coming after us--not just with missiles and military might but with plans to subdue the American spirit.

A significant part of what has made the United States a global powerhouse is the strength and resilience of our private sector companies. Whether it is in the technology, healthcare, or energy sector, American innovation is unravelling. It is what made us the greatest economy in the history of the world.

China's leaders know this, but rather than go head-to-head in an honest competition, they have settled for stealing our intellectual property. Chinese businesses, at the instruction of their government, lure American companies in. They offer cheap--very cheap--labor. They promise an exchange of ideas, but they really want to steal our valuable intellectual property.

China's strategy is to rob, replicate, and replace. China robs American companies of their intellectual property. They replicate our technology. They will go after whatever they can to get their hands on wind turbines, airplane designs, underwater drones, chemicals, or artificial intelligence technology.

According to the Department of Justice, between 2011 and 2018, more than 90 percent of the Department's foreign economic espionage cases involved China. Their goal is to surpass the U.S. economy and gain a monopoly control over every major industry. We cannot allow them to succeed.

Even more alarming is what China is doing from within our own universities. Confucius Institutes currently operate at 55 American colleges and universities. They actually serve as a beachhead for the Chinese Government within America's research institutions. Often, just the presence of a Confucius Institute on campus will enable Chinese officials to stifle any criticism of the Chinese Government at that university.

The institutes also allow the Chinese Government to harvest valuable data from research being conducted at our country's world-class institutions. I was also glad to see Alabama A&M, a public land-grant, historically Black university, make the decision to close their Confucius Institute just last month.

The United States and the entire Western world have given China valuable concessions for decades. We gave China a seat at the table thinking they would change, but they have played their hand ruthlessly. It is past time we recognize that despite all the good intentions, this strategy has failed and failed miserably. The Chinese Communist Party has continually spied on its citizens, violently suppressed dissent, and systematically persecuted religious and ethnic minorities to the point of genocide.

I sincerely hope President Biden will continue to build on the Trump administration's momentum in pushing back against China's aggressive rise.

The TSP, or the Thrift Savings Plan, is the 401(k)-style investment plan that over 6 million Federal Government employees, both military and civilian, use for their retirement plan. The plan manages more than $700 billion in assets.

Back in 2017, the Board that governs the TSP decided to invest billions in companies with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Now, the people who put money in this are all of our

military in this country, all our civilian government officials, including everybody in this room, in Congress, anybody who works for the Federal Government. This is their 401(k). Do we want to be investing in China?

We need congressional action to make President Trump's decision with the Thrift Savings Plan permanent. I bet if you ask folks who work at these buildings or who served the United States overseas if they want their retirement savings going to Chinese companies, you would hear a loud no.

I will be offering a solution on this to protect our national security and safeguard the retirements of those who have served our country with honor and distinction.

The problem with the companies that are being invested in in China-- they don't go by the same rules we go by. They commit corporate espionage. They don't go by the same standards of unity or same standards in banking. They take money from the Federal Government and from our employees to support the military in China.

In October 2019, Senators Rubio and Sheehan sent a letter to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board regarding the fact that the Board had reversed a previous decision to keep TSP investment out of China. The Senators urged the Board to maintain the previous decision, citing human rights and forced labor violations in China, among other issues.

I will read that letter now and ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record

To the Honorable Michael Kennedy, Chairman, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Kennedy:

We write in advance of the Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board's upcoming October 28, 2019 meeting to urge

the reversal of the Board's previous decision to track the

MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Investable Market Index, (ACWI

ex-US IMI) fund for investments made in the Thrift Savings

Plan . . . International Stock Fund. . . . As noted in

previous correspondence, this decision would effectively

invest the retirement savings of America's civil servants and

military personnel in constituent companies of the ACWI ex-US

IMI that assist in the Chinese government's military

activities, espionage, and human rights abuses, as well as

many other Chinese companies that lack basic transparency.

The constituent firms of MSCI ACWI ex-US IMI include

military contractors to the People's Liberation Army, like

the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and China Unicom,

which supply military aircraft and telecommunications support

to militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea. It

also includes firms like Hangzhou Hikvision Digital

Technology, which was recently added to the U.S. Department

of Commerce's Entity List and produces surveillance equipment

the Chinese government currently uses to oppress and detain

approximately one million Uighur Muslims and other religious

minorities, as well as ZTE Corporation, which was fined last

year for violating U.S. sanctions law for business activity

with Iran and North Korea and which Congress has enacted a

law to prohibit the U.S. federal government from procuring.

