What John Thune said, and what was done

“Mr. President, just before I begin my remarks, I would associate myself with the remarks of my colleague from South Dakota pertaining to the Postal Service and their work in South Dakota.”

“And Republicans haven't just put more money in hard-working Americans pockets. We have been working to bring down costs, and one of the ways we are doing that is by lifting unnecessary and burdensome regulations that drive up the cost of things that Americans need.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Walker Larson, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Walker is a graduate of Aberdeen Christian School in Aberdeen, SD. Currently, he is attending Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD, where he is pursuing a degree in history.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Tyler Groen, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Nathan Fairholm, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, America's farmers and ranchers got some good news at the end of last week. After a lot of hard work from members of the Agriculture Committee, Chairman Boozman released the text of a 5-year farm bill, which is slated for a markup tomorrow, and it will, I hope, be headed soon to the floor.”

“Mr. President, a week or 2 ago, I came down to the floor and talked about growing up in a small town in South Dakota. As I said in those remarks, I carry those South Dakotans with me in a special way in my work here in Washington.”

“When I consider bills or look at regulations, I think about what kind of impact they will have on those Americans, on hard-working people without a lot of extra money in the budget, on people living paycheck to paycheck or, as was the case with some of the farmers I grew up with, harvest to harvest.”

“Mr. President, I am pleased to say that the text of the continuing resolution has been released. It is a strong, bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Jayden Bender, an intern in my Aberdeen, SD, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several months.”

“Mr. President, next week, our top priority will be funding the government until the November election. The American people have faced two--two--recordbreaking government shutdowns in the past 10 months.”

“American people. Shutdowns strain our national security agencies. They threaten military, law enforcement, and civilian pay. They endanger nutrition benefits, farm programs, and a whole lot of other stuff.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Ava Powell, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Peever, SD. The town of Peever will be celebrating its quasquicentennial on August 8, 2026. Peever will host anniversary events, including a parade, an antique tractor-pull, live music, and much more.”

“Mr. President, yesterday, we said goodbye to our friend and colleague Lindsey Graham. But though we said farewell, Lindsey's work continues. Last night, we began consideration of the bill to which he devoted so much of his time and energy over the last year.”

“Mr. President, over the weekend, I headed back to Jones County, South Dakota, for my high school reunion. It has been a few years since high school--just a few--but it is amazing how the years roll away when you head back and see some of the people who shaped your high school years.”

“Mr. President, the Senate is in the middle of a busy work period, and we have a lot to accomplish in the coming weeks and months. We have some great opportunities for bipartisan collaboration: market structure legislation; the Lindsey O.”

“Mr. President, every parent wants to give their kids a better life than they had. So parents spend a lot of time making sure their kids are ready when opportunity comes their way.”

“Mr. President, at the beginning of last year, the New York Times took a poll of the American voters, and the headline captures their results. This is what it said: ``Many Americans Say the Democratic Party Does Not Share Their Priorities.'' Let me repeat that, Mr.”

“I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.”

“Mr. President, we recently celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence--the 250th birthday of our country. On July 4 in 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration.”

“Mr. President, Americans tend to trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to national security. And, boy oh boy, do Democrats seem determined to demonstrate why that is the case.”

“And now they have blocked the Senate from considering the National Defense Authorization Act. And who knows what is next? In either a fit of self-delusion or an attempt to distract from their actions, Democrats are trying to peddle the narrative that somehow they can't agree to anything because Republicans are trying to make things partisan.”

“Mr. President, like many of us, I represent a State with a rich heritage of military service, and South Dakota continues to punch above its weight in our Armed Forces.”

“Mr. President, before I begin my remarks this morning, I want to offer a word of welcome to the new Senator from South Carolina. Later today, we will swear in Darline Graham to fill the seat of her brother and our friend Lindsey Graham.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 801 following the remarks of Senators Coons and Lankford.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Pollock, SD. The town of Pollock will be celebrating its quasquicentennial July 17-19, 2026. Pollock will host quasquicentennial events, including live music, fishing tournaments, parades, class reunions, and much more.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Artas, SD. The town of Artas celebrated its quasquicentennial July 11, 2026. Artas hosted quasquicentennial events, including live music, reunions, and much more.”

“Mr. President, I come to the floor today with a heavy heart. I look to my right, and I see a desk which we in the Senate refer to and know as the John Calhoun desk.”

“Mr. President, today, we mark 4 years since the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, the landmark Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the question of abortion to the people and their elected representatives.”

“Justices on the Supreme Court who focus on interpreting the law and the Constitution, instead of creating new constitutional law out of thin air, as the Justices did in Roe.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Elena Rossi, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Lavin Maddox, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Nicholas Maas, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Benjamin Lust, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Natalie Kelley, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Erik Gunderson, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, I spoke on the floor yesterday about the landmark bill Republicans passed last year, the Working Families Tax Cut bill, and I talked about how this bill fits into Republicans' efforts to turn things around in our country, turn things around by putting more money in Americans' pockets, helping small businesses grow, strengthening the agriculture sector, and giving a lifeline to rural healthcare.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Sanders.”

“Madam President, we are approaching 1 year since the Working Families Tax Cut became law. For nearly a year now, the American people have been seeing the benefits of this bill, from a more secure border to a stronger military, larger paychecks and bigger refunds, support for farmers and ranchers, and a lifeline for struggling rural healthcare providers.”

“And then there are the costs and delays associated with the environmental review process. This bill enables State, local, and Tribal governments to streamline environmental reviews. It rightsizes the NEPA process and exempts certain rural housing projects from these extensive and often burdensome reviews, and it directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the USDA to coordinate joint environmental reviews for housing projects funded by both Agencies.”

“Mr. President, last week, a U.S. Army Apache helicopter went down off the coast of Iran. Within 2 hours, a rescue boat located the pilots. This was not an ordinary rescue boat.”

“And we here have an obligation to make sure that when that call comes, they have what they need to answer it. We need to make every concerted effort--every--to strengthen our military.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of my colleagues.”

“I move to refer the House Message on H.R. 6644 to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.”

“Mr. President, I don't think at this point there are too many people who think Democrats were actually interested in reforms of Border Patrol and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement because it was pretty clear from their actions that they were not.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of my Democratic colleagues.”

“Mr. President, on Thursday President Trump nominated Jay Clayton the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York to be the Director of National Intelligence. He has an impressive resume with experience in both the public sector and the private sector, and he has the kind of skill set necessary for managing issues as complex and varied as those faced by the Director of National Intelligence.”

“Republicans here in the Senate have built a record of acting quickly on the President's nominees, and we are going to do the same with Mr. Clayton. The Senate Intelligence Committee has already announced that it will hold a hearing on Mr.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Husted.”

“Mr. President, what the Senator from Arkansas and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee just said is absolutely accurate: The Senator from Oregon has consistently tried to kill this program and has never believed in it, has never voted for it.”

“Let me just, again, say for the record, because the Senator from Oregon's proposal is designed to kill the bill--and there was a vote in the House. And I want to say there were 190 Republicans in the House who voted for a 3-week extension.”

“Mr. President, last week, Senate Republicans passed legislation to fund Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the next 3 years. On Tuesday, House Republicans passed the legislation, and, yesterday, the President signed the bill into law.”

“Mr. President, in 4 days, authorization for our Nation's most critical intelligence-gathering tool will expire. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows the U.S. Government to target the digital information of foreign actors located outside of the United States for specific national security purposes, such as counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction.”

“Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Monday, June 8, 2026, at 5:30 p.m., to conduct a business meeting.”

“Mr. President, sometimes, I have to wonder if Democrats remember the last election and how 4 years of recordbreaking illegal immigration on President Biden's watch helped hand the House, the Senate, and the White House to Republicans, because to watch the Democrat Party right now, you would think that 2024 never happened.”

“And when I say ``defund,'' I mean defund. Democrats opposed giving these Agencies a single dollar. And I hope--I really hope--that my Democrat colleagues are not going to attempt to defend themselves by claiming that they simply wanted reforms of these Agencies and that Republicans wouldn't give them to them, because as the record amply, amply reflects, Democrats were offered reforms again and again.”

“Mr. President, I expect there will be a lot of amendments today on a lot of topics. So I want to take just a minute to focus in on the essence of the bill that we are on that we will be considering and voting on today.”

“Madam President, 10,000 votes. Not only that--10,000 consecutive votes. That is the milestone Maine Senator Susan Collins will hit today--10,000 consecutive votes here in the U.S. Senate. For nearly 30 years, Susan Collins has shown up for Mainers, has ensured that they are represented in every single vote the Senate takes, no matter what--not just the headline-making votes, every vote without fail.”

