that children that are born? we're supposed to look at our future and make sure that they provide and continue to grow in a healthy environment. so without medical coverage, we can't do it. if you have a large family, then you have to make the decision, we have $50, that $50 you need to go to see a physician, then what you could use that $50 to go grocery shopping and care for your family. so you have to make that decision and i'm speaking from someone who grew up in a family of 10. decisions have to be made. >> possible choices. thank you. >> mr. dunham, thank you so much for coming today and thank you, of course, to your

beautiful wife maggie and your beautiful son will for your bravery in coming forward today. i know you touched on your testimony about how you were a public librarian and medicaid support-- >> the senate continues work on president trump's nominees. votes are expected on picks for deputy homeland security secretary and labor secretary. lawmakers are also considering fentanyl with the highest control and penalties. watch for live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. ... the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order, the chaplain, dr. black, will open

the senate with prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god before whose eyes the ages pass who knows our changing thoughts, help us to remember that you guide the planets and our times are in your hands. open our ears to hear your voice as the heavens declare your glory and the flowers speak of your majesty. as you whisper in the wind, teach us to number our days and to seize the seasons you have given us to serve.

strengthen our lawmakers for today's work. give them priorities that honor you, patience to preserve, and humility to build new bridges of cooperation. lord, empower them to do to others what they want done to themselves. and, lord, bring peace to our troubled world. we pray in your sacred name. -- we pray in your great name. amen. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of homeland security, troy edgar, of california, to be deputy secretary. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: my message today is to the administration and particularly to president trump, who is very forcefully enforcing the immigration laws that were not enforced in the last administration, a message about

bringing justice to some people who were harmed by the previous administration. on january, 20, president trump's first day in office, he signed the executive order that's called securing our borders executive order. his executive order properly instructs the justice department and the department of homeland security to, quote, fulfill the requirements of the dna fingerprint act of 2005, end of quote. now, that's music to my ears because i've been involved in that issue in regard to the kids that have been lost in this system of immigration that the administration -- previous administration has not been able to follow.

so i said, music to my ears. for years my oversight has sounded the alarm on the border patrol and the department of homeland security's failure to fully implement the 2005dna fingerprint act. so i -- whistleblowers have come to me on different subjects. so three whistleblowers, mark jones, mark taylor and fred wynne, disclosed to their superiors that the department of homeland security wasn't following the 2005 law, in other words, they were not fingerprinting the -- the young people that they were supposed to be keeping track of.

specifically, these whistleblowers disclosed the government wasn't collecting the dna from individuals encountered at the southern border like the law requires. as you might expect, because it happens to so many whistleblowers, instead of being thanked for pointing this failure, the department of homeland security and border patrol officials retaliated against these whistleblowers. that's why you hear me say so often that whistleblowers are very -- i'd like to say they love their country, they want to see their government just simply enforce the law. and then we find out, as i'm

going to show you how they're treated like a skunk at a picnic. mr. jones and mr. taylor had their law enforcement credentials removed. and after 30 years of federal service, mr. taylor lost his law enforcement retirement benefits. all three were subject to harassment. the office of special counsel has the power to investigate and did investigate and substantiated their whistleblower disclosures and that retaliation oh-- when that retaliation occurred. president trump, and this administration, moving so forcefully to see that the laws are enforced ought to appreciate whistleblowers that are telling the truth about the government not carrying out the law.

in this case, i'm asking president trump to immediately remedy the situation of these whistleblowers. last year, how i became acquainted with a lot of this, at least the details of it, i hosted an oversight roundtable with these whistleblowers. the roundtable exposed that the department of homeland security and border patrol failed to take the dna of the individuals charged with a tragic murder of rachel loren, despite having three opportunities to take those fingerprints. had the biden-harris department of homeland security and border patrol done their job, there's a

chance that this ms. loren would be alive today. this executive action couldn't come soon enough, and so that's why i'm pleading with president trump or his staff to follow up and make sure that justice is brought to these three whistleblowers. and then, the president is going to see that the law's enforced and so i don't have any doubt about the president seeing the -- this law is carried out in the future because full compliance with the law will make our border stronger and our citizens safer. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

in an unofficial capacity. he is in the building. together with secretary bessent he's got his hand on economic levers. somebody begin by taking stock trump administration's economic policy

is performing today. inflation expectations climbing ominously, consumer confidence the worst it's been since the thick of the pandemic. first-quarter gdp forecast tumbling from a projection of 4% growth to 2.8% contraction. unemployment numbers starting to climb. stock markets, scary. housing starts sinking in to the basement. and a host of leading economic experts and business leaders for sounding the alarm over the damage trump's tariffs going to do to our economy and families and businesses get walloped with price increases. in short, my view is the trump administration is driving america's economy into a wall,

and typical families and small businesses are strapped in as to crash test dummies. between all of that and what elon musk and his band of uncountable unvented staffers are committing all around the federal government sure looks to me that the prospects for recovery in the near term are slim. late last that the treasury department responded to a list of my oversight questions with answers that mostly ducked and dodged and voided giving real information. but they did finally confirm that notion judgment perl infiltrated the treasury department payment systems with the intent to cut off u.s. aid payments authorized by the congress. as doge has grabbed hold, there's also a real danger they're going to break them. the most intimate data belongs to americans in businesses in

this country may be exposed, if it hasn't been already. i have real questions about whether taxpayer privacy laws have already been violated with trump officials now coming up. i want to say i believe the finance committee needs to have a sent hearing to look into these privacy issues. and when i say privacy i mean the security of your family and your finances. musk personal. one mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, in just a few short weeks, president trump restored order at the southern border.

