edges you not knowing it, it's completely discarded. so they very open and the hope that when they tell us all of this we are going to respond. there is a lesson for us which is us being american companies and a globally competitive environment we have to continue to build the best products in the business and let's say the manipulation of those products for ill anuse is secondary to t primary point which is we have to have the e best products in the acbusiness. >> this is a very marketable imperfect, make the best technology and let it win in the marketplace. we need to restrict people encourage or subsidize our tax to do that. taking this from a policy perspective china threat, billions of dollars they are putting into everything from ai to the timely systems for military, what are the policy levers that you see.

>> we are going to leave this to keep our over 46 year commitment to gavel to gavel coverage of congress. a live look from capitol hill as the senate is gambling and for legislative business this afternoon senators are expected to consider a trump administration state department omni including monica crowley's nomination to be chief of protocol. live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. >> ... plenteous in grace, and generous spal in love, we pause to confess our shortcomings. forgive us for speaking when we

should listen and for listening when we should speak. forgive us for waiting for opportunities instead of creating them. forgive us when we fail to ask you for mercy and grace to help us in our times of need. today, strengthen our senators for their journey. give them strong hearts and sound minds to do their ethical best in representing you. as they look to the future, give them the wisdom to join their plans to your will and to do your work on earth. we pray in your strong name. amen.

the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each.

mr. grassley: today i'm here in the senate honoring our nation's law enforcement officers during our 64th annual national police week. national police week presents an opportunity to show appreciation toward the men and women in blue for their sacrifice and selfless service and honor at the same time the fallen officers. every day men and women selfishless and courageously dedicate their lives to keeping america safe and sound.

they uphold our public safety and devote themselves to the pursuit of justice. their devotion merits our admiration, and we are deeply indebted to them. we especially honor the fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. this year we're honoring 234 law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty. the list of fallen includes two of my fellow iowans -- trooper jeffrey brown and senior police officer tran fukum. i want to make it crystal clear, i back the blue not just during police week, but year round. i like to say to them when i see

them, thank you for your service, and i'm not for defunding the police. to our law enforcement officers nationwide, thank you for your sacrifice, your service, and your dedication. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

a very strong week and a very strong weekend. let me say a few words about the historical events over the last few days. on saturday my administration had an immediate cease-fire and being a dangerous conflict of two nations and they were going at it hot and heavy in a very proud to let you know the leadership unwavering powerful and they had the fortitude to understand the gravity of the situation and helped a lot.

let's stop it. if you don't, we are going to do any trade. literally hughes trade the way i use it and they said i think we are going to stop. and they have. they did it for a lot of reasons. we are going to do a lot of trade with pakistan and india. he could have been about nuclear war, millions could have been killed. i want to thank them for their work and a situation where they

have ceased firing and let it be known they are not going to fire at american ships anymore. this was a heavy garage at approximately lasted 50 days and they been in more essentially forever. the last ten years tiffany difficult. they stopped and we take their word for it. we were satisfied with. in addition, we achieved a total reset with china and both will reduce tariffs, 10%, or 90 days

negotiated a couple of things so cars, steel and aluminum impose on pharmaceuticals because we want to bring these businesses back to the united states and they are coming back 25, 50 or one 100% tariffs. i spoke to tim cook this morning and he will up his numbers and build a lot of plants and we look forward to that. the relationship is very good.

as being hurt badly and a lot of unrest in very happy to do something and i will need to president xi jinping the end of the week. one of the biggest things we made a great trade deal, but it was a bigger deal originally and had a deal and they took it away cancel the whole thing. $50 billion worth of product,

people dollars 15. you got to get was about 15 billion and i thought he said 50 so they came back with the deal 15 and i said no way, 50. they said we didn't say that. i said go back and they gave us 50 and they are honoring the. the corn and wheat and everything and they were honoring the deal and when biden got in, they no longer are the deal. i recall on an average of once every two weeks, speeded up and our farmers were doing but it

was a very good deal. the best part of the deal was that we opened the china and it would have been it's a great thing and they would be able to see things they've never seen it with unity in china and the united states the bottom line they canceled it last day they get a little angry that was ready to be signed and they said they don't want to sign opening up, china and they've agreed to do that but it will take a while

but some people's agree, especially when you add will be have. it's not included members. we could go and and compete with china so that is an important element to add. i said if we don't get it, we don't get it. get it, the most important agree

open up our china you restrictions and they fully open china and i think it will be fantastic great for unification. china will spend monetary there's an they've agreed to open up, china for everybody. and it was dead in about hours

and it's a fantastic job. and the special's personality. he has been fantastic. they will be releasing two hours and they thought he was dead. so happy the only american

citizen captured and held hostage by hamas the home to his parents which is great news. they thought he was dead. i movd to calendar number 66 -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: and i move, mr. president, to proceed to calendar number 66, s. 1582. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 66, s. 1582, a bill to provide for the regulation of payments, stablecoins and other purposes. mr. thune: mr. president, i understand that there is a bill at the desk due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the

leader is correct. the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 276, an act to rename the gulf of mexico as the gulf of america. mr. thune: mr. president, in order to place the bill on the cancered under the provision of -- on the calendar under the provision of rule 14, i object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the item will be placed on the calendar. mr. thune: mr. president, before i begin, wasn't to mention longtime supreme court justice david suitor who died on -- david souter who died on thursday. and cardinal robert prevost who became pope leo xiv, and i extend my congratulations on his election and my prayers for his service. i know his election is particularly moving for american catholics, who for the first time in history will be led by an american-born pope. i'm very happy for them. and i look forward to seeing what this son of the midwest

brings to the catholic church and to the world. mr. president, on thursday afternoon, democrats abruptly ended extensive bipartisan works on the genius act and filibustered the senate's attempt to move this bill. democrats, who had voted for the bill in committee, inexplicably chose to vote against it here on the senate floor. mr. president, that's pretty difficult to understand. providing a regulatory framework for stablecoins is a bipartisan issue. the bill is the product of a bipartisan negotiation. and the vote in the banking committee was definitely bipartisan. which leads you to wonder, of course, if this was really about the bill at all or if this was about wanting to deny president trump or republicans more generally a pledges lative victory -- a legislative

victory. which might be nice for democrats, but leaves stablecoin issuers and americans who use them in the same difficult spot they're in, but unfortunately, it's pretty clear obstructing, not legislating, is the democrats' priority right now. mr. president, until democrats come to their senses and allow us to proceed to the genius act, we're going to turn to nominations. another area where, unfortunately, democrats have made obstruction the name of the game. i certainly understand democrats are not going to support all the president's nominees. that's their prerogative as senators. but the way that they are drawing out this process on even noncontroversial nominations is serving no one. 57 out of the 58 of the president's civilian nominees have required cloture votes. an unprecedented number for recent administrations. of those 57 nominees, 17

received 60 or more votes in support on their final confirmation vote. in other words, support from a number of democrats as well as republicans. yet, democrats dragged out another nominations in the same way they dragged out the nominations of individuals that they universally opposed. not a single one of president trump's civilian nominees has been confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote. again, something entirely unpress dented in -- unprecedented in recent years. no other president since at least 1977 has failed to have civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote at this point of his administration. except, except for president trump in his first term in office. as i said, this is serving no one, mr. president. nor is this going to prevent the president's nominees from getting confirmed. democrats can drag out

nominations all they want, but we're going to fill out the president's administration and ensure his nominees get into place so they can do the job, and that he can do the job he was elected to do. i'd like to do this the easy way and confirm noncontroversial nominees expeditiously, in batches. for example, maybe even by unanimous consent. that will give us more time to legislate and members more time to spend in their states. but if we have to do this the hard way, we will. we're going to get the president's team in place. so i guess, mr. president, democrats have some decisions to make. i hope, i really hope, that they'll come back to the table on the genius act, and i hope that they will cease their pointless obstruction of bipartisan nominees. but i guess we'll have to see.

mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. throughout the european madness. a friend of mine is a

businessman, a brilliant businessman and is he said used to call me donald. a very successful rich guy said i'm in london and i just paid for this factor i take, it's not working. he said i just paid $88 new york i paid 1300, what is going on? he said i checked the same box made in the same place by the same company in america and i'm

paying 1500 but is not familiar. he was stunned. i brought it up with the truck bernice and again, just submitted. they have been justified in the research and develop for the benefit and they need the price and they cancel it and our

country so walk away and the cost of drugs is all and it is drug that is much more than 59%, but between 59 and 80 and even 90% of i got prices down to like 2%, we are getting them down, 60, 70, 80, 90% but actually more.

i will not be able to do this any longer. it would be very tough. and this is the democrats the house and i called a leader in the senate and i said when you score, you will have to score the hundreds of billions of dollars of tariffs it's coming in for your cost of medicaid, medicare, and thing they've never seen before and you see

the old and don't a lot of money left over although the world is a lot bigger today save the fence six months ago. people have no clue what they were doing so, americans spend 70% more than in 2000. our country has the highest drug prices than anywhere in the world. eight to ten times higher so you go ten times more expensive and the world's population the pharmaceutical companies with

4%. and it is on this and it is a fair system. nobody really understood why. for years pharmaceutical companies have set research and development costs for what they are, no reason whatsoever was by america alone subsidizing systems in the all european.

i also see that your opinion nastier than china started with them. they will come down a lot, just watch. they treated as unfairly. their agricultural and it's very unfair and paid less, that's all it is. they will make sure same, pretty much the same money and they

should be affected america is going to pay a lot less so what we are doing is equalizing and we are all going to pay the same. there may be countries and dire need was the most favorite nation, the lowest price there is an the world. whoever is paying the most, that is the price we give so we are no longer paying ten times more

than another country. we will look at the price and say that is the price we are going to pay most favored nations, the cost 16000 of all the same drug from the same fauci manufactured by the same company one tenth for the identical product so $40 in the united kingdom small amount for his shot $40 versus 500 and that

one example. what did we do successfully never had president of god is not so well and i don't think it is fair that the failure. work. they have choice start with work

is by 80 or 90%. on the split democrats have fought for the drug companies and they knew they were doing the wrong thing to the front to be hard. everything is going to be very hard to bid against the deal and the greatest ever but now you have to drug prices because that will be included and makes the whole situation different.

it will be monumental but this is quickly. i signed executive order to confront this disaster, but only in a minor way. it was never to the success it took people a while to understand, but joe biden terminated policy and pretended to negotiate under some and five out of the ten drugs negotiated now over to 100% more expensive and far more than even when he got involved and directing the

u.s. trade representative to begin that exports but blocking products and low dollar amount unfairly shifting onto american patients and we will take a look at that strongly. we are going to tell those countries like those represented by the european the game is up, sorry. they'll have to sell cars into the united states anymore. this is what we are going to

pay, we will not pay any more. it was a horrible and that's what we did but not anymore. my administration will secure what we call the principal and there are certain countries that additional help and that is fine. some pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately 50 to 80 to 90% and they will abide for the power of the federal government to ensure we are paying the same price as of the countries. cut out the who they are but

they are rich, facilitate the sale of drugs directly to the american citizen cutting up the middle man is so important. they don't even make a product. i think i am wasting time talking about it and insist because they do a lot of trading with us and it needed it very badly will do what we have to with trade.