Additionally, the basic financial hazards of investment in

firms listed on Chinese exchanges are well documented. A

recent accounting scandal involving one of China's biggest

accounting firms . . . highlights the extent of the

irregularities in the financial markets to which federal

employees may soon be exposed.

It is our responsibility to these public servants to ensure

that the investment of their retirement savings does not

undermine the American interests for which they serve.

We look forward to the Board's reversal of this decision.

It is signed by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen; U.S. Senator Mitt Romney, U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, and U.S. Senator Rick Scott.

I wrote an op-ed a few weeks ago about this very situation--a very unusual situation where we were uplifting the Chinese economy with Federal tax dollars. I would like to read that to you now.

The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2021:

If I walked into Byron's Smokehouse in Auburn, Ala., and

asked folks if they'd want their retirement savings invested

in Chinese companies, I'd get laughed out of the restaurant.

So why would we allow the federal Thrift Savings Plan, which

serves approximately six million government employees and

retirees, including [our] military. . . . to do just that?

The board that governs the TSP wants to invest a

considerable portion of its more than $700 billion in assets

in companies with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

President Trump stopped that move from going into effect last

year, but with a new president in office, the order blocking

the board's decision no longer carries weight.

This amendment says that in the future, no matter who the President is, we will not invest pension money from the Federal Government and our military into Chinese businesses.

Continuing:

Congressional action is needed to provide a permanent

solution, rather than relying on the whims of executive

action. That's why I am introducing the Prohibiting TSP

Investment in China Act. This bill would bar TSP funds from

being invested in any security of an entity based in China or

in a subsidiary that is owned or operated by a Chinese

company.

Blocking investment of federal retirement savings in

Chinese companies is good for U.S. national security and good

for investors. We shouldn't be funneling capital to firms

that routinely violate U.S. sanctions laws and actively

enable the Chinese Communist Party's military expansion and

persecution of religious minorities. Chinese companies have a

long history of putting investors at serious risk by

manipulating financial reporting statements and failing to

comply with basic audit standards to artificially inflate

their performance.

The Luckin Coffee incident is a prime example. The

Securities and Exchange Commission found that Luckin, the

largest coffee chain in China, defrauded U.S. investors by

lying about the firm's performance and inflating retail sales

by more than $300 million. Luckin settled with the SEC by

agreeing to pay a $180 million fine, but Americans who

invested their retirement savings in funds exposed to

Luckin's deception lost [hundreds of] millions [of dollars].

China-based companies whose stock is traded on U.S.

exchanges are prohibited by Beijing from complying with U.S.

securities and financial-reporting standards. The Chinese

government also blocks U.S. regulators at the Public Company

Accounting Oversight Board from conducting standard

inspections of the Chinese offices of international audit

firms. Congress put investor protections in place for a

reason. If a company is not in compliance, investors are at

risk.

China's refusal to allow its companies to comply with basic

investor safeguards is cause enough to prohibit the

investment of government-employee retirement funds in China

firms, but there are additional reasons to take pause.

Chinese contractors are supplying Beijing's military

buildup, enabling aggressive action in the South China Sea

and toward land-

based neighbors like Vietnam and India. These firms also

supply the Chinese government with equipment used to spy on

its citizens and commit genocide against religious

minorities, like the Uyghurs of Xinjiang province. Not a

single U.S. dollar should be contributed to the Communist

Party's continuing human-rights abuses.

The American people recognize the economic and military

threat China poses to the U.S. The Prohibiting TSP Investment

in China Act would advance our national-security interests

and restrict funds from flowing to firms beholden to China's

communist regime.

I have got one more article I want to read on the TSP bill warning that U.S. investment props up the Chinese military, supports political and religious persecution. This article comes from Breitbart.

[Today in] an appearance on FBN's ``Mornings with Maria,''

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) touted an effort to stop

investment from the Thrift Savings Fund into securities

linked to the Chinese economy.

The so-called Prohibiting TSP Investment in China Act would

stop halt that investment, which according to the Alabama

Republican lawmaker, could be used in a way to further

China's aggressive tactics on the world stage.

