What Rick Scott said, and what was done

“Madam President, if the motion for the Senate to adjourn with pro forma sessions scheduled until September 14 would have been a recorded rollcall vote, I would have voted no.”

“First off, I rise to recognize all my colleagues that have spoken about the importance of disaster relief, and I think we all want to make sure we help our States.”

“Madam President, I rise on behalf of all Floridians to recognize the 100th anniversary of the city of Miami Springs, FL, and to celebrate a century of its community.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to ask unanimous consent to pass the SAFE KIDS Act. I want to thank my colleagues who have joined me in this effort as cosponsors: Senators Lee, Blackburn, Banks, Sullivan, Ricketts, Lummis, Budd, Rounds, Kennedy, Moody, and Sheehy.”

“Mr. President, so first off, I appreciate the comments from my colleague from Illinois. I look forward to working with him to try to solve this. Let's remember what this is about.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object. Mr. President, at a time when we are seeing the Democrat Party embrace the hellish evils of socialism and ideologies that hate the founding ideals of America, Democrats are hoping to pass a resolution to direct this Chamber to sue the President of the United States on a very false premise.”

“Mr. President, I welcome my colleague from Oklahoma and thank him. I completely agree with his ideas. We have got to get energy production increased in this country and drive down the prices for all consumers.”

“Mr. President, I recognize my colleague. We both are in the same position. We don't want to do anything that absolutely hurts the economy of the CNMI, but at the same time, we have got to figure this out to make sure that we don't have birth tourism.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object. The only reason we are standing here and having this debate in the first place is because Democrats in administration after administration repeatedly weaponized the Federal Government against their political opponents and the American people.”

“Mr. President, in my lifetime, the cost of healthcare for a family of four has gone from $700 a year to over $25,000. ObamaCare, which my Democratic colleagues all supported, was supposed to reduce family healthcare costs by $2,500.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object. So it is interesting that, you know, my Democratic colleague cares about law enforcement. In the last, what, year and a half, in this last year and a half--what--the government has been shut down three times, so all the Federal Government wasn't paid.”

“Mr. President, first off, there is no fund. So we are talking about a fund that has never been created. And then we are talking about how the Democrats supposedly care about the cost of living when everything they do raises the cost of living--everything.”

“Mr. President, I rise today and ask the Senate to pass my resolution, S. Res. 444, a resolution condemning the dictator and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping.”

“Madam President, I rise today to honor an important community in our country that has done so much for our country--Jewish Americans. America as we know it would not exist without the contributions of Jewish Americans.”

“Mr. President, I just want to say I am from Florida, and I probably have more Cuban Americans in my State than anywhere else in this country. This is really important.”

“Mr. President, the measure we are talking about is completely out of touch with the facts in Cuba, nor is it relevant to anything actually happening in Cuba right now.”

“After hearing about the suffering Democrats have caused for the TSA agents that I talked about earlier, how can anyone here oppose this? Sadly, the answer to that question is the same as the answer to the question of how we got here in the first place.”

“Mr. President, let's remember who shut down Homeland Security. The Democrats shut down Homeland Security. They voted to shut down Homeland Security. They wouldn't fund it, and they wouldn't fund it because they don't want ICE to be able to do their job.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak about something that unifies our country. Here in the Senate, often, we talk about things we disagree on. We are going to talk today about something Americans agree on.”

“Now here is my simple question for Democrats: Why should voting in our elections, something that dictates the direction of our country and is essential to building trust in government, have a lower ID standard than buying a six-pack of beer or a lottery ticket?”

“Reserving the right to object. Mr. President, I rise today to object to the motion made by my colleague from Massachusetts. We don't need to nationalize our elections.”

“If my colleague from western Massachusetts wants to defend democracy and protect elections, I offer him an alternative that I, and a majority of Americans, would support. There should be some commonsense, national standards in place to ensure Americans know their elections are free and fair and that their votes are not diluted.”