the helped the situation. they want to do business with america we never did that. putting dramatic downward pressure durbin: are we in a quo call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that it be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, last week hospital leaders from every corner of my state of illinois came to washington. what was the reason for the trip? the debate in washington about

the future of medicaid. each and every one of them from the city of chicago through the most rural areas of the state was concerned about plans by the republicans in congress to change the funding for medicaid. from the south side of chicago to macomb in west central illinois, as well as rockford, 20 miles from the illinois border, carbondetail, they came to see me. they are small critical access hospitals in rural areas, treating the poorest patients and there are large teaching hospitals in downtown chicago. they're all doufd on medicaid -- focused on medicaid. all of them told me medicaid cuts that republicans put on the table would be devastating to hospitals in every corner of my state. devastating to the doctors and

nurses they employ and especially hurtful to the patients and their families. one told me it is the only hospital in a 60-mile radius that delivers babies. if republican plans to cut medicaid go through, this life and death care could be out of reach for mothers. another safety net hospital told me they would have to close their doors all together if medicaid cuts happened. why? why would republicans in congress even want to jeopardize health care and ring alarm bells in hospitals across america? they're trying to, quote, save $880 billion. well, what is the critical need to save that? to perpetuate the tax breaks of the trump administration for the wealthiest people in america. yep, that's the game plan. that's right. president trump and his billionaire buddy, elon musk,

richest man in the world, have asked republicans in congress to provide a massive giveaway to the wealthiest americans, and they want to use medicaid cuts as the piggy bank. let's be clear. this is not a health care reform plan to improve our health care system or lower costs for families and patients. nope. republicans are look to dismantle the basic medicaid program to help tax cuts for billionaires. don't take my word for it. it's not just another political speech. last week the nonpartisan congressional budget office issued a bombshell report. i'm sure the republicans in charge of the house and senate didn't anticipate this. the congressional budget office reviewed the republican plans to cut medicaid and determined the only way republicans can save

money is by removing millions of americans from this health insurance. slashing benefits or cutting access to doctors, nurses and dentists. for weeks republicans have been adamant that they're only focused on addressing waste, fraud, and abuse from medicaid. then comes the cbo report. i -- if there's inappropriate spending, fix it, but that's not what's happening here and i think the republican majority knows it. the congressional budget office called their bluff and confirmed, these medicaid cuts proposed by the republicans are not about waste and efficiency, they're about restricting access of coverage to patients, all across the united states, including my state of illinois. under republicans' watch, cbo stated that 13.7 million americans will have their health insurance coverage terminated. almost 14 million americans will

lose health care coverage if the republicans go forward with their plan. what is the acceptable number of constituents losing health coverage for republicans? nationwide, half of all rural hospitals are already in the red and more than 300 rural hospitals are facing immediate closure, including 26 in kansas, 22 in alabama, 21 in texas, nine in missouri. how many rural hospitals closing in their states are republicans willing to accept to help perpetuate tax breaks for the wealthiest americans? let me tell you, as a person from downstate illinois, rural hospitals are the backbone of the community. not only are they critical places for emergency medical care, they are the anchors of the local economy. speaking of the economy, one of the ways republicans plan to cut

medicaid is by imposing burdensome medicaid requirements. put paperwork in the path of an individual looking for medicare, pile it up, make if hard. pitched by republicans as simply work requirements, this policy with holds health care for eligible patients until they meet overly complex paperwork requirements. it's a failing strategy. in the states that have tried the so-called work requirements, there's been no increase in employment. the only impact has been patients ruled ineligible, kicked off medicaid because they were drowning in paperwork. what a way to run a country. here's an example. a waitress with diabetes misses the paperwork deadline because the forms were sent to her old address. she loses her medicaid coverage and can't access her

medications. and is forced to miss work to deal with it. one analysis determined that approximately three million manufacturing, ail cultural and service sector workers could become uninsured under the simply make sure they're going to work plan. who thinks that's a good idea? yesterday house republicans spent mother's day scheming on how to advance these medicaid cuts. finally releasing a copy of their legislation so we can see the detail. it's as catastrophic as we feared. it is the largest cut in medicaid in the nation's health history. ripping health insurance away from millions of americans in every single state. but it's not too late for a few republicans. it only takes a few, four in the house, four in the senate to step up and say they don't want to be part of this. if they will stand up and say no, we will not risk the health care for millions of americans

as bargaining chips for billionaire tax breaks. medicaid provides health insurance for one out of every four people in my state of illinois. 3.4 million people. including one and a half million children. medicaid pays to deliver half of all the babies in my state, half of them. two thirds of the seniors in nursing homes depend on medicaid. if medicaid is not helping to pay for that nursing home or care for seniors, what's going to happen to grandma? grandfathers? those that are affected by it? it's the largest funder of opioid addiction treatment. remember the image of elon musk, the richest man in the world, laughing gleefully as he danced around a stage with a chainsaw in his hand? the richest man in the world was laughing out loud about his

chainsaw cuts to medicaid. well, these cuts are no laughing matter for that rural hospital worrying about have to close its mental health services. they're no laughing matter for the pregnant woman forced to drive more than an hour to deliver her baby because the local hospital shuttered its obstetrics unit. wipe that smile off your face, mr. musk. we're talking about life and death health care for america's working families. mr. president, i yield the floor.

to be included in this. >> thank you, mr. president. on behalf of many doctors cannot thank you for taking the bull by the horns. you have had the courage, thank you. i've been an oncologist for 22 years and i've seen patients

suffer. we watch their life get ruined financially. their home, mortgage, retirement going down the drain but still functioning campaigns raising money from church communities and synagogues and friends they haven't seen in 20 years to try to raise money for what? the system where americans have been doing ripped off by ten, 12, 15 times higher prices than other countries? we had noncompetitive markets. we can do little things around the edges, or transform the markets and that's what this does today. imagine buying a board for $175,000 regular car and hearing people in london by it for 10000 everyday all day long and we are going to do everything we can to

support the executive order. >> thank you very much. we'll start with the houthis. many deals are coming in, but we will set the price. our country is going to be making a lot of money. taxes are going to go down substantially. today i'm heading over iran and the things happening there.

right now they are acting, very intelligent. very simple. i mean business and they are being reasonable. don't underestimate, he's going to be a great host and we are doing work with him. we want to give a fresh start. we will make that determination.

i insisted that place and it is. i don't know where i'm going to be thursday, i've been in so many meetings. 5000 lives a week, really more than that, it's worse than that. separated by 30 yards doesn't make sense so we are working hard to and that.

>> if a longer-term deal is not reached at the end of the 90 days, can expect him to go back up to 145%? >> nobody would go up substantially higher. a go because of fentanyl and other things but they are substantially higher. i think you will have the deal however. >> has the asked for anything in exchange? how can the american people be so sure? >> what happens in a we are very disappointed taking so long to build. we have a new air force one of bills.

it's not even the same ballgame. the united states of america is like from a different planet and that might be more than 40 years old. when i first came in, i signed an order to build from the obama administration and man-made change orders so ridiculous in the ended up being a real mess. when i came back, i said, what is going on with the boeings? they were way behind it is going

to be a while before we get them. we have helped them a lot over the years in terms of security and safety. i have a lot of respect for the leadership and they knew about it. they buy a lot of boeings and they know about it and said we'd like to do think we can get a 747 as a contribution to the defense department and a couple of years what building the other ones, that was a nice gesture. i could be a stupid person saying we don't want a free thing, take it and it says out. we have 40-year-old aircraft. we spend on those astronomical,

he wouldn't even believe it so it is a great gesture and i appreciate it very much. i would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. i could be stupid and say we don't want a free and expensive airplane but i thought it was a great gesture because we continue, saudi arabia, uae others, we them safe. if it wasn't for us, they probably wouldn't exist right now and it was a gesture of good faith. someday ronald reagan, they decommissioned and it will go my library. i thought it was a great gesture and something done by dragon.

it has made the library more successful. [inaudible] >> it would go directly to the library. >> do you expect any progress? >> we hope we will have other hostages released. when i met with the hostages three weeks ago when they were there, mostly young people, one or two were a little older and they were explaining the trials and tribulations, they went

through hell. i asked how many were there and they said 15 on. 59. but then a follow-up thing 59 of which 24 are living and the rest are dead. but the people's son, i think one dollar but mostly sons, they want the dead bodies as much as they want that live bodies, i have a mother who calls me, came up to me when i met her and she said please get my son out, he's dead, but they have his body and i asked her and it's as though he were alive, the level of wanting that body back as though he were alive so getting the bodies back is very important. it could have to do with religion for i was amazed at the

level of importance, the same as if the son or husband or whoever, they said 59. they came in with a number, 59, with a sign on their chest, they thanked me for getting them out. i said, what does 59? is it 59 people but 24 are living. now it's 21. ... the number is 21.

. we think we are getting him today. funny live hostages there. the rest are dead bodies. >> are you open to negotiating your tariffs on cars with china or any other country? >> we will do it without even talking about that. we in the car business back into this country. they have already started construction on many plants. they have left mexico in a few cases. they will not build in canada, they will build in here. the tariffs have been amazing. the election, november 5 was a big day and on top of that, of course you would not have the tariffs geared we have at least 11 committed massive car factories that will be built

that are in the process of being built. we have renovations of existing factors where they were not utilizing from years gone by and now they are under full renovation opening up full factories in a very short period of time. i think we will have the number one industry if you look at japan and these others, they do tremendously with cars. they can do that, too. if they want to sell cars in the united states they will have to build factories in the united states. i am interested in cars in the united states. in our tax bill, giving not only no tax on tips, no tax on social security, no tax on overtime, but we will also get a deduction for people to borrow money to buy a car. if it is made in america. if it is not, we have no

interest. >> if president putin does not talk to these talks, will you join on putting higher sanctions >> if i thought it would be important towards getting the deal done, i am the one that insisted towards a meeting. one said cease-fire once said no cease-fire. i said, look. at this point, we have to stop it. just go to the meeting. i do not know where i will be at that particular point. someplace in the middle east. i would fly there if i thought that it would be helpful. >> welcoming them as refugees. all refugee admissions for people at the door. countries like sudan and the democratic congo. why are you creating an expedited path into the country for congress but not others. >> because they are being killed we do not want to see people be

killed. south africa leadership is coming to see me i understand sometime next week. you know, we are supposed to have a g20 meeting there. we are having a g to 20 meeting, i don't know how we can go unless that situation is taken care of. it is a genocide taking place that you people do not want to write about. it is a terrible thing taking place. farmers are being killed. they happen to be white. whether they are white or black, it makes no difference to me. white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in south africa. in the newspapers and the media and television media does not even talk about at the if it were the other way around they talk about it. that would be the only story they would talk about the i do not care who they are. caring about their height and weight. i don't care about anything. what is happening is terrible.

people that lived in south africa. a terrible situation taking place. we have extended citizenship to those people. to escape from that violence and come here. >> are you letting china off the hook for these 90 days. do you really believe that they will follow through with nontariff barriers. >> i think that they will follow through. i think they wanted very badly. this does not include the steel tariffs that i put through a long time ago. too much money. you know, i took in hundreds of billions of dollars from china. we put on the tariffs originally if i did not do that we would not have the industry. it will be thriving much more with what we are doing because this is the next level. it does not include that. does not include cars. does not include pharmaceuticals the reason we are doing that is to get them back in the country.

i always say because a lot of people forget. if a company like eli lilly which is making a massive investment in the united states right now, they have already started like seven of them. many plants. they will not be terrorist. so they are all doing that. they are all coming back to the united states. i hope i get the benefit of watching this as president because it takes a little while to do this stuff. and we are doing it early in the administration. i believe that we have a real total. over $10 trillion committed for plants and factories. other administrations 1 trillion over a four-year period. even over an eight year period. we have over 10 trillion

committed and one form or the other over two months. give me a break on the first month. if you think about it is really two months. we have an investment already of over $10 trillion. other presidents have not had that done over a year. over four years, in some cases. it is unprecedented. there's never been anything like it. thank you very much, everybody. [inaudible question] i have to agree. i have a feeling. >> who in the administration is in charge of that while you are going. >> i am from the standpoint -- i

think it is the best group ever assembled. in terms of medical, a tremendous cut. i know that you will see it in medicaid and medicare. that cut will be massive. drugs are 50-60% of the cost. medicaid costs are going down. it will happen. the other countries have no choice. they'll have to say if you don't pay more we will not give you the drugs. we have to equalize. >> price control is from before. price control is what they were doing. they were making us pay. they set a price and they said here is what we will pay. anything else charge america.

