What Tom Cotton said, and what was done

“Madam President, I speak today in recognition of the bravery, courage, and valor of nearly 9,000 men and women in the Arkansas National Guard. Day in and day out, the heroes of our National Guard protect our communities and our homeland, stand at the ready to respond to natural disasters, and defend our freedom around the world.”

“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, no doubt, scintillating remarks of Senator Welch.”

“Mr. President, I speak today in support of Mr. Jay Clayton's nomination to be the next Director of National Intelligence. Earlier this month, Mr. Clayton appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he answered hundreds of written questions for the record and provided detailed testimony on his approach to serving in this new role.”

“Mr. President, Lindsey Graham was a self-made American original. Born in Central, SC, Lindsey grew up in a room behind his parents' bar and pool hall, where he worked to help the family make ends meet and earned the nickname ``Stinkball'' from its patrons because of his sense of humor and his irrepressible nature and his rascal streak, as he called it.”

“While he served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he oversaw the confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice and more than 200 Federal judges committed to upholding the rule of law as our Founders intended.”

“Mr. President, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was formed after the 9/11 attacks, understandably, to try to address some of the failures that led to those attacks.”

“Mr. President, section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA, is a critical national security tool. Well over half of every item in the President's daily brief is derived from section 702.”

“Regrettably, the Democrats, led by the two minority leaders, are going to allow this critical authority to expire tomorrow night. Again, this program, which has been on the books for almost 20 years, is one of the most important intelligence tools that we have.”

“Mr. President, let me try to respond to that fog of misunderstanding and misleading statements. Section 702 does not surveil Americans. It is, to put it simply, about foreigners in foreign countries: so, say, an IRGC leader in Iran talking to one of his operatives in Lebanon; or a Russian in Moscow talking to a Russian in Mexico--all of whom are usually up to no good.”

“You bet there is, Mr. President. Mr. President, all of these ideas are totally unworkable and also beside the point. The Senator from Oregon has never voted for section 702.”

“Mr. President, let me say that I respect the vice chairman, and I appreciate our work together on the Intelligence Committee. In particular, I thank the vice chairman for his cooperation on last year's Intelligence Authorization Act to reduce the sprawling bureaucracy at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object--and I will object--first, let me just set the context here. The Senator from Oregon has always expressed hard-core ideological opposition to section 702, which a large majority of the Senate and the House, under Democratic and Republican hands, across Democratic and Republican administrations, has always deemed a vital national security tool.”

“Fourth of July recess--the Senator from Oregon thinks that is too long. We would even be OK with a 45-day extension, which would give us until about the middle of June.”

“Mr. President, again, let's be specific on what we are talking about here. The Senator from Oregon keeps talking about a short-term extension. I think most people with some common sense--the people sitting in our Gallery--would say: You know what; a 45-day extension is pretty short term when the House just voted for a 3-year extension.”

“Mr. President, I am ducking nothing. I am pointing out the Senator from Oregon's longstanding practice of distorting highly classified material in public. And one of these days, there are going to be some consequences, and it may be when I am chairman of this committee.”

“Mr. President, today I urge my Senate colleagues to vote to confirm the nomination of the Honorable John Thomas Shepherd for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.”

“Mr. President, one of the most despicable pieces of legislation, an attack on our sacred right to vote, a voter suppression bill--these are just some of the hysterical things that Democrats have said lately about the SAVE America Act.”

“Mr. President, today is a great day in America. Nicolas Maduro--an indicted drug trafficker, an illegitimate communist dictator who has the blood of hundreds of Arkansans and thousands of Americans on his hands--is behind bars in a prison in New York.”

“Department of Homeland Security and the heads of any other elements of the Intelligence Community the Director considers appropriate, shall submit to the Committees a study on the threat posed by UAS at or near the land and maritime borders of the United States.”

“Mr. President, I am sad to share that Norman Podhoretz, a towering figure of American letters and politics, passed away last night. Not many men change the course of history.”

“Mr. President, I would like to recognize Lt. Col. Shannon Beers, known as ``Soju,'' for his exceptional work as a defense fellow in my Senate office for the past year.”

“Mr. President, I do object to the legislation, and I will outline my reasons a bit more later. But I defer to my good friends from Florida, Alabama, and Rhode Island to speak on behalf of that bill before I explain my opposition.”

“In January of 1974, billions of Americans traveled to work and school in darkness. Commuter trains were delayed, schoolchildren carried flash lights. Tragically, some of these kids were struck by cars and killed while walking to school in the dark.”

