What Peter Welch said, and what was done

“Madam President, I rise today to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Vermont Country Store opening its doors in Weston, VT. Eight decades after its founding, the Vermont Country Store remains a staple of Vermont's business community and is known to folks across the country for its selection of high-quality products and old-fashioned charm.”

“Store decades later while working at the Pentagon during World War II. Vrest wanted to bring old-fashioned, high-quality products--like those sold in his father's store--to customers far and wide at a time when country stores like his father's were dying around the country as the United States grew and consumption patterns changed.”

“Mr. President, I listened to the presentation by my colleague from Maryland and agree with everything he said. And the heart of the question is whether the person who has been nominated to serve as Attorney General will serve the people of the United States or will he serve the President to whom he has indicated blind, complete, servile loyalty?”

“Mr. President, we are faced today with two urgent and compelling foreign policy priorities: ending the war in Iran and winning the war in Ukraine. The war in Iran is increasing the world price of oil, enriching Putin's Russian wanton war machine.”

“Mr. President, on July 28, 2026, I missed rollcall vote No. 210, on the cloture motion on the nomination of Mr. Walter Clayton to serve as Director of National Intelligence.”

“To the country's credit, Arevalo was inaugurated on January 15, 2024, and for the first time in decades, Guatemala has a President who is not beholden to the corrupt forces that have exploited political power for their own enrichment and used Guatemala's armed forces and police to harass, threaten, arbitrarily arrest, and even murder their opponents.”

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague, the Senator from Maryland, for leading this discussion on what is an absolutely critical decision that this U.S. Senate is going to have to make.”

“Mr. President, whatever one thinks of the Cuban Government--and I am one who believes its repressive policies and mismanagement of the economy have caused immense hardship for the Cuban people--the depth of misery and desperation people in Cuba are currently experiencing is largely due to the oil blockade, for which the United States is responsible.”

“Mr. President, I strongly support the resolution offered by my colleagues Senator Cortez Masto and Senator Kaine. This resolution requires a report from the State Department on the human rights practices of the Government of Honduras during the very corrupt Presidency of Juan Orlando Hernandez and a report on steps the United States has taken to promote human rights and to bring drug traffickers and criminals in Honduras to justice.”

“Mr. President, 103 days ago, President Trump started a war, a war with Iran. He started it. It was a unilateral decision he made based on the Venezuela model, where he would be in and out.”

“Mr. President, my predecessor Senator Patrick Leahy is known for many groundbreaking pieces of legislation over the course of his 48 years in the Senate. But he was also responsible for many initiatives that are not so well known, and I want to speak briefly about one of them.”

“Mr. President, when the Senate considers the reconciliation bill, S. 2, it is my intention to make the following motions to the bill: A motion to commit the bill to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, Forestry to provide relief is for farmers affected by increased costs of fertilizer, fuel, and other input costs as a result of the Iran War.”

“Mr. President, ever since the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration has been ratcheting up pressure on Cuba in the hope that Cuba's leaders will either capitulate or the Cuban people will rise up and overthrow them.”

“Mr. President, on June 10, Vermont and Canada will come together to celebrate the inauguration of a new entryway on the Canadian side of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a building that straddles the U.S.-Canada border.”

“Mr. President, like citizens in Ohio, Vermonters like to work hard. They get up each day and face the day, and they don't fear hard work. They are glad to do that to protect their families and to improve their communities.”

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague the senior Senator from Connecticut, and I too want to join him in commenting on the Callais decision. And I want to put the decision also in a context of what the Supreme Court has been doing consistently since at least Bush v.”

“Mr. President, multiple press articles and reports by human rights organizations, as well as United Nations human rights investigators, have documented widespread acts of horrific sexual violence against prisoners in the Middle East over many years.”

“Egyptian authorities and Hamas officials have denied that forces under their command have sexually assaulted prisoners. Likewise, Israeli authorities, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, while rightly condemning Hamas's acts of sexual violence, dismissed out of hand the reports of similar acts by Israeli soldiers as fabrications.”

“Mr. President, the CFPB promulgated a rule to protect whistleblowers. Whistleblowers have historically revealed information about abusive practices and rip-offs in organizations where they had the ability to see what happened and to stand up to protect the rule of law and to stop rip-offs.”