“Mr. President, as of tomorrow, we will be one month away from the opening date for Trump Accounts. These are new tax-advantaged investment accounts for children created by the Republicans' Working Families Tax Cut.”

“Mr. President, as we begin our proceedings this morning, I want to take a moment to recognize a milestone here in the Senate. On this day 40 years ago, C-SPAN broadcast the U.S.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 755. There being no objection, as a further mark of respect to the late Donald W.”

“Mr. President, enforcing our Nation's laws is not optional. Securing our borders isn't optional. Supporting the men and women who do this important work--funding law enforcement--isn't optional either.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 2:37 p.m., adjourned until Friday, May 22, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.”

“I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.”

“Mr. President, the Democrat Party has gone off the rails. It is no secret that the Democrat Party has drifted sharply leftward in recent years and that it has become increasingly divorced from the concerns of ordinary Americans. ``Many Americans Say the [Democrat] Party Does Not Share Their Priorities''--that was a headline noted last year from the New York Times.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Herreid, SD. The town of Herreid will be celebrating its quasquicentennial June 26-28, 2026. Herreid will host quasquicentennial events, including parades, live music, class reunions, and much more.”

“Mr. President, yesterday on the floor I discussed some of our accomplishments here in the Senate, and one of those accomplishments is restoring regular order consideration of appropriation bills.”

“Mr. President, yesterday marked 500 days of the Republican majority here in the U.S. Senate, and what a busy 500 days it has been. We have taken close to 800 votes since last January, confirmed just under 500 nominees to posts across the Federal Government and judiciary, and we have passed bills out of the Senate and into law to make life better for the American people.”

“Mr. President, the month of May is dedicated to America's finest. We observed Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day last week, and the entire month of May is Military Appreciation Month.”

“Mr. President, last month, a Sioux Falls, SD, police officer responded to a report of a weapons violation. While pursuing one of the suspects, the officer in question was ambushed by the other suspect and shot.”

“As we honor the service and sacrifice of our Nation's law enforcement officers, we also need to honor their families because their families also serve. They say goodbye in the morning to a husband or wife, a mom or a dad, son or a daughter, with the knowledge always at the back of their minds that their loved one may not come home at the end of the day.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Elijah Suwyn, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Kyler Gohlke, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, later today, the Senate will finish considering the nomination of Kevin Warsh to be the 17th Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Leading the Federal Reserve System is an enormous task.”

“Mr. President, last week was Small Business Week, and I was glad to be able to host a business roundtable, last Monday, in Aberdeen, SD, and hear directly from small business owners in my State.”

“Innovation Center on the campus of Northern State University, which houses the Northern Innovation and Startup Center that provides support for aspiring entrepreneurs in northeastern South Dakota. Small Business Week is an important celebration, but the impact that small businesses have is felt literally every day of the year.”

“Mr. President, we have a lot to do over the next 2 weeks: confirm Kevin Warsh to the Federal Reserve, approve a nominations package, and fund law enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security.”

“Mr. President, we are a Nation of immigrants, but we are also a Nation of laws. That is a commonsense statement and one on which Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree.”

“Mr. President, we need law enforcement. Nowhere was that more evident than on Saturday night, when a gunman attempted to storm the White House Correspondents' Dinner in an attempt to kill the President, individuals in the line of succession to the Presidency, and civilians who got in the way.”

“But that doesn't always seem to be obvious to my Democratic colleagues. The ``defund the police'' movement and ``abolish ICE'' movements were both embraced by Members of the Democrat Party, and now Democrats are at it again.”

“Mr. President, let me just say to my colleague from Oregon that, obviously, there are, I think, constructive conversations going on right now about how to address some of the concerns that he has raised on this.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to mention how pleased we are to be able to welcome King Charles and Queen Camilla to the Capitol today. A special relationship between our two nations has been a long and fruitful one, and I think it is fair to say that over the course of our Nation's history, we have had no closer ally than Great Britain.”

“Mr. President, the events of Saturday night were horrifying. It is difficult to believe that this is the third time--the third time--President Trump has faced an assassination attempt.”

“Mr. President, we have four more amendments in this tranche that we are doing right now, but if we could start to compress this time for votes even more.”

“Mr. President, we have a finite list of five amendments. So if everybody could stay in their seats, and we will try and knock them off quickly and do legit 10-minute votes.”

“Mr. President, before we leave and finish this evening, I would like to take a moment to recognize a departing member of the Republican cloakroom staff Tony Hanagan.”

“Mr. President, yesterday, Republicans moved to begin consideration of a budget resolution to fund law enforcement--Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement--at the Department of Homeland Security. We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end, Republicans will have helped ensure that America's borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important Agencies.”

“Mr. President, in a moment here, I am going to move to proceed to a budget resolution, but let me just say before I do that that we are in this spot because we tried to appropriate.”

“Mr. President, if it were up to Republicans, we would have finished the appropriations process months ago. We made a lot of progress on restoring the appropriations process this past year.”

“Mr. President, tax day was last week, and I would like to read a brief excerpt from a Washington Post article. The title of this article: ``Tax refunds shoot up as Americans take advantage of new deductions.'' And here is the excerpt: Karen Richardson, 68, has had a predictable tax return since she retired from her job administering government benefits four years ago.”

“Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 10:58 a.m., adjourned until Monday, April 20, 2026, at 3 p.m.”

“I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the Calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:36 p.m., recessed until Friday, April 17, 2026, at 10 a.m.”

“Mr. President, I was very sorry to hear of the death of Christina Harris-Jones, director of the Senate Employees' Child Care Center. By all accounts, Ms. Harris-Jones was exactly the kind of person you would want to head up a center like the SECCC: knowledgeable, dedicated, warm, and deeply committed to early childhood education.”

“Mr. President, one thing you can always count on is that Democrats have a lot of nerve. The Democrat leader has been out and about, this week, criticizing Republicans for taking up reconciliation legislation to fund border security and immigration enforcement.”

“Working Families Tax Cuts raised it again to $2,200. And Republicans didn't just raise the child tax credit, we linked it to inflation so it doesn't lose its value over time.”

“Mr. President, we spent the weeks before Easter debating the SAVE America Act here in the Senate. And since the debate began, we have seen Democrats contort themselves every which way to justify opposing the commonsense policies in this bill.”

“Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.”

“Mr. President, we are now more than 6 months--halfway through--the 2026 fiscal year, and somehow, thanks to my Democrat colleagues, there are still parts of the Federal Government that aren't funded for 2026.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:04 a.m., adjourned until Monday, April 6, 2026, at 1 p.m.”

“Mr. President, President Trump recently announced that he has found a way to provide relief for tens of thousands of TSA officers currently working without pay. And thanks to his actions, the money to pay them will start flowing immediately.”

“I thought Democrats had learned their lessons on defunding law enforcement, but I guess we are right back there. Did they think that defunding law enforcement will be a winning issue for them in November?”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of the Democrat leader and myself.”

“Mr. President, enough is enough. Republicans have bent over backward to negotiate with Democrats, and now Democrats need to get serious about funding the Department of Homeland Security.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senators Cassidy, Welch, Whitehouse, Padilla, and Lee.”

“Mr. President, let me just say that this obviously is a vote which we have had multiple times now. It is on the House-passed legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security in accordance with the agreement that was reached between Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, some time ago.”

“Mr. President, we are on day 40 of Democrats' shutdown of Department of Homeland Security--day 40. And that is on top of Democrats' recordbreaking 43-day full-government shutdown in the fall.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senators Coons and Sanders.”

“Mr. President, I move to refer the House message on S. 1383 to the Committee on Rules Administration with instruction to report back forthwith with an amendment numbered 4772.”

“Mr. President, we have been debating the SAVE America Act for 7 days now, and what has been made clear in this debate is how out of touch Democrats are with most Americans.”

“I mean, we have had countless votes to fund TSA. We had one yesterday. We have had countless motions by our side to pass a continuing resolution that funds all of DHS--including TSA--and consistently blocked by this side.”

“The tree, I would say to my colleague from New York, has on it right now a vote that we just completed, and there will be other opportunities to vote on other amendments related to the legislation that we are on here today.”

“If you want to have a debate on appropriations, we can have that. We have made ourselves available. The White House is available. There are meetings going on right now which I hope ultimately lead to a result where we get these Agencies opened up again, including TSA.”

“Mr. President, I will just say, when you talk about doing something quickly, referring it to the Rules Committee, which has no jurisdiction over spending, over appropriations, on a bill that has nothing to do with funding these Agencies--but we are happy--we are happy--we will pivot immediately to fund all these Agencies when you are ready to do it.”

