total nerd about rules. just one of those guys that studies it and loves it, it's kind of an obvious fit and virginia fox a great chair. used to be the vice chair of rules and did a couple of cycles there and rotated off to take the gavel of education and work force and now she's going to come back and do that duty again. well suited and the most senior female in our republican conference, and terrifying, she's 4 foot 8, and a spark plug and nobody messes with her, makes her a great chair. >> with that, good luck this year. we want you to come back in 100 days and talk about how you did. >> great, can't wait. >> or if it ends up like obamacare repeal and goes nowhere, wa, wa. >> no, we're not doing that. thank you, appreciate it. >> listening to program on c-span through c-span radio is

easy, tell your smart speaker play c-span radio, listen to washington journal daily, important events throughout the day and weekdays catch washington today, listen to c-span anytime, just tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio, created by cable. >> in the u.s. senate is about to gavel in for the day. today senators will continue work on a bill that would require the homeland security department detain migrants for theft related crimes. in about half an hour, members will vote on whether to advance the bill, which would need the support of 60 senators. more floor votes are possible. now live to the senate floor, here on c-span2.

the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. our father in heaven, our shelter in the time of storm, teach our senators to live as you would have them live. give them the wisdom to serve others as you desire, providing an example worthy of the high calling they have received from you. lord, inspire them to be kind to one another, ever seeking for truth in all their endeavors. keep them totally dependent

on you for guidance and strength, freeing them from anxiety and fear. may your blessing and benediction enable them to work together in harmony and peace. we pray in your sacred name. amen. the president pro tempore: will you please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 5, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 1, s. 5, a bill to require the secretary of homeland security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the united states with theft and for other purposes. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the president pro tempore grass i speak for a couple minutes in morning business. i'm an advocate through the farm

program of having an absolute limit on the amount of money that one farmer can get from the farm program so that we target towards medium and small sized farmers so we don't subsidize very big farmers to get bigger. i got such legislation through the house and the senate in previous congresses, and would you believe it, even though it was exactly the same language in both houses and that isn't supposed to be touched by the conferees, the conferees diluted it to not a very meanable

limit. i'm still concerned about limits. so today i come to the floor to say as one of its last official acts, the biden department of agriculture decided to disregard the wishes of congress by using its authority under section 5 of the commodity credit corporation's charter to increase payment limits for especially crop farmers from $125,000 to $900,000 under the marketing assistance for specialty crops program. this increase cost american taxpayers over $650 million without a vote of the congress. had this been the desire of congress, it would have been included in the continuing resolution passed just weeks before. article 1 of the constitution is

very clear. congress has the power of the purse. it's time that we stop the abuse of that power by the executive branch, whether that's republican or democrat. so getting back to what i said when i opened my remarks, i'm going to be pursuing in the five-year farm bill this year that same cap on what one family farmer can get, and we're going to take additional action to make sure that we reform the commodity credit corporation's law to make sure that the executive branch, secretary of agriculture, does not have the authority to just willy-nilly put out money at the drop of a hat. i yield the floor.

i ask for calling of the quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: 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. and that is why the republican majorities in the house and the

senate have made it our first order of business to take up the laken riley act. this bill is a small but critical step toward resolving the biden border crisis. the first of many, i might add. mr. president, the laken riley act is not a complicated bill. it says that an illegal immigrant involved in a theft-related crime must be detaped. that means -- detained. that means someone in the country illegally, in other words, who has already broken our laws, commits a robbery, he or she will be detained. if this bill had already been law, the illegal immigrant who killed laken riley would not have been on the streets the day he murdered her. when he was cited for shoplifting less than five months before that day, he would have been detained. and laken riley might still be alive today. that's what we're trying to do here is prevent another tragedy. unfortunately, it seems that even a simple and straightforward bill to detain criminal illegal immigrants is too much for some on the left.

some of our democrat colleagues have spent the week searching for a reason, any reason to justify voting against this bill. for starters, we've heard that this bill would cover too many illegal immigrants. well, mr. president, the admission that there are too many individuals on our streets who have committed a crime after coming into the country illegally is an argument for this bill, not against it. we've also heard the immigration and customs enforcement lacks the detention capacity for the number of individuals that this bill will be required to detained. if resources are scarce, mr. president, the answers to provide those -- the answer is to provide those resources. the answer is to not let criminals continue to walk our streets. republicans believe that keeping criminal illegal aliens off our streets is a good stretch. we're currently working on a bill that will provide ice with additional agents and additional detention capacity. mr. president, we've also been told that this bill will

overwhelm ice such that there won't be enough space to detain violent criminals. once again, this is not an argument against the bill. it's an argument for giving ice more resources and for quickly deporting criminals. mr. president, these arguments say a lot more about democrats' unwillingness to crack down oil legal immigration than they say about this bill. look at the vote we took on wednesday. we adopted senator cornyn's amendment to require illegal immigrants who assault a police officer to be detained. staggeringly under current law this is not the case. but two days ago 25 of our democrat colleagues could not even bring themselves to support detaining an illegal immigrant who assaults a police officer. that's right. more than half of the democrats in the united states senate apparently don't believe we

should have to detain these individuals. i think that's out of step with the american people. for sure it's out of step with the american people. mr. president, the american people want to see an end to open borders and the chaos that they have brought to communities around the country, communities like athens, georgia where laken riley was murdered last february. laken riley's death was a tragedy. and it was preventable. and the bill we're considering today may prevent a similar tragedy from affecting another family. laken's loved ones have had to suffer the heartbreak of losing their daughter, their sister, their friend, a bright light in their lives. but her mother and stepfather said of this bill, and i quote, there's no greater gift that could be given to her and our country than to continue her legacy by saving lives through this bill. end quote.