“Mr. President, there is now widespread and growing use of ``buy now, pay later.'' The reason families are doing that is to buy things like school clothing, not some incidental that is a discretionary expense.”

“Mr. President, World Press Freedom Day, observed annually on May 3, is not only a celebration of the world's intrepid journalists, but a reminder that journalists and the free press at large are under attack.”

“Mr. President, I am a cosponsor of the resolution offered by Senator Kaine and others to prohibit the unauthorized use of American Armed Forces in hostilities against Cuba.”

“Madam President, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, is a lifesaving program with a long history of bipartisan support from its very first days.”

“The amendment was not adopted. But I will keep fighting, and I hope many of my colleagues will join me to protect LIHEAP so that there can be some reassurance to the people who are going to be hammered and threatened by the zeroing out of this program.”

“Mr. President, on March 6 of this year, the Pentagon released a video of what it claimed was the destruction of a drug traffickers' training camp near the village of San Martin in the jungle of rural Ecuador.”

“According to workers at the farm, Ecuadorian soldiers arrived by helicopter on March 3. After reportedly arresting the workers at gunpoint, interrogating and subjecting them to beatings, suffocation, electric shocks, threats of mutilation, water immersion, and mock executions at an undisclosed military facility before releasing them, they returned to the site, poured gasoline on several structures, and burned them to the ground.”

“Mr. President, we are now 46 days into President Trump's war on Iran and Lebanon. This war is wrong. This war is hurting the United States, our citizens, and our security.”

“America are going to pay tens of thousands of dollars extra for fertilizer because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The war is imperiling our world economy.”

“As I am standing here, 3,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne are on their way to Iran. These are elite paratroopers who are trained to jump into enemy-held territory.”

“Mr. President, I am going to speak about two topics--the SAVE Act and the war in Iraq. I would like to start with the SAVE Act. We are debating the SAVE Act, the SAVE America Act.”

“Mr. President, I would like to speak about the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act, the SAVE America Act, is part of President Trump's and the Republicans' agenda to disenfranchise voters.”

“Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly, if I may, on another subject. During the war in Gaza, more than 20,000 children have been killed so far.”

“Mr. President, we must act. The President has made a decision unilaterally without consultation of Congress to start yet another war in the Middle East. It is a reckless decision that is very detrimental to the well-being of our country and very threatening to the Constitution.”

“Mr. President, today marks 10 years since the murder of Honduran environmental leader Berta Caceres. She lost her life after rallying her indigenous Lenca community to halt construction of the Agua Zarca Dam project.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to recognize John McClaughry, who will serve as the town moderator of Kirby, VT, for the 60th time this town meeting day. John's journey toward this milestone began in 1963, when he first moved to Vermont.”

“Mr. President, I join with Vermonters in celebrating the exceptional Vermont athletes who represented the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Our State's athletes competed with great distinction, earning seven medals.”

“Mr. President, we are 1 year into President Donald Trump's second term and 1 year into Secretary Kristi Noem's tenure as head of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.”

“Mr. President, on February 13, 2025, President Trump said something few expected to hear. He said, ``There's no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons. We already have so many. . .”

“Mr. President, on January 2, 2026, after a 15-year battle with multiple myeloma, David Mitchell passed away at the age of 75. After being diagnosed with cancer and experiencing firsthand the exorbitant price of lifesaving medications in the United States, David founded Patients for Affordable Drugs, a national advocacy organization with the goal of lifting up patient voices in the fight to lower prescription drug prices.”

“David was not motivated by attention; he felt a responsibility to speak up for the millions of Americans struggling to afford their medications. With a lifetime of public health and communications experience and his own personal story to tell, David recognized his unique opportunity to take on a system in need of substantial reform.”

“Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Colorado, and I want to thank my colleague from Virginia for their leadership on what is the very important question before the U.S.”

“Mr. President, first of all, I want to acknowledge the wonderful comments by my colleague the Senator from Delaware. There are three reasons why it is very important we have this discussion: No. 1, we have got to honor the Capitol Police who were on the receiving end of violent conduct by citizens who stormed the Capitol.”

“Mr. President, I rise to address the situation facing refugees from Afghanistan who were resettled in Vermont and who, like Afghan refugees in other States, the Trump administration is now threatening to deport.”