because at that time they had a very stupid president. they really went crazy during the last four years. remember this. they were the ones that where the protector of this system. i think that it will be very hard. ufs democrats are they going to vote against the great big beautiful deal that is being negotiated, tax cuts and et cetera, now on top of the tax cuts and regulation cuts, all the things. now you will say that the price of your medicine is going down by 60, 70, 80%. you will vote against it? i think a lot of democrats will be forced to do something that their leaders will beg them not to do and that is vote for the bill. how can they vote against it when drug prices, drugs and pharmaceuticals will be down 70, 80%. it will be really interesting. >> viewing that luxury jet is a

personal gift to you. >> fake news. only abc. let me tell you. you should be embarrassed asking that question. they are giving us a free jet. i want to pay you a billion or 400 million or whatever it is. or i could say thank you very much. you know. a great golfer. he had a motto. you say thank you very much. you pick up your ball. a lot of people are stupid. they say no, i insist. the partner gets angry at them. you know what, remember that. sam sneed. they pick you up and you say

thank you very much. >> have you ever been given a gift worth millions of dollars. >> not a gift to me, a gift to the department of defense. >> here is the bill. come on up here. [applause] thank you very much

good afternoon, everybody. i am here with the acting administrator. i appreciate him being here with me. we want to talk and frank as well, we have all been reporting and seeing what is happening at newark airport. i think that it is clear that the blame belongs with the last administration. people will judge and joe biden did nothing to fix the system that they knew was broken. i want to lay out how we got here, what is going on in newark

and what our plan is to actually fix it in this trump administration who by the way fix his problems, does not cause problems. in july of 2024 moving control of the new york newark airspace from new york or also known as and 92 philadelphia tower or the philadelphia trach on. as part of the move the star system that processes radar data for newark remained based in new york city move it from new york down to philly where the controllers would be. redundant feeds this data from new york to philadelphia where controllers handle new york arrivals and departures. they bundled this move without properly hardening the telecom lines feeding the data. which was already well-known to

be error-prone. without addressing the underlying infrastructure they added more risk to the system. in fact, there are issues in october and november under biden and buddha judge that would have highlighted to the prior administration that the underlying hardware would continue to cause problems. that along with the overall neglect of our whole aviation system and the aging issues that we have highlighted over the course of the last several weeks were clear mistakes of the administration. so, let's talk about where we are now. what is going on in newark. a trio of recent equipment issues on april 28, may 9 and may 11 affected communication radar displays highlighting the antiquated nature of the nation 's air traffic control system which is still using copper wires and other outdated technology.

the incident on april 28 and maf outages that impacted the stars, radar data displays going down. the most serious of these outages lasted approximately 30 seconds. this includes the stars radar displays going down for 30 seconds. they took approximately 60 seconds to reboot and come back online. so, there is been some discrepancy 30 seconds versus 90 seconds. the displays took another minute to boot. that is where you get 30 and 90 seconds. the telecom was out for 90 seconds. the outage also interrupted the phone line and radio frequencies for a very short period. this is how controllers talk with pilots. radiofrequency connections to phone lines via boy switches are the primary way those controllers talk to pilots. these returned almost

immediately which is why you heard pilots actually telling airplanes that they could not see them with the radar. they could not see the radars on the airplanes on their scopes. these issues along with staffing shortages at philadelphia and runway construction at newark have led to the delays for passengers. so, in response on friday night the faa implemented the software update to prevent huger outages. the software patch was successful. our redundant lines are now both working. we know this because on sunday there was an outage and you all reported on that. the outage was the mainline went down, but the redundant line did stand up meaning our patch, our six works. because of that they had seen at the prior two times. seeing the mainline go down. even though they could see airplanes and talk to airplanes, out of an abundance of caution,

they accidentally shut down the airspace for 45 minutes. we still had our scopes in our telecom functioning on sunday morning. so it is important to note and we'll talk about this in a little bit, this system is so old. even if you have high-speed fiber information coming in to a trach on or a tower, the equipment that we use is so old that the information has to be slowed down. it comes into fast. in us to go at the speed of copper wires. two issues. the reliability of the telecom, but also the old equipment that we are using paired together causing a lot of issues in the system. they will be left from the biden administration. now, while these temporary

software fixes that i mentioned earlier that worked on sunday morning should prevent future outages. the core issue is a telecom nation lines. here's what we are doing to fix the telecom. the decisions to move the trach on from new york down to philadelphia on the work that was done to plan. making sure that they are hardened. the faa today is assembling a tighter fit to fully fast-track the fixes that we have identified need to be done to make sure that this works. newark jfk and laguardia. that work is done. done in the last couple of weeks however, it will take another week or two to be testing those two lines. it is one-two weeks. understanding why the telecom

issues persist and how we can expedite those fixes. again, we work with the contractor and verizon on the ground offering the support on the lines for the telecom into the trach on. give us the assurance that it is their top priority. speaking with the cio yesterday pierce moving this work as fast of possible. between new york and philadelphia. if one goes down we are assured that the others will stand up. the goal is to have this done as soon as possible.

from these outdated, for these outdated systems inside of our towers. our centers and our trach on spirit again, we are using equipment. when it comes into the trach on we do slow it down. so that it can be used by the old equipment. our hope is to have high-speed fiber connections and then new technology in these towers. in these trach content centers. so that we can maximize the use of american airspace. number five, deploying a temporary backup system. providing redundancy during the switch to a more reliable fiber-optic network. this is to ensure that both connections fail at the same time air traffic controllers will still be able to communicate with aircraft and with other controllers.

this fortifies communications, ensures that it is uninterrupted if they dual fiber failure occurs. the faa is going to establish a stars held that the trach on so the facility does not have to pull that data from new york. we want to bring that down to philadelphia. by the way, the star system should have been brought down to philadelphia before this trach on was moved. they did not bring it down. they quickly moved the trach on without having stars in place and without testing how hard the equipment actually was in regard to telecommunications. using the existing authority, i have as a secretary of doe. they will convene in delay with

all airlines who have flights at newark. the goal is to have a manageable number of flights land at newark family should not have to wait for five hours for a flight that never takes off. by lowering the number of flights we can ensure the ones that are kept, that do actually take off and do actually land. this authority has not been used in over 20 years. as i stated publicly, if congress approves our plan, the president's plan, to build a new air traffic control system, newark will be a priority. we will do that first. and, so, again, i will pass it off to the administrator. we are in a situation where telecom is going out.

it has taken some time to isolate the problem and we believe that we have done that but i do not believe we are out of the woods yet. we have to spend the time now to build a network before it was moved. i know it's frustrating, i know it's hard for the airlines. the families that fly out of newark. it is problematic. our commitment is always safety. we will make sure that if you fly you will fly safely. and if we reduce the number of flights at newark, we are not doing it to annoy people, we are not doing it to delay people's travel, we're doing it to delay safety. when you have problems you actually slow things down. that is what we have done. we have slowed down the flights in newark until we can stand the system up and be assured that we have enough controllers and a system that is actually working to keep everybody safe. again, we did not have to be

here. this did not have to be our story. the last administration, they knew that this was a problem. during called it when people were not flying, that was a perfect time to fix these problems. they got $1.2 trillion for infrastructure and virtually none of it went to fit the biggest infrastructure problem that we have which is our air traffic control system. what you see in newark we will have to fix, we will move fast, but we will do it right. my concern is that we could see other situations like this around the country. because the system is old. it is old. and we are fighting to make sure we work with congress, get the money and begin this build of a brand-new system as quickly as possible. this could happen without the leadership of president trump who, again, he talked to me when he gave me the job. he knew how old the system was.

when i presented him this plan, he said, listen. i want you to walk through it. this is not a patchwork, it is not a band-aid. we will build a brand new. this is a plan to build everything no. it is going to be complicated. but we do not want more. we do not want more newark staff and throughout the country.

looking forward to new infrastructure. looking forward to the commitment being made to this administration to work on commitment that is younger than the children that they have. i will tell you, when i was the air force, i actually tested. that is when they first came out was in 1989. we tested that. as a controller, it was almost 20 years ago where the system came. the issues that we had static on the frequencies.

problematic tenant financial now we look forward to the new infrastructure. we applied your efforts, sir. thank you. >> taking any questions, if you have any. >> did we see more air traffic controllers coming to newark to help out? >> i will take a stab at that. tell me if i am wrong. it does take time to train up controllers from other areas. so if they mills up to philly, it takes up to a year to train them on that airspace rank. am i right on that? >> average time is two and a half years. a year to a year and a half. >> even a 20 year experience controller, they moved to a new airspace it takes them a long time to train up so we do not have the ability to just snap

our fingers and move controllers around. which is why the staffing becomes an issue. you have to see over the horizon dealing with any shortfalls that may come in the out years. >> decades-old. seeing these steep issues for years and years and years. why did this administration change? >> i think what we saw is the cracks that you are now seeing today where highlighted over the last four years. we are seeing more and more and of it. the president has said that the number of times. he had a plan to come into this administration because he knew what was going on to actually fix at the some money, some billions of dollars were allocated from the last administration to this effort

and it was wasted. you don't see a result that was spent over four years. they spent a lot of money. they did not spend the money here. the president was understanding. i know he was going to fix it four years ago. but the last administration, they did nothing about it. as things get old, you get to the point where you are starting to hear some rattles in your car that is probably the sign you need to bring it to the shop. they basically kept driving and did not do anything to fix it. >> last think i the faa regularly approved more than 80 flights per hour at newark. also telling the airline that 77 is the next month. is that true? why is this happening? >> yes. that is a great question.

i would say to you currently, we are running essentially 24-28 arrivals. a lot of factors to the way the controllers can safely manage air traffic in and out of newark that could be technology. all of those decisions are made based on the ability to intersect traffic in their. there is no flights in our. their partners and you can do the math. talking about safe arrivals. save departures. running a variable both the we will have the ability to

manage some of the traffic. mr. cornyn: madam president, america is an exceptional nation. freedom of religion, freedom of speech and of the press, private property rights, free and fair elections, the rule of law, and an independent judiciary. all of these help make us exceptional. but we americans often take this for granted because these principles, these values are so ingrained in our way of life. it's who we are. but it also makes it more challenging for us to understand how different other countries may be from us. it shouldn't be a surprise, though, if you think about it, history, culture, economics all matter, but sadly this is a

lesson that seems like we and others need to learn over and over again. when it comes to russia, it's worth recalling churchill's description of the former soviet union. he called it a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. when it comes to negotiating peace in ukraine, we might be tempted to assume that vladimir putin is working from the same playbook as other stakeholders, but that is simply not the case. the fundamental differences between russia and the west have become all that much more apparent in the negotiations to end the war in ukraine. this is precisely what's made it such a difficult challenge to end the war, and that's what makes president trump's efforts all that much more noble when it

comes -- when we consider the monumental task that he's seeking to accomplish. as i've said before, i'll say it again, i'm grateful to president trump for his leadership and his efforts to end the conflict that has lasted far too long, more than three years now. during his first 100 days, president trump has done more than president biden did in four years. he's made clear to the europeans that they need to step up and assume greater ownership of their continental security, and he successfully persuaded them to increase their defense spending and enhancing deterrence against future aggression. his representatives, the president's representatives have led several rounds of negotiations between the ukrainians and the russians, something that president biden did not even attempt.

