What Mark R. Warner said, and what was done

“Mr. President, moving off of this vigorous debate between my two friends on a topic that I think actually is of equal importance. For most of the last decade, conversations about artificial intelligence were largely conversations about the future, but today they are conversations about the present.”

“If the United States wants to lead the world in AI, we can't simply build the best models; we need to build the most trusted ones. History shows that transformative technologies succeed not only because they are powerful but because people have confidence in using them.”

“Thank you, Mr. President. I have only got a couple more minutes. I will wrap up as quickly as possible. Maybe my colleagues might want to even listen to some of this because I think we actually have some good ideas here that cross both sides of the aisle.”

“Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank my friend from Delaware. I am going to take that admonition, as we approach the Fourth of July, and reflect back on, obviously, what makes this country great.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the career of an outstanding civil servant Dr. Christopher J. Scolese, who will retire this summer after nearly five decades of government service, most recently as the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.”

“Mr. President, earlier this week, President Trump chose, not as mortgage lender but as the Nation's top intelligence official, an individual who, even in the mortgage job, has shown a willingness to pursue political retribution.”

“Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and all budget resolution discipline that applies, I move to waive all points of order for the purpose of the pending measure and ask only half my Republican friends who are concerned about this to vote with me.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to ask unanimous consent to complete a unanimous consent request. Tomorrow, it will be 1 year since we lost Congressman Gerry Connolly. I first met Gerry Connolly when he was a rising supervisor on the Fairfax County Board in the late eighties.”

“Americans the value Federal workers bring to our everyday lives. And in his final days, Gerry continued to center Federal employees in his work. Two days before he died, he introduced H.R. 3490, which will direct the Government Accountability Office to report on esophageal cancer in Federal employees.”

“Mr. President, I want to commend my friend the Senator from Nevada for her powerful comments and the fact that she knows that I and many other Senators will stand totally united with her in fighting back against any rise in anti-Semitism--further rise, because we have seen amazingly outrageous things happen.”

“Mr. President, I was absent on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, for rollcall vote No. 88. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on the motion to discharge S.J.”

“Mr. President, I come before you today to mark the third anniversary and, unfortunately, the start of the fourth year of conflict of the war in Sudan. Sudan is home to the largest humanitarian and displacement crisis in the whole world.”

“Mr. President, I rise today nearly a month into President Trump's ill-advised war of choice in Iran, which has obviously destabilized the region, disrupted global supply chains, degraded our munitions stockpiles, cost the lives of 13 American servicemembers, with more than 200 additional suffering injuries.”

“Mr. President, let me, first of all, thank my colleague and friend the Senator from New Jersey who, I think, has brought us a fresh voice, has incredible energy, and is somebody who has a history of working extraordinarily well on national security issues.”

“Mr. President, I thank my friend the Senator from Virginia. He has laid out the elements, a lot of the tax reasons and business reasons. I am going to be relatively brief since I know the floor got backed up today and I am imposing my time on the Senator from North Dakota.”

“Mr. President, I am here today to honor a remarkable diplomat and dear friend, Ambassador Kevin Rudd, as he prepares to leave his post as Australian Ambassador to the United States.”

“Madam President, I come to the floor today to condemn the heartbreaking and anti-American rise in religious discrimination and hate-fueled extremism and to call particular attention to the ways this administration has fueled the flames of Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate that has hurt countless members of our Muslim American and Arab American communities.”

“Last month, I joined Senator Schumer and all of my Democratic colleagues in speaking out against the horrible anti-Semitism targeting our Jewish communities and calling out disgusting vitriol from the likes of Nick Fuentes and his ilk, and I joined people of conscience everywhere in mourning and standing with the Jewish community in Australia after that monstrous attack took 15 lives during a Hanukkah celebration.”

“Muslim American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and guardians. I am grateful for their service every day. The contributions of Muslims to Virginia should not just be measured by titles or economic impact; they are seen in generosity, compassion, and community.”

“Mr. President, 2 months ago, I came to this floor to warn about the growing politicization of our intelligence community. I laid out in detail how this administration, led by Director of National Intelligence Gabbard, was dismantling the independence, integrity, and credibility of the very institutions we rely on to keep Americans safe.”