“Mr. President, I said at the beginning of this debate that I was going to use the word ``commonsense'' a lot, and that is because the SAVE America Act unites a bunch of commonsense policies, the kind of things that are just intuitively obvious--or, at least, they should be--and should be getting 80 to 90 votes, or more, here in the Senate.”

“Mr. President, Americans are pretty used to presenting their photo IDs. These days, you need one for just about everything you do. Driving a car, you better have your license on you.”

“Federal Government is run. And, logically speaking, doesn't it make sense that our elections should at least be as secure as the local rec center? I think so, and the American people seem to think so too.”

“Mr. President, I don't think this is a hot take: Only American citizens should be voting in American elections. Let me repeat that: Only American citizens should be voting in American elections.”

“Mr. President, today is day 32 of Democrats' shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. On Thursday, Democrats, once again, blocked the Senate from proceeding to a DHS funding bill--a bill, I should note, that already includes a number of reforms to immigration enforcement: more money for body cameras, deescalation training, and additional oversight of immigration enforcement activities.”

“Mr. President, later today, we will finish up the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the latest piece of legislation in Republican's affordability agenda. And next week, I will be bringing the SAVE America Act to the floor, and we will be having a full and robust debate.”

“So I assume the Democrat leader is aware of the fact that we have tried repeatedly to fund everything temporarily to allow the negotiations over the ICE budget to continue.”

“Well, I would say again to the Democrat leader that the Democrats have had multiple opportunities--and will have another one today--to provide funding for all of the Agencies that he just mentioned, under a continuing resolution, to allow us to consider how we are going to resolve the DHS issues that the Democrat leader has raised, which are being negotiated, I might add, at the moment between Democrats and Republicans and the White House.”

“I would support a resolution, which will be offered, to fund not just TSA but Coast Guard; Cybersecurity, CISA; FEMA; other Agencies and Departments of our government that are essential not only to national security and homeland security but to making sure that people can move through our airports in this country, that the FEMA-- Federal Emergency Management Agency--has the ability to respond to disasters.”

“Mr. President, we are almost now a month into the Democrat's DHS, Department of Homeland Security, shutdown. Democrats have essentially walked away from trying to solve it. That is right.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I just heard the Senator from Washington suggest that they are willing to sit down and talk with anybody at any time.”

“Mr. President, reclaiming my time. The situation which I think the Senator from Washington is referring to is how we landed at the agreement on the DHS bill that we have been trying to vote on.”

“Thirteen days ago. And there has been no response from the Democrats to the latest offer. And subsequent to that, my colleague the Senator from Alabama and others have tried by approaching the Senator from Washington and other Members of the Democrat caucus and leadership to actually sit down and have a conversation about a path forward.”

“So what I just heard was that they are willing to sit down, and yet we have tried repeatedly to sit down with the Senator from Washington and other Democrat leaders to negotiate a solution here.”

“Now, again, I would point out that the latest offer on the table is from the White House. It is 13 days old. The Democrats have not responded to that, nor have they indicated any willingness whatsoever to sit down with our side and actually talk about how to resolve this.”

“I appreciate the Senator from Missouri making that point. The response to his question is, I do believe that we have people who are tasked with an important job, and defunding them is not an option, and I think we all agree with that over here.”

“Which is precisely what the Senator from Alabama was going to do here momentarily. And what she is going to suggest is that we fund the government under a continuing resolution to allow additional time to negotiate, and that has now been objected to on multiple occasions by our friends on the other side of the aisle.”

“Mr. President, home ownership--that quintessential part of the American dream--has become increasingly unattainable for a lot of Americans and for younger Americans in particular. The New York Times reports that home prices have surged roughly 50 percent since the pandemic, and mortgage rates have also risen.”

“Along with removing regulatory barriers, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act focuses on unleashing private sector investment. And this entire bill has been put together with an emphasis on allowing States and local communities to pursue the housing solutions that work for them.”

“Mr. President, we are more than 3 weeks into the Democrat's DHS shutdown, and Democrats keep telling us that they are serious about funding this Agency, but their actions speak louder than their words.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 4:24 p.m., adjourned until Monday, March 9, 2026, at 3 p.m.”

“Mr. President, before I begin today, I would like to take a moment to honor Claudia Kostel, the Senate's chief counsel for employment, who is retiring this month after serving this institution for more than 25 years.”

“Mr. President, last week, Leader Schumer came to the floor to announce: Lowering costs will be Senate Democrats' North Star in 2026. He continued: Let me repeat that so [that] America and our Republican colleagues hear it: Lowering costs will be Senate Democrats' North Star in 2026.”

“Mr. President, my Democrat colleagues are at it again. They are on their second shutdown in 6 months, and in a few short days, a lot of government workers will be missing part of their paychecks again thanks to Senate Democrats.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senators Cruz, Baldwin, Van Hollen, Duckworth, and Welch.”

“Mr. President, over the weekend, American forces took action against the longtime threat posed by the mullahs in Tehran. For decades, Iran has fomented terror throughout the Middle East, endangering U.S. servicemembers, U.S. citizens and personnel in the region, and many of our allies.”

“Mr. President, last July, Republicans passed the landmark Working Families Tax Cut Act into law. This is a bill that is full of wins for the American people.”

“South Dakota Retailers Association. I heard from a number of local businesses, from our car dealerships to a cupcake shop, and business owners from around South Dakota had positive things to say about the Working Families Tax Cut Act.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize the selection of South Dakota's Adam Vinatieri as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2026. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, scoring 2,673 career points and winning four Super Bowls during his 24-year career.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to mention Special Agent Eden Holguin, a member of the Capitol Police's Dignitary Protection Division, who passed away last week following a brief illness.”

“Mr. President, later this evening, we are going to hear from Trump in the State of the Union Address. In a little more than a year, President Trump and Republican majorities in Congress have delivered on our promises to the American people, from a secure border to more money in Americans' pockets.”

“The Department of Homeland Security houses a number of critical Agencies, and shutting down this Department has real consequences. Democrats are threatening the work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, of the TSA, of key cyber security offices.”

“Mr. President, Homeland Security appropriations expire tomorrow, and there are concerning signs the Democrats are prepared to walk away from the table and allow funding for critical Homeland Security Agencies to expire--funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the TSA, the Coast Guard, cyber security, and more.”

“Mr. President, on Friday, funding for the Department of Homeland Security will expire. When we passed a short 2-week stopgap for the Department, at the Democrats' insistence, many of us said it would not be long enough.”

“Senator Booker for 10 minutes, Senator Murphy for 10 minutes, Senator Warner for 5 minutes, Senator Van Hollen for 10 minutes, Senator Alsobrooks for 5 minutes, Senator Kaine for 10 minutes, Senator Wyden for 5 minutes, Senator Hoeven for 10 minutes, Senator Kennedy for 20 minutes, and Senator Scott of Florida for 5 minutes.”

“Mr. President, tax filing season is no one's favorite season, but thanks to the working families tax cuts, things are looking up this year. Americans filing their taxes are looking at a host of new tax relief.”

“Mr. President, funding for the Department of Homeland Security runs out on Friday. Over the weekend, the Trump administration and congressional Democrats engaged in meaningful talks on a path forward.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Grassley.”

“COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.”

“Mr. President, we have 1 week and 1 day left to pass the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill. Democrats demanded a tight timeline for the DHS continuing resolution.”

“As one female runner who was robbed of multiple wins by a biological male described the situation, ``It robs girls of the chance to race in front of college scouts who show up for elite meets, and to compete for the scholarships and opportunities that come with college recruitment.”

“Mr. President, with tax filing season underway, the American people are beginning to feel the impact of the working families tax cuts. They are seeing smaller tax bills, bigger refunds, and more money in their pockets.”

“Mr. President, on Friday, the Senate passed five of the remaining six appropriations bills: Defense appropriations; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; Financial Services and General Government; Labor-Health and Human Services; Education; and National Security and Department of State--in all, five appropriations bills that fund all of those various programs and Agencies.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senators Coons and Murray.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:30 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at 11 a.m.”

“The death of Alex Pretti was a tragedy, and there should be a full and impartial investigation into the shooting. I am glad that the President is sending Tom Homan to Minnesota, and I hope that his arrival will help restore order to the situation.”

“Mr. President, the work of the Appropriations Committee never seems to stop, and that has certainly been true over this past year. Under the leadership of Chair Collins, our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee have held hearings and markups and done the hard work of writing legislation to fund the government.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Whitehouse.”