“Mr. President, I thank my esteemed colleague from Louisiana. The United States is on the brink of a war, a war of regime change in Venezuela. President Trump has amassed an armada of U.S. warships, fighter planes, and Special Forces off the coast of Venezuela.”

“Mr. President, I rise to speak about the ongoing and often forgotten civil war and humanitarian crisis taking place in Burma, which impacts the broader Southeast Asia region.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, first of all, what is important for me to acknowledge is that Senator Risch on the Foreign Relations Committee has done excellent work on making certain we don't get taxpayer dollars to the Taliban.”

“Mr. President, 4 years ago, on February 4, 2022, Vladimir Putin initiated his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The question that Ukraine faced then was this: Could they defend themselves?”

“Mr. President, for those of us who have long supported U.S. diplomatic leadership in pursuit of a secure, democratic Israel alongside a demilitarized, independent Palestinian state, the protection of due process and the rule of law has central importance.”

“Equal access to justice is essential for lasting peace in the Middle East. Today, I voice a concern shared by many of my colleagues: the incarceration, prosecution, and punishment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military justice system.”

“Mr. President, I am here to speak about the urgent need for the Trump administration to release $4 billion in LIHEAP funding. LIHEAP, as you know, is the low-income plan.”

“Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague the Senator from Kansas, and I wanted to join him in drinking a glass of whole milk. My only regret is it is not Vermont milk, but I have got to tell you the best milk is made in Vermont.”

“Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Alsobrooks, as usual she is right, and there are two points. One is we want to make certain that the parents have the ability, on behalf of their children, to choose an alternative that is best for their kids.”

“Mr. President, I strongly support this resolution. I do want to say thank you to Senator Kaine. Senator Kaine, I think I speak for you and I think I speak for every Member of the Senate: Senator from Illinois, you are wonderful.”

“But what is at stake here is the Constitution and the constitutional provision that the people who are elected and directly accountable--the House of Representatives and the Members of the U.S.”

“Thank you very much. One of the questions is, Why don't we just open up and deal with this later? And there is an answer to that. This is not about one party trying to jam the other.”

“Well, it is. I want to be fair to my colleague because I think he wants to work with us. We obviously have different points of view, but we have to sit down, and we have to stay at it, and we have to have hearings, and we have to do the work we are blessed to be able to do.”

“I thank you. I thank my colleagues. I would love to get the government open, and I would love to be able to let folks know that the healthcare they had in 2025 they would be able to have in 2026.”

“Mr. President, on September 3, 2025, I spoke about the upcoming November 30 general elections in Honduras for President, Members of Congress, and Members of the Central American Parliament.”

“Mr. President, on September 11, 2025, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, confirmed to the New York Times that $9.7 million worth of contraceptives being stored in a warehouse in Belgium had been destroyed at the direction of the Trump administration.”

“Mr. President, I want to speak on two topics, one after the other, healthcare and then tariffs. Healthcare Mr. President, open enrollment will begin across the country on Saturday.”

“Mr. President, the President of the United States says that the United States is at war. In the past 7 weeks, President Trump has ordered U.S. forces to take military action to destroy 10 boats in international waters.”

“Mr. President, every single one of us--every Member of the U.S. Senate, my fellow Vermonters, all Americans, people around the world--are absolutely thrilled by the cease-fire in Gaza.”

“The violence and settler attacks on the West Bank also represent an ominous threat to the cease-fire and a threat to fulfilling a true vision of peace. Gaza and the West Bank are part of what will be a separate Palestinian State.”

“Mr. President, unfortunately, I was not present to once again vote on the Republican continuing resolution proposal, rollcall vote no. 576. Had I been present, I would have voted no.”

“I will make it a longish one, but I want to join my colleagues in expressing our gratitude for this incredible physical effort that reflects not just your intellectual engagement but your compassion and the care you have for Oregonians, whom you have been serving so well for so long.”

“So here is my question: Is this really a bailout for the financiers on Wall Street who bought this debt at 20 cents on the dollar but may get paid $1 on the dollar or is this just flat-out enrichment?”

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Connecticut, and I support his effort to put constraints and definition on the Insurrection Act. Here is what is going on.”

“President wearing a crown and ``King Trump''; and he is flying a military jet, and he is dumping stuff on the American people who are protesting. The bottom line is there is some reality to that displaying what the attitude of this President is: The King is the law.”

“Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank my colleague from Rhode Island, and I join him in his advocacy for healthcare. We are going into day 15 of the shutdown.”

“States are going to see significant premium increases. But, you know, this is not about red State-blue State for me; this is about American families, American small businesses, and whether they can have access to affordable healthcare.”

“Mr. President, I strongly support this resolution and commend my colleagues from California and Virginia for their leadership. In the space of just 4 weeks, the Department of Defense has destroyed four small boats in the Caribbean Sea, in each instance killing everyone on board.”

“Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to Jane Goodall, whose pioneering scientific research on the behavior of chimpanzees and decades of tirelessly circling the globe to build support for the protection of endangered wildlife and the global environment are unmatched in human history.”

“Mr. President, first of all, I want to express my sadness at the loss of lives in Michigan, and I want to thank my colleagues Senator Peters and Senator Slotkin.”

“Madam President, I support Senator Merkley's resolution calling on the President of the United States to recognize an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, alongside a secure State of Israel.”

“Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and that the Senate now proceed to S.”

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague, the senior Senator from New Hampshire. I really appreciate her very practical presentation about a common concern that we have--Republicans and Democrats--and that is that we do no harm when it comes to the profound insecurity people are feeling about having access to healthcare for themselves, for their partners, for their kids.”

“I am so glad that you brought that up because what drives everyone crazy is the so-called cost shift. A lot of our community hospitals, they get underreimbursed, oftentimes on Medicare or Medicaid.”

“Well, if you are a billionaire, it works out. The fact is, it can't be explained. It hasn't happened yet. This is about to go into effect if we don't act as the Senate.”

“Well, you know, you are exactly right because that family making $82,000 a year, they are struggling to pay the premium as it is. If they have to pay $3,000 more a month, most of those families are going to say they would like to but can't because they are uninsured.”

“Mr. President, today I am proud to celebrate Melissa Appleton, a true champion for children, families, and the future of post-permanency support. As a leader in the Post-Permanency Program at Lund, Melissa's impact on the lives of children and families in Vermont is truly unmatched.”

“Mr. President, we are 9 months into the second Trump administration, and there are two dynamics that have become very painfully clear. One is the arbitrary use and abuse of power by the Executive and two, the regrettable passivity of the U.S.”

“Mr. President, on November 30, the people of Honduras will choose their next President and members of the National Congress. The stakes could not be higher. I am deeply concerned both about the integrity of the elections and the ongoing problems of corruption and impunity in the country.”

“Following Mr. Lopez's murder last year, I urged the Honduran Government to take several steps immediately in response to the pattern of violence: Call for an international commission of experts to support the Honduran prosecutor's investigation, to ensure the investigation of Mr.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to request unanimous consent to pass a bill I introduced with Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Our bill, the Repealing the Trump Sick Tax Act, would repeal provisions of the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including a provision that excludes certain pharmaceutical drugs from the Medicare drug price negotiation program.”

“Mr. President, all of us are back from being at home for the past 30 days. In my visit in Vermont, my time in Vermont visiting with Vermonters, one issue that came up over and over again is incredible concern about healthcare.”

“Mr. President, I am horrified and outraged by the assassination of Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian teacher, community leader, father, and peace activist in the West Bank town of Umm Al- Khair.”

“Mr. President, the mass starvation in Gaza must end. The forced displacement of 2 million Palestinians in Gaza must end. We all condemn Hamas. We support a Jewish independent democratic state.”

“Mr. President, like my colleague from New Hampshire, I want to make a statement after, but I want to, at the moment, accommodate the scheduling requirements of some of my other colleagues.”

“Madam President, I rise today to celebrate the 70th anniversary of one of Vermont's most iconic general stores. Dan & Whit's has been the beating heart of the Norwich community for 70 years.”

“Madam President, I rise today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of an iconic Vermont institution, Henry's Diner. Henry's Diner has provided delicious food, welcoming ambience, and classic consistency to the Burlington, VT, community since 1925.”

“Mr. President, the Israeli-inflicted starvation of Palestinians in Gaza must end. It must end. I have come to the floor time and again to urge the Senate to take action, to demand a cease-fire, to stop the bombing, to demand a surge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, and to bring home the hostages.”