saving lives, mr. president. that's what this is about. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

quorum call:

thank you, lisa, there's no one i would rather work with, the american people could not ask for a better deputy attorney general to serve our country at this important time. thank you, elizabeth, chris. anita, for your kind words, for your extraordinary service to the department and the american people. to my family, you know would not be here today without your support. alt -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: first, a few words on salt. a few days ago, the house

freedom caucus made a ridiculous proposal that congress should extend the salt caps after they're set to expire this year by imposing a new cap on new york businesses, large and small, and the businesses in many other states. the proposal by the house freedom caucus is ridiculous, and i will come back to the floor at 11:00 a.m. after the vote with more to say about it. on the middle east and israel, this week has been a long time coming for the families of the israeli hostages, for civilians in gaza, and for countless people across the world. a little over an hour ago, israel's security cabinet voted to approve the ceasefire negotiators announced earlier this week. it will soon go to the full cabinet for approval. 15 months after hamas' heinous attack on october 7, it is welcome news that we're now at the brink of a ceasefire agreement that will reduce violence in gaza, reduce harm to

innocent civilians, and free many of the hostages. this ceasefire marks a hopeful turning point for israel, for the palestinian people, and particularly for the families of the hostages who have waited so long in agony. we will not rest until every hostage comes home. the agreement -- this agreement would not have been possible without months of steadfast diplomacy by the united states and our allies in the region, and could not have happened and would not have happened until the threats of hamas and other iranian proxies like hezbollah were radically reduced, which thankfully they have been. i want to thank president biden and everyone in his administration who persistently negotiated for a year to make this agreement possible. i thank and honor all the families of the hostages, especially those who live in new york, for their courage and

perseverance and boundless grace amidst so much grief. among the hostages are many new new yorkers -- omar, edan, segui, etay, keith, gad, and judy. getting to know the families of the hostages, hearing them share stories about their loved ones in captivity, about their hopes and fears and frustrations and their perseverance, will be something i will remember forever. today, i promise them this, we will keep working to make sure every hostage comes home. now the task is to ensure that this temporary agreement paves the way to a lasting peace. the first -- this first phase is critical for bringing home all the hostages and preserving israel's right to defend itself. we must make sure that the terrorists of hamas can never again pose a threat to israel or

to the region. we must also do everything we can to deliver immediate and lifesaving relief to civilians in gaza. for 15 months they have suffered unimaginable destruction. it will take all parties working together to make sure the palestinian people can live -- rebuild their lives with dignity, with security, and outside of the terrible shadow that hamas casts over the gaza strip, including using so many innocent civilians as human shields. i urge the biden administration and incoming trump administration to work together with all parties at the negotiating table to ensure the deal is implemented and followed through in its entirety. next, this morning the senate is scheduled to hold a cloture vote on the laken riley act. a week ago i joined with the majority of my democratic colleagues in voting yes to bring this bill to the floor on the motion to proceed. we told republicans we wanted to

have a serious and productive and fruitful debate on this legislation, with the chance to vote on amendments to modify the bill. democrats filed many amendments to the bill, but unfortunately our republican colleagues and the republican leader didn't reach an agreement with us. we voted on two amendments last night, one from each party, and no more. unfortunately, without more changes -- it was two nights ago we voted on those. unfortunately, without more changes to address deficiencies in the bill, i'll be voting no. we democrats want to see our broken immigration system fixed. we worked with republicans last year on the strongest immigration bill in a decade. while i do not support this particular bill, i stand ready to work with both sides to pass smart, effective, tough, and commonsense legislation to secure our borders and reform our immigration system. on cabinet nominations, and

mr. ratcliffe, if one thing is clear from this week's cabinet hearings it's that donald trump is not building a cabinet to serve the american people. he's building a cabinet to serve the special, big, powerful interests. the american people deserve to know if the president-elect's nominees will bring costs down and protect america or cut sweetheart deals for the most well-off americans while making america less safe. yesterday i met with john ratcliffe, the president-elect's nominee for cia director. i raised my concerns about some of his positions, and challenged him to be rock-ripped when it comes to the integrity of the cia, a place where facts, not lies, must prevail, for the security of america. i also told mr. ratcliffe about my very grave concerns regarding the nomination of tulsi gabbard for director of national

intelligence, because i believe her tenure could be colossally disruptive to our intelligence age agencies, where so many thousands work so hard and many risk their lives to protect us. i told mr. ratcliffe i thought it would be best if he told president-elect trump that tulsi gabbard should not have the job. i also told mr. ratcliffe he needs to be rock-ribbed and strong when she presents falsities about intelligence, which given her past she seems almost inevitably -- she almost will inevitably do. unfortunately, i found his answers about ms. gabbard to be insufficient. candidly, mr. president, the truth is that many of the president-elect's nominees are just not fit for the job, not just ms. gabbard. as we continue with hearings next week on important issues like u.n. ambassador, secretary of agriculture, secretary of the