if initial reports are accurate approximately 8,450 illegal immigrants were apprehended trying to cross the border last month. not long ago, border patrol would apprehend that number in a single day. in a single day. with less chaos border patrol can focus on the criminals, cartels, terrorists and traffickers used to try to hide behind the surges. that makes our country safer. but we have more work to do, mr. president. illegal drugs continue to plague too many communities and take too many americans' lives. more americans die of drug overdoses each year than mernsz who died in the -- than americans who died in the entirety of the vietnam war. the "new england journal." medicine estimated 22 teenagers died of overdoses each week in 2022. that's an entire high school

classroom lost every week to the scourge of drugs. so many of these tragedies are from a lethal dose of fentanyl in a single pill. fentanyl that can frequently be traced back to the southern bo border. mr. president, this crisis is affecting every part of the country. we've seen it in south dakota. police in sioux falls seized enough fentanyl to kill 2.5 million people last year. law enforcement reports that the cartels have a presence in our area. the price of a single pill has dropped from $40 a few years ago to $5 per pill today, largely because of increasing supply. i'm grateful for the men and women in law enforcement and first responders who work every day to save lives, and we need to help them get these drugs off our streets and prevent more overdose defendants. the president is already taking major steps to halt the supply of drugs flowing across our borders.

later today, the senate will vote to begin consideration of the halt fentanyl act, which will provide law enforcement with the critical tool to combat fentanyl. until a few years ago, the fentanyl analogues that killed so many americans were generally classified as schedule 2 substances. meaning they were less tightly regu regulated and violations carried lighter penalties. if a particular analogue was moved to schedule 1, cartels would slightly alter the chemical composition of their fen fentanyl equivalence to avoid a crackdown, changes that made those drugs no less deadly. but in 2018, president trump put a stop to that. all fentanyls analogues were temporarily reclassified as schedule 1 drugs, enabling law enforcement to go after the people bringing this poison into our communities. congress has extended this provision several times because

it works. but the most recent extension expires at the end of this month, and it's time that all fentanyl analogues are permanently classified as what they are, the most deadly kind of drugs. our colleague, senator cavity, grassley, and -- senator cassidy, grassley, and heinrich put forth a bill to do that, expanding on senator johnson's leadership in this area, and senator graham's good work. the halt fentanyl act would permanently list fentanyl analogues on schedule 1. this will help law enforcement keep pace with fentanyl that is driving drug overdoses in our country. it has backing from a number of state attorneys general and from law enforcement. attorney general bondi endorsed the bill, and it has bipartisan support here in congress, including bipartisan cosponsorship and strong bipartisan votes in both the senate judiciary committee and in the house of representatives. mr. president, i'm also proud

that this bill has come to the senate floor through regular order. the senate judiciary committee held a hearing on fentanyl, where members heard the heartbreaking stories of lives taken or changed forever by deadly fentanyl analogues. the committee held a markup and reported the bill to the floor by a bipartisan vote of 16-5. now we're going to have a debate on the bill here on the floor of the united states senate. and i hope that in the coming days, we will have a productive process to make a law that will save american lives. so, mr. president, i thank senators cassidy, grassley, and heinrich for their leadership on this issue, and senators johnson and graham for their work as well. and i'm looking forward to sending the halt fentanyl act to president trump's desk soon. 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.

>> we must redouble our efforts to rebuild america by promoting policies that support and benefit all americans. improved affordably comes in generating abundance he and embracing innovation. last year i heard from some of the technology sector that europe had been a more conducive environment for innovation than the united states. that stops now. we have the best workers in the world and we must recommit ourselves to being the best place in the world to start new businesses, build new factories and research groundbreaking new technologies. by re-privatizing the economy, shaking the regulatory overreach coming from the government socialism, slashing the inflationary spending come making tax reform permanently

bouncing or trade arrangements we will realize the golden age the president has promised. at the same time the treasury department is ten but the spirit in addressing some of our worlds most pressing national security challenges. during president trump first-term sanctions against iran noted bankrupted that countries government and stripped to its ability to fund terrorism in the middle east. if confirmed i will work tirelessly to see as return to maximum pressure and we must strengthen those same tools to go after the cartels that are poisoning our children with fentanyl, profiting off the smuggle a people under country and causing the rampant crime that is turned every state into a border state. under the president, under the leadership of trump-pence secretary bessent i'm excited for the opportunity to work with the members of this committee to advance program economic policies and targeted national security strategies that will greatly benefit the american people. it is a great privilege to appear before you today and i look forward to taking your