``[I] can remember back in 2017, you talked a lot about

this,'' he said. ``And President Trump, you know, there's a

board of five people that control the pension fund, this

pension fund is government workers, federal workers, such as

Congress, myself, and all of [us on Capitol Hill, government

workers, and includes] $700 billion.

So what we want to do is make sure that we don't prop up

the military, of the Chinese nor their political and

religious persecution. . . . We want to go with companies

that are going to go by the rules, fight for democracy. And

at the end of the day, this legislation pretty much says,

this is a message that sends zero tolerance to the Chinese to

block their aggression towards United States and the rest of

the world.

On defense spending, our job as elected officials is to make sure those who have stepped up to defend our country have the resources they need to do their job. The President's recent budget proposal for the Department of Defense does not--I repeat, does not--give our men and women in uniform the tools to do their job.

It is clear that President Biden thinks we don't need further investment in our military. If it is clear, he thinks it is OK to ask our men and women to do more with less, and that is impossible.

The world has changed a lot in 50 years. When President Biden first came to Washington in 1972, there were two superpowers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Back then, we spent 6.5 percent of our Federal budget on national defense--6.5 percent. Today, we spend less than 3.5 percent--a huge drop.

Secretary Austin has said that China remains the top ``pacing threat'' for our military.

Simply keeping pace with China is not enough. We have got to outpace all of our adversaries, but doing that requires smart, substantial, and strategic investment in our military--much more investment than the President and many people here in Congress publicly propose.

President Biden says he wants his administration to trust the experts on things like COVID, but this defense budget shows he doesn't apply that same principle to the Pentagon.

Here is what ADM Charles Richard, Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, who is over our nuclear capabilities, said in last week's hearing to the Senate Armed Services Committee:

I have what I need to deter today. . . . But I need it

modernized. There's no remaining margin of error.

His warning is clear. We must modernize our greatest deterrent and keep peace among our adversaries with our nuclear arsenal. The free world, meaning the United States, works and sleeps under a nuclear umbrella that hasn't been updated to the digital age.

We are also in a new space race, and it is a race we have no choice that we must win. In the next 20 years, the total cost of just arming space will be $2 trillion, and we have no choice but to win in space.

The Chinese want to weaponize this new frontier of war, and we are falling behind. We are also falling behind Russia. We have got to make a change in attitude toward what we are doing in space, and it starts right here in this room.

I heard about the growing gap between us and the Chinese when I visited the Army Materiel Command at Redstone Arsenal a few weeks ago in Huntsville, AL. These folks shared with me how desperately we need to modernize our space-based systems that contribute to our missile defense. The U.S. Army is the largest consumer of space products, and our military relies on the Materiel Command to provide the resources to train our soldiers for research, development of new equipment, and defend our Nation. They should not have to beg us or the President of the United States for the money to invest in the capabilities that we need. At the end of the day, our generals' main report to us is, ``We can afford to survive.'' Think about that quote: ``We can afford to survive.''

We also need to invest in the safety of our service men and women, especially in aviation. Currently, the average age of an airplane in our military is older than the pilots flying it.

Alabama is home to Fort Rucker, to which every Army helicopter pilot comes to get their training. When I visited the folks at Fort Rucker, they told me about the very real need for increased flight training hours for pilots, which requires more investment and prioritization in the defense budget.

Alabama stands ready to continue to build our military so we can maintain our status as a preeminent fighting force in the world. We have hundreds of contractors and more than 200,000 employed in the defense sector across our State in Alabama. Those top-notch men and women support our world-class military installations, from the shipbuilders in Mobile to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and many places in between.

Telling our forces to fight a war with outdated tools is like giving a football team some leather helmets and decades old, poorly fitted pads and expecting them to compete against modern equipment. But that is exactly what this administration's defense budget is requesting our military to do. Frankly, it is a huge disappointment coming from our Commander in Chief. We cannot let our men and women down.

In the coming weeks, I will be working with colleagues on the National Defense Authorization Act and budget that will enable our military to do the job better today and prepare for all the challenges tomorrow. I am willing to keep fighting for the United States by investing in the men and women who keep us safe. I urge my colleagues and President Biden to do the same.