army, democrats will continue to hold the president-elect's nominees' feet to the fire, to show the american people who donald trump's nominees are really fighting for. will drat's nominees focus on -- will donald trump's nominees focus on cutting costs or be more interested in sweetheart deals for big business? will they protect our communities or focus on protecting swags interests? will they -- protecting special interests? will they serve middle-class and families or the swamp? it seems all too likely the wrong answer on each of these questions might be very real. should the time come some of these nominees fail on the job, which given their lack of qualifications sadly seems likely, democrats will continue to make it clear there were red flags all along. finally, on tiktok, we know a lot of things are up in the air with the tiktok ban scheduled to go into effect this weekend. but everyone -- the biden administration, the incoming trump administration,

even the supreme court -- should continue working to find a way an american buyer -- to find a way to find an american buyer for tiktok so we can both free the app from any influence and control from the chinese communist party and keep tiktok going, which will preserve the jobs of millions of creators. i yield the floor. mrs. britt: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mrs. britt: thank you over the past week and a half, the world's greatest deliberative body has discussed and debated the laken riley act. i have taken to the senate floor multiple times as have several of my senate colleagues to impress upon our fellow lawmakers just how important it is to pass this bill.

to protect american families, to keep criminals off our streets. the reason we're all here today is to consider the laken riley act, and really it is out of a sense of duty, a moral obligation to honor laken, her life and her legacy, a life cut far too short at the hands of an illegal alien who committed the most heinous crime we can possibly imagine. and a legacy that continues and will continue to live on. laken riley, as my colleagues know, was an exceptional 22-year-old. she was a beloved daughter, an extraordinary friend, a shining beacon of light who truly lived out her faith. she was a nursing student who wanted to help people. she had big goals and aspir

aspirations. she had hopes and dreams, to strive for over the course of her life, that will never have an opportunity to become a reality. and that is because of the biden-harris open border policies. her killer was allowed to roam free in our country, despite having been apprehended at the border and committing multiple crimes after being paroled into the united states interior. then he reached the darkest depths of criminality and took laken from this world 330 days ago. last week on this same floor, i read the words of allison and john phillips, laken's mother and stepfather. they described in heartbreaking detail the joy laken brought to everyone fortunate enough to know her in their lives. they said, not only did the people who knew and loved laken lose a beautiful soul, but so

did our world. this didn't have to happen. jose ibarra shouldn't have been anywhere near laken on february 22, 2024. he should have never been in the united states. and once he had committed a crime and on multiple occasions, he should have been detained by ice until he was removed from our country. if he had, laken would still be with us today. that is why we need to pass the laken riley act. as elected representatives, our greatest responsibilities are to listen to the will of the american people, to keep the american people safe and secure. and on november 5 of last year, the american people made their voices heard and they were very clear. they told all of us in washington they would no longer put up with the crimes like the one jose ibarra committed, the

one that stole laken from her loved ones. the american people deserve and they delivered a verdict, and they deserve results. we have irresponsible, open border, soft-on-crime policies, and that must end. it is our duty to turn their cries into action, to respond to the clear message that they sent, to honor the charge they delivered. that is the purpose of american demo democracy. and just as the purpose of our democratic rebel is to turn -- democratic republic is to turn the will ever the people from desire to law, the purpose of our government, the most basic function our country has, is to protect its citizens. that is what the laken riley act does. it will help ensure other families will not have to endure

the pain of a criminal illegal alien inflicted on laken and her loved ones. this bill will prevent countless nightmares so daughters like laken can go on a jog and not have their dreams forever stolen from them. i am proud to have bipartisan support for this bill, around i am grateful for senators john fetterman and ruben gallego who decided who sign on as cosponsors. i am heartened to see so many of my democratic colleagues come out in favor of this commonsense, straightforward legislation. but we can't lose focus now. we are so close to the finish line, so close to delivering results for the american people. for the voters who sent us here and for laken and her family. so now to my fellow senators, let's do right by the american

people. let's heed their call, help keep them safe, and pass this bill. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent for two minutes to speak to this bill. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. merkley: thank you. we are now entering the vote that is referred to as cloture, or closed debate, but we can still consider amendments by unanimous consent. i came to the floor yesterday to point out that there is a deep flaw related to children in this bill, and both the majority leader and the floor leader have expressed support for an amendment process, and so i'm asking to work with me and with my leadership that we might examine this challenge. and the challenge is

specifically that children, without being charged, without being convicted, are required to be arrested and imprisoned -- or not arrested, but imprisoned after an arrest with no chance for appeal. my colleagues expressed the belief that the floor, as agreement, somehow provides protection. but the experts on flores have said that is incorrect because the bill trumps an agreement. it trumps a rule. and flores was about children coming to the border, not children fiscal cliffing our community. further -- not children living in our community. furthermore, a child with a parent that is required mandatory imprisonment without appeal is suddenly swept away from their children, we should care about all those children left without a parent at their house. but that's both citizen and noncitizen children. so let's not pretend this flaw only affects folks who are

undocumented. it affects our citizen children as well. but, again, we should care about both sets of children thriving. so i ask help from the majority leader and the floor leader. let's bring -- if we have dispute of legal interpretation, let's bring those lawyers together, understand are they ships passing in the night or is there a misunderstanding that we can correct or clarify? and so with that appeal for additional amendments by unanimous consent, which i will continue to negotiate for, i thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on calendar number 1, s. 5, a bill to require the secretary of homeland security to take into

custody aliens who have been charged in the united states with theft and for other purposes, signed by 1 senators. -- by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on s. 5, a bill to require the secretary of homeland security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the united states with theft and for other purposes, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell.

mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego.

mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. mr. hagerty. [inaudible conversations] [cheers and applause] oh, my goodness. we've got this from years and years ago and days ago from here.

oh, i talked to so many of you who have holiday parties but i have sickened i am so proud of our team and this is a team that spans many years of doing extraordinary work on the half of the people. and as you all have heard me say many times, i am fully aware that i am the public face of a lot of our work, and so i have the benefit of running into people all over our country. and i will tell you i am fully aware that when they are thanking me they are thanking our team for the extraordinary commitment that you each have an as the team has two lifting up american people, lifting up their condition come lifting up their hopes and dreams, and understanding through it all the nobility of public service.

we have each taken on a life and a calling that is about doing work in the service of others. and doing it in a way that is fueled yes with ambition, yes with a sense of almost stubbornness without not hearing no, and knowing we can make a difference. and i'm not going to go through the laundry list of all of our accomplishments. we know what they are but i will tell you that everyone here has so much to be proud of and i work is not done and as you all know we have spent long hours, long days and it is not my nature to go quietly into the night. so don't worry about that. but the ceremony of signing this desk is something that is especially important. so i hope everyone will get a chance to see the desk.

but i've actually i think with the exception of truman and eisenhower, met every person who assigned this desk, evie vice president, former vice president. and you know, we don't, in fact, i talked to vice president mondale just days before he passed, and i will say that although many of us might have disagreed, me and some of the previous vice president on certain matters, policy matters, i think we all probably have shared a very common experience that is a through line as evidenced by the fact that with this tradition of signing this desk since 1940, i believe. and it is the work of caring about our country. it is the work of understanding we hold these offices in the public trust, with the duty and

the responsibility to uphold the oath we take, to respect, to defend the constitution of the united states, to do our work on behalf of the people of the united states. and so i stand in a long tradition as the 49th vice president of the united , in a long tradition of vice presidents who have signed this desk, and i do so with great honor and with the knowledge that our work here has mattered. it has meaning. it has impacted people we may never meet, people who may never know our name, but who are ever forever grateful for the work that you each and we all together have done. so i thank you all, and with that i'm going to pull out this sharpie. [cheers and applause]

all right. [cheers and applause] [chanting] mvp. >> right this way. >> i'll keep you posted. thanks, everybody. [applause]

the clerk: ms. alsobrooks, no. mr. padilla, no.

the clerk: mr. reed, no. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the following members have been designated to serve on the proxy

committee. mark cars national security men from kansas. reinhold, national committee men alaska. joanne young, national committeewoman from the district of columbia. ak camara, , national committeen from minnesota. debbie churchill, national committeewoman from montana. jason simmons, state kevin from north carolina. thomas carroll, national committeeman from rhode island. heidi engelhardt national committeewoman from south dakota. debbie george judge, national committeewoman from texas. matt herridge, national committeeman from west virginia. mark cars will serve as the chairman of the proxy committee. i would like to ask those appointed members to convene on the side of the room with the council's office to review the submitted proxies. while the proxy committee is meeting rnc secretary vicki frohman will call the roll.

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call]

[roll call] [roll call] >> we do have a quorum. >> thank you, madam secretary. at this time i like to call upon mark cars for the report of the proxy committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the proxy committee met if we reviewed the 15 proxies that were submitted to the secretary of the rnc. proxy to me determine all 15 proxies are in order. i'm half of the proxy i conclude this report and move the rnc except the report of the proxy committee. >> without objection the report of the proxy committee is accepted.

>> the chairman from georgia. >> mr. chairman, my name was not called on roll call. i just want a reflective time here. >> yes, , sir. we've got that. thank you. rule number eight a of our roles require said meeting agenda be sent to all members at least ten days prior to a meeting. you have been e-mailed an agenda for the general session and without objection we will continue to conduct today's business according to that agenda. hearing no objection it is so ordered. our first order of business is to approve the minutes from our 2024 organizational meeting in milwaukee, wisconsin. you've all been emailed a copy of those minutes in advance and, therefore, we can dispense with reading them. if there are no corrections, the minutes will be approved. there are no corrections or

objections, the minutes are approved. as many of youka may know, we recently lost a beloved member of the rnc, jeannie luckie. please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance of judy. [silence] thank you. pursuant to rule number four we have a new member to ratify. i'm pleased to announce the election david leslie davis for the national committeewoman of mississippi. do what your a motion to ratify the election of a new national committeewoman, leslie davis? the motion is made. is there a second? the motion is moved and seconded. we ratify the election of leslie davis. all those in favor please signify by saying aye. all oppose signify by saying no.

the ayes have it and i please to officially welcome leslie as a member of the republican national committee. [applause] it is also my pleasure to welcome four new state chairman to the republican national committee, james from maine, alex from minnesota, amy from new mexico, and ramon, northern mariana islands. i can gradually each of you on your election and will can you all as members of the republican national committee. [applause] each region held elections after breakfast this morning. please hold your applause until i've announced all of the winners, the results are as follows. the following members were elected to serve as regional vice chairman.