questions. >> thank you, mr. faulkender. i'm sure you've noticed in the daily news that president trump's efforts to improve the efficiency of the federal government and get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. though i understand you fed a limited role currently in advising secretary bessent on these issues i would like to give you an opportunity to provide your perspective on these efforts. for example, what is your understanding of the focus of the president's efforts? how does one ensure taxpayer money is well spent? and based on your understanding of current and planned initiatives at treasury and the irs, are all necessary and customary safeguards in place to protect the integrity of treasuries payment systems and processes as well as personally identifiable information? >> thank you, mr. chairman. as you noted i m caruso the as a counselor to the secretary. in that role i do not have any

administrative or budgetary authority. i nearly advise the secretary on policies he may implement. as part of preparing for today i have been briefed on some of the activities that we are engaged in at both the group of fiscal service and at the irs. it's my understanding the objective is to improve the effectiveness of those systems and provide modern levels of customer service, privacy and collections at the irs as the secretary as promised. when it comes to the bureau of fiscal service, the gao has reported that a number of departments and agencies in the federal government failed their audits for lack of controls. and so my understanding of what is occurring at the bureau of fiscal service is that they're working to increase the required information that is provided when a department or agency submits a payment file for processing by treasury. in the past various fields were

allowed to remain vacant or incomplete, and what some of the changes are is to require that every payment have the account symbol corresponding to the payment that is being made. the purpose of this is to help departments and agencies better understand how money is being spent and be more accountable to congress and to the american people for those funds. >> thank you. there's a broad agreement that despite decades of effort and billions in funding of irs i.t. systems, that the fall far short of what taxpayers deserve. mismanagement and poor planning have synthetically contributed to the irs is i.t. problems. for example, in january of this year the gao highlighted how most irs modernization plans to do with its archaic systems have failed to include this key component that you talked about,

a plan for retiring the outdated system. this echoes similar concerns my colleagues and i voice over the years. that we have an insufficient irs strategic operating plan. meanwhile, despite what intention efforts the irs the billy to serve taxpayers has barely budged. this is despite all those billions in additional funding provided if the democrats recent partisan reconciliation bill. most of which went to inefficiently super sizing irs enforcement. i do stand president and secretary bessent are interested in taking a different approach at the irs both by trimming waste and also planning for and investing in real technological change. i understand that all evaluation and modernization work will be undertaken using usual and customary safeguards including not exposing any taxpayers personally identifiable information. and i also understand secretary bessent is fully committed to

ensuring the tax filing season will not be disrupted by these processes. can you confirm my understanding and provide additional detail about efficiency and modernization at the irs? >> yes, mr. chairman. the secretaries objective is to ensure that the american people realize a 2025 experience when they interact with the irs. and yes prioritize collection, customer service and privacy. the challenge we have is that both democratic and republican administrations have recognized the irs is built on top of technology, built on top of 1960 systems. when when i met with the deputyy secretary who served during the biden administration, one of the main items he discussed with me was the need to address irs modernization. what we are doing is asking for

a review of what systems are being built at the irs. we have people who have worked with financial institutions and technology companies who understand how to build modern systems architecture, and it makes sense to have them come in and look at the contracts that have been signed for part of this modernization to ensure that the right systems, the right system architecture is being created to provide the level of 2025 service to the american people. >> thank you. senator wyden. >> thank you very much. mr. faulkender, as i noted in my opening statement last night in response to questions i asked a month ago the trump administration admitted that doge infiltrated the treasury payment system to stop congressionally authorized usaid payment. in my view this stomps all over congresses article one power of the purse. so my question is in your view

does the president of the united states have the power to impound funds? >> thank you, senator. i enjoyed meeting with you in office earlier this week. what my understanding of what treasuries responsibility is is to process the payments. if a payment file comes consent dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: well, mr. president, last night reports came out that president trump is preparing to sign an executive order to abolish, end, the department of education as soon as today. if this report is true, this would be one of the most destructive and devastating steps donald trump has ever taken, and the main victims of this decision, american children. the right here is why every single democrat said hell no to the nomination of linda mcmahon. this is why we did it.

she's an education secretary, linda mcmahon is an education secretary, who personifies nails on the chalkboard. i've never heard before of a secretary who wanted a cabinet job solely for the purpose of detonating the very agency she seeks to lead. i've never herded of an education secretary -- heard of an education secretary who wants to give every teacher in america a rotten apple. but this is where we are. these are not these are not just metaphors of the moment, their' the perils of the present. this would be horrible for our schools, our school leaders, our families, and the children secretary mcmahon is supposed to serve. the blast radius of this order will harm nearly every child, every teacher, every family, and every community in the country. and don't forget defunding education means property taxes

will go up to make up the funding gap. homeowners are about to get blind sided by the toxic -- of seeing their property taxes go up while seeing the quality of many schools that depend on funding go down. but nobody, nobody will suffer more from donald trump's decision than our kids. almost 90% of the students in america attend public schools. and they will suffer because of what donald trump is doing. why? the department of education is a lifeline for public schools across the country. it's particularly strong in rural areas because there's not much choice. there's one school in the town. with federal funding, many rural schools would vanish and some schools would crumble at the foundation, literally. education is the best investment for turning a struggling

community around. with good schools and without the funding to support these schools, our children will be hurt, our country will be worse, the notion of the american dream will fall by the wayside. rural schools will be particularly hard hit because rural communities often have only one school in the area. and if that disappears, the communities will deteriorate. kids with special education needs will be left out in the cold. public school teachers already work to the bone will be thrown into chaos. class sizes will explode. job training programs will vanish. school districts will be at the mercy of state budgets that already struggle to fund education. and the albatross of student debt will become insurmountable for tens of millions americans, many of whom come from working families. every single one of us wants our schools to do better, our students to perform better, and eliminate wasteful spending.