“Mr. President, today, we expect a vote on a resolution to direct the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities in or against Venezuela, even though--even though--the United States is not currently engaged in hostilities in or against Venezuela.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of my colleagues.”

“Mr. President, recent reports suggest that widespread fraud has taken root in the State of Minnesota. Prosecutors say that industrial-scale fraud has affected at least 14 federally funded programs in the State and that, since 2018, $9 billion or more may have been stolen from these programs--stolen from taxpayers and from the people in need that these programs are meant to help.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I just want to mention Thursday's appropriations vote in the House. Thanks to Speaker Johnson, House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, and others, the House passed a three-bill appropriations package--Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment--by an overwhelming bipartisan margin.”

“In November, the latest month for which we have border numbers, there were just 11,000 total encounters at the southern border--11,000. Now, to put that number into perspective, the previous November, under President Biden, saw 94,000 encounters.”

“Mr. President, at the start of this week, I said that the Senate would be focusing on government funding this month. We have a January 30 deadline to get the job done and avoid another government shutdown.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order, following the remarks of my colleagues.”

“The state's health care agency said it will use the funds to strengthen rural health care clinics in a variety of ways, including: creating wellness and nutrition programs to rural providers; educating and attracting health care professionals to work in rural areas; and modernizing resources and technology in rural centers.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further to business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of my colleagues.”

“Mr. President, last year, Republicans followed through on our promises to the American people. The cornerstone of that was the Working Families Tax Cuts and the rest of that landmark legislation--a bill that helps deliver safer streets; that puts more money in Americans' pockets; and that creates new opportunities to get ahead.”

“Mr. President, 2025 was a historically busy year here in the U.S. Senate: the longest session period in more than 15 years; the greatest number of votes in half a century; many, many, many hours in session, substantially exceeding the average of the past 78 years.”

“The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Montana (Mr.”

“If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I say thank you to all the staff here for a very long year and wish everybody a Merry Christmas and happy holidays and ask that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.”

“January 3, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, January 5; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; finally, that at 5:30 p.m., the Senate execute the order of December 18 in relation to Executive Calendar No. 70, Keith Bass.”

“Mr. President, when I became majority leader, I made it very clear that I was committed to funding the government through the regular order consideration of appropriations bills, not through an omnibus or long-term CR, oftentimes written behind closed doors.”

“Mr. President, as we wrap up--or are about to wrap up, I should say--our legislative work for 2025, I would say it has been quite a busy year here in the U.S.”

“America year, and so that was a record number of votes cast in both I think the House and the Senate. But we have eclipsed that with 613 votes cast in 1995.”

“Mr. President, either today or tomorrow, we will confirm another nominations package, bringing the total number of the President's nominees confirmed this year to more than 400. That far exceeds the total confirmations of both President Trump's previous term and President Biden's.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:53 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 10 a.m.”

“America safer and stronger, investing in law and order here at home and a strong military to safeguard our national security. We are creating a brighter future with new opportunities for Americans wherever they live and whatever their American dream may be.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 4:37 p.m., adjourned until Monday, December 15, 2025, at 3 p.m.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:50 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 10 a.m.”

“Mr. President, I would like to read a few quotes from some of my Democrat colleagues from the past couple of months. This is from November 6: We did fail to bring down the cost of healthcare.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Cassidy.”

“Mr. President, I am very pleased to report that, as of yesterday, the Senate has confirmed a total of 314 of President Trump's civilian nominees, and earlier this week, I filed on another nominations package, which, when passed, will bring our total confirmations to more than 400.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senators Kennedy and Reed.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Taylor Nordseth, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, we are 4 weeks away from the new year and from the date that the 2017 tax relief for Americans was set to expire. Back in 2017, of course, Republicans passed a huge tax-relief package.”

“So let me get back to my remarks here and start by saying that last month, the incoming mayor of New York City, who is a leading voice in today's Democratic Party, promised New Yorkers: We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve, and no concern too small for it to care about.”

“Mr. President, the Democrat leader was just talking about healthcare, and obviously there has been a lot of conversation around that here in these past few weeks and months.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to profess my profound sorrow for National Guard member SPC Sarah Beckstrom. Sarah was one of two National Guard members shot in a targeted attack here in Washington, DC, on the day before Thanksgiving.”

“Americans traveled for the holiday last week. And while most of them packed up the car and hit the road, about 6 million Americans boarded planes to spend the holidays with relatives and friends across the country.”

“Mr. President, let me just reiterate what the Senator from South Carolina said, and that is that this measure that we passed does, indeed, give important protections to Members.”

“I branch of the government, constitutionally, but address the question that has been raised about personal enrichment, which I have said, again, is not the case here. This would clarify that any damages awarded under this law would be forfeited to the U.S.”

“Mr. President, I would simply respond by saying again, in clarifying this question of personal enrichment, I am not sure exactly what that is predicated on. Clearly, the attempt being made here was to give standing to Members whose personal, private information was collected by a prosecutor who went around the law.”

“Mr. President, I have spoken a lot over the years about the need for a strong military. I believe that keeping cutting-edge responsibilities we have in America at the cutting edge of military capabilities is one of the most important responsibilities we have in Congress.”

“Mr. President, after 43 days, the longest government shutdown in history is over. Shellshocked government employees are getting paid again. The air travel situation is improving. Nutrition programs are back on a secure footing.”

“The senior Senator from Vermont published an op-ed calling for a continued shutdown and continued opposition to President Trump, even though the President had exactly nothing to do with the clean funding extension that Republicans were proposing.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 9:46 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.”

“Mr. President, I am glad to be able to say that eight Democrats joined Republicans last night to take the first step to reopen the government. And in the very near future, we will be voting on a final package, a clean continuing resolution until January 30 and three bipartisan full-year appropriations bills.”

“Mr. President, yesterday, we finally heard Democrats entertain the notion of reopening the government. It only took them 38 days. Why? In the days before, progressives were urging Democrats to prolong the shutdown in perpetuity.”

“Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Cassidy.”

“Madam President, now I ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.”

“Madam President, I am trying to understand what is going on here. Perhaps the Senator from Michigan can clarify. So every public sector employees' union is supporting the Senator from Wisconsin's bill, but you are objecting because you think it grants too much power to the President.”

“Mr. President, the junior Senator from Connecticut certainly believes in saying the quiet part out loud. This is what he said: I think there will be some pretty substantial damage done to a Democratic brand that has been rehabilitated, if on the heels of an election in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop fighting.”

“American people, well, the junior Democrat from Connecticut pretty handily dispelled that notion. Again, this is what he said: I worry that it will be hard to sort of get them back up off the mat in time for next fall's election cycle.”

“Mr. President, we are 37 days into an entirely avoidable government shutdown. I say ``avoidable'' because it was. Democrats instigated this shutdown by rejecting a clean, nonpartisan funding resolution.”

“Mr. President, can this be over now? Have the American people suffered enough or do Democrats need more? Democrats have snarled air traffic; they have damaged small businesses; they left Federal workers in line at food banks; they jeopardized food assistance--food assistance--for 40 million Americans.”

“Mr. President, like many Americans, I was saddened to learn this morning of the death of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Dick was a lifelong public servant who believed very deeply in our country and brought his considerable knowledge and intelligence to its service.”

“Airline travel is snarled. Small businesses are suffering. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are working without pay. And now 40 million Americans in need are at risk of losing their food stamps.”

“Mr. President, Democrats are grasping at straws these days. The other day, the Democrat leader came to the floor and tried to reboot the notion that the clean CR sitting before us here in the Senate is a partisan CR.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, let me just point out, if I might, that we are 29 days into a Democrat shutdown. And the Senator from New Mexico is absolutely right--SNAP recipients shouldn't go without food.”

“Mr. President, I regret the fact that the Senator from New Mexico and his Democrat colleagues are unwilling to modify his request to include keeping the government open.”

“We were promised, of course, that it would. We were, in fact, promised the Democrats' signature law would fix our entire healthcare system. This is a quote: [A]n historic bill that will finally reform our broken healthcare system and help millions of our families and small businesses get the coverage they need at a price they can afford.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Blumenthal.”

“The far-left activists wanted a showdown with President Trump, and so Democrats have shut down the government and have forced hard-working Americans to live in uncertainty for 4 weeks--4 weeks and counting.”

“Mr. President, just to remind our colleagues, we have had now a series of three votes, with a couple of them on judges, but one of the votes in there was on a Senator Johnson proposal that would have paid all Federal employees who are currently working in the middle of the shutdown.”