Empowering Law Enforcement Act

Mr. President, on supporting our law enforcement, being a law enforcement officer is, if not the toughest, one of the toughest jobs that there is. Sometimes it is taken for granted. But it is also foundational to a functioning society like the United States. We rely on these brave men and women to protect and serve our country every day. We are lucky to have many brave and honorable officers in all of our States across the country.

I think about Officer Jonathan Espino from the Decatur Police Department in Alabama. Last year, he responded to a medical call, a man trying to bring his mom back to life, trying to perform CPR. This officer took over for the man after he arrived and began CPR. Just before medical personnel arrived, the woman's heart started beating again and she was gasping for air. This officer saved her life. It could have been you, your mom, or one of your family.

And I think of Officer Wesley Harrison of the Abbeville Police Department in Alabama. Officer Harrison received a call that a woman was in a burning building. Officer Harrison arrived on the scene and, minutes later, after going into the building, came out carrying an elderly woman out of the structure, putting his life in danger, with the help of another investigator. These police officers went above and beyond the call of duty, and they saved her life.

That is what police officers do. So when you get up every day and you put that uniform on of a law enforcement officer across this country, no matter who you are, you put that badge on your chest, you put that gun on your side, it could be the last time that you walk out your front door.

Not many jobs have those things that could happen to you. Most of us have jobs where you go, you work, and you know when you are expected to go home every day. But not police officers, especially in this day and time.

Every day, we are having problems across this country where police officers are even set up. They are set up by the criminals, and they are shot and some are killed. That is what has happened to these law enforcement officers every day of their career, which is why I firmly believe we need not less but more support for law enforcement.

They need more training so they can be better at handling difficult situations, and this is especially true as we see an uptick of mental health addiction across this country. It is getting worse every day. They need targeted resources so they can recruit the best and the brightest for these important roles in the community and across our country. Let's, as a group, invest in the resources that can assure all law enforcement officers are truly good for the people across every State and across our country. We owe that to them. They keep us safe.

Right now, unless State and law enforcement agencies have an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, if a rural law enforcement sheriff or city official encounters an illegal immigrant in the course of performing their normal duties in their hometowns, they cannot arrest or detain that individual for immigration purposes.

I want you to think about that. This year we are going to have between 1 million and 2 million illegal immigrants come across our border. We don't know who they are. We don't know where they have been. We don't know if they have any skills. But they are coming across our border, and it is an amazing sight.

I spent a day down there watching this, watching our Customs and Border Protection agents not be agents or law enforcement. They were doing custodial work. They were doing things that they had to do just to process these men and women across our border.

And I say ``our border.'' I say ``coming across our border.'' I need to change that because, when I was at the border just a few weeks ago, that border does not belong to us anymore. It belongs to the cartel.

It costs $3,000 to $10,000 to come across the Rio Grande, sometimes maybe more. They are coming from countries all over the world. Some people think that they are just coming from countries south of our border--Mexico and in South America. That is totally false. They are coming from China. They are coming from the Middle East. They are coming from parts unknown, and we have no clue who these people are.

Just a few years ago--I have a farm in Auburn, AL. I raise deer. I can show you how to lose money. I have a high fence. I get a call one day from the police department--the sheriff's department--saying: Coach, we need you to come down to the sheriff's department.

So I go down. There had been a sting operation going on with a group of people who were not too far from my farm. They had a compound built. Unfortunately for their group, they had gone to Atlanta, which is an hour and a half away, to purchase some AR-15s on the street. So they were looking for gun sellers.

So, as they found out that they could buy these guns, they go back to their place just off my farm there in Auburn. Unfortunately for them, the FBI was undercover, and they followed them back and they busted them.

I can't remember the number--four, five, six--but they had a compound, and what they were doing? They were teaching people how to make bombs. Now, this is in Auburn, AL. This is not in New York City or Chicago, Orlando, or Miami. And they were building bombs and teaching people how to build bombs. Obviously, they were arrested. They were all from the Middle East and had no papers. Our country had no record of why they were here, how they got here, but they were here. We have these cells all over the country. That is the reason we need a secure border.

So right now, after they come across the border, we have what we call immigration police, better known as ICE. If you come across the border, the people who have authority over the people who come who are here illegally--ICE has the authority, not the local or State law enforcement. Now, they can work directly with them, but if State and local law enforcement come up on people who are illegal, they have no jurisdiction. That is what is wrong with our immigration laws.