education reform is necessary, but to make things better, to improve education, you do not use a chainsaw. using a chainsaw will make things worse because it doesn't discriminate between the funds that are needed and the funds that may be unnecessary or should be redirected. erasing the department of education in the blink of an eye is not what education reform looks like. donald trump should immediately reverse course before he causes irreparable harm to our students and our classrooms. again, let me just repeat. that you do not, you do not hire a secretary whose purpose, whose very purpose is detonating the very agency she seeks to lead. that makes no sense. now, on social security.

i want to point -- i want to point my colleagues to a profoundly disturbing report this morning in "the washington post." this morning we learned that the acting head of the social security administration admitted what many of us fear. doge is calling the shots and their mistakes are going to put benefits in danger. social security benefits in danger. listen to these stunning quotes from the acting head of the social security administration. he says, quote, things are currently operating in a way i've never seen in government before, unquote. he says doge, quote, outsiders who are unfamiliar with the nuances of social security programs, unquote. and he admits, quote, they will make mistakes. well, that's unacceptable. social security is perhaps the most sack sanity program -- sacrosanct program in government. it's helped people with disabilities close to a century.

now for the first time doge is putting social security benefits in real danger and the american people are frightened and outraged at the same time. doge is spreading outlandish lies about fraud and waste that we all know doesn't actually exist. they're cherry-picking data to spin a fantasy detachedfrom reality so -- detached from reality so they can again use that chainsaw. social security is the last place where a chainsaw should be used. mr. president, the senate, democrats and republicans, need to wake up to this crisis. it's a disaster waiting to happen. i urge my republican colleagues, are you all fine with this? are you comfortable letting elon musk and a bunch of inexperienced people bulldoze their way through social security benefits? mark my words, if doge's chainsaw approach leads to people missing their checks, the uproar from people back home

will make all of washington, d.c. go deaf. and let's not kid ourselves. this was all part of the plan for donald trump, donald trump, elon and musk -- elon musk and doging coming for people's social security. they want to hide behind the bogeyman of fraud we all know doesn't exist in order to justify stealing people's checks. and they're already doing it, cutting 7,000 employees from ssa is a benefit cut. closing field offices and eliminating customer service staff is a benefit cut. and i'm alarmed this only might be the beginning. 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.

mr. barrasso: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: mr. president, the american people know that our government is too big and it spends too much. the american people want to see an end to this wasteful washington spending. they want washington to work for them, not for washington. president trump shares those views, and he wants government to work both efficiently and effectively. he is putting a stop to waste, to fraud, and to abuse. democrats in this body are now, believe it or not, threatening a shutdown, a shutdown of the government of the united states.

shutting down the government is not an outcome that president trump wants. it's not an outcome that any of the reaction want. -- republicans want. it costs money to shut down the government. and it costs even more money to open the government again. you shut down, the democrats are acting irresponsibly. why are they doing it? they want to defend the wasteful washington spending that's gotten the american people so upset. what kind of waste have people been finding? let me point out, mr. president, what we've been seeing, that president trump and those working with him have been able to find in terms of government waste. $2 million to develop sustainable recycling models in the balkans. $19 million on biodiversity conversations. conversations on biodiversity in nepal. $47 million to improve learning outcomes in asia. $1.5 million on, quote, voter

confidence, close quote, in liberia, africa. $21 million for voter turnout in india. that's why the democrats want to shut down the government. they want to continue this reckless washington spending. they want to stop republicans from pulling out, rooting out the waste, the fraud, and the abuse. this government runs out of money in eight days. we need to pass legislation to get beyond that. but more and more democrats in this congress are calling for a shutdown as this deadline nears. here's a headline from "politico" this past week. democrats are serious about a shutdown. here's another from the hill this past week. democrats digging in against full-year c.r. as shutdown deadline ticks closer. senator andy kim of new jersey said yes, democrats would shut

down the government. senator cory booker of new jersey who is a mechanic of the leadership of the democrat party said democrats will use every possible tool to stop president trump. senator jeff merkley from oregon, would did he say? he said he's open to shutting down the government. democrats in the -- democrats and the house leadership also refused to come to the table and negotiate a spending deal. the senate should reject these reckless efforts. a shutdown strains border agents, a shutdown strains our military because we know, mr. president, that border patrol agents and our troops will have to work regardless and they won't get paid during a shutdown. you get paid later but not during the shutdown. it makes it very difficult to make ends meet if the paycheck isn't there at the end of the week. these brave men and women should not have to pay the price because democrats hate president trump. these people make enough sacrifices on behalf of keeping