“Senator Johnson's was even more straightforward than that, really, because it simply said, if you are a Federal employee and you are currently working today, like everybody here in this Chamber, you will get paid.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:05 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 10 a.m.”

“Mr. President, 3 weeks. It has been 3 weeks since Democrats shut down the government. Democrats chose to put the demands of far-left activists ahead of serving the American people, and over the last 3 weeks, it is the American people who have borne the consequences of the Democrat shutdown.”

“Mr. President, the Democrat party is the party that will not take yes for an answer. We offer Democrats a clean, nonpartisan CR, no Republican policies for them to swallow, nothing for them to object to; they said no.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:31 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 10 a.m.”

“Mr. President, I want to join my colleague Senator Grassley from Iowa and, before I begin, mention the release of the hostages on Monday. After more than 2 years in captivity, the final 20 living hostages were returned to Israel and reunited with their loved ones.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to mention the very welcome news that the first phase of the historic Israel-Gaza peace plan brokered by President Trump and his administration, working with allies and partners in the region, has been agreed to.”

“Mr. President, in just a few minutes, Senator Collins will cast her 9,750th consecutive vote--her 9,750th consecutive vote. Mr. President, 9,750 votes is a substantial milestone all on its own, but 9,750 consecutive votes--that is something else.”

“Mr. President, we are now on day eight of the government shutdown, which is truly unfortunate and unnecessary and totally at the behest of leftwing Democrat special interest groups that have pressured the Democratic leadership into a position that makes absolutely no sense to any thinking person.”

“And of interest to my Democratic colleagues, 65 percent of voters, including 63 percent of Independents, think the Democrats should end the shutdown by accepting a continuing resolution like the clean funding resolution I just described that is in front of us.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to note that today marks 2 years since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. By day's end on that October 7, hundreds of innocent Israelis were dead, and more than 200 hostages had been taken.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:28 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 10 a.m.”

“Mr. President, we are now in day 6 of the Democrats' government shutdown--day 6--and I am wondering just what exactly Democrats think they are gaining from all of this.”

“Mr. President, we are into the second day of a government shutdown after Democrats, once again, rejected a clean, nonpartisan funding bill to keep the government open while we continue bipartisan appropriations work.”

“Mr. President, here we are. Democrats have bowed to the far-left, and they have shut down the Federal Government. As of this morning, critical Federal employees, including members of the military, Border Patrol agents, and air traffic controllers, are working without pay, and a number of government services are unavailable or at risk.”

“We are down to the wire here. In just a moment, the Senate will vote on whether or not to keep the government open. Right here--24 pages. Not partisan.”

“Mr. President, we are just 14 hours away from a government shutdown. The House has passed a clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution to fund the government until November 21.”

“So the Senator from New York--the way that we have done it was a different business model than the one he used. We actually had the Appropriations Committee sit down, and the date that they come up with, November 21, was agreed upon by the House and Senate appropriators, Republican and Democrat.”

“I will. I will. And the Ukraine issue you are talking about wasn't a CR. That was an entirely different issue. So don't throw that into this mix.”

“But what we are talking about--the Democrat leader and his colleagues have the same leverage on November 21. This is a short-term CR. This is what we do all the time around here, as witnessed by the chart you were just using.”

“Mr. President, the House has just passed a short-term, clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution to fund the government for a few additional weeks while we continue bipartisan work on appropriations bills, and, today, we will be voting on that clean, nonpartisan CR as well as on the CR the Democrats introduced Wednesday night.”

“Mr. President, I will shortly ask for unanimous consent to authorize Senators to use their office accounts for security purposes. Every Senator will now have additional flexibility to address the security concerns they face as public officials.”

“Mr. President, last night, we found the answer to the question of how serious Democrats are about funding the government, and the answer is not at all. For years, the Democrat leader talked about the importance of passing clean continuing resolutions.”

“Mr. President, Republicans continue to move forward on funding the government through a short-term CR, something that is routinely done around here in order to allow for more time for the Appropriations Committee to report bills out and for us to consider them on the floor and to fund the government in the way it should be funded.”

“Do the Democrats think that by calling this a partisan CR that they can somehow make it so? We all know Democrats have a sometimes Orwellian relationship with language, but really I don't think Democrats are going to get very far with this one because there really is no possible way to call this a partisan CR with a straight face.”

“Mr. President, I am going to speak in just a moment about the border, but just to kind of set the stage a little bit on sort of where things stand, you just heard the Democrat leader talk about their willingness to fund the government--something he said repeatedly in the past.”

“I am grateful to the men and women on the frontlines carrying out the important work enforcing the law and making America safer. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.”

“Mr. President, the September 30 government funding deadline is rapidly approaching, and Republicans will be putting forward a continuing resolution to fund the government until mid- November and give Congress time to complete additional work on appropriations bills, and I hope my Democrat colleagues will work with us to quickly pass this legislation.”

“Oh, wait. That last line wasn't actually mine. That is a quote from the Democrat leader just last year. He was deeply concerned about the consequences of shutting down the government then.”

“Mr. President, I would just say to my colleagues on the Democratic side: How much time is enough? How much time is enough? The proposal that we are voting on, or want to vote on, and just asked consent to get on has been around for 2 years--introduced by Democrats.”

“Mr. President, I make a point of order that, consistent with the precedent of the Senate established November 21, 2013, the threshold for cloture on an executive resolution for the en bloc consideration of nominations with a calendar number on the Executive Calendar, other than those on level 1 of the executive schedule under 5 U.S.C. 5312 or article III judges, is a simple majority.”

“Mr. President, 24 years ago, on a bright September day whose blue sky I still remember, terrorists hijacked four planes and flew three of them into the Twin Towers in New York City and into the Pentagon.”

“Senate rules to restore the Senate precedent of the en bloc confirmation of Presidential nominees. I have spent plenty of time here on the floor explaining why we are having to take this step.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Merkley.”

“Mr. President, as expected, there has been some commentary on the process I initiated Monday--a process to restore Senate precedent and codify in Senate rules what was once understood to be standard practice, and that is the Senate's acting expeditiously on Presidential nominees to allow a President to get his team in place.”

“Mr. President, a new report came out last month detailing who benefits from the working-families tax relief that Republicans enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill, and here is what they found: Americans in every county in America will see tax relief from this bill.”

“Mr. President: For decades, Democrats and Republicans have regularly cooperated to swiftly confirm the many, many individuals selected by each President to serve in their administration. Regardless of the party in the White House, both sides have long agreed that a President deserves to have his or her administration in place, quickly.”

“Mr. President, over the last few weeks, we have all had a chance, my colleagues and I, to spend extra time in our States, talking to our constituents and reporting back on what we have been doing for the American people here in Washington.”

“Armed Services Committee have done to put forward a strong bipartisan bill and get it ready for the floor. Mr. President, the last few years demonstrated that the world remains a dangerous place.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that the following disposition of the Molinaro nomination and the recognition of the majority leader to dispense with wrapup items, including filing cloture on the MTP to NDAA, it stand adjourned under the previous order.”

“Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, we reached an agreement with Democrats on an appropriations package, and I am pleased to report that as of last night, we passed three of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills: Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Legislative Branch, and Agriculture.”

“Mr. President, I want to just congratulate Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the committee sub chairs this evening--I know, at least on our side, Chair Boozman, Chair Hoeven, Chair Mullin--in getting a package of appropriations bills across the floor.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Jorja Whempner, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Noah Roth, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Jordan Phillips, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Abigayle Mullin, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Ava Moore, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Maria Loiseau, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, appropriations season is well underway. The Senate Appropriations Committee has, so far, passed six bipartisan appropriations bills, and the Republicans are ready to consider a package of appropriations bills and have a floor process, one that involves serious amendments from both sides of the aisle, amendments designed to improve the bills, not score political points or sink the bills with poison pill measures.”

“Madam President, the last few years have been some of the most challenging in recent memory for America's farmers and ranchers. Agriculture is already a challenging way of life, but in the past few years, it has been made more difficult by higher input costs, higher interest rates, disease, and natural disasters; and it has left more than a few producers wondering about the future of their operations.”

“Mr. President, I know that August is approaching, but we still have some serious work to do here in Washington. We need to make further progress on appropriations, and we have a number of President Trump's nominations to get through.”

“Mr. President, the appropriations process is well underway here in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee, under Chair Collins, released four bipartisan appropriations bills. This week, we are doing something a bit unusual.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Reagan Blackburn, an intern in my Aberdeen, SD, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Madam President, during the month of June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded a total of 9,306 encounters at our southern border--9,306 for the entire month of June.”