and president trump's secured a key critical minerals deal with ukraine which will help fund the reconstruction of that country. it will help compensate america for its investments in ukraine's defense and dissuade future russian aggression. but there is one significant obstacle in achieving a lasting end to this conflict, and that, of course, is vladimir putin. succinctly stated, vladimir putin's russia is a police state. in russia people who buck the government mysteriously disappear or fall out of windows to their death or are poisoned, imprisoned or die of suspect causes like alexey mavl enny, they impose fines and criminal

charges. in russia, the government controls the media, independent media outlets are censored, suppressed or shuttered if they do not conform to the party line. under vladimir putin government redistributes property, giving rise to the oligarchs that we heard so much about. then there are the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by russia during its invasion of ukraine. take, for example, the bombing of ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure during the first -- or consider the mass abduction of ukrainian children. thousands of ukrainian children have been deported to russia since the start of the full-scale invasion with many adopted into russian families or

sent to camps where they're subjected to ideological indoctrination designed to erase their ukrainian identity. the bombing of ukraine's power grid, which was part of a state policy of widespread attacks on the civilian population further illustrates the point. one particular event in bucha stands out. russian troops intentionally massacred more than 4s part of a system -- systematic clearing path to the capital, to kyiv. russian parachuters interthd and -- interrogated and executed unarmed men and killed people who unwittingly crossed their path, whether it was children fleeing with their families or

locals trying to find groceries or people simply trying to get back home on their bicycle. the victims of this massacre were of all ages and professions. this massacre would be deemed a war crime under international humanitarian law. and because of their systematic and widespread nations. so the russian federation under vladimir putin is nothing like the united states or europe for that matter. russia, of course, has its own history, culture and a form of government. and, as i said earlier, it could be easy for the west to assume as we've done before that our values are shared by other countries, but that is moss decidedly not the -- most decidedly not the case with putin's russia. putin has made his unwillingness

to end this unprovoked and barbaric war as plain as day. he's shown no remorse that his country is nearing one million casualties, he clearly doesn't care about the russian people who have been sacrificed to his fantasy of an empire restored. in fact, putin has done nothing to justify the hope that he might be persuaded to end this war. to the contrary, despite putin's declared ceasefire over the easter holiday, russia then proceeded to launch attacks into ukraine that killed innocent civilians. more recently russia launched two ballistic missiles. one 54-year-old kyiv resident

whose car caught fire during the attack suppressed frustration at the lack of progress for peace, saying they can't agree on anything and we are the ones who suffer the consequences. an 18 student said people are just suffering all the time. it's still very hard to see our country constantly being destroyed. president trump has noted -- noted in a statement on truth social, quote, there was no reason for putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas and in cities and towns over the last few days. the president went on to suggest that putin may not actually be trying to stop the war. i agree with president trump. interests -- there's no indication he's trying to stop the war. vladimir putin is making a grave mistake in stringing the president of the united states and the rest of the world along

while innocent lives are being taken. in order to achieve peace, president trump needs a good-faith partner, both in ukrainian president zelenskyy and russian president putin. notably while zelenskyy met with the president several times, most recently at the vatican, putin has not. instead of working for peace, putin recently threatened to use nuclear weapons in ukraine in order to bring the war, in his own words, quote, to a logical conclusion with the outcome that russia requires, close quote. how does this relate to president trump's peace efforts? well, we should listen to putin's own words. in a speech he delivered to the russian foreign ministry last year, putin argues that peace with ukraine would require a removal of ukrainian troops from

the southern and eastern part of that country. the demilitarization and denuclearization of ukraine -- a neutral and nonnato ukraine and removal of all western sanctions. the hard reality is putin sees this conflict not just as a war between russia and ukraine but a war between russia and the west. in the same speech he says the west is primarily at fault for the conflict in the world today and that it was the west that incited a ukrainian coup in 2014 and further unrest in eastern ukraine in 2022, which necessitated russian military action to liberate the people of crimea and eastern ukraine. putin says the war would have ended long ago in march 2022,

had it not be the west supplying ukraine with weapons and political support and extending the conflict. likewise, putin sees ukraine's prospective association with nato or europe peacekeeping force as an inherent extension of western imperialism, which he cannot tolerate. he goes so far as to say that russia could not accept a ceasefire since it would give time for ukraine to rearm. finally, putin shares a vision for a multipolar world to counter what he sees as wessern imperialism and russia's efforts to use security and economic agreements towards these ends. in sum, madam president, putin does not see this negotiation as a means to bring about the end to the conflict in ukraine. h he sees it as a key peace to a

larger war against the west. in essence, this negotiation is much bigger than russia and ukraine. we need to listen to what putin says, but also watch what he does as he attempts to stall peace negotiations while attempting to achieve his larger aims. putin's invasion of ukraine just over three years ago was an obvious violation of another international agreement that russia was a party to, the 1994 budapest memorandum. under this agreement, ukraine willingly gave up its arsenal of nuclear weapons, the third largest in the world in exchange for security assurances by russia and other signatories. russia went on then to violate the budapest memorandum in 2014 when it invaded crimea and

annexed the crimean peninsula. then russia violated the memorandum a second time in february 2022, with its invasion of ukraine proper. if russia was unwilling to honor the commitments in the budapest memorandum in 2014 and 2022, how then can ukraine or the rest of the world, for that matter, be assured they will honor a peace agreement brokered in 2025? once again, putin is threatening nuclear war if he does not receive the guarantees of a further demilitarized ukraine. but if he thinks these athletes threats are an effect -- these threats are an effective method of intimidating the unand president trump, he is mistaken. president trump has made very clear that he will not allow russia to continue doing what he calls tapping us along. putin may well have been able to

dupe obama, he may have been able to intimidate biden, but any attempt to fool or strong arm president trump will not succeed. putin thinks he's going to pull the wool over his eyes or box him into a corner, putin is in for a very rude shock. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. first, madam president, today we've heard some very good news, edan alexander an american citizen and new jersey native has been freed from hamas' brutal captivity and reunited with his family. i first met edan's parents right after october 7, a few days later, when edan has taken hostage by hamas. for the last 583 days, his

parents fought tirelessly for eddan's release. today, that pays off as they finally get to hug their son again. edan's release gives me more hope and motivation to push for the release of all 58 hostages still in hamas' captivity, including the remains of four new yorkers brutally murdered by hamas -- omer neutra, etai chen, gad haki and judy weinstein. they were brutally killed, but their remains should be sent back. but of course, hamas, as brutal as they are, doesn't do that yet. as the president departs to the middle east, i call on him and his administration to use the full weight of u.s. diplomat power to get a power to bring all the hostages home. i'll continue working as long as it takes to finally bring every last hostage, including the remains of hostages no longer with us, home at last.

now, on qatar, yesterday, reports came out that the rival of qatar is set to gift donald trump a luxury 747 for him to use as his own air force, as his own air force one. without a shred of shame, donald trump lectured families about putting up with higher prices that he himself triggered, then accepts a $400 million private jet from the catsary -- qatary rival. you cannot think of another president who has been so brazen, so selfish, and so destructive of the norms of what america is about. in truth, though, the news of the qatary air force is one tip of the iceberg. for months, qatar and other gulf state nationals spent billions on deals with the trump organizations to buy the president. donald trump is using his office to enrich himself and his family. this isn't a question. this is a fact with incredible

supporting data to prove it. he is putting america's national security at risk to enrich himself. just as concerning as the very gift of the national security -- are the national security implications, the deeply chilling part of this drive, the national security betrayal from the president, is how blatant and erroneous what he's doing, almost daring republicans to stand up to him to defend our country, daring republicans. so where are our republican friends with this kind of egregious, grubby, awful se self-enrichment? silence, total obedience. on tariffs, early this morning, it wases -- it was reported that donald trump caved to xi jinping and the chinese communist party. with virtually nothing to show for american workers. donald trump has changed his mind once again on his tariffs, with a new deal with china, to pause most tariffs for 90 days.

sadly, it looks like china has once again gotten the better of donald trump. they've hardly had to give up a thing. it's another example of donald trump's chaos. trump has one policy for his tariffs on one day, a different policy the next day. one day he's pretending to be a tough guy with china. the next day caving to china, and getting little if anything in return. who knows what trump tariff policy will be in the next 90 days? if i were a businessperson, i wouldn't count on what he's saying or does today that probably won't be in effect in the next week or three weeks. even under this deal, tariffs are still significantly higher than they were before trump's liberation day. businesses were lynn to struggle -- will continue to struggle. supply chains will experience chaos, strain and unpredictabilities. this is -- unpredictability.

it's a 90-day pause. it's impossible to predict what happens next, even within the 90-day period, because donald trump changes his mind so quickly. whatever seems in front of him at the moment, he goes for. first he's mad at china, puts in tariffs. then blowback, backs off. where he will be tomorrow? who the heck knows? businesses can't count on any reliable, only on chaos. donald trump's trade war is lose, lose, lose for american families and businesses, leaving them with increased costs and more chaos. a few -- on drug pricing, a few hours ago, donald trump signed a new executive order he claims will, quote, almost immediately bring down the cost of prescription drugs. americans should hold their applause, because donald trump's announcement is little more than a photo op masquerading as reform. as he said he'd bring down costs on day one, and it didn't happen, same here. almost immediately?

give me a break. in case donald trump forgot, this is like what he already tried to do in 2020, with little success. so americans are right to be skeptical until they actually see their prescription drug costs go down more. drug traffickersing can say he's -- donald trump can say he's doing an executive order, but the odds are overwhelming that will fail. the real way to make drug price reform happen is to do what democrats do and what donald trump is loath to do, roll up your sleeves and do the hard work of passing legislation. that's what we did. that's why insulin is 65 $ -- or $35 or citizens. that's why 20 of the most widely used drugs' prices plummeted, because we negotiated with medicare. that's why no family pays more than $2,000 total for all their prescription drugs. we worked hard, we legislated, we got prices down.

donald trump does a photo op, says it's it's going to come down immediately, but obviously this is a half-baked political stunt that is unlikely to bring any meaningful change. today's announcements is so typical of donald trump's presidency. he promises a golden age, but in reality americans get fool's gold. on the recon bill text, yesterday, republicans released the text of their plan to eviscerate medicare while cutting taxes for the ultra rich. the bill is as toxic as we all feared. with a straight face, republicans are telling the american people they want to cut taxes for the ultra rich by trillions of dollars, and pay for it with the biggest cuts to medicaid ever, the biggest cuts to medicaid ever. if this becomes law, nearly 14 million americans will lose health insurance. the biggest cut to medicaid in american history.