“While I am clearly disappointed, this is the most commonsense bill there is. So none of us get to vote for the President of France. I would vote for Macron, but I don't get to.”

“I rise today to fight for working families and businesses. Congress is DC's legislative body. It says so right there in the Constitution, article I, section 8, clause 17 reads: [The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District . . . as may . . . become the Seat of Government of the United States.”

“President Trump and Republicans are doing all we can to make things better, affordable, and lower costs for these American families. We do that by cutting taxes and regulations, not by denying people more of the money they have earned.”

“Mr. President, I would like to thank my colleague Senator Lee for working with me to stop Democrats' wasteful spending in this package and bring accountability for the American people.”

“Mr. President, I want to first thank my colleague from Florida, Senator Moody. I am proud to work together with her to protect Florida's shores, which is very, very, very important to Floridians.”

“Mr. President, when I talk to families in the State of Florida and around the Nation, I often hear how they are struggling to make ends meet. The cost of healthcare is up.”

“Mr. President, I actually was born in the great State of Illinois and lived in public housing there. I grew up in a family that could have benefited from things like Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program.”

“Mr. President, I want to, first off, thank my colleague from Wisconsin. You know, not only has he worked hard to try to do what all Republicans have been doing to open up this government; he has also worked his tail off to try to get people paid.”

“One TSA agent working in Miami visited a local food bank and described how her family was scraping by, not knowing when her next paycheck was coming, and she said it is demoralizing, and it was getting pretty bad.”

“Mr. President, first thing I want to do is thank all the Senators that are speaking tonight. I can't imagine voting not to pay somebody. In my State, here is what is happening.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, this is an interesting conversation, but Democrats have had 37 days to stop the most important issue that this Senate should be focused on right now, and that is the shutdown, but they would rather spend their time playing politics and attacking the President instead of doing what is best for the American public.”

“Now, I think about growing up. I was blessed. I had a wonderful mom. But we lived in public housing. I didn't know my dad. She really struggled to put food on the table.”

“And I am shocked that my colleague doesn't want to worry about the 42 million people that are not getting SNAP benefits, the Capitol Police that are protecting us that aren't getting paid.”

“I want to commend my colleague for deferring his paycheck. I think it is the right thing to do. If he is willing to defer his paycheck, why wouldn't he allow my bill to pass so all of us should defer our paychecks until the government gets open again?”

“So I am disappointed that my colleague--I commend him for deferring his paycheck. That is the right thing to do. But we should do that for every Member of Congress until we open our government.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to talk about my Sunshine Protection Act--a bipartisan, bicameral bill that returns power to each State and its citizens and that will end the twice-yearly time change and make daylight saving time the national, year-round standard.”

“I want to thank Senators Whitehouse and Tuberville for their support. Our Sunshine Protection Act is a bipartisan, bicameral bill that will allow States to end the twice-yearly time change and make daylight saving time the national, year-round standard.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, today is day 28 of the Democrat shutdown--a shutdown caused by the Democrats' complete blind hatred--complete hatred--of Donald Trump. They are spending more time attacking President Trump than fighting for the American people, who are harmed by their shutdown.”

“If my Democrat colleagues want to make sure people are not being harmed by losing SNAP benefits or going without paychecks while they show up to work day after day, then they would vote to reopen government.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to offer my amendment, Scott No. 3535, to bring accountability and transparency to every American, including our brave service men and women. For too long, our Nation's central bank, under the leadership of Jay Powell, has failed to do its basic duty of providing stability for American families.”

“Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 403, which was submitted earlier today.”

“Mr. President, like most Americans, my wife Ann and I are completely heartbroken by the tragic loss of our friend and fellow patriot Charlie Kirk in a despicable, targeted assassination.”

“Mr. President, I rise, on behalf of all Floridians, to recognize the meaningful visit of Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All-Holiness Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church to our Nation's Capital.”