our nation safe and secure. congress should be willing to make sure that they get a paycheck, not get caught in political games. make no mistake, mr. president, the american people want president trump's urgent action. they want it to continue. president trump is doing exactly what the american people voted for. democrats calling for a shutdown are failing the american taxpayers. they're failing our servicemembers. and they're failing our border patrol agents. they sat on their hands during president trump's inspiring address to the nation the other evening. they opposed the commonsense changes that americans voted for. if there is a shutdown, mr. president, it will be driven by and directed by the democrats. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democrat whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, it's my understanding that the new secretary of education linda mcmahon made some money on the professional wrestling business, at least that's what i was told. if that's true, she clearly is ready to rumble when it comes to cutting money for american schools. it appears that the formula for greatness which the president is pushing includes reducing federal aid to education and cutting medical research. how can you build a greater nation by reducing investment in schools for kids and closing down laboratories that are developing cures for diseases?

for my way of thinking, that's exactly the opposite of what we should be doing as a nation. of course i want to stop waste, fraud, abuse, inefficiency. we're all signed up for that. but eliminating the department of education? the press reports that people in this administration are jubilant at the idea. closing down a whole federal agency. what are the impacts of that closure? what about the money that's going to school districts in illinois and across the nation? if there's a cutback in federal funds for our school districts, and that would be part of eliminating the education department, that would put more pressure on local -- on local property taxpayers to pay for the schools or to cut back on the salaries of teachers and increase the number of kids in the classroom. how can that be good for the future of this country? how can you build greatness by closing down schools or

increasing the number of kids in the classroom? penny wise, pound foolish. it's ridiculous. it's not the only area. the national institutes of health now -- i've talked to the researchers in illinois and across this nation. they're at their wits end to figure out what for do. this is the leading medical research agency in the world. 99% of all the new drugs, all the drugs you see on television, 99% of all these new drugs started at the national institutes of health. a federally supported agency of researchers who set the standard for the world in medical research. and now they're facing closure of many of their laboratories because of doge and mr. musk. so they want to cut money to schools, they want to cut money to medical research. in my way of thinking, that's as shortsighted as can be. you can't build a great nation

that way. that's not the only research. mr. president, i want to tell a story about a young lady whose name is jany klein gordon. she grew up on a dairy farm in oregon, she became interested in plant pathology or the study of plant diseases and spent time assisting with research with the fda agriculture research service. i appreciated the environment there gordon said. everybody was super nice, very passionate about science and agriculture and helped growers. then it was on to five years of doctoral work at university of florida before moving to michigan state university for two shorter post doctoral stints. from there she applied for a position as a research plant pathologist at the national

center for ag research, known as the ag lab. here's what she said. i spent 11 and a half years to get this position and i got the position of my dreams. this is my dream job. jany klein gordon moved her family from michigan to oregon to set out to work on research projects. she focused on red crown rot, a disease that appeared in illinois in 2018 and presents a threat to the multi-million dollar soybean industry. the team's experiments looked for ways for farmers to fight the disease. that all ended on thursday, february 13. her job was eliminated at 10:05 during an e-mail. other ag labs across the united

states lost their researchers as well. you know what else? and this is not unique to this young lady. they put on the termination notice that these employees were terminated for poor performance. when exactly the opposite is true. they were receiving awards for achievements that they had witnessed and been part of in a short period of time. they were probationary employees, but they were on the track to become full-scale senior researchers and now they have been terminated and it's been announced it was done for poor performance. combr would elon musk why would elon musk and the doge group put poor performance on this? it disqualifies them for getting unemployment. the good news is the courts have stepped in and said once again

the trump administration has overstepped in closing these jobs down. you know, this ag lab, and i described the projects, they sound so far-fetched, you wonder, would we really miss that? can the farmers take care of themselves? the honest answer is they need help in good research and the ag lab in peoria is one of the best. the ag lab in peoria is responsible for one of the most dramatic break throughs of the -- breakthroughs during the 20th century. they discovered pin sill inn. -- pen sillen. they ctook up the challenge, an they saved countless lives. is research worltsdz it? i think it is, whether it's ag research or medical research at the nih, it is fundamental to

our fourt. these -- future. these researchers don't make a fortune. this young lady put in 11 years plus into her education to come to peoria and the ag lab, as far as doge is concerned, she's expendable. on her way out the door, she had -- she has stamped poor performance. i think it's cruel and shortsighted and i don't think that it builds greatness. on an unrelated topic. they cheered. everybody in the chamber, democrats and republicans cheered when the president said that the mexican cartels responsible for fentanyl coming into the united states would now be characterized as terrorist organizations. i joined in that cheering because i know what fentanyl is doing to our country. we have a bill coming before us

this morning, it will extend the coverage of fentanyl analogues, which in chemical terms means somewhat related to fentanyl but not directly. they're going to be put into a dangerous category as they should be. we've extended that over the years. i don't think that's enough to end the fentanyl crisis. i think we need to do more but it is a good start and to continue this classification, i will sprp. i think -- i will support. i think we should have considered some of bills in the judiciary committee, but i support this definition of fentanyl to include analogues, and i will do it again when it comes to the floor. but that isn't enough. we can't stop the fentanyl crisis simply by repeating what we've been doing for the past six years. we have to be innovative and thoughtful. do you want to stop the cartels? there's lots of ways to do it. sign me up.