14 million people losing their health insurance, hospital after hospital will have to lay off tens of thousands of workers, many of them may be forced to close, particularly in rural areas. republicans promised for months they'd protect medicaid, but now americans know the truth. republicans never intended to keep that promise. this confirms it. almost 14 million americans lose insu insurance, millions more see their premiums go up, hospitals from one end of america to the other will close, thousands lose their jobs, millions will lose access to health care, kids will suffer, seniors suffer, health care workers lose their jobs, americans with disabilities get hurt, rural americans are left to fend for themselves. hospitals and in youreding -- nursing homes will shutter. states will scramble with their

budgets. american families are left out to dry. why? tax cuts for billionaires. that's what happens when project 2025 takes over the republican mainstream. but the cruelness doesn't stop there. later today, we expect republicans to unveil their plan to cut snap, which feeds about 40 million americans in need. if the republicans are to be believed, republicans plan to cut federal food assistance by hundreds of billions. that's if the reports -- if the reports are to be believed, that's what the republicans plan to do. kids will go hungry. parents will suffer. i just got back from buffalo and albany in upstate new york, meeting with food banks and religious leaders, church leaders on the front lines of the fight against hunger. the priests and nunns i met -- and nuns i met spoke of the obligation that scripture imparts on us to feed the hungry, to give drink to the

thirst at this. right now, republicans -- the thirsty. right now, republicans want to rob the least of our neighbors to make it better for those at the top. snap should not be a partisan issue or political issue, it's a moral question. are we going to let kids, veterans, senior citizens and others go hungry? this is about taking care of the most vulnerable in society, especially the children, making sure every child in america is afforded basic dignity. if a kid goes to bed hungry, they can't learn the next morning in school. they can't get along with their friends. they're off to an awful start. so snap has been one of the great things america has done, until now in a bipartisan way. but not with these maga people running the show, and not with the republicans here in the senate and the house being superine to what they -- supine to what they know is wrong, vicious, mean and

counterproductive. i urge house republicans to oppose these devastating cuts to snap, particularly new york republicans whose scorches i have met. i was -- whose constituents i have met. i was near the districts of two of them, and the outrage was palpable. given the narrow margins in the house, these swing districts in new york have the power to stop these cuts to snap. these republicans can do it. they can make sure no kid goes to bed hungry. i urge them to stand up and hold the line. when you put it all together, there's no other way to put it. this bill is a grotesque betrayal of working and middle-class families. a few moments ago, republicans released the next phase of their plan, harking taxes on -- hiking taxes on electricity and raising energy costs for seniors and families. republicans are so captured by the hard right ideology they're

willing to cede america's energy future to china and take domestic industries that we'll need to keep industry costs -- energy costs low in the future. not a single senate democrat will support this destructive piece of legislation. instead of calling this one big, beautiful bill, republicans should tell the truth. this bill is a big, fat grift, and it's the american people who are getting ripped off. finally, wasn't to say a little about last week. there are those on the other side of the aisle now shedding croc crocodile tears that last week the minority asserted its right not to proceed to a bill that has zero legislative text. imagine. imagine, they said, the nerve of the democrats not voting for a bill when there's no text. how crazy can they be? we asserted our rights, very simply, to continue the legislative process to allow time to reach agreement.

the juror, in an -- the majority, in an act of political stubbornness but also stupidity, asked people to vote on a bill they'd never seen. they tried to force a vote before senators even had text to know what they were voting on. then they get upset we all voted no? they shouldn't be surprised, least of all my good friend the republican leader, who said in his first speech as majority leader, said one of my priorities as leader will be to ensure the senate stays the senate. well, in the senate, we've always had a text of a bill before we vote on it. i'd say that to my friend, the majority leader. democrats were perfectly, perfectly appropriate, fair, and correct in asserting our rights. if this senate is to work, the majority must allow it to work. i yield the floor.

. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: madam president, i cannot believe i have to say this, but a president should not take a $400 million gift from a foreign country. it doesn't matter which president, what party. it doesn't matter which foreign country. it doesn't matter if there is or is not a legal justification. no president should take a $400 million gift from a foreign country. i shouldn't have to explain why, but it is a high principle

literally enshrined in the constitution because people who we have representing us should know, not think but know that their representatives are focused on them and this country only, that our loyalties are not divided, that our minds are not wandering elsewhere. the emoluments claw in the constitution -- clause in the constitution, it's a fancy phrase but a simple idea. no foreign gifts. if foreign government offers you anything but especially something close to a half a billion dollars worth, the answer is no thank you. end of story. very simple. end of story. i cannot take that. first i can't take that because i cannot have divided loyalties. i'm going into the region. i can't take a $400 million gift before i begin negotiations with you. but it's also explicitly prohibited by the united states constitution. and the gift in question is that

the country of qatar is going to literally provide a luxury aircraft, not just any luxury aircraft to the president of the united states but air force one. and why does this matter? air force one is not just a random luxury airplane. it is a symbol and a projection of american power. it is flown 15 owe it has flown 15 different presidents. it carried president john f. kennedy's body after his assassination and saw president johnson be sworn in under unprecedented circumstances. it rushed george w. bush back to washington after the twin towers were struck. and just two years ago it flew president joe biden to europe for a secret trip to ukraine during the war. when people see air force one on tv, when they see it land in other countries, whether in london or tokyo or brazil, they

immediately know that america has arrived. it represents not just the weight of the presidency but america itself, generationals of -- generations of history and international leadership. but in one fell swoop trump is selling out one of the most iconic symbols of american power that we have. and what people will now see as the most powerful man on earth flying around in a plane paid for by a foreign government. it's disgusting. it's wildly corrupt. and just because they are doing the corruption in plain sight does not make it any less damning or sad or gross. this week several of my colleagues and i will be asking the senate to vote to condemn this action. there should be 100 of us that agree on this fundamental

principle. no president should take free stuff from a foreign government and certainly nothing worth $400 million. i yield the floor.

76 in the gulf of mexico. >> in order to place it on the calendar out object to further proceed. >> the item will be placed on the calendar. >> i want to mention one time supreme court. thoughts and prayers with the families. thursday and cope and i want to

extend my congratulations on his election. led by an american-born. i'm very happy for them and look forward to seeing with the springs to the catholic church. >> is a argument democrats have an extensive bipartisan work and filibuster the attempt. democrats voted inexplicably chose to vote against it here on the four. that's pretty difficult to understand. the bill is a product of a bipartisan negotiation.

this leads you to wonder if this is wanting to deny president trump or legislative victory which might be nice for democrats but americans to use a stable coin see difficult spots it's pretty clear not legislating the priority right now and we are going to turn to nomination where democrats have made obstructions in the democrats support all the nominees but the way they are

trying out the process and 57 out of the 58 an unprecedented number and 17 received support on the final confirmation yet democrats in the same way for individuals and not a single one have been confirmed and something entirely unprecedented. since 1977 failed to have the nominees confirmed.

in this disturbing no one. and they dry out nominations and they get into place so they can do the job he was elected to do. expeditiously. more time to spend but if we do it the hard way so democrats

have decisions to make. and their pointless obstruction of bipartisan nominees but i guess we will have to see. i yield the floor. >> corporation call the role. >> the reason for the. each and every one of them in the most rural areas by

republicans in congress and the wisconsin border and the critical access hospitals and treating the poorest patients in downtown chicago all focused on medicaid cuts and it would be devastating to these. and it is hurtful to patients.

and they might have to close those altogether in the medicaid cuts and. why would they want to jeopardize that? alarm bells and they are trying to save 880 billing dollars. perpetuate the tax rates for the wealthiest people in america. that is the game plan. president trump and his billionaire buddies, the richest man in the world to provide a massive giveaway to americans.

for lower cost of families. they are looking to dismantle these programs for billionaires. in the issue to bombshell report and ensure they didn't anticipate this. the republican plans to cut medicaid and the only way by removing millions of americans. doctors, nurses and dentists.

then comes the cbo report. this is what's happening here and they call their bluff and confirmed his cuts are not about wastewater efficiency all across the united states. and americans will have to help 14 million is healthcare coverage, but this plan.

in 300 rural hospitals, including 26 in kansas. republicans willing to accept. in the backbone of the community and imposing requirements.

as for eligible patients and overly complex paperwork. there have been no increase in employment as they were drowning in paperwork. and they center medicaid care. and approximately 3 million in

the service sector workers. they spent mother's day is medicaid cut. it is the largest medicaid. they say they don't want to be a part of this. they are the billionaire tax cuts one out of every four

people and 3.4 million people, including a half million people. remember the image. laughing legally around the stage with a chainsaw in his hand, the richest man in the world.

in the services. >> i yield the floor.

mr. thune: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. thune: madam president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 72. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of defense. ameal michael of florida to be under secretary of science for research. mr. thune: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the

nomination of emil michael of florida to be under secretary of defense for research and engineer. signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. thune: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 82. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, executive office of the president. eric matthew ueland of virginia to be deputy director for management. the presiding officer: mr. thune: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk:

we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of ericage mathieu ueland of virginia to be deputy director for management, office of management and budget. signedably 17 senators as follows. mr. thune: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the mo motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: madam president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 88. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, environmental protection agency. sean donahue of florida to be an assistant administrator. mr. thune: madam president, i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules

of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of sean donahue of florida to be an assistant administrator of the environmental protection agency, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. thune: madam president, i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the crowley nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: thank you, madam mr. thune: thank you, madam

a leadership is a where unwavering in both cases. situation leak and the grade. we are not going to anything and all of a sudden they 70 they did

it for a lot of reasons with pakistan and negotiating with pakistan and millions could have been killed. thanks for their work and as you know situation for the houthis for the first time ever, is fire and they let us know they are not going to be firing at american ships anymore. this is a heavy barrage for 50 days and they have been in war

essentially forever but the stopped and took the war for it and we don't want to do it anymore. we were satisfied with that and a total reset with china and both sides and 10% as they continue and that doesn't include the tariffs. in such as that.

and this morning is going to and building a lot of plans for apple look forward to that but the talks were very friendly and the relationship was very good and they are being hurt very badly and it is very good and i

don't know the people realize this but we made a great trade deal, but it was some bigger deal in the canceled last day and they opened up to trade and they took that and they canceled the whole thing. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of monica crowley of new york to be chief of protocol and have the rank of ambassador during her tenure of service signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of monica crowley of new york to be chief of

protocol and to have the rank of ambassador during her tenure of service shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. in honor appear before you today

to service she for protocol in the first administration and will be an even greater honor representing this sectional country and grateful for his faith in me and the consideration and i want to thank him for his kind words over the years and a privilege to share this. i would not be here today without the additional of and the rest of my wonderful years friends. i love you and i am forever grateful to you. i think god for truly blessing. i'm here for you today is about patriot.

i was born in arizona where my father probably served in the army. my mother was an awe-inspiring person and build a career hospital administration while raising my sister and me. she is truly my heroin. my parents went from experiencing poverty to building successful small businesses and spending first generation in the family my mother and aunt to college. believe in the american dream. i was profoundly inspired by richard nixon best-selling book on foreign policy, which led to my first c position in the

groundbreaking thinking on foreign affairs. in the international relations at columbia university, earning a masters degree and a doctorate. on politics and foreign affairs for national platforms and new york times best-selling offer. during my tenure i am writing

executed community strategy and the trump administration more broadly, including tax cuts and job asked the cemented the covid pandemic. exceptional service to the nation, i received alexander hamilton for work on the department. in the diplomatic affairs and partnerships management at major events. the diplomatic engagement for

secretary of state as well as other high-ranking officials. a critically important will the diplomatic partnership advancing our interest from around the world is confirmed on the dedication it deserves and the protocols can, should and will showcase the best of american leadership and strength and diplomacy. experience in foreign affairs in thell position and ensure of the utmost professionalism the american people helping to set the stage for robust diplomacy. president trump's golden age of america and the servants work

together and harmony to accomplish this with excellence and. every detail. throughout my career, have embraced a clear vision hiring and empowering the best counsel and imposing accountability and moving forward towards these goals. it confirmed, i will follow those who helped president trump in the gold standard for effective diplomacy and fudge the faithful partner and work with you tomr protect and advane fees partnerships. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters.

mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schiff. let's begin with your analysis in the first two months. toward the end he's excavated

the attacks and got a cease-fire agreement not to attack. and to stop the program and negotiations have started their. his visit starting tomorrow closely in the region and it is

the trip overseas for the pope's funeral. trump mideast focus. >> the focus of the trump administration has been about economic as best we can and they are generally wealthy countries and they have a lot of energy and it is a big part of prioritizing and increase and between those countries and the u.s. and they are close to a trillion dollars and led close

to that amount and that includes this is a big part of it and artificial intelligence and capital in order to apply so that is definitely a big part. >> the president is leaving today and traveled to saudi arabia. why those three countries? >> the economic and they are the biggest of all them and comes first estimation and the second

term as well and spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the different sectors and the leader of the cooperation which is including those countries outside and saudi arabia there is a very large part so beyond the business deals we talk about israel getting them on board. >> cnn reported this morning, president obama and president

trump during this term and joe biden enough second term, they will told business in the united states need to clean up their own backyard. what does that mean and what efforts have been made? >> i'm not sure he's carrying that message. that kind of faded away. i don't think it's carrying that message exactly and that includes the artificial intelligence and that

possibility of normalization and gaza and the west bank. between the u.s. and iran and family i would say and they have not really engaged with that we are talking about the middle east and it is a four-day trip and here is how you can join the conversation.