“And first and foremost among the qualifications is that that individual has to be someone who sees as his or her client the Constitution of the United States and the statutory rights and obligations that citizens and companies in this country have.”

“Mr. President, on February 13, President Trump said something that few expected to hear. He said: There's no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons. We already have so many.”

“Mr. President, of all the uninformed, ill-conceived, and self-inflicted errors of this administration, the just-announced decision to withdraw from UNESCO stands out. The justification given by the State Department spokeswoman was a recitation of outdated, vague, and inaccurate criticisms of an organization that has seen dramatic reforms over the past 7 years under the outstanding leadership of Director General Audrey Azoulay.”

“Mr. President, on rollcall vote No. 423, I voted no. It was my intention to vote yea. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the outcome.”

“Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to Reginald Adams Berry, a native of Washington, DC, who died unexpectedly on June 28. Mr. Berry was, by all accounts, an exceptionally kind, thoughtful, and intellectually curious person who was also the beloved husband of my friend--and the friend of many of my colleagues--Ann Berry, who served as Secretary of the Senate from March 2021 until January 2025.”

“Mr. President, a June 25 article in the New York Times captured, in a single headline, the disaster that the misguided policies of this White House are inflicting on the world's most vulnerable people.”

“Trump's request to cut $400 million from PEPFAR and another $500 million in other global health programs. If Congress goes along with that, we will share responsibility for sabotaging one of the great public health achievements of this century.”

“Mr. President, the Department of Homeland Security has an extremely important mission: to keep Americans safe. Under that mission, the Department is tasked with two critical jobs: border security and disaster response.”

“Mr. President, exactly 2 years ago today, Vermont was struck with devastating floods. Those floods occurred not only a year ago today, but 2 years ago today. We had back-to-back floods in 2023 and 2024, doing about a billion dollars' worth of damage.”

“Mr. President, I support the Kennedy amendment but not for the reasons my friend from Louisiana does. I think that there should be some flexibility and there should be some governmental policy that helps our industry.”

“Mr. President, when the Senate considers the reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, it is my intention to make the following motions to commit the bill: A motion to commit the bill to the Committee on Finance with instructions to maintain the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit of section 25G of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as it is currently in effect, through December 31, 2028.”

“Medicaid provider tax provisions that impact Medicaid expansion states. A motion to commit the bill to the Committee on Finance to strike any changes to Medicaid provider tax provisions.”

“Mr. President, never in my time in Congress have I seen a bill that does so much damage in so many ways to so many people in so many States and that will affect so many generations.”

“Madam President, I do not want the United States of America to be involved in yet another regime-change war in Iran. Have we not learned anything from what happened in Iraq?”

“Mr. President, there is time to kill this bill, and I hope we do. You know, as my colleague from Hawaii just said, what is happening in this bill is the infliction of bipartisan suffering, whether it is in the State of Vermont or the State of West Virginia or the State of Tennessee.”

“Mr. President, last week, President Trump sent to Congress a request to rescind $9.4 billion in fiscal year 2025 and 2024 funds that a majority of Republicans and Democrats had debated and had voted for.”

“There is $800 million being cut for refugees, like those who are fleeing genocide in Darfur and Burma. Should we turn our back on the Afghan refugee folks who served our men and women in uniform during the course of the Afghan war?”

“Mr. President, I want to join my colleagues in talking about one of the terrible elements of this bill, and that is it is going to take away Medicaid coverage, healthcare for--this morning, it was 13.7 million people across this country, including Vermont and including Missouri.”

“Mr. President, I want to align myself with the comments made by the Senator from Connecticut and the Senator from Illinois. The Constitution is pretty straightforward on this.”

“Mr. President, all of us are extremely concerned--and I mean all of us: Senator Risch and all the Republican colleagues and me and all of the Democratic colleagues--about the suffering and famine that are upon the folks in Gaza.”

“My hope is that this Senate would pass a resolution making very clear our concern about the well-being of innocent Palestinians in Gaza. The food those Palestinians in Gaza need is right on the other side of the border.”

“Thank you again, the Senator from Maryland. Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S.”

“Madam President, I want the Senator from Idaho, the esteemed chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to know that when it comes to condemning Hamas for what it did on October 7, for what it has done to the Palestinians in Gaza on an ongoing basis, I join you in condemning Hamas.”