don't look -- overlook the fact that we are complicit in arming these cartels with the weaponry. 40% of the weapons recovered of the -- from the cartels, where do they come from? the united states of america. we are selling deadly weapons to these cartels that they are using to kill police and soldiers in mexico. if this is truly a terrorist organization, and i believe it is, it should be treated as such. let's put an end once and for all to americans who are selling these high-power weapons into mexico and arming these cartels so that they can fight law enforcement in that country. that is inconsistent with the goal of ending fentanyl in the united states. it's a real test. the firearm industry is it pretty powerful in congress, but can we say once and for all when it comes to fentanyl and mexican cartels, we will not be the source of arsenal to fight law

enforcement around the world. we need to do it immediately. the second thing we should consider is that 80% of the fentanyl is coming through the internet. it may be coming over the border initially, but it gets to our kids and young people through the internet. so what are we going to do with those social media sources when it comes to the sale of drugs and particularly drugs laced with fentanyl? will they be held responsible in not under current law. section 230 of our federal law absolves them from any responsibility for misconduct in selling drugs over the internet, even fentanyl. and that has got to end. section 230 may have made sense 010 or 20 -- 10 or 20 years ago, it doesn't make sense any longer. they have to be part of the solution to fentanyl. it isn't just the analogues or the support of the mexican cartels, we have to get serious about social media as a source of sell drugs and -- selling

drugs and particularly drugs laced with fentanyl. they have to be part of the solution.

international banking system of systemic dangers has made the same warning that has cost the claim to increase expected her i'm a change in jurors are likely increase premiums, charge or unaffordable and reduce coverage and they may withdraw from market segments the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cotton: i ask that the scheduled roll call vote begin immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. by unanimous consent, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of troy edgar, to be deputy secretary of homeland

security, signed 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 of the nomination of troy edgar of california to be deputy secretary of homeland security, 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. crapo. mr. cruz. documentation of this risk which

the treasury seems under this administration to be outright ignoring or not you, to be a busy person but for your minions to look to and for to you on the credibility of these multiple reports and warnings. i urge you to take this seriously and i think the chair for letting me go a moment of my ten. >> thank you. senator hassan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. congratulations on your nomination, sir, thank you for your willingness to serve. i appreciate the time you took with me and my office yesterday and the time we had to talk about your priorities at treasury if you are confirm. i want to follow up on a couple of those issues. i'll start with the question i'm asking every nominee. if directed by the president to take action that would break the law would you follow the law or follow the president directed? >> thank you. i enjoyed talking with you yesterday and i will follow the law. >> thank you. if the president instructed you to force the irs to provide the

white house with the personal financial information of his political opponents would you comply? >> senator, as we discussed i would consult with our general counsel to understand what the law is and i would follow the law. >> thank you. just reminder to folks, resident nixons white house counsel once complaint in the internal memo that we've been unable to obtain information in the possession of the irs regarding our political enemies. it was wrong then for president nixon's white house to attempt to do that and it would be wrong now. i appreciate your answer. elon musk has attempted to gain total access to the private personal data of american citizens stored at themm irs. is there any private personal information at the irs that you believe elon musk should not have access to? >> senator, it's not my understanding elon musk has any access to irs. we have two people who have gone

through standard onboarding at the irs. one is detailed from opium, one is a treasure employee. they have received the same onboarding ethics and legal training and the same explanation as to the access to taxpayer information. as the memorandum of agreement between the office of personal management and irs says, it's the secretaries intent that person not have access to taxpayer information. >> and my question is, if elon musk demands it, , will you stad up to him? do you think there is personal information at the irs, understanding the people working there to have gone through ethics training and the like, but elon musk has this habit of tweeting and all of a sudden getting what he demands by tweet from this administration. >> senator, only people authorized to access irs information will be given access to irs information.

>> thank you. earlier this your elon musk gain access to the treasury department system that processes all federal payments, giving elon musk the ability to personally block any payment by the federal government. a federal district court judge has temporarily blocked his illegal access. if this court order were lifted would you are not elon musk access to treasury payment system? access to to the payment system, only people who are authorized treasury employees who have access to information -- >> let me ask you, elon musk has enormous compex of interest, right? he said something like $38 billion in federal contracts. his visibility to various systems he has reportedly gotten access to allows him to get proprietary information about his competitors, for instance. .. mr. warner.

mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. i'll follow up on that. you are saying you will provide elon musk from blocking federal payments for little purposes, how are you going to do that? >> as with treasury employee, is subject oversight and records to that and it's my understanding there are generic actions if they are violated. >> what happens to elon musk. >> is a political i have not insulted with the general counsel on how one would go

about doing that. it confirmed, i work with the counsel's office and irs to make sure. >> thank you for that, i'm almost out of time now to say this, my question for nominees have considerably because what i'm looking for and there are encouraging answers, people with the character and belief in the rule of law will stand up to an administration and ignore the rule of law and that's putting it mildly. the president already violated the control act and elon musk is prime in doing that. what's most important is american people, if we can't get elon musk to come to this committee for the oversight

we've been asking for him to come so we can understand what he's doing because he's running the executive branch for the entire united states of america looking for people who will not be pulled over by the fact that elon musk apparently the most powerful man in the world. >> congratulations on your nomination. welcome to your two daughters as well. where are you currently employed? >> currently employed by the university of maryland in the united states treasury. >> what does that mean. >> intergovernmental personnel act often by academics when they serve in various government positions. >> it not detail, is that where you stated earlier the current role as counselor to the secretary of treasury?