8003. investment opportunities between the u.s. and middle east and nuclear talks. and saudi arabia. so what will you be in for when the president plans and saudi arabia? >> he has been doing an announcement and he's going to make a very a major announcement and there's some speculation there might to do with it in the major announcement and that would be something we follow

closely. and what we would be watching for n is what will be announcedn those areas countries how they have the expectations and what it might be and it will be a challenge and advance the possibility and they are not exactly on the same page. >> where they not on the same page?

>> prime minister netanyahu israel are extremely divided and many in israel have favored ending the war. and given that hamas is on the website. and they would no longer prime minister because of his own personal issues so he is in a political situation.

>> vice president for international and the subsonic newsletter middle east. democratic color, good morning. >> the only business is interested in and middle east, they are a disgrace and let him cover it ripped with the cabinet and the trump family, disgraceful. they should be thrown out. >> the front page about this qatari government they that he can use in the library, what

does he want in exchange? >> a deep relations with the government the u.s.. for security, the united states, cutting deals and business as usual. president trump making sure they

have a warm in these organizations as well. >> one of these deals they have cut with the trump family? >> you see the "wall street journal" and they are in the development project and i'm not sure, saudi arabia is obviously a big investment but certainly there are relationships. >> is the united states out official policy agenda there x.

>> the streets so the biden administration and it is building on these centers. it is a lot of energy to compete with china so they don't have the capacity. some of those and the other countries as well. in the money to put into these to hook up with artificial intelligence.

natalie clear with the arrangements would be. >> going back to the issue mentioned he wants to focus on business now. a couple weeks ago, is this a wild and these various schemes.

in making palestine territory. difficulties. and i'm not saying that is the way to go but it is understood. the whole history. >> your reaction?

>> president trump's announcement that the u.s. will take over and the refugees. what a lot of people must and in saudi arabia in the u.s.. and it is another area where they are different areas. and reoccupy.

issue of the u.s. over the security fence loaded from time to time. and like to get the deal done. and biden basically follows this. trying to make a breakthrough in, with a clear vision and propose something that is dignified and provide.

>> he is holding a news conference of the white house and that's expected any minute now. he will be able to watch live coverage on the. fact, you are next. >> my question is about turkey similarly with iran and with the country. next, they might russia and they

are taking uranium so it could be a role for russia and they are not enemies and they are not hostile. i think he do that and be very bad and turkey played an important full, this is order,

turkey back person let the group. they moved syria forward and meant with them and they are not fully engaged and they are very helpful managing engagement and that would be a great award and reduce security risk and freeze opportunity. >> playing a role between ukraine and russia and said he would meet personally with vladimir putin. why turkey?

lexi whether it is russian or ukrainian and the turkish workers and they have maintained good relations and they can be helpful. as the western countries, so it is more of a neutral place where they can meet in the previously was saudi arabia. >> arizona, democratic color. >> good morning, calling from the navajo nation. mike, in respect president

traveling to the middle east. we have our challenges here. you know he is also getting a donation donated by sorry. i know a lot across the country are disadvantaged across the board. ...

the clerk: mr. money, aye. -- mr. moreno, aye. ms. murkowski, aye. across the 50 states of the u.s. i do not have details of how they might affect native nations in one state or another. but, i would say general investment and trade between those countries all in always a good thing for both economies. job creation leads to growth. be on that how it affects one group or another one would have to look at the domestic details. cox here is steve from tampa,

florida and texas. do you believe part of president trump's trip to reinstitute the idea of saudi arabia joining the abraham accords with israel? you touched on this but remind our viewers about the abraham accords and or does it stand? a set of agreements that normalize relations between israel and for arab countries. that was in trump's aversive united arab emirates, bahrain, is proud of those achievements when he won the election and was running for a second term he is ambition the second term would be to bring saudi arabia on board. as i mentioned saudi arabia is a very influential country. the biggest economy among the arab countries the biggest economies in the western world.

and it is posted to holy cities. president trump in saudi arabia agreed to normalize israel and open the doors for other states in the arab world and the muslim world normalize as well as i argue and president trump and his team knows, for saudi arabia to do that, saudi arabia has been clear it requires some the israelis an end to the war in gaza and a solid pathway toward palestinian statehood. it is not said yes to her has embarked on that is what president trump's challenge is. he has vowed before second term is over he does not want to achieve the breakthrough. and i take them seriously. >> will go to georgia. jack is watching their republican good morning to you.

>> good morning, ma'am thank you for have this gentleman on. i would just like to ask, on getting the jet donated to him, this that not give him more leeway to go and help other nations? and to try to keep peace? and thank you, sir, for explaining all of this. but also, i wish other people would give the man a chance to do something to try to help other nations which i would think down the road would help us. and i would just like to thank c-span for giving people the opportunity to voice their opinions and thank you so much. >> art jack. >> guest: obviously the president of the nice to have a place he already has one

obviously the issue being raised is being raised in the united states the clause a lot of legal issues about which gifts can be accepted by a president or sitting u.s. official. under what conditions that should be referred to u.s. constitutional lawyer or something like that. otherwise here in the middle east they're happy to give him gifts, give the u.s. gifts obviously want to buy into it. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of state, monica crowley of new york to be chief protocol with the rank of

thank you everybody. it is a big day. it should be fun maybe you will find reasons why it is not. i cannot imagine we have a lot of great things happening. it's been a very strong week and

a very strong weekend. before we begin let me say a few words about the stork events that took place over the last few days on saturday my administration help an immediate cease-fire. i think a permanent one between india and pakistan ending a dangerous conflict of two nations with lots of nuclear weapons. they were going at it hot and heavy into seemingly not going to stop. and i am very proud to let you know that the leadership of india and pakistan was unwavering, powerful but unwavering in both cases. they really were from the standpoint have the strength and wisdom and fortitude to know and to understand the gravity of the situation. we helped a lot we helped also a

trait i said come on were going to do a lot of trade if you guys. let's stop it. let's stop it. if you stop it will do trade he don't stop but we won't do any trade. people never used trade like i have used that. all the sudden they said were going to stop. they have. they did it for a lot of reasons but trade is a big one. we are going to do a lot of trade with pakistan. we're going to do a lot of trade with india. negotiating with india right now we will soon negotiate with pakistan. we stop the nuclear conflict and think it could have been a bad nuclear war millions of people could have been killed some very proud of that i also want to thank vice president vance secretary of state rubio for their work and effort. they worked very hard. we also as you know create a situation with the houthi for the first time ever have ceased

firing they have let it be known they're not going to be firing at american ships anymore. do not going to be filed firing at americans anymore. but through the heavy barrage that lasted for about 50 days. as you know they've been out or essentially forever. but over the last 10 years very difficult for other countries. nobody was able to do what we did. but they stopped and we take their word for it the circuits in them directly said we do not want to do this anymore. and so we were satisfied with that. in addition, yesterday, we received a total, with china, after productive talks in geneva both sides now agreed to reduce the tariffs imposed after april 2 to 10% for 90 days as negotiators continue in the

larger structural issues. and i want to tell you a couple of things. first of all that does not include the tariffs that are already on. that are our tariffs. design include cars, steels, aluminum, things such as that or tariffs that may be imposed on pharmaceuticals because we want to ring the pharmaceutical business back to the united states. coming back based on chairs they do not want to bake 25, 50 or one 100% tariffs. or they're moving them back to the united states. i spoke to tim cook this morning i think he's going to up his numbers $500 billion he's going to be building a lot of plants in the united states for apple. and we look forward to that. i really do look forward to that. the talks in geneva or very friendly the relationship was very good.

were not looking to hurt china china was being hurt very badly. they're having a lot of unrest and they were very happy to be able to do something with us. the relationship is very, very good all speak with the relationship at the end of the week there are some of the things we are doing. i don't know if people realize this but we made a great deal with china. a great trade deal. but it was a much bigger bigger deal originally thin they canceled it right at the last day. we had a deal they open up their country to trade in a doing a smaller deal is $50 billion worth of product they're going to purchase from our farmers et cetera. we agreed to that.

people fight is 15 they're doing 15 and we made 50 because i was ours and the 15 princess and to get 51 asked of him of the story when asked would be doing with them? my secretary of agriculture at the time sunny perdue said sir it's about 15 billion we are asking for 15. i thought he said 50. so they came back no way i want 50 because you said 50 visits or we did not say that. bottom line is to go back and are 50 and they gave us 50. they were honoring the deal dile call them up a lot for the corn, the wheat, for everything. they were honoring the deal. and then when biden got in they no longer honored the deal. there's no one to call. i'll call on an average of once every two weeks is a come on, you gotta speeded up a little bit. our farmers are doing great. said by more land and bigger

tractors if you remember. that is what happened. the deal is a very good deal. the best part of the deal was that we open up china. china agreed to open itself up to american business to go in. it would've been a great thing i think for china. they would be able to see things they have not seen. they'll be able to buy products he never would've been able to vibrate would've been great for merck business. i think it would've bought brought better unity between china and the united states for the bottom line is i get a little bit angry. it was done. it was all ready to be signed and people went over there and came back to me sir, they do not want to sign opening up china. the biggest thing we are discussing is opening up china and they agreed to do that.

but, it's going to take a y a while is not the easiest thing. that is the single, some people would disagree somewhat they've got a lot of money with tariffs or whatever. especially when you add it we already have. remember we are already getting to 50% on steel and different things. that is not included in these numbers. you can add that. but, the biggest thing to me is the opening up i think it would be fantastic or businesses if we can go in and compete. compete with china. it would be a lot of jobs for china. on a time when they can price go use the jobs and that is what we are talking about. that is very important element to add. when scott, i wash them speak the other day that i don't think he wanted to say i said it's okay to say if. we don't get we don't get it or we don't get it. trump's accident -- donald

trump's department of education -- rather department of energy announced the largest deregulatory effort in the department of energy's history. 47 regulations in the department of energy slashed in one fell swoop in the name of freedom on the same day as the house, ways and means committee proposed to slash clean energy tax credits and just a few days after the house energy and commerce committee proposed to destroy critical programs that reduce hazardous air pollution in exchange for fast-tracking dirty fossil fuels. this isn't one big, beautiful bill as donald trump calls it. it's a big billionaire bailout. that's what this whole thing is about. and the only freedom this

announcement guarantees is the freedom to pollute, overcharge, and mislead the american people. so let's be clear. these attacks are not common sense. these attacks on the energy policy, the environmental policy of the united states is not common sense. it's nonsense which they are trying to sell. they're not above choice. they're about giving fossil fuel corporations and manufacturers a license to pollute on the one hand and to be profiteers on the other. this is not deregulation. it's desecration of decades of bipartisan progress on public health and a the truth. reaction are willing to throw $420 billion in clean energy investments and 400,000 jobs in red and blue states right down

the drain. this would be a disaster for our economy and good-paying jobs. would does that look like in action? well, let's just go through it. let's go through what thair' -- what they're doing. by the way, chris wright is the secretary of energy. and chris wright says, well, i'm a reasonable man. and he seeps like a very likable person. but in fact chris wright is a radical. he is an absolute outright radical trying to destroy the clean energy future of the united states. so while he says he believes in all the above, we know he's an oil man. he's a gas man. he really believes in oil above all, not all of the above. that's for sure. and chris wright with his radical anticapitalist attack

upon the clean energy future of the united states is absolutely destroying our ability to be able to compete with china in the clean energy sector for the rest of eternity. he's just deciding to completely and totally eviscerate our future. and he does so at the behest of donald trump who is tied to of course the oil and gas and coal industry and their profit making opportunities. now, again, chris wright, that's where he made his money, oil and gas. so it's kind of natural for him to be a radical, a radical oil and gas guy wants to destroy wind, destroy solar, destroy new battery storage technologies. these are the technologies that compete against oil, gas, and coal. and their profits. by the way, they would substitute technologies which

would not pollute, not cause asthmas, not warm the planet dangerously that would cause the storms and the fires and the floods which we have been seeing, and it would accomplish all that. but a radical, a radical like writes wright as secretary of energy, he'd rather destroy all of it in order to increase the profits of the oil and gas industry. that's what he's doing. creating this absolute ly destructive policy that is going to ultimately have the next generation of young people today pay a huge price in the future. so let's just take a few of these tax credits which they're destroying which would create good-paying jobs, which would help to spur our economy. let's just take a look at a few of them to see what he is orchestrating in the house ways

and means and house energy and commerce committee. they would remove the tax credits that the local restaurant can use to lower its electricity bill by putting solar panels on the roof of the restaurant. gone. incentives that a local connoisseur could have used to buy electric delivery trucks and install charging stations. gone. e.v. battery and offshore wind manufacturing companies that source steel from red states. gone. and why is he doing it again? he's doing it to help the oil and gas industry from which he came. he's a radical. he sees the world in a remember view mirror. let's just stay in the oil and gas era. let's stay in the coal era. let's not move to a new innovation economy. let's not move to a clean energy economy.