“Mr. President, on Friday, President Trump signed the first major digital assets bill in American history into law. The GENIUS Act opens the door for digital assets to come into the mainstream, and it sets us up for sustained American leadership and financial innovation.”

“Mr. President, yesterday marked 6 months since President Trump took office, and today is the 200th day of the Republican majority here in the U.S. Senate. In that time, the Trump administration and Senate Republicans have been hard at work executing the mandate we received from the American people last November.”

“Mr. President, the Democrat hysteria over Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill is in full swing, and Democrats seem to have fixated on the bill's Medicaid provisions as a useful tool, they hope, to attack Republicans.”

“Mr. President, later today, the Senate will begin consideration of the Trump administration's rescissions package. Reining in waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government is a priority shared by President Trump and by Senate Republicans.”

“Mr. President, I don't know if it is without precedence, but it is certainly unusual when the author of the amendment decides not to offer the amendment and somebody else will take that amendment and offer it.”

“And also simply point out that our country is $36 trillion in debt. We can't keep doing the things the way--$36 trillion in debt. We can't keep doing things the way we have been doing them.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of my Democratic colleagues.”

“Mr. President, in accordance with title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, I have a discharge petition at the desk and move that the Senate Committees on Appropriations and Budget be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 4.”

“Mr. President, since day one, the Trump administration has been focused on identifying waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government--something on which, I believe, the American people agree with him on.”

“Mr. President, the appropriations process is officially underway here in the Senate. Last week, the Appropriations Committee held its first markup of appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026, and I am pleased to report that the committee referred two bills to the floor with bipartisan support.”

“Madam President, on Tuesday evening, I filed cloture on the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer, of Tennessee, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Sixth Circuit, the first of President Trump's judicial nominees that we will consider this month.”

“Mr. President, we are now at the 6-month mark of the 119th Congress, and it has been an incredibly productive 6 months here in the Senate. We had the longest continuous work period in 15 years.”

“Mr. President, in the runup to last year's elections, Republicans made some promises to the American people. We promised to turn the page on the failures of the last 4 years, to help working families and to get our economy moving, to make our country stronger and more secure.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I just want to say that I join Americans around the country in praying for the victims of the torrential flooding in Texas this weekend.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of the Democratic leader.”

“Mr. President, we are going to vote here real soon on a bill that has been worked on for many, many months. I want to start by thanking the staff on the committees, the relevant committees, the floor staff--everybody who has been around who has to put in the hours and get us to where we are today.”

“Mr. President, I would suggest to my colleagues that we get this vote started and that, when we get it, we are going to start voting in our seats, and we are going to start doing 10-minute votes.”

“Mr. President, I would like to start by just taking a moment to thank the clerks who stayed up all night reading the amendment and getting us to this point.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:33 p.m., adjourned until Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 2 p.m.”

“Mr. President, last November, the American people elected President Trump and a Republican Congress with a clear mandate, and since taking control in Washington this year, we have been working to deliver on our promise of a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Veblen, SD. The town of Veblen will be celebrating its quasquicentennial July 18-20, 2025. Veblen will host quasquicentennial events, which include a parade, vendor show, street dance, class reunions, fireworks, and much more.”

“Mr. President, next year, if Congress fails to act, a typical family will face a $1,700 tax hike. A typical family in South Dakota will face a $2,500 tax hike.”

“The other legacy of the 2017 tax cuts is how they boosted our economy by lifting the tax burden on America's job creators. We lowered tax rates for owners of small- and medium-sized businesses, farms and ranches.”

“Madam President, today marks the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the question of abortion to the people and their elected representatives.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Macy Steen, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Kaden Schmidt, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Taylor Quinn, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Elliot Hendrix, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Maddie Cross, an intern in my Rapid City, SD, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize Elena Burgwald, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks.”

“Madam President, we are getting closer to passing a bill that will help make America stronger and more prosperous--a bill that will ensure that working families can keep more of their hard-earned money; that will help small businesses grow and create jobs, strengthen America's farms and ranches, rebuild our military, secure our border, and, of course, unleash American energy.”

“Madam President, before I begin my remarks this afternoon, I want to speak briefly about Iran. For decades, the regime in Iran and its terrorist proxies have sought to sow chaos and violence throughout the Middle East.”

“Mr. President, on Monday afternoon, the Senate Finance Committee released the text of the centerpiece of our reconciliation bill, making the tax relief we passed in 2017 permanent.”

“United States. And we are increasing the standard deduction for millions of low- and middle-income seniors, making their retirement a little easier and more prosperous. We are also implementing a program to create savings accounts for newborns, with an initial deposit of $1,000 to help parents save and invest for their children's future needs.”

“Mr. President, like all Americans, I was horrified to hear about this weekend's shootings of two State lawmakers in Minnesota and their spouses. Melissa Hortman, a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and her husband Mark were murdered on Saturday.”

“Mr. President, later today our friends in the House will be voting on the HALT Fentanyl Act. This is important legislation, and I am glad that it will soon be on its way to the President's desk.”

“We certainly have seen it in my home State of South Dakota. Enough fentanyl was seized in Sioux Falls, SD, last year to kill 2.5 million people. Law enforcement reports that the cartels have a presence in our area, and the price of a single pill has dropped from $40 a few years ago to just $5 per pill today, largely due to the growing supply.”

“Mr. President, a significant number of Americans are engaging with cryptocurrency. That includes Americans who use stablecoins, and then there are the individuals and business around the world that access the American dollar through the use of dollar-backed stablecoins.”

“Mr. President, work on reconciliation continues apace. We are getting very close to the final bill. Since I spoke on the floor on this topic last week, two more committees have released their sections of the bill text, the Banking Committee under the leadership of Chairman Tim Scott and the Commerce Committee under the leadership of Chairman Ted Cruz.”

“Mr. President, we are rapidly approaching floor consideration of our reconciliation bill, and Democrats are melting down. I am pretty sure the Democrat leader was on the floor every day last week bemoaning the bill and emphasizing how Democrats are going to fight with everything they have got.”

“Mr. President, today is the last session day for our spring pages, and I want to thank them for their service to the Senate and to our country over the last few months.”

“Mr. President, for many months now, we have been laying the groundwork for legislation to make tax relief for hard-working Americans permanent and invest in our security to build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous America, and we are very nearly there.”

“Mr. President, Senate Republicans are continuing to work on a reconciliation bill that makes America stronger and more prosperous. An important component of this bill is what it does on energy.”

“Mr. President, we are entering the sixth month of Republican leadership in Washington. We have already delivered some significant wins for the American people, and there is so much more on the way.”

“We also passed the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as the most deadly type of drug and give law enforcement a critical tool to prosecute those who bring these deadly substances into our country and peddle them in our communities.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to mention Sunday's attack in Boulder, CO. A man armed with incendiary devices and shouting anti-Israel slogans attacked a peaceful event held to draw attention to the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza.”

“Mr. President, one other topic I want to mention before I get to the main subject today is the war in Ukraine. For the last 4 months, President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to bring an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine, and we here in the Senate commend him for those efforts.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I need to mention the shooting that occurred last night outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, held by the American Jewish Committee.”

“Madam President, we are facing a novel situation here in the Senate. For the sake of my Democrat colleagues, who seem more than a little confused as to what is going on here, let me just review the situation.”

“Madam President, I make a point of order. The points of order are in order under the Congressional Review Act, given sections 802(d)(1), 802(d)(2), and 802(d)(4) are in conflict with each other.”

“Madam President, I make a point of order that joint resolutions that meet all the requirements of section 802 of the Congressional Review Act or are disapproving of Agency actions which have been determined to be rules subject to the CRA by a legal decision from GAO are entitled to expedited procedures under the Congressional Review Act.”

“Mr. President, Republicans are continuing our work on a reconciliation bill that delivers for the American people. And if I had to summarize this bill in one phrase, I would say it is about building a stronger America.”

“Consumers around the country would face fewer choices, higher prices, and reduced automobile availability, and our already shaky electric grid would quickly face huge new burdens from the surge of new electric vehicles--if, of course, automakers were able to ramp up production as fast as California wants them to, and charging stations, which typically take several years to approve, could be built in time.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 9:30 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at 10 a.m.”

“Mr. President, the Committee on Foreign Relations has received a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for access to records relating to a briefing attended by Senate staff that may be relevant to a pending criminal case in Federal court in Arizona.”

“Mr. President, today I have the privilege of recognizing my friend Karl Bailey, who will soon retire from the Architect of the Capitol after 23 years of Federal service as the supervisory health and fitness specialist in the Senate Members' fitness facility.”