>> detail counselor until confirmed. >> was inadvertent the you did not report that on your senate finance committee requested? i didn't see it on the questionnaire. >> my understanding is documentation i provided in the questionnaire and the 270 which is the ethics form shows on the counselor, i may have filled out the questionnaire before the inauguration and at that time i was not yet detailed. >> january 21. >> he would have filled out prior to january 21? >> my recollection is prior to january 21. >> let me jump from there to the topic of privacy. section 6103 tax code prohibits the release by the irs with narrow exceptions.

there have been reports my colleagues talking about. the personal information held by the irs. what you commit to fully calling the law even if other agencies push treasury and irs to that confidential information? >> all employees are working with the general counsel at the irs and i will follow the law. >> i'm not sure what that means because they shouldn't have access to this information but follow to ensure individuals like home and security should not have access to this information do not have it.

>> and everything i do i will consult make sure i am in compliance with the law. >> what you commit to any agency or organization to gain access to information? >> i will commit to following the law and include disclosure requirements that the law would have me engage in. >> february 9, 2024 he wrote an article for the america first policy institute that did an analysis of the tax bill proposed by senator wyden, you praise part of the bill that repealed employee retention credit because of rampant cases of an eligible businesses fraudulently naming the credit so as you make personal decisions higher and not higher, would you have concerns about hiring someone who made money urging businesses to ignore and

apply for the eligibility credit even though they weren't eligible? would you hire somebody like that but. >> at the to hire somebody through full betting and played with the lock. >> so it doesn't matter whether or not they made money off telling people it was okay even though they were in eligible? >> i commit to hiring people with high quality and inexperienced to do the role and there are people of good character. >> you make good comments about following the law. i appreciate that. if after trump is out of office essential investigation about whether he followed the law not, what you comply with that investigation need to work with those investigators?

>> to think about an investigation and hypothetical but i will follow the legal obligations i have confirmed to this position. >> to work with the investigation? >> i would seek counsel to make sure i am compliance with my obligations. >> of biden administration's treasury department implemented outbound security rule that prohibits and imposes notification by chinese companies and high-tech investment, do you support this in the concept? >> i received the luminary briefing, three sectors to which it is evaluated. it is early so it makes sense,

are these the only three sectors we want to limit? does the current regime implemented -- we have three employees focus that may need to expand so it is very early so i want to say as it is ideal. i will commit to continue investigating into implementation and happy to work with your office. >> we are glad you're here. i know you've done some work on the child credit and i think it

should we are going to incentivize people the workforce be removed what out of the workforce and we are concerned about rampant fraud programs especially from the pandemic and does is helping. getting fraud and out should be first step we look at programs. i'd like to talk about what you would do to restore integrity and bring forth concepts that would elevate our workforce participation rights.

>> improving the payment system so departments and agencies responsible for implementation of will split of the fact and don't create disincentives work and we encourage people during their prime working years to be part of the labor force and what we don't want to do is create disincentives where they decide not to becausegr of benefits so requirements are relevant and important component to include. >> let me ask you about these schemes we are seeing that i think are discriminatory in nature and hurtful to

competitiveness. pillar one. pillar two gmt, you are looking at u.s. companies nearly 40% of the burden when it comes taxes and you got companies like china paying nothing and of course this hurts us and countries in place thing else, talk about what you can do leadership on the global stage. >> looking at service taxes and pillar to the global tax and the

concern disproportionally targeted american firms there are not enough safeguards to recognize the structures in the united states and why an executive order calling on treasury to reevaluate and make sure united states firms are not disproportionally discriminated against in those countries. it's not the case global organizations and discouraging about the approach of the oecd. >> the previous administration came up but the pa.

and they are burdened with paperwork and expose information they ought not to expose i appreciate the station has withdrawn that and i think it's important for treasury keep an eye on main street and small businesses. in that regard, hold your initiative speak. >> it is critically important in finding the right balance between national security and pardons we are imposing spread them over so that's why they

evaluate. make sure the right tailoring its place. >> and others about going on and people are getting back and forth so i'll be as brief as i can. on markets and they are comments trade dependency. i feel like we have chaos.