let's just stay back in the past. we'll let china have the future. we'll let germany have the future. we'll let india have the future. but we own the past, says chris wright. we own the energy past, and we're going to protect it against any innovation in america that would in any way inhibit the ability of the past to continue to reap profits from america. and by the way, one of the things which he killed is my offshore wind manufacturing bill, which was going to give incentives to companies in the united states to manufacture the offshore wind technologies to be deployed. killed that. that was going to keep the jobs here. that was going to incentivize american companies to innovate if the manufacture of offshore wind technologies. wans to kill that because he want -- wants to kill that because he wants to kill the

offshore wind energy. why does he want to kill the offshore wind industry? when is chris wright's thinking. the more you deploy, the less natural gas you need to generate lek risty. since that's where he comes from, that's the past. so he has to protect the past. he's a radical, chris wright, but just an absolutely rabid radical looking in the rearview mirror at the past. and anything that would interfere with that, including massive deployment of offshore wind must be killed. so that's would he's recommended here in the house ways and means and the house energy and commerce committee bill. but that's not all. that's not all that chris wright is engaging in, the republicans are engaging in, donald trump is engaging in. they're also cutting bills in -- billions in historic investments from the inflation reduction act, in environmental justice, in air pollution reduction programs.

even at schools, even where kids are exposed to the solution they're removing any of the protections against kids breathing in this dangerous asthma-inducing air that's been polluted by oil and gas and coal. and that includes $20 billion in the climate bank, the green bank which chris van hollen and i secured in the inflation reduction act. also, it's called the inflation reduction act because joe manchin who voted for it did not want it to be called the biggest climate bill, the biggest clean energy bill in the history of the word. but that's what it is. it's the biggest clean energy bill in history. what mckenzie has analyzed is that the $20 billion green bank will unleash $250 billion worth of private sector investment in clean energy technologies. well, if you're chris wright,

you have to kill that. you can't allow for a massive revolution in clean energy to come out of the clean energy bank. so chris wright, mr. radical reactionary, look at the world in a remember view mirror secretary of energy has killed that, too, at donald trump's behest, by the way. donald trump's behest. again, he looks like a very nice man. but that's not what the job of the secretary of energy requires. it requires vision. it requires looking ahead, leading the way, having america be competitive with the chinese in new technology. we're in a big battle with china over trade. well, we won't have anything to send to them in clean energy. it's going to be a oneway street. oneway street coming from them to us. after they finish off our clean energy industry, which is what they're trying to do. in the same way their massive

cuts to the national institutes of health, research in alzheimer's and cancer and diabetes and other diseases is going to finish off our ability to be competitive in biotech. this is the next step. let's finish off the clean energy industry as well. unfortunately, the investments in the clean energy technologies would have created jobs by the millions. it would have strengthening our energy independence because all of that energy by definition is produced here in the united states of america. it's our sun. it's our wind. it would be our batteries that we could store that electricity with. we don't need the chinese. we don't need anybody else. we could just do it right here. what could be more conducive to being able to have a headline of energy independence than capturing all of these god-given gifts which we have in our country, destroyed across the board and they're going to be

killing the funding that would save consumers' money at the pump by increasing the fuel economy standards of the vehicles which we drive in our country. the one thing the oil industry -- i just talked about the natural gas industry. they hate wind and solar and batteries generating new electricity. what does the oil industry hate? we, the oil industry hates vehicles that are twice as energy efficient as all vehicles. instead of 27 miles a gallon, they get 54 miles a gallon. instead of 54 miles a gallon, they get 108 miles a gallon. or if it's plug-in all electric or plug-in hybrid, it's pretty much an infinity sign that's next to how efficient that value is and how little oil they need and that's a death star for the oil industry. so they've got to kill the fuel economy standards that make all

of the vehicles which we drive more efficient because it's just going to protect the past. which is what donald trump is all about. there's some kind of nostalgia he has for 1958. wants to go back in time. but america can't afford to be looking in the rearview mirror because our european, our asian, our south american competitors, they're coming for us. we're only 5 pshs of the -- 5% of the word's population. -- world's population. up until the trump administration, what's given our edge is innovation. it's investment in research. it's looking ahead and it's trying to lead the way and that's where young people in our country want to go. but instead of the dawn of a clean energy future, republicans are sunsetting incentives that would spur clean domestic manufacturing for industries inside of the united states. and by the way, let me say it

again, just the very brief period of time, about three years since the passage of the biggest climate bill in history, we've created 400,000 new jobs in the clean energy sector in the united states. and already unleashed $400 billion worth of energy investment. so they -- they're committed, the reaction, and they're proud of it led by chris wright, an oil and gas man, to be the world's laggard, not leader to just fall behind everybody in the clean energy sector. that's what their plan is, to destroy everything that has been unleashed in our nation. and we not only won't be the leader in the global economy or the clean energy economy. we're just going to cede the jobs. we're going to cede the progress to our economic rivals led by the chinese. and who is making this worse?

again, it's energy secretary chris wright, the fraccer in chief. he's a tracker. he believes in oil tracking for gas, a man who just last week told the congress that his agency had paid all its bills, canceled no clean energy grants, laid off barely a handful of staff and wasn't freezing funding. every one of those statements is false. now he is doubling down with a thoughtless regulatory bonfire, and this deregulatory blitz eliminates standards for everyday appliances in our homes -- microwaves, refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines. all the regulation sayers say make all those more efficient so you don't have to burn coal in order to have the washing

machine work, in order to have the refrigerator work. we're not asking anyone to put a mission in mars in place. we're not asking for anyone to be a rocket scientist. we're asking for people to make dishwashers more efficient. washing machines more efficient. you know what chris wright says? impossible! impossible. we can't figure out how we do that. so we're just going to stop all progress that we're making in ensuring that all these electricity-consuming appliances are more efficient. and the less efficient they are is the bigger the electricity bill for every single american. that's their goal. and what happens when you have to consume more electricity? you got to pay the natural gas industry for all the extra electricity, which is coming into your home. that's the plan many. -- that's the plan. the oil industry wants automobiles, trucks to be less

efficient. the natural gas industry wants all appliances, homes, everything less efficient and not to use wind and solar and battery storage technology. okay? they each have two simple business plans, which chris wright, who is one of the most radical people who's ever had a position in the american government, wants to put in place. the fracker in chief. i wrote the law. i'm the author of the law that the department of energy uses to set the standards for dishwashers, for re-african reagan administration in our -- refrigeration in our country. i put that law on the books in 1987. so far it has saved somewhere around the need for about 200 coal-burning plants to have ever been built in the first place because those devices never needed the electricity that otherwise would have been needed if there was less efficiency. and the bill itself, according

to experts is, has now saved $2 trillion in energy bills since 1987. can i say that again? i'm very proud of this. my bill has helped to save $2 trillion that consumers otherwise would have had to have paid in their electricity bills to have inefficient refrigeration, inefficient dishwashers in the house, inefficient air-conditioning in their house. $2 trillion has been saved. and it has also prevented 3 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from going up. that's a lot of greenhouses that never went up because we -- greenhouse gases that never went up because we made those's a mineses so much more energy efficient. and it then saved consumers $500 year because they never had to pay those electricity bills. so you would think the secretary of energy would say, let's keep moving forward, let's keep

making all of these devices more and more efficient. but, no, he works in natural gas. he works in oil, so his goal is to roll it all back because it harms the business model of the natural gas industry or the oil industry. so here's the thing, i personally believe in darwinian paranoia-inducing competition. that's what i believe. i'm a capitalist. let's just have everybody be able to do everything. that's not the socialistic attitude that chris wright has. he wants to use socialism to protect the oil and gas industry from real competition. is he going to take the tax breaks for the oil and gas industry off the books? oh, no, he's not taking those off the books. is he going to take off favorable regulatory protections for the oil and gas industry? he's not going to do that. no. no, no.

this is all the old boyce' network, the billionaire boys including network in the energy industry to affect the movement that young people want to a future of clean energy, solar, all-electric vehicles future of our country. so chris wright wants to throw everything out because nothing says freedom more than smog and higher utility bills. they want us to have the freedom to have more smog. they want us to have the freedom to have more asthmas. they want us as a nation to have the freedom to pay higher utility bills for natural gas generated electricity. that's his idea of freedom, chris wright. again, it just goes gag to the -- goes back to the bottom line of the companies he used to run before he became secretary of energy.

now, i don't mind him saying that he wants to have a new future for our country. but you can't say it simultaneously when you're killing the future. you're killing it, chris wright. you are the worst example of what the trump administration is bringing to washington. you are going to make us more dependent on fossil fuels. consumers will have to pay higher prices. it's going to lead to higher levels of disease in our nation. we're going to see more storms like hurricane milton and helene last year that caused $300 billion worth of damagement we're going to see more fires like that which we saw in l.a., which caused $140 billion worth of damage. those are just three storms that caused $440 billion worth of damage. those three storms alone. so, you know, you just say, hey chris -- hey, mr. secretary,

what's your answer to that? and you know what his answer is? more fossil fuels. with all due respect the planet even more. -- warm up the plannest even more. the temperature is too low. let's put the temperature up higher. what are young people saying? they're saying, turn the thermostat down. this planet is getting too warm. let's turn it down. and that's renewables. that's the way in which you do it. so we've seen chris wright make outlandishly false claims before. back in march chris wright took the stage in front of oil and gas executives and delivered what might go down as the most egregious fossil fuelled fiction every spoken at a podium. and that's saying a lot. it was part of -- it was part sermon, part stand-up, and part 100% spin. chris wright said, and i quote, the previous administration's policy was focused myopically on

climate change with people as simply collateral damage. that's his statement. the inflation reduction act, on the other hand, did create 400,000 clean energy jobs. it unleashed $400 billion worth of investments. that's not collateral damage. that's a climate comeback. that's a middle-class revival in our country. that's 400,000 middle-class jobs in our nation that the inflation reduction act, also known as the biggest climate bill in history, has produced. and they're committed to stopping it. and that's what republicans are willing to tank with their latest proposal. so now i'm going to give you the killer stats. this is why they have to kill it. last year in the united states, 94% of all new electrical generation capacity installed was wind and solar and batteries.