“In any case, it is only a mistake if you don't have time to fix it. Fortunately, I fixed it later that year with like-minded friends in the House.”

“Mr. President, at long last, our friends in Israel have won the war by defeating the depraved Hamas savages that launched the heinous, unprovoked attack from Gaza on October 7.”

“Madam President, I thank Senator Gillibrand for her work on this legislation. I think most Americans, if not a few Senators, are shocked when they learn how little defenses our troops have against drones that are approaching their military bases.”

“Mr. President, incredibly, the Democrats are here to condemn President Trump's recent strikes against narcoterrorists operating in their backyard. Maybe they want to distract from the Schumer shutdown by tying the President's hands and siding with narcoterrorists who have the blood of hundreds of thousands of Americans on their hands.”

“So if the Democrats had their way, President Trump would not be able to, for example, strike a secret meeting of senior Houthi leaders; wouldn't be able to strike imminent attacks on our friends in countries like Israel, Saudi Arabia, or United Arab Emirates.”

“Mr. President, today I would like to offer my congratulations to Mr. Kelley Erstine for his induction into the Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame. A native of Sheridan, AR, Mr.”

“Mr. President, well, here we are again. Republicans merely want to fund the government for 7 weeks. The House of Representatives passed a simple bill with no partisan tricks or poison pills.”

“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 Cantwell.”

“Mr. President, when a criminal is convicted of a crime and locked away in prison, you would think that would put a stop to their illicit activity, but sadly, in too many tragic cases, criminals just continue their wicked ways behind bars.”

“Chuck Schumer shows up, and he and other liberals in the Senate and a bunch of liberal law professors begin circulating the idea: No, we should require 60-vote thresholds for nominees.”

“Mr. President, well, here we go again. Hamas is on the verge of defeat, so it has cranked up the propaganda machine once again. Now Hamas wants the world to believe that Israel has undertaken a campaign of deliberate starvation of the Gazan population, and as usual, Hamas can count on an international media and political chorus to fight their battles for them and try to bully Israel into submission.”

“Mr. President, today, I urge my Senate colleagues to confirm Joe Kent as the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Mr. Kent has 20 years of military service and 11 combat deployments during the War on Terror, as well as experience as a Green Beret and a CIA officer.”

“Mr. President, today, I encourage my Senate colleagues to confirm Mr. Aaron Lukas as the next Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Lukas's long career serving our Nation as a CIA officer makes him well suited for this important position.”

“Mr. President, today, I speak to urge my colleagues to confirm John Eisenberg as the next Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division at the Department of Justice.”

“Mr. President, today, I urge my colleagues to confirm Warren Stephens to be our next U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. President Trump could not have chosen a more qualified or well-suited person to lead the special relationship between our two nations.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object because I do object to this effort and will object to future efforts to change the TikTok law. Let's remember how we got here.”

“Mr. President, today, I urge my Senate colleagues to confirm Gov. Mike Huckabee's nomination to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Israel. I have had the privilege of knowing Mike, his wife Janet, and his children John Mark, David, and Sarah, for many years.”

“Colleagues, there are a lot of problems in the world: male pattern baldness, lactose intolerance, flat feet. There is a time and place to address those problems, but it is not tonight, and it is not on this bill.”

“Mr. President, here we go again. In just a little over 24 hours, Federal funding will run out, and the government will shut down. Let me state for the record that my Republican colleagues and I are ready to get on with matters and ready to fund the government for the rest of this year.”

“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, the so-called International Criminal Court is a major threat to America's sovereignty and our troops. That threat was clear from the court's founding in 2002, 23 years ago.”

“Mr. President, unfortunately, we were at the point of almost having a consent agreement to have a vote on the confirmation of John Ratcliffe to be CIA Director tomorrow--not today, not yesterday when it should have happened, but tomorrow--but the Senator from Connecticut has decided to object at the last minute.”

“Reserving the right to object, which I most certainly do, TikTok isn't just another social media platform, TikTok is a Chinese communist spy app that addicts our kids, harvests their data, targets them with harmful and manipulative content, and spreads communist propaganda.”

“I want to respond briefly to a few points from my friend from Massachusetts, and he is my friend. I want to make an underlying statement, first off, for the Record, because this is a notable day.”

“Madam President, for almost 4 years now, Joe Biden has subjected our country to economic misery, uncontrolled crime, and international humiliation. And now, on the way out of his failed and scandal-plagued Presidency, he is showering gifts and favors to some of the most depraved human beings.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, which I certainly will, I want to briefly address what the Senator from Illinois said about my resolution condemning these two death sentence commutations.”