“Mr. President, before I begin my remarks today, I want to say a word about our former colleague Christopher ``Kit'' Bond, who passed away yesterday at the age of 88.”

“Madam President, the month of May is a special time to celebrate the Americans who serve our country in uniform. May is Military Appreciation Month. On Saturday, we celebrate those currently serving on Armed Forces Day, and toward the end of the month, on Memorial Day, we honor those who gave their lives in defense of our country.”

“Closure Commission suggested we had a 12-percent chance of keeping the base open. Some, at the time, were ready to write Ellsworth's obituary, knowing it would take a miracle to save the base.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the cloture vote on the Rubinstein nomination and the Senate resuming legislative session.”

“Mr. President, on Thursday afternoon, Democrats abruptly ended extensive bipartisan work on the GENIUS Act and filibustered the Senate's attempt to move this bill. Democrats, I should say, who had voted for the bill in committee, inexplicably chose to vote against it here on the Senate floor.”

“Mr. President, I also want to mention Cardinal Robert Prevost, who on Thursday became Pope Leo XIV, and I want to extend my congratulations on his election and my prayers for his service.”

“Mr. President, let me just say that the Democrats have just used the filibuster for the fourth time this year. Why? Well, in this case, no one really knows.”

“Mr. President, one of Republicans' biggest priorities this year is extending the tax relief we passed in 2017 and preventing a massive tax hike on hard-working Americans. We took a big step forward before Easter with the passage of a budget resolution necessary for a final bill, and we are rapidly moving toward final bill text.”

“Mr. President, as I said on the floor yesterday, when I meet with South Dakota business owners, I often tell them to let me know how we can help, even if that means getting out of the way, because that is often what the government needs to do: get out of the way.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:03 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at 10 a.m.”

“Small business is a big deal, and the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are working hard to deliver for American small business owners. One of our top priorities this year is making the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Markey.”

“Mr. President, over the last 4 years, the Biden administration subjected Americans to an onslaught of regulations. Altogether, the Biden regulatory agenda cost $1.8 trillion. He heaped thousands of hours of paperwork on business owners, energy producers, and other hard-working Americans.”

“Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the vote on the motion to proceed to H.J.”

“Mr. President, today I have the privilege of recognizing my good friend, Dennis ``Denny'' Law, who will soon retire from his position as chief executive officer of Golden West Telecommunications.”

“Mr. President, we are kicking off the week today with a vote on a former colleague of ours, David Perdue, to be Ambassador to China. We will be working through several other Ambassador nominations this week, including our Ambassador to our close friend and ally Great Britain.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to mention Pope Francis, who died last Monday. Since he became Pope in 2013, Pope Francis captured the world's attention with his simplicity.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following disposition of Executive Calendar No. 74 and the Senate resuming legislative session.”

“Mr. President, before I lock in and ask consent to recess the Senate until later this evening, I would also say, for the benefit of my colleagues, that we are scheduled to have four votes starting at 1 a.m.”

“Mr. President, today I recognize the life and leadership of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, known as ``the Rebbe,'' the head of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. For almost half a century, every U.S.”

“Mr. President, Saturday will mark 100 days of the 119th Congress and the Republican majority here in the Senate. It has been a very productive 100 days. We have had 14 weeks of the new Congress, and the Senate has been in session and voting for 13 of those 14 weeks.”

“The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Mullin), and the Senator from Florida (Mr.”

“Mr. President, President Trump has made it clear that his foreign policy is centered on advancing America's interests and keeping Americans safe. And in the first 3 months of the Trump administration, we have seen the President take action on these priorities.”

“COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on a nomination.”

“Madam President, on Saturday morning, we took a major step forward on the Republican agenda by passing a budget resolution to lay the groundwork for a permanent extension of tax relief for American families and a transformational investment in our border, energy, and national security.”

“Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 155. There being no objection, under the previous order and pursuant to S.”

“Mr. President, very soon the Senate is going to be voting on a budget resolution that essentially accomplishes five objectives, but at least four. And one is to prevent a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people at the end of the year, No. 1.”

“Madam President, I would ask that moving forward for the duration of this bunch of votes be 10 minutes in duration and that Members would get in their seats.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the rollcall vote on the motion to proceed to H.J.”

“Mr. President, just over 2 weeks ago, the Senate passed the HALT Fentanyl Act with bipartisan support. As I said at the time, this bill joins other efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis that is taking so many lives in our country.”

“S. 1230 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Safeguarding American Food and Export Trade Yields Act of 2025'' or the ``SAFETY Act of 2025''.”

“The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Mississippi (Mrs. Hyde-Smith), the Senator from Wyoming (Ms.”

“Mr. President, work on the President's nominations continues apace. Last week, we confirmed nine members of the President's administration, including the Secretary of the Navy, an Assistant Attorney General, and Deputy Secretaries of Treasury, State, and Veterans Affairs.”

“Mr. President, broadband deployment has long been a priority of mine. It is something that is important to my home State of South Dakota where many rural communities still lack access to reliable internet connection.”

“Mr. President, there is not much in our lives that doesn't depend in some way on agriculture: the food on our table, the gas in our car, the cotton in our shirts.”

“Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall recently told the Agriculture Committee that ``in 2025, farmers will plant one of the most expensive crops ever.'' Many commodity producers are bracing for the prospect of serious financial losses this year.”

“Mr. President, meanwhile, on the international front, President Trump is taking a similarly assertive approach to protecting our country and our interests. Over the last 18 months, since Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Iran-backed Houthis in the Middle East have carried out literally hundreds of attacks on U.S. international shipping and on U.S. forces.”

“Mr. President, from the day he took office, President Trump made it clear that he would not hesitate to take action to deter our enemies and protect our Nation, and that is exactly what he has been doing, both here at home and abroad.”

“During his campaign, President Trump made it very clear that putting an end to our border crisis was going to be at the top of his agenda, and he has been delivering on that promise.”

“Mr. President, we recently completed a 10-week session. The Senate's longest in-session stretch in 15 years. It was a very busy 10 weeks filled with substantial results. We confirmed nearly the President's entire Cabinet--the fastest pace since the administration of George W.”

“Mr. President, for information of all Senators, there will be up to nine rollcall votes. I will ask unanimous consent that all votes following the first vote be 10 minutes in length, and that if Senators will stay in their seats, we should be able to get them done even more quickly than that.”

“Mr. President, we have already locked in 10-minute votes for the balance of the number of votes, but if people stay here in their seats, we can execute that a lot more quickly.”

“Mr. President, I have spoken a lot about it being a new day in America. It is also a new day in the U.S. Senate. When I became leader, I promised we would do things differently around here.”

“I am hopeful that enough Democrats will reject their party's threat of shutting down the government and get this bill passed today. As I said yesterday, it is time to move on, and moving forward, appropriation bills are going to be a priority in the Senate.”

“Mr. President, Senators have been seeing a lot of each other lately--in fact, too much, some might say. The Senate is hopefully about to wrap up its 10th consecutive week in session--the Senate's longest in-session stretch in over 15 years--10 weeks that includes late nights, weekend work, and even an all-night session.”

“Mr. President, as the expression goes, it is time for Democrats to fish or cut bait. We have 2 days until government funding expires. Democrats need to decide if they are going to support funding legislation that came over from the House or if they are going to shut down the government.”

“Mr. President, yesterday, I came to the floor to discuss the terrible human cost of fentanyl: the lives lost, the families changed, the futures destroyed. In 2022, we lost 295 people a day to drug overdoses, the vast majority of them opioids and, specifically, fentanyl.”

“The majority of drug overdoses in this country are from fentanyl, and a lot of illegal fentanyl comes across our southern border in the form of fentanyl analogs, which are versions of fentanyl created with slight chemical variations in an attempt to dodge law enforcement.”

“Mr. President, Zach Didier was a good student, an athlete, and a musician. He was an Eagle Scout, star of the school play, and he was hoping to attend Stanford University.”

“Mr. President, last week the Washington Examiner published an article highlighting Democrats' third--third--filibuster of this new Congress. That is right. You heard it--third. The party that mere months ago literally was gleefully making plans to destroy the filibuster is now using the filibuster left and right.”

“Mr. President, in just a few short weeks, President Trump has restored order to the southern border. If initial reports are accurate, approximately 8,450 illegal immigrants were apprehended trying to cross the border last month.”

“Mr. President, the Senate will soon vote on its 21st Cabinet nominee, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, nominated for Secretary of Labor. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer is a former Congresswoman from Oregon. She has been a mayor, a city councilor, and she and her husband spent 30 years building a small business.”