from the midwest region, -- national committeewoman for iowa and stephen, national committeeman from iowa. from the northeast region, susie, national committeewoman for rhode island and john national committeeman for connecticut. in the southern region, beth,, national committeewoman from west virginia and john the state chairman for alabama. in the western region, cynthia henry, national committeewoman for alaska and michael mcdonald state chairman for nevada. the following members were elected to the executive committee. midwestern region, and half the weight committeewoman for indian and rob steele the national committee meant for michigan. from the northwest region, hank mccann national committeeman for delaware and janet fogarty national committeewoman for massachusetts. from the southern region beth campbell national committeewoman for tennessee, and robin

armstrong the national committeeman from texas. and from the western region -- national committeewoman from california and shawn steel the national committeeman for california. congratulations to you. [applause] in addition, , the following members were elected to the budget committee. from the midwest region james comer national committeewoman from ohio and jim national committeeman from ohio. for the northeast region, christine the national committeewoman for pennsylvania and then, , the stitcher from connecticut. from the southern region mindy the national committeewoman for arkansas and oscar, the national committeeman from tennessee. western region, we have cam, national committeewoman for utah and jake, the national committeeman for arizona. thank you for joining the budget committee. [applause]

the following members were elected to the resolutions committee. from the midwest region heidi engelhardt national committeewoman for south dakota and david leitner, national committeeman for missouri. from the northeast region, amy, state chair for massachusetts and joe powers the state chairman for rhode island. from the southern region, patty, national committeewoman from the in jenna and the national committeeman for georgia. from the western region, jim, national committeeman for nevada and lauren, national committeewoman for hawaii. congratulations to all of you on your election. [applause] at this point in time it is my pleasure to introduce our cochair, laura trump for the purposes of giving her report.

[applause] guys, we are so close to what we have all been here working so hard for and i think i really want to take a moment and just allow us to soak this in. you know michael a nice stood before you guys nine months ago and you elected us into these positions and we made some promises to you. we said that we would be good stewards of the money, that we would raise money like we've never raced before at the rnc, that we would protect the vote, that we would get out the vote, that we would have an incredible convention. and hope you guys are happy with the job that we have done as chair and cochair the past nine months. [applause] but more so than anything for

everybody here you guys are the reason that we're going to inaugurate donald trump on monday. you guys are the reason that the republicans have the majority in the house in the senate and it didn't just happen over the past nine months. people in this room have been working tirelessly for years, some of you for decades, for what we have right now. so i want to say thank you for all of your hard work and i'm personally very excited about the next four years but i think we have a great opportunity as a party. this will be my last meeting with you guys in the official capacity of cochair but this is not something that i'm stepping away from. i hope you guys know you can't get rid of me that easily. we have an opportunity right now. look at the way we have expanded the tenth of this party in this election. there are voters who forever voted for the democrat party,

who gave us the opportunity right now in this election. we have to capitalize on that. we have to make good on that. we have to do in 2026 because i believe if we are able to do that and i think we can after the first 100 days of donald trump as the 47 president or would be no doubt about it i hope that if we take this opportunity we voters have given us, they're saying okay you have my vote now but can you keep it? we can keep it and once they're in this party they will realize we will continue to expand the republican party. i just want us to remember the opportunity that we have right now and really more so than anything i want to say thank you.th you know, you guys voted unanimously for me back in march and it has been an honor to serve as cochair of the rnc. i've got to know so many of you pick you guys are my family now,

and thank you for trusting me in this position. thank you for giving me this opportunity. this was a critical election and i worked as hard as i possibly could and i did of course follow the leadership of michael whatley. i was talking to my husband last night, how are you feeling about things? kind of bittersweet. we came here to do a job. michael, we executed that job. we did all the things we came here to do. yeah, we'll take that. [applause] $1.1 billion raised might i add. this this is a story. early vote numbers that were historic. an election intended operation like we've never seen before that will keep our foot on the gas and we'll keep pushing for that on all fronts. but but i said you know it is bittersweet but -- wait a second -- [inaudible] but most than anything since

michael whatley. it's hard when you kind of get through it into something and have a lot to learn and some of it is new to you but i can tell you that working with you, michael, has been incredible, so thank you very much for that. and you guys are keeping him. you know that. and i don't know, we will have votes and so what you think? i be feeling good about keeping michael whatley here as chair of the rnc? so guys, thank you. thank you for believing in me. thank you for supporting my father-in-law donald trump, our 45th and 47th president of the united states. [applause] and thanks for fighting for this. you know this was a job i hesitated on pursuing because of my kids. my kids are five and seven. after i get the new today i'm flying back down to florida to

make sure their bags are packed. i love my husband but i can't trust him to pack all their stuff, okay? i know we're flying back up tomorrow so they did to be you to watch their grandfather sworn in as the next president of the united states. an eight years ago i was pregnant with my son on inauguration day so this is very special to me but we are here not for ourselves. we are here for the future. we all fought so hard over the past nine months, over the past four years, , the past eight yes because we care about america because the values we have as the republican party, are the values we believe are going to make the future great for the next generation of americans. so thank you again for everything and thanks for making sure that this country is set back on right path, that we're going to celebrate on monday and on tuesday you all better get back to work because we've got some elections to win. take you again.