“Mr. President, I want to speak about a very uncomfortable but very real tragedy that is unfolding before our very eyes, and that, of course, is starvation in Gaza.”

“Mr. President, President Trump has been in office for 113 days. On nearly every one of those days, he has announced another very dangerous attack on the Constitution and on our system of justice.”

“Mr. President, I want to support everything that my colleague, the ranking member of the Finance Committee, just said about these tariffs. I want to make two points about the tariffs--one, the tariffs themselves, and then second, the congressional failure to assert its own authority on policies that it has the constitutional responsibility for when our failure results in economic pain and insecurity for the American people.”

“The other question here that is profoundly important for this institution--every single one of us is proud to be a Member of the U.S. Senate, and I think our pride is about our pride in the Constitution as citizens where, under the Constitution, this Congress plays a role as a coequal branch of government.”

“Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank the senior Senator from California not just for his leadership on protecting the voting rights of all citizens in this country but for his work as the California Secretary of State, where he gained a nationwide reputation for running free and fair elections.”

“Mr. President, I totally support the comments of the minority whip. It is 100 days, and it is time to assess. Whatever you may say about President Trump and the stated goals, there is an obligation to act functionally to achieve those goals.”

“The Social Services Block Grant was a program set up by President Reagan. It was a Republican proposal for funding social services, and it was embraced by Democrats.”

“Mr. President, I am really delighted to be here with my colleagues Senator Klobuchar and Senator Warnock. I know it is an incredibly important issue for all of America.”

“Madam President, I fully support the resolution of Senator Kaine, and I want to make three points. No. 1, should Congress continue to abdicate its constitutional responsibility, ceding it to the Executive?”

“Madam President, I rise today to recognize Duncan McDougall, who stepped down as the executive director of the Children's Literacy Foundation after 25 years leading the nonprofit organization that he founded.”

“A graduate of Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, Duncan combined his business experience as a management consultant with his vision to help under-resourced children to make CLiF self-sustaining within its first year of operations.”

“Thank you. Senator, I have been listening to many of your hours of speech. You are talking about immigration now, and I have another question about the immigration policy.”

“But when you control your borders, you also have the opportunity to have an immigration policy that the Congress and the President think will benefit the American people.”

“President Trump is for--he likes having very highly educated computer people who can help him go from very rich to even richer. So he carves out an exception for people who will be beneficial and helpful to him in his various enterprises.”

“I was mentioning how excited I was. I was in the House at the time, and I was so excited that this bill came over. You know, Vermonters were asking me all the time: Peter, we have got to do something about our borders.”

“Thank you, Senator Wyden. Mr. President, when I talk to Vermonters, as I am sure when you talk to Tennesseeans, everyday, hard-working people at the end of the month are struggling to pay their bills.”

“Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues. You know, this issue of the environment is being completely--completely--ignored. Worse than that, the problems we have in our environment are being intensified by what the Trump administration is doing.”

“Mr. President, as you know, in 1791, our Nation's Founders had the boldness to ratify the First Amendment to the Constitution. At the time, it was an extremely radical concept--protecting our fundamental individual freedoms to religion, to speech, to assembly, to the right to petition the government, and to have a free press that would operate without fear or government censorship.”

“Mr. President, I want to speak about the reckless tariffs that the Trump administration, Donald Trump, is inflicting on the American consumer, the American worker, American businesses--especially with respect to Canada.”

“Mr. President, thank you, and I thank my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, for coming to the floor today in support of our continued support for Ukraine. I was heartened to hear today that President Zelenskyy is on board with the U.S. ceasefire proposal.”

“Ukraine's integration with the rest of Europe, their own right to self-determination, Ukraine's battlefield courage, and Ukraine's political commitment to democracy and freedom validate the 80 years of America's commitment to creating structures that can enforce and protect peace.”

“Mr. President, I was absent from the Senate on March 3, 2025. Had I been present for rollcall vote No. 100 on S.9, I would have voted no.”

“Mr. President, I was absent from the Senate on March 3, 2025. Had I been present for rollcall vote No. 99 on the nomination of Linda McMahon, of Connecticut, to be Secretary of Education, I would have voted no.”

“Mr. President, last week, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that acknowledged that Russia brutally invaded Ukraine. Among those voting in favor were all our friends and allies.”