“Mr. President, I do want to thank my friend from North Dakota. We see things slightly different, but one thing I think we could probably agree on: Do you know who is getting paid?”

“Mr. President, I don't normally come to the floor to give somewhat lengthy remarks, but today I am doing so because of a deep and, frankly, rising concern for the future of our intelligence community and, in turn, the security of the United States.”

“Mr. President, I want to thank my friend from Washington State. I want to follow some of her concerns. It is pretty remarkable, so I do rise with grave concern to speak in opposition to the nomination of Joe Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center.”

“During his nomination hearing, rather than reassuring the committee of his qualifications or judgement, he launched into a diatribe about the so-called Russia hoax, dismissing well-documented foreign interference in our elections as if it were a partisan invention.”

“Mr. President, I was absent on Thursday, July 17, 2025, for rollcall vote No. 414. Had I been present, I would have voted nay on the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 96, Aaron Lukas, of Arkansas, to be Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.”

“Mr. President, I rise today--I know many of us have--with deep concern about the administration shuttering USAID, firing thousands of State Department personnel, and retreating from America's place in the world.”

“U.S. engagement with African nations is essential. It makes us safer and develops economic opportunities for partnership. This is in America's strategic interest. Our adversaries get this, too, and China has been jumping at the opportunity to make inroads as we retreat from Africa.”

“Colleagues, we all know on January 29 of this year, 67 individuals lost their lives when a military helicopter and a passenger jet collided near Reagan National Airport.”

“Mr. President, for too long, stablecoins have operated in a regulatory gray area, putting consumers, markets, and national security at risk. The bipartisan GENIUS Act brings much-needed oversight and standards to the $250 billion stablecoin market.”

“Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank my colleague. I agree with her comments about how we need to not just pay lipservice to our veterans or the fact that for 70 years, America has used soft power through organizations like USAID in ways that have been incredibly important and have kept our country and the world safer.”

“Mr. President, in a good-faith effort to try to move the evening along, I have such a no-brainer amendment that it should pass by voice. We all know we care about national security in this Chamber.”

“Mr. President and colleagues, let's not obfuscate. We all know that if any lying military officer or any lying CIA officer had tweeted so carelessly this classified information, they would be fired immediately.”

“Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues who are in support of Senator Kaine's, I think, thoughtful approach on how we can put an end to this tariff war with Canada.”

“Mr. President, if I may join my friend and colleague from Massachusetts, one, to celebrate the Senator from New Jersey's endurance, his willingness to continue to make his case in as clear terms as possible.”

“More recently as well, the DOGE boys, either ignorantly or maliciously, either one--just plain stupid--put out the list of a classified Agency, its budget, total head count--again, all classified information.”

“Madam President, I also want to thank my dear friend from Maine. She is moving back up much higher on all of our lists for being willing to step up and help correct this.”

“Mr. President, I rise today in support of my colleagues'--Senator Heinrich and Senator Kaine--resolution. I appreciate their part of the presentations, but I strongly support this resolution. I want to also acknowledge one of many reasons we vote for this resolution is because it is also Senator Kaine's birthday.”

“Madam President, I rise in support of this amendment, which would prohibit any reconciliation bill that does not decrease the cost of housing for American families. I don't think there is any of us in this body that doesn't hear about the enormous rising cost of housing.”

“While I have great respect for my friend from South Carolina, and I do hope we can find some common ground on housing, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act, I move to waive and ask for the yeas and nays.”

“Mr. President, I join my last two colleagues, the Senator from New Hampshire and the Senator from California, in echoing some of their concerns, because I also rise today to oppose President Trump's nomination of Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

“Mr. President, I rise once more to oppose the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence. As I have said repeatedly, I have great respect for Ms.”

“Madam President, I rise this afternoon in opposition to the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence because nothing less than our national security is currently on the line.”

“Mr. President, let me first of all thank my colleagues from Kansas. I know you were there that night. I want to thank as well, obviously, my dear friend of 40-plus years from Virginia.”

“Mr. President, I know my time has been squeezed a little bit. I have other colleagues. I want to mention one thing to my friend from Louisiana. I love to listen to him talk.”