“Ms. Chavez-DeRemer's mother would always tell her ``When you know better, you do better,'' and we need the Labor Department to do better than what we saw from the Biden administration.”

“Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, Senators should expect one vote at 11 a.m. on cloture on the Blanche nomination and two votes at 3:45 p.m.: confirmation of the Blanche nomination and passage of S.J.”

“Mr. President, the Senate will vote later today to confirm Linda McMahon to be Secretary of Education. Mrs. McMahon is an accomplished businesswoman and public servant. She is known for her role in building World Wrestling Entertainment, better known as WWE, from a small operation to a large and thriving enterprise.”

“Mr. President, early Friday morning, the Senate passed a budget resolution to lay the groundwork for border, energy, and national security legislation. We considered a lot of amendments from my Democratic colleagues, not one of which, interestingly enough, was centered on border security and very few of which addressed either national security or energy security.”

“Mr. President, I think for the benefit of all Members, I hope that very soon we will have a final agreement that will enable us to wind this down with a finite number of votes.”

“Government revenues since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have exceeded projections by roughly half a trillion dollars. An end to corporate inversions, which is the practice of moving U.S. company operations overseas for tax purposes.”

“Mr. President, later today, the Senate will vote to confirm former Senator Kelly Loeffler to lead the Small Business Administration. Small business is in Kelly Loeffler's blood. She grew up on her family's fourth-generation farm in Illinois.”

“Later today, the Senate will vote on the nomination of Howard Lutnick, President Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of Commerce has an important job.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to note that this week marks the 500th day of captivity for those hostages still imprisoned by Hamas--500 days, well more than a year deprived of family, home, loved ones, freedom.”

“Mr. President, later today, I will introduce a bill to repeal the death tax. As I mentioned, as a resident of a rural State filled with family farms and ranches, I have made death tax repeal a priority for a long time, and I was proud to help secure a doubling of the death tax exemption in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”

“Mr. President, anybody who knows me well knows that I say this a lot, and that is that agriculture is the lifeblood of South Dakota and the lifeblood of our country, and farmers and ranchers are hard at work every single day to feed America and the world.”

“Mr. President, President Trump's border czar was at the Capitol yesterday to update Republican Senators on the progress the administration is making on arresting and deporting criminals here illegally.”

“Since day one of his administration, President Trump has been fulfilling his campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration and secure our border. And it is good to see.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Welch.”

“Mr. President, again, I am going to send a cloture motion to the desk on a nominee that came out of the Ag Committee 23 to 0. I send a cloture motion to the desk.”

“Mr. President, I am going to move here to go into legislative session in just a minute, but I am going to point out that these next noms that are coming up are bipartisan noms.”

“For the balance of the votes, Mr. President, we are going to ask Members to stay in their seats, Senators to stay in their seats, and we are going to move through this just as quickly as we possibly can.”

“Mr. President, we are getting now close to the time to vote on the Vought nomination, and it has been a 30-hour discussion, conversation, some of which I think is perhaps instructive.”

“We had a good discussion about Israel's security and about the imperative of the return of the rest of the hostages, who have been held in Hamas captivity for well over a year.”

“Mr. President, tomorrow, the Senate will be voting on the nomination of Russell Vought to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. I could talk about the extensive experience, policy experience, that has helped prepare him for this position, but Mr.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Schatz.”

“Mr. President, last week, the Senate processed two members of President Trump's energy team. We confirmed Lee Zeldin to be Administrator of the EPA in a bipartisan vote.”

“Mr. President, before I begin, I want to comment on last night's horrific tragedy. As most now know, last night, around 9 p.m., a passenger flight out of Wichita, KS, coming into Reagan National Airport collided with a Black Hawk helicopter based out of Fort Belvoir.”

“Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, my Democratic colleagues--and when I say ``my Democratic colleagues,'' I mean all of my Democratic colleagues, with one exception--chose to block legislation to sanction individuals at the International Criminal Court who participated in investigations or prosecutions of American or Israeli citizens.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Kennedy and my Democratic colleagues.”

“Mr. President, later today, we will hold a vote on the nomination of Scott Bessent to be Treasury Secretary. An example of the American dream in action, Mr.”

“Mr. President, I join my colleagues in celebrating the career of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Mark Gazelle, who is retiring in January after 34 years of service with the force.”

“Mr. President, over the next couple of days, the Senate will consider two more of the President's nominees: Kristi Noem to be Secretary of Homeland Security and Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.”

“Mr. President, I will be filing cloture on former Congressman Sean Duffy's nomination to be Secretary of Transportation here shortly. Yesterday, the Commerce Committee favorably reported Congressman Duffy's nomination in a 28-to-0 vote--in other words, unanimously--and I hope we will be able to move this nominee quickly, as we did with Secretary Rubio, who was also unanimously reported out of committee.”

“Mr. President, I think we all remember the situation just a few short months ago in the lead-up to the election. Democrat Senators and Senate candidates were declaring their commitment to eliminating the filibuster or creating carve-outs that would render it meaningless.”

“Mr. President, later today, the Senate will proceed to a vote on whether to move to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. It is a simple bill. It simply states that a baby born alive after an attempted abortion must be given the same protection and medical care that any other newborn baby would be given.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:11 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 11 a.m.”

“OK. So 14 to 3 coming out of committee, and we have now wasted a whole day where we could have been acting on that nomination. So, really, I think the question before the Senate is, Do we want to vote on these folks on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?”

“Mr. President, in his inaugural address yesterday, President Trump spoke of his confidence in America. He spoke of the country's future: prosperity, security, strength. And I share the President's confidence and his optimism about what we can accomplish in the coming years.”

“Mr. President, I want to offer my warmest congratulations to President Trump and Vice President Vance. There is a sense of optimism today in Washington as we turn the page on the past 4 years, and I am looking forward to working with President Trump and Vice President Vance in the coming months and years to build a bright new future for our country.”

“Mr. President, the first bill that a new majority considers is an indication of its priorities. The American people are rightly concerned about the illegal immigration crisis in this country, and they sent a clear message in November that they want to see it addressed.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 5:56 p.m., adjourned until Friday, January 17, 2025, at 9:30 a.m.”

“Mr. President, the Cabinet confirmation process is well underway here in the U.S. Senate. Confirmation hearings began this week with Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.”

“Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:09 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, January 16, 2025, at 12 noon.”

“Madam President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.”

“Madam President, filing cloture does not signal an end to our amendment process. We have been having constructive conversations all day. Those yielded the votes this evening, and I expect those conversations to continue tonight and into tomorrow so we can vote on more amendments this week.”

“I hope to see this bill become law, and I hope that my Democrat colleagues are as committed to making it law as we are on this side of the aisle.”

“Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:42 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 12 noon.”

“Mr. President, 2 months after Americans soundly rejected his Presidency and its policies, President Biden is doubling down. Last week, he unveiled a new front in his war on American energy: a sweeping ban on new offshore oil and gas development covering the entire east coast and large portions of the west coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and parts of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska.”

“Mr. President, by now, I think a lot of Americans know the story of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University in Georgia with her whole life ahead of her.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:35 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 12 noon.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 5:02 p.m., adjourned until Monday, January 13, 2025, at 3 p.m.”

“Mr. President, I ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.”

“Mr. President, on November 5, President Trump was elected to be the 47th President of the United States. By Thanksgiving, he had announced all of his Cabinet Secretaries and several other senior roles in his new administration.”

“The Foreign Relations Committee has announced plans to hear from our colleague Senator Rubio, who has been nominated for Secretary of State. The Intelligence Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing for John Ratcliffe to be CIA Director.”

“Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 3:32 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 11 a.m.”

“Madam President, for the purpose of S. Res. 16, the majority committee membership resolution, the blank spaces with respect to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Energy and Natural Resources; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; and Special Committee on Aging are there to preserve the ratios on those committees negotiated between the Democratic leader and myself.”

“Madam President, later today, President Jimmy Carter will arrive here at the Capitol for the last time. He will lie in state until Thursday in the Capitol Rotunda so Americans can pay final respects to our Nation's 39th President.”

“Georgia State Senate to taking up office as President of the United States. His Presidency was notable for a number of things, including successful brokering of a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, an agreement that stands to this day.”

“Mr. President, last week I received news that my high school basketball and track coach, Jerry Applebee, had died. I want to take a moment here on the Senate floor to pay tribute to him.”

“Mr. President, in just a few minutes, Senators will head over to the Chamber of the House of Representatives to count the electoral votes and certify the election of Donald Trump and J.D.”