“Mr. President, first and most importantly, I want to thank my colleagues for their work on these appropriations bills and the support of our agriculture community in this bill.”

“Madam President, I rise today to talk about an issue of great national importance that affects every family in America. We know the Federal Reserve has been wildly unaccountable for years under Jay Powell's leadership.”

“First off, I want to thank my colleague for his interest in making sure we have an independent inspector general. I don't think there is a disagreement on that.”

“Mr. President, I rise to celebrate Helen Parke of Dover, FL, and recognize her 100th birthday. Helen was born on July 7, 1925, in St. Louis, MO, and it was there that she met and married Roy Parke, Jr., in 1943.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to honor the servicemembers from the 98th Expedition Signal Battalion, the 297th Regional Support group, the 1st Armored Division, the 200th Military Police, the 303rd Military Policy Company, the 3-321 Field Artillery Regiment, and the 41st Field Artillery Brigade who are currently serving alongside our NATO allies in Estonia.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to honor the incredible service to our State and Nation by Craig Carbone. Craig has served on my team in multiple capacities for over a decade.”

“Madam President, I stand today to condemn the anti-Semitic and hate-fueled murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim that occurred last night at the hands of a Hamas sympathizer.”

“Today, I rise to condemn last night's heinous and anti-Semitic attack on these innocent people. I condemn this hateful rhetoric against Israel and against the Jewish people who deserve the right to live freely and without fear in the United States and around the world.”

“Mr. President, I rise to recognize the efforts of President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to terminate the flawed 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life of Kevin Reilly who recently passed away. Kevin graduated from Palm Harbor University High School in Pinellas County and was a proud Florida Gator, where he served as student body president at the University of Florida.”

“Mr. President, the nominees I will discuss today were approved by the Armed Services Committee with bipartisan support. Republicans and Democrats agreed they are qualified and ready to serve.”

“Mr. President, I am not sure I understand my colleague's objections. These are well-qualified nominees. They enjoy bipartisan support. There are several more nominees waiting. It is obvious, my colleagues across the aisle will do everything they can to undermine President Trump's agenda and delay these nominees.”

“Mr. President, the President deserves his national security nominees today. Let me see if we will consider this one: Brandon Williams to be Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, Military Health System.”

“Mr. President, one final ask. I hope my colleagues can agree that we have at least one critical nominee today approved. Let's consider Bradley Hansell to be Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.”

“At some point, this has got to change. We have Presidential elections every 4 years. Our President got elected. President Trump got elected, whether people like it or not.”

“Let's remember what we just did today. This is not the confirmation of the Secretary of Defense. These are the confirmations of very competent people. No one can question the competence of these four people.”

“Mr. President, I rise to honor the life of U.S. Navy CAPT Allen Brady who passed away on April 24, 2025, at the age of 95. We remember Captain Brady for his bravery and his sacrifice to our Nation through his 30 years of Active Duty.”

“Mr. President, I rise to recognize Maj. Colleen Randolph, U.S. Marine Corps, for her distinguished and exemplary service, on the occasion of her transfer from the U.S. Marine Corps Office of Legislative Affairs to the Nation's best service academy, the U.S.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to recognize #EndJewHatred Day and to affirm my unwavering support for the Jewish community in Florida, across the United States, and around the world.”

“Mr. President, I rise to congratulate Carlos and Janelle Beruff of Bradenton, FL, on their 15th wedding anniversary. Over the years, my wife Ann and I have had the privilege of becoming friends with Carlos and Janelle.”

“Reserving the right to object, I think all of us can agree with my colleague. We can agree it is very important the American people have readily available access to accurate and timely public health information.”

“Mr. President, first, I want to thank my colleague from North Carolina for his comments with regard to Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the Panama Canal. We have to support the President.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life of Taylor Elizabeth Long Fishel who passed away on December 23, 2024, at the young age of 31. Taylor was born in Tallahassee, FL, where she graduated from Leon High School and Florida State University.”