god bless you guys. i love you pick you are my family for ever, and let's go have a party on monday. thank you, guys. [applause] >> thank you so much more. now i would like to call on casey crosby are treasure to present a treasury report. [applause] so thank you all. it's hard to believe two years ago standing before you just elected treasurer and didn't realize at the time i do give a speech i stood up and basically said i'll be transparent. i'll be accountable. we will get clean reports and we've accomplished all that. i have to say thank you to chairman walden and cochair

trump. when they were elected they said they're going to raise the money at that they're going to spend it on winning elections come getting at the foot of protecting the vote and that's treasure i can tell you that's exactly where the money went. so give them a ground of applause from the great fundraising they did. [applause] and some of you may or may not know in addition to the income on being elected in march with also had dash of you to roll a campaign into is i have to thank the team at the rnc for everything that they did. we're losing josh, he's going into administration, that's a huge loss for us but huge gain for the present. you all are josh a great debt of gratitude for everything he's done for us. megan or comptroller, with clean reports every -- [inaudible] that much money and with all those different things, so chelsea them around today please

thank them and going graduate them on a job well done. [applause] it is truly been an honor of a lifetime to serve as your treasurer. i'm looking forward to talking to you more in a few minutes but thank you so much for this opportunity and i can assure you joe and i've been talking and i know you're going to be in good hands when joe takes over this job. so thank you all so much. [applause] >> next i would like to introduce our general counsel, john hammond from indiana for a general councils report. >> thank you, chairman watley and thanks again, cochair lower trump for all you've done for our party. and all you're going to continue to do, so thank you so much.

it's an honor to serve the committee as general counsel, as professional privilege as a lawyer to do so. and grateful for that. this committee is 170 years old. it's an institution that is worth nurturing, saving and focusing on in terms of how we conduct our business inside and outside from a legal perspective and also in terms of how we communicate with the public. we hope the legal team has done its job the way we think we have done it. we believe with your help and without everyone in this room would not have been able to achieve historic successes in election this year, both of the courthouse and at the ballot box. i want to enumerate a few things we are able to accomplish with a great team of people. i'm the least among them, andy lester and her team, and outside

counsel to be utilized, put together a program that after 2020 come all the lessons we learn from that time, about how to figure out election integrity to conduct safe and secure elections to make sure that every vote counted and we found those that were not abiding by the law trying to steal an election. this is a most massive effort we've had in the history of this party, and it certainly was a major, major accomplishment. so here's some statistics for you to think about. you finish this i gladly engage 3500 attorneys hundred attorneys across the country. each one of you have had some legal issue in your state or the rnc is touched it, help the back to the office of legal counsel. the reason all this exists is

because of michael whatley, my predecessor in this role. he is the one who laid the foundation working with a strong team both inside and outside this body to make sure that the election integrity program was the biggest and best you've ever seen. in fact, the president charged him with that task and made it pretty clear that he either succeeded or else, so to speak. that was done in front of 20,000 people in some cases. that's a lot of pressure for one person to bear. that's the leadership skill and nature of a michael watley. we are so lucky to have him now as the chair but he is the one who helped us design this approach. understand the need in a battleground state as to how to operate, he took the program put

on steroids and replicated it across the country. and michael, , we are just so grateful everything you did to get us to that point. thank you. these historic successes had a killer outcome for us, the house, senate, certainly the white house. then their landslide honestly. every state that we had to win we won and every state that was up in the air we won because of this effort. we were engaged in about a total of 155 active lawsuits, throat penciling inside of that, when henderson five suits. 27 states that 82 of those are ongoing so this effort does not stop and we are very glad to have all the help we have had. many of you that attended the election integrity discussion we had with him election integrity committee heard a great panel by josh and accompanied by janine

and brian and, of course, gina. that presentation was replete with story after story of some of the things that were done. there were heroic efforts of the courthouse to make sure that we conducted election in success and get all related to the leadership of all of you in your individual states and certainly beginning here with michael whatley. we are grateful for that. we sat great opportunities and all the states, north carolina, wisconsin, pennsylvania, places where we saved the election i think with the work of all these lawyers that have been involved being led and managed out of our office here i want to also identify her meet dylan and are partners for the expert help, many others fall within that same category. i could go on but those are people that are really, really

helped bring things home for us. i want to make sure as we close we think about just one example that i thought was pretty exceptional, and again the panel it on and on about all those things that we saw during the election. but in wisconsin, wisconsin, wisconsin election commission had guidance that they set out that allowed absentee voters who already cast their ballots to retrieve their ballots, spoil them, and revote with no guidance, nobody in the room, et cetera. the trial court thankfully struck down that guidance this is the kind of thing that is going on across the country, and legal team managed by her good folks here helped save the day. so again congratulations, mr. chairman, and to all those who

participated and congratulations to the committee for all the hard work and allowing us to come into your states and did your court houses to help protect the vote. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, john. add to all of our legal team, mandy, , zach, anybody else, thk you because you were the frontlines. and so we are very, very appreciative of it. i think that we knew going into this election cycle that we're going to need to be very muscular in terms of a legal effort and with your leadership, the rest of the teen, i would say mission accomplished. thank you, john. we will now move on to committee reports beginning with the resolutions committee. i would like to ask market cars and national committee met from kansas and resolutions committee chair for a report. >> thank you, chairman walden. i appreciate you telling me the

opportunity to serve as chair of this resolutions committee. in the midwest region previously with richer for it and hope do as well as richard on behalf of the rnc. pursuant to rule 1082 of the rules of the republican party the standing committee resolutions that yesterday. mr. chairman, the sponsor to submit resolutions elected to withdraw their submissions and, therefore, the committee does not have any resolutions to report out today. >> thank you. i would now like to recognize christine, national committeewoman for pennsylvania and a budget committee chairwoman for the purposes of giving a budget committee report. >> good morning. the budget committee met yesterday. we reviewed all of our activities for the past cycle. we delivered on our transparency. we had to back additional committees we created over the cycle, that would be the audit subcommittee of the compensation and benefits subcommittee.