Last year--or this last 5 months--ICE apprehensions have gone down 70 percent because of the rules and regulations that have been put on by this administration. We can't allow that to happen. We are losing the sanctity, the security, and the sovereignty of our country, and it is a domino effect. When they come in, they are sent all over the country.

When I left McAllen, TX, a few weeks ago to fly back, half the plane was full of people that were not Americans. They were people from other places, people who were here illegally. They were here with young kids. There were young mothers. And they were here without any family.

I sat next to a young lady who was probably 19 years old. She couldn't speak English. She had probably a 4- or 5-month-old with her. She cried the entire flight from McAllen, TX, to Houston. I helped her try to find her gate. She was going from Houston to Denver. I tried to get somebody there to explain to me and to her--to communicate--who is going to pick you up when you get there, trying to help her out.

She had no clue. She was just going to Denver with a 4- or 5-month- old. She had no clue about our country, about who to meet, who was going to feed her, what kind of job she was going to have, or what roof was going to be over her head. And if that doesn't shake you up, I don't know what does.

I love people. I have been in education all my life. I love kids. And we are doing these people wrong at the border. And if we don't wake up and smell the roses, we are going to have many, many thousands of deaths on our hands.

We all live in great societies and great homes and have money in our pocket. We have food to put in our mouth, and we take care of our kids. You imagine if this country went to heck in a hand basket and we had to go to Mexico with no money, no ID, no clue about their environment or their language. How would you make it? How would you make a living? How would you get by?

I promise you, the people down there could survive a lot better than us because they have had hard times. We are spoiled. We have everything given to us because we live in the greatest country on the face of the Earth. And I know some people are in poverty, but let me tell you something, the poorest people in our country have it a hundred times better than even the middle class in some of these other countries--the middle class.

So the Federal Government will not enforce these laws, and our State law enforcement officers should be empowered in any way possible that they can. So my Empowering Law Enforcement Act is about common sense. It is about giving the right to local and State law enforcement officers across this country to help out the illegals that have come in this country--not that we are against them. We love everybody in this country.

My God, folks, we have got to help them. We have got to help them. And if we just turn them out there with no sense of security and nobody who can help them--law enforcement cannot help them, unless it is ICE-- they are on their own. I can't imagine. I cannot imagine.

The border has been dominating the headlines, but if you talk to a lot of people, even in this room, you would think that it was a fairytale. We need to wake up and smell the roses. Everybody in this room, whether you are a Democrat, Libertarian, Republican--if you are an American, we should care about this border.

I am disappointed with our media in this country. They act like it is not even happening. They will have blood on their hands if this continues to happen.

We want to help. We want legal immigration. We are for people coming. We were all, at one point in time, immigrants. My gosh, folks, we have to wake up. We have to wake up and understand that we need to help and not hurt. If they are coming in, give us an opportunity--give us an opportunity to help, not just put them on an airplane, send them somewhere, and forget about them. That is not the way the American people do it.

There is a high school in Alabama. When I was campaigning, I went into

that high school, and we were talking about certain things, curriculum, and finally the superintendent said: Coach, when you get to Washington, DC, I want you to understand this. We have a great school system here. We want to help people. We have gone from 20 percent illegal immigrants in our school to almost 80 percent in a year and a half. Eighty percent. We can't help them. We don't have enough people who speak their language. If you can't communicate, you can't teach.

If we are going to do this, if we are going to have immigrants in this country, my gosh, let's put a plan together as a group of people who should care and help these people, help them get off to a life even half of what maybe we might have. That is our job. That is our responsibility. God put us on this green Earth to help people, not to help ourselves. We are all fortunate, but there are millions and millions of people who are less fortunate than us.

So as I say today, I want to help the people who are coming across the border. I want to help them. But if we don't have dialogue and we don't have media down there processing what is going on to where we can put pressure on our public officials all over this country, we will not be able to help them, and you are going to have people dying, and you are going to have people who are going to have blood on their hands.

I am one to stand up and say that I am willing to do anything in this venue to help the people coming across that border because it will make us a better country, and that is what we need. We need a better country because we are a country of immigrants. But right now, we are a country of spoiled brats is what we are. So let's help. The media needs to help. We all need to be on board with this.

I yield my time.