so the natural gas industry is saying, that can't happen. you mean we were left with 6%? yeah, that's right. this thing is moving. wind, solar, battery storage for electrical generation in our country. and if you do it every year for the next ten years or the next 25 years, then the natural gas industry just won't be able to compete in the marketplace. so adam smith is spinning in his grave looking at what chris wright is doing today. tampering with the free market, tampering with incentives for the competition to oil and gas, who have received tax rakes for 100 years -- tax breaks for 100 years. adam smith is spinning in his grave. although he wrote a whole chapter in "wealth of nations," and the chapter was just about how much he hated monopolies. how much he hated oligarchies. who are anathema when it comes

to competition, when it comes to capitalism. that's not what chris wright wants. donald trump wants to be able to put his thumb on the scale for the oil and gas industry, for the coal industry, just to destroy the future competition. meanwhile, the trump administration has already cost america more than 50,000 clean energy jobs and over $8 billion in private-sector clean energy projects. if anything is collateral damage many, it is our economy under donald trump and the chris wright chaos agenda in the marketplace. -- in the marketplace for the clean energy industry. here's what chris wright also said. he also said, quote, natural gas has been the fastest-growing source of energy over the last 15 years. wind and solar, he said, supplied roughly 3% of global

primary energy. chris wright must have brought a calculator from 2005 because those numbers are just completely wrong. in reality, wind and solar are the fastest-growing electricity sources in history. in 2024, as i've already said, they made up over 90% of all new electrical generation in the united states -- and listen to this; this is scary for the oil and gas industry -- 96% of all new electrical generation installed worldwide last year was wind and solar and battery. 96% globally wind and solar. so he's saying, oh, it's just such a small part. no, it's not. and it's going to grow and grow and grow and grow. and that's what is putting the fear into the hearts of the oil and gas industry. they've got to stop it.

and so they've ordered the house republicans to kill it in the ways and means committee, kill it in the energy and commerce committee, and then they want to send it over here so that republicans can rubber stamp this decision to kill the future. and i guess that's inaccurate. it's not the future. it's right now. it's over 90% of the united states and 96% globally last year, the init willation of new -- the installation of new electrical generation capacity. so they're desperate, totally desperate. they wish they had killed the affordable care act, like, 10 years ago because now they don't have the nerve to kill the affordable care act. because now people are already benefitting from those changes. so they're trying to kill this, kill it right now, kill it before it gets more momentum and destroys the business model of the 100 years of it oil and gas and -- of the oil and gas and coal industry. in the united states alone, we

added 50 new megawatts of new solar in 2024. think of it like this -- in 2009 we only had 2,000 megawatts of solar until 2009. last year 50,000 megawatts was installed in solar. if it was 5,000 the year after and the year affirmation you have a half a million new megawatts of solar. so the oil and gas industry listening to donald trump, who said if you raise a billion dollars for me -- he said this last april in the middle of his campaign -- i will clean the clean energy revolution. i will kill it. so this is just pay to play. there is an industry that's growing, creating new jobs hand over fist, just growing at a faster rate than the economy

itself, growing way faster than the economy itself, and what we now see are the fossil fuel apologists saying that new solar just doesn't work, when in fact new solar is now cheaper than simply operating an existing coal plant. offshore wind -- half the cost of building a new gas plant. that's what offshore wind amounts to. half the price. they have to kill it. it's too efficient. it's too clean. it doesn't pollute. doesn't cause asthmas. they've got to kill it now. -- says chris wright, says the oil and gas industry. chris wright also said, quote, wind has been singled out because it's got a singularly poor record of driving up prices and increasing citizen outrage. well, that's just not true. the states with the most wind and solar -- iowa, south dakota,

texas -- they also have lower electricity rates than other parts of the country. clean energy isn't just clean, it is cheap. if republicans really cared about communities, they would stop exporting our liquefied natural gas, which drives up prices at home. so let's stop these fossil fuel companies from gouging families with price spikes and pretending that pollution is patriotism. the administration has made its trade-off clear -- your future for their profit. that's trump's art of the deal. they get to be rich, and young people don't have a future when it comes to clean energy or protecting against climate change. that's the art of the deal, the intergenerational deal. the older generation gets all the money, and the next generations take all the risk.

that's his deal, amendment he's expecting -- and he's expecting everyone to respond like a candidate on "the apprentice." they're not going to. young people are going to rise up. the word is going to get out. this is very dangerous, what he is doing. the trump administration, said chris wright, will end the biden administration's irrational quacy religious -- quasi-religions religious sacrifices. that's chris rect. this is the -- that's chris wright. this is the kind of radical, irrational, nonfact-based but ultimately trumpian at its soul policies that chris wright has to defend. now, you would hope that he knows better, but i think it's different. i think what chris wright has is a remarkable ability to harness

voluminous amounts of information to defend a knowingly erroneous premise. and that erroneous premise is that wind, solar, and batteries aren't working right now. he has to just tell lies about it, plain and simple. lie, lie, lie. and i get it. this is a religious war, pitting economic stimulus policies that drove investment in the free market against their religion of pure trumpism, pitting corporate profits against breathable air, drinkable water, and a habitable planet. do you place their aims at the foot of an effigy of har harold hamm? well, republicans do. he's the biggest gas guy in the country and he said he would raise the money for donald trump. here's the real gospel, clean energy is not polarizing, it's popular in the polls. not only do people not like it,

70% of registered supporters support the biggest climate bill in history, with over 70% of registered voters saying the u.s. needs to use more renewable energy than it does today. that's not religion. that is stimulus in solar panels. again, it's the public saying move to the future, move away from oil and gas. if we want to talk about sacrifice, it's our communities who are sacrificing their lungs to pollution, their homes to floods, their paychecks to fossil fuel price spikes, all for the religion of climate de denialism. i think all these guys, they must have got their climate degree from trump university. i think chris wright and all of them, insiders in the administration, because it's just the opposite of what is happening out there. the planet is dangerously

warming. we've got a response that is massively capturing private sector investment all across our country, to deploy the renewable energy resources that reduces greenhouse gasses. yet, again, i'm going to come back to chris wright, he claims the previous administration's climate policies have been impoverishing to our citizens, economically destructive to our businesses, and politically polarizing. the cure, this is chris wrist, was far more -- this is chris wright, was far more destructive than the disease. there are no winners there that world, except politicians in rapidly growing interest groups. is he talking about the 450,000 asthma deaths every year worldwide? let me say that again. is he talking about the 450,000 people who die from asthma every year globally? or the billions in extreme weather and climate change

related damage every year? that disease sounds pretty dam damaging, while regulations that this administration, you want to try to roll back right now, they're going to try to roll back the protections that are now in place to reduce dramatically the number of people who die from asthmas. the rest of the world is also deploying the cure, the renewable energy technologies. so is there too little mercury up in the air? is there too few air toxics up in the air right now, that chris wright says we need more of them, we need more in the lungs of young people and more in the lungs of young mothers, pregnant women across our country and the planet? i don't hear anyone calling for more mercury, more toxics in the air. if the regulations stayed in place, it would save 11,000

deaths every year. speaking of interest groups, let's us not pretend this administration is for the people. the only group trump has ever prioritized is the fossil fuel elite. so now, we come back to chris wright again, who is bringing that same attitude towards governing. he just doesn't get the attention he deserves for the malevolent way in which he is trying to destroy the clean energy future of our country. today's energy regulatory rollback, today, is a kamikaze mission against clean energy, against efficiency, against accountability, and republicans are more than happy to sign our planet's death sentence. that's what they're doing. that's what their plan is, this year, on the floor of the senate. the rollback of all the regulations that have been promulgated over the years at the department of energy and the

environmental protection agency. a death sentence for the planet. we're talking about rescinding energy and water conservation standards for dozens of products most americans have that their homes -- microwaves, faucets that save billions of dollars and billions of gallons of water annually. what do we get instead? what's chris wright promising? what's donald trump promising us? a rule book written by and for fossil fuel companies. that's what we're going to have, fossil fuel profiteers. no science, no data, just the same old special interests pushing the same old lies. when chris wright and republicans say they want to cut red tape, what he really means is cut clean air, cut consumer savings, cut climate future, cut

clean water, cut safe lands, cut, cut, cut. so, let's call this what it is, the trump deregulation doctrine. if it saves money, repeal it. if it protects public health, gut it. if it curbs emissions, cancel it. and if it benefits the american people, sabotage it. this isn't a regulatory review, it's a regulatory revenge tour, and it's not just about energy efficiency, it's about justice, because it's frontline communities, the poorest communities, black and brown communities, poor communities already overburdened by asthma, heat, energy insecurity, who are going to pay a disproportionate price because of what trump is doing, because of what chris

wright is doing. it's almost unconscionable what chris wright is attempting to perpetrate upon the poorest, the most vulnerable in our society, but he's doing it, all because they're not rich enough, the oil bearons and natural gas barons, the coal barons. they're not rich enough. they have to have more people die, more people get sick. mad madam america, mr. america, the american people deserve an energy secretary who please in science, who tells the truth and doesn't measure progress in barrels sold or rules repealed. we should be investing in the future, not dismantling the future. we should be building cleaner, safer, more affordable systems, no the resurrecting pollution in the same of profit. to chris wright and donald trump, i say we will fight you in the courts.

we will fight you in the states. we will fight you on the floor of this chamber, because every rule you tear down, we are going to rebuild stronger. every lie you tell, we're going to counter with the truth. every time you try to sell out the american people, to pad a corporate balance sheet so that the rich become even richer, we will be back there to push against you, to protect the american public, to attempt to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society. so you're not going to back down, we're not going to back down. this is a fight for the future. this is a fight for the planet. they're trying to write the death certificate of the planet right now, and we're not going to let them get away with it. they're in for an historic resistance coming up from the streets of our country, because this is too important just to be another source of revenue for

the tax breaks for the already too rich in our society. let me just finish with this, the three richest guys in america, who sat behind donald trump at the inauguration, they control more wealth than the bottom 50% of our population combined. do they really need more? do oil and gas barons really need more? does it have to come at the expense of the future of all the young people in our country? does it have to come at the expense of the health of everyone in our nation? aren't we better than this? aren't we really the innovation country? so that would be my message, you're in for a fight, it's a fight for the future against those who want to pull us back towards a past of which ultimately has created the issues, the problems, the risks that we're confronted with today. so, with that, mr. president, i

yield back, and i thank you for to our defense department to use while they are building the other ones. i think that was a very nice gesture. now i could be a stupid person and say we don't want a free plane. we will take 12 it helps us out because again, we are talking the 40-year-old aircraft. the money we spend the maintenance we spent on those planes to keep them to keep top

is astronomical you would not even believe it. so, i think it's a great gesture. i appreciate it very much. i would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. i could be a stupid person and say we do not want a free very expensive airplane. but i thought it was a great gesture. i think it was a gesture because of we have helped and continue to, we will continue to the saudi arabia, uae, qatar and others. we keep them safe if it wasn't for us they probably would not exist right now. this was just a gesture of good faith. and i don't get it. someday it will be like ronald reagan the permission to get to a certain age. go to the library in years out. but i thought it was a great gesture. it is something done by ronald

reagan they decommission a plane platehe put in his library. it's actually made the library i think a boeing 707 and has made the library more successful. so it was good. after you leave office" no it would go directly to the library after i leave office support i would not be using it. >> you said the american hostage that in good faith. [inaudible] >> we hope we are going to have other hostages released to. as you know. when i met with the house is just three weeks ago we were there for quite a while. if you remember the 10 people who came in mostly young people one or two were little bit older. there explain the trials and tribulations. as at home either this and 59.