we're extremely proud of the job we have done. yesterday we adopted a placeholder budget. we will be developing budget this spring after the newly elected chairman is able to staff the rnc, and asked the team that i need to create budget at that point the budget committee will come to d.c. and we will be hard-working to prepare the budget for our next meeting to be adopted at that point. i want to acknowledge the hard work of our treasurer who is been absolutely instrumental in getting us do this, casey crosbie. thank you. that is my report. [applause] >> does a chair of a motion to offer? >> i would like to make a motion that we adopt the holder what is the damn thing called? >> 2025 rnc budget.

>> rnc budget for 2025. >> it is moved we adopt the 2025 rnc budget. as this recommendation doesn't require a second. is it any discussion? hearing notice cash we will proceed with the vote. all those in favor of adopting the 2025 rnc budget please signify by saying aye. all oppose signify by saying no. the ayes have it and the 2025 rnc budget is adopted. i would like to thank christine for her tireless work on the budget committee. you have absolutely help us deliver transparency and between you and kc crosbie we have passed all of our audits in sometimes and do some places we have passed with a clean record for the first time ever. so we are very grateful for you and the work that you've done and would also like to offer

congratulations on the announcement of your appointment as the ambassador to sweden. [applause] >> before we move to officer elections i like your first thank all of our current officers. you've done an amazing work and i greatly appreciate all of your support and guidance. now we will proceed to the election of rnc officers. election shall be held in the following order. chairman, cochair, treasurer and secretary. each candidate will be allotted five-minute for total nominating and secondary speeches, and the general councils will keep time. the counsels office will hold up a sign with one minute remaining and a second time when time has expired. time limits will be strictly enforced. nominating speeches and seconding speeches will be made from the floor at the

microphones provided. only the members or valid proxy voted a firmive, the motion is agreed to. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. please take your conversations outside the chamber. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i don't think everybody heard you.

the presiding officer: please take your conversations outside the chamber. mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, yesterday i highlighted some of the -- president biden's final actions as he leaves office, parting gifts, if you will. well, today i'd like to highlight another of his parting gifts, and i use that in parentheses or with quotations because they're real lay slap in the face -- really a slap in the face for the american people and american taxpayers. this past monday the department of education canceled student loans for 150,000 borrowers. now you this is not really a

cancellation of those loans. it's just they transfer -- the transfer of the responsibility to taxpayers. and wiping the slate clean for people who actually agreed to borrow this money so they could attend schools. then on wednesday, just two days, a the biden administration announced an additional cancellation of $4.5 billion for 261,000 borrowers. the president's actions this week and the last week of his presidency brings this total taxpayer bailout to $183.6 billion. now, remember last june -- or june of 2023, the supreme court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the department of education lacks the authority, the legal authority, to implement these

across-the-board student loan cancellations. but the biden administration, never to be one that actually obeys the law, has continued to ignore the ruling of the supreme court, issuing a blank check after blank check to borrowers to let them off the hook from paying bills that they agreed to pay in the first instance. this policy is not just illegal, it's profoundly unfair. it's unfair to the families who have sacrificed and saved to send their own children to college. it's unfair to the students who worked multiple jobs during college to avoid accruing large amounts of debt. and it's unfair to all the graduates who have worked hard and paid off their loans. and finally, mr. president, it's unfair to americans who have foregone a college education because they couldn't afford the cost.

and now they have to pick up the tab for those for whom president biden has canceled their debt. any family with a mortgage, a car payment, or a credit card debt knows there's really no such thing as cancelling the debt. somebody is going to pay. every dollar that was borrowed will eventually be repaid by somebody. it's just a matter of who that someone is. and in this case, it's the american taxpayer. it's really a slap in the face, a kick in the teeth -- you choose your metaphor. but it's no surprise that the american taxpayers have rejected the direction in which president biden and his administration have taken the country, and they voted for a new direction. -- on november 5. but that just makes it even more offensive that a lame-duck

president would proceed full speed ahead with more student debt cancellation after being told no by the supreme court and being told again by voters. -- on november 5. back in may, along with my colleague senator ernst and senator cassidy, i introduced a congressional resolution of disapproval that would have overturned the biden administration's reckless and unfair student loan socialism. of course, the democratic-controlled senate did not bring that cra, the congressional review act, up for a vote. but now, with republicans in the majority, i hope this is something that we can and will address. student loan socialism would be a great opportunity for the department of government effi efficiency headed by elon musk

and vivek ramaswamy to take a look at because there's nothing less efficient and more wasteful and more unfair than taking billions of dollars from taxpayers who didn't go to college to pay for those who did and who agreed to pay the money back but simply now will not have to do so. the vast majority of americans don't benefit from this student loan socialism. 87% of americans don't have student debt. so the 13% who do are now foisting that responsibility on the 87% -- excuse me, 13% are foisting it on the 87%. if you look at those who do benefit, it becomes even more clear how little sense this makes. even the progressive brookings