“Mr. President, every President of the United States has a right to review and realign programs funded by Congress, but only if the President acts in a way that complies with the law.”

“What is taking place right now is not about conducting a review, policy realignment, or addressing waste, fraud, and abuse. The administration instead has made every one of those goals impossible to achieve.”

“Mr. President, I want to speak about the extreme cuts that have affected the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control.”

“But how is DOGE going about it? And we are here to talk about how they are doing it in the Department of Health and Human Services, under Mr.”

“Mr. President, there are just two issues: One is about the policy, the energy policy, that the Trump administration is announcing, and we can have a debate about that.”

“Mr. President, I would like to speak about DOGE. The verdict is in: It has been a colossal failure. It has done immense damage to many of our institutions and inflicted immense pain on innocent people.”

“Mr. President, I oppose Kash Patel. I believe he is the dangerously wrong choice to serve as Director of the FBI. We all have great admiration for the FBI.”

“Mr. Patel is not the person to lead the FBI. My hope is that all of us should consider what Mr. Patel will do. He is going to use the power of the FBI to go after all those in government, those in the media, and those across the country that he doesn't agree with.”

“Mr. President, really delighted to be here with my colleagues: the Senator from Wisconsin, the Senator from Rhode Island, and the Senator from New Hampshire. There are a couple things that just need to be faced directly.”

“Mr. President, I would like to speak about the importance of FEMA, the importance of fixing it but not destroying it. Mother Nature, this week, provided yet another reminder of the devastating impacts of natural disasters.”

“The other thing that is happening with DOGE going into FEMA is that they are getting access and accumulating very personal information. If you are in the path of the storm and you seek FEMA aid, you have to give a significant amount of your own personal information, but that is solely for the purpose of evaluating your claim.”

“Madam President, turning back to the topic at hand--a serious question for all of us. The Health and Human Services Secretary plays a vital role in the well-being of every citizen in this country and is extraordinarily powerful in every respect.”

“And that is all kinds of Vermonters. That is 20,000 seniors, it is 67,000 children, and it is 19,000 Vermonters who have disabilities. By the way, we have real affordability challenges in Vermont.”

“Madam President, I am here to follow my colleague from Georgia Senator Warnock to talk about the Robert Kennedy nomination. But before I start, I just want to share some good news I just learned about with the success of DOGE.”

“Mr. President, I believe that the Attorney General may, in fact, be the most important position in a President's Cabinet, and if it is not the most important, it certainly is the most difficult.”

“I start from the orientation that a President should be able to pick his team and that we should take up nominations and move on them, vote on them expeditiously.”

“Mr. President, over the past 2 weeks, political operatives in the administration of President Trump and Elon Musk have shown the American people and the world that they plan to destroy as much of the professional workforce in the executive Agencies as they can get away with.”

“Mr. President, everything my colleague, the senior Senator from New Hampshire, said about New Hampshire and about how people are really struggling to pay their bills, the cost of rent, the cost of housing, home heating fuel in the winter, which has been brutal, groceries--that is totally the same situation for families in Vermont, and it is around the country.”

“Mr. President, on January 14, 2025, Norwich, VT, lost a beloved member of one of the town's oldest farming families. David Pierce grew up on a small dairy farm on a hill with a view down the valley, less than a mile from Dan & Whit's General Store in the center of town.”

“Mr. President, like all of us, I was enormously relieved by the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza, the gradual release of hostages, and a surge in humanitarian aid for the 2 million desperate Palestinians who are trapped inside Gaza.”

“Mr. President, I thank my colleagues. You know, President Trump likes to think that chaos is a useful tool. He can create disarray and disruption, and things will end up all right.”

“Mr. President, we are here discussing the nomination of the next potential Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. Of course that job, as we all know, is probably the second most difficult job in the country.”

“Mr. President, in the United States, we believe in the peaceful transfer of power. In the United States, we believe that the people--not elected politicians--decide who is their President.”

“Should a President pardon a person who led an organization who orchestrated this riot after being convicted by a jury of impartial citizens and being convicted of seditious conspiracy?”

“Mr. President, in his last week in office, President Biden removed Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, a designation imposed by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the final days of the first Trump administration.”

“Madam President, the situation for working families in Vermont is really, really hard. They show up and work. They get a paycheck. And, at the end of the month, when they try to pay their bills, there is not enough there.”