institute pointing out that blanket student loan forgiveness benefits those who are better off by income, by education, and by wealth. unsurprisingly, those with student loans are more likely - student loans are likely to have higher-paying jobs. if we look back at the institutions and not just the individuals that are benefitting from these massive taxpayer subsidies, which is what they are, we'll also find that this is anything but an efficient use of american taxpayer dollars. over 100 colleges and universities in the united states, including columbia, cornell, yale, and princeton, are currently under investigation from the department of of education because of their mishandling of incidents of anti-semitism on

their campuses since october 7 of 2023. title 6 of the civil rights act prohibits discrimination for institutions who receive federal funding. so the complaints of anti-semitism in the wake of the terrorist attacks on israel have in some cases amounted to violation of federal law. many of these colleges and universities are rushing to enter into settlements with the biden administration before the trump administration takes office on monday. which of course is not surprising. president trump has made clear that the taxpayer support for those university whose failed to end anti-semitic propaganda, that that taxpayer support will end. now is not the time to reward these institutions with

wide-spread incentives to continue raising their tuition by cancelling student debt. and if we want to address the affordability of college, an important topic, widespread student loan socialism is not the way to do it. so, as i said, for a variety of reasons this would be a great place for the department of government efficiency to shine the light on and for us to do something about in the coming days. the committee for a responsible federal budget pointed out that we could save the taxpayers as much as $550 billion by reversing all of president biden's actions on student loan cancellation. $550 billion. so we have our work cut out for us. but one great place to start

would be to end the biden administration's reckless student loan socialism. mr. president, i yield the floor. and i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. durbin: i ask a this it be

suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i would like to read in the record a statement from president joe biden this morning on the equal rights amendment. he said as follows -- i have supported the equal rights amendment for more than 50 years and i have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex. we as a nation must affirm and protect women's full equality once and for all. on january 27, 2020, the commonwealth of virginia became the 38th state to ratify the equal rights amendment. the american bar association has recognized that the equal rights amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the constitution as the 28th amendment. i agree with the a.b.a., president biden said is and with leading constitutional scholars that the equal rights amendment has become part of our constitution. it is long past time to recognize the will

of the p h american people. i affirm what i believe and what three-fourths of the states ratified the 24th amendment is the law of the land guaranteeing americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex. end of statement. mr. president, in response to this i issued the following statement -- the equal rights amendment is literally a century in the making and over the years, generations of americans have done their part to move it forward. they marched on washington. they have met with congressmen and senators. and as of 2020, they crossed a crucial threshold. ratification of the era in 30 states. that's the exact number of states needed to certify it as the 28th amendment to the u.s. constitution. it is past time to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sex in our constitution. the president's announcement sends an important overdue message to women and girls that they are equal under the law.

mr. president, i believe this is a moment of historic importance, and it's a culmination of a century of effort to bring equality into the american constitution in the new 28th amendment. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold his request? mr. durbin: i withhold my request. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: so, mr. president, last fall donald trump went to long island, new york, and claimed he would, quote, get salt back, unquote. that's good news, very good news, because it was precisely donald trump and congressional republicans who created the salt cap to begin with.

these harmful policies double tax hardworking new yorkers. they have hurt so many middle-class families, teachers, firefighters, police officers, construction workers, particularly in higher-cost areas like long island and the hudson valley of new york. so it's good that donald trump and some republicans have seen the light and that they have heard from vociferous long islanders, and now they are changing their minds about salt. but let's not forget these costly salt caps are set to expire at the end of the year. so to our friends on the other side, if you actually want to lower costs for long island, hudson valley, and other families across the country, all you have to do is do nothing at all on salt caps. let them expire, which they will right at the end of this year. and then they're gone for good, all of them. yes, if congress simply says do nothing about salt caps, all of it will go away, and that's what

we should do. but instead of ensuring that new yorkers will get salt back, the house freedom caucus wants to impose a whole new round of salt caps. they want to place new salt caps on new york businesses, small and large, and want to push an increase in the salt tax on new yorkers. the house freedom caucus is a group of very powerful, hard, hard right republicans. the house freedom caucus's salt plan will increase costs across long island and the hudson valley almost immediately. i've got only one response to the house freedom salt proposal. as we say in brooklyn, forget about it. forget about it. there is no scenario under god's green earth that new york taxpayers will ever accept another unfair salt cap like the

house freedom caucus proposes. new york families fromming long island to the hudson valley and across the state have suffered long enough at the hands of broken republican tax policies. i will do everything i can. a, to remove the entire salt cap tax -- salt cap tax. and second, to never let a new proposal that for the first time imposes the salt cap on businesses, small and large, to be put into effect. item going to do everything i can -- i'm going to do everything i can to fight this dastardly proposal. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

we will proceed to the rnc cochair. pursuant to rule 581 . a chairman and a cochair of the opposite sex shall be elected by the members of the national committee. the counsel's office confirmed one candidate demonstrated to support nomination the chair recognizes the ready pennsylvania to the purposes of making a nomination who the

cochairs position. >> casey to the office of rnc. i've had the privilege of working side-by-side the past two years. motivated and passionate. he handles them grace and compassion a woman of integrity the perfect partner for our chairman.

casey will lead us not only to win but also the political triple crown. [cheering and applauding] the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i have one request for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 4:30 p.m. on monday, january 20. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of calendar number 1, s. 5,

postcloture. finally, that all postcloture time expire at 5:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 4:30