trying to get your views, and exports are saying they represent $3 billion worth of agricultural products of brought the world. trying to understand the uncertainty created right now in hard for businesses to follow and certainty about what they are proposing because it's changing everyday the third is a

negotiating tactic to get a look stressed united states as. or mexico and it was to get them to focus on the fundamental crisis and they are dying. some of it does and i grant it comes from their. >> so you're saying it's about revenue which he wanted to pay from infrastructure and he never

got an infrastructure bill. we did. when i tried to express many times should and work with the administration is tariffs really do hurt our economy. the $120 million markets and get them removed and they are recovering so we are starting this again so does the president believe opening markets a key, a goal here? >> the objective is to ensure manufacturers in the united states face similar conditions when they export when they import into the united states so

there's a focused on reciprocity and that can mean higher tariffs and lower tariffs. i would be fine with an outcome where tariffs cause other nations to lower rates and grant greater access to markets for manufacturers. >> i disagree on this. i believe in innovation, we set a mark and we are going to grow faster and we see the results of that. with the global economy you are disrupting the supply chain. my question, does he understand the level of chaos? people can't follow his game plan so i appreciate it's about revenue, inequities and

concession but i really hope he understands how much damage is done every day it's not that rich people want by farmland, they will. i hope we can all help work on this in the future. >> thank you. good to have you here this morning. congrats your willingness upcoming tax clip and responsibility 4.6 billing dollars increase. we don't want to do for a tax increase by actions, we want to

make sure it doesn't happen. it is imperative we succeed in passing this bill and as you said permanently passing the bill preventing this tax hike is one of the most important we have going forward. president trump did great things last term and we will deliver on promises to the american people and to cement his legacy aching this historic tax cuts permanent. i've been vocal about the need for clarity in the tax code and wrote a letter alongside the chairman of this committee as well as majority leader john thune and six other members of the committee saying just that. crushing inflation the last administration will fight to

keep hard earned dollars in their pockets and not the government. how does permanence in the tax code and removing uncertainty going forward grow our economy and benefit taxpayers? >> i enjoyed speaking with you yesterday. the benefit of permanence when businesses make long-term capital decisions, they protect the investments not just over the short horizon of the entire duration and when you consider they filed taxes not through the corporate culture at the individual quote because they are all proprietors, it's the individual tax rate that applies to the outcomes just as we made

the corporate code permanent it's important to come back and make permanent the pastor reduction set to expire at the end of the year. >> during our discussion, one thing that stuck out quoted one of my heroes, milton friedman. the quote is this. you shared part of it, it's very important but i looked back at the context and i will expand context. milton friedman said this. your eye on one thing and one thing only. how much the government is spending because that's the true tax. while said. the key to physical sanity is not just making tax cuts are met but doing so and a fiscally

responsible way. a once in a decade, perhaps once in a generation opportunity to bring back economic greatness which is why we need to be passionate as cutting spending as we are at preventing massive tax increase. after the passage of the tax cuts and jobs act we saw one of the greatest economies in the history of our country and the end of covid. we cut taxes household income rose by 5000 across every demographic benefited greatly and revenues an all-time high in the democrats reckless tax agenda wipe out the games. how would cutting funding

unleash the american economy? >> if you look at the fiscal challenge, over 50 years prior to the pandemic, federal funding average 20% consent approximately 23% remains in that range. it has the potential to crowd out logic deficits capital that could be available for small businesses and if you look at the government sectors, they've done well the last couple of years but a purely private sector, they have been statement and rising in the spending out in the sector should.

>> president trump had one big legislative accomplishment. a giant tax cut for millionaires, billionaires and massive corporations. it was so giant a big hunk of it lasted only eight years and still cost $2 trillion. republicans want to do another tax cut which congress nonpartisan budget says it's going to cost $4.6 trillion this time they say they care about the deficit that they have a plan to fix things up. because they had eight years of tax cuts, congressional

republicans claim ten more years will be free. they should have named it magic math. when we need to figure out the cost of tax cuts, the senate has never switched to it over using real math. if confirmed, he will play a role in whatever they put together so talk about magic math and real math. does renaming express? >> does that produce additional revenue? >> i don't think renaming something -- if it changes behavior, it has the potential

to change revenue. >> sir are you saying renaming tax cuts produces additional revenue? >> i can't imagine that it would unless people behave differently. >> i'll take that is no, fair enough? claiming somehow losing $4.6 trillion in tax revenue three is just nuts. congressional republicans hope they can will people long enough to deliver giveaways to wealthy donors before anyone figures it out but republicans cannot repeal math. they will cost $4.6 trillion the congressional republicans don't like the answer so if they love magic math so much, i want to ask the same in reverse. if the republicans idea of not counting the cost of tax cuts

for billionaires make sense, for about counting the cost of tax cuts for ordinary people extending the child tax credit? according to the magic math, expanding is free, shouldn't extending the child tax credit also be free? >> increases the child tax credit from $1000 to $2000 so if we allow tax cuts to expire it would mean the credit would go back to the taxpayers. >> so if it's free to extend tax cuts for billionaires, isn't it free to extend tax cuts for poor kids? >> i'm not familiar with magic math but the current tax code,

what they paid last year end this year is the current environment so when we talk about extending, i would argue extending is making sure the american people don't have an increase. >> so you do think renaming tax cuts produce one half trillion in revenue? >> i didn't say it had any impact on the bottom line deficit. when you asked me what his.is, it's what i'm currently -- >> i'm not asking you that. i'm asking you what it costs to put an one half trillion. it republican magic math works and why not extend to everything we spend money on? last year on roads and bridges or childcare subsidies and workers who process so social security checks. no one would do that.

congressional republicans want to use magic math to have tax cuts and then tell people they cost nothing. hard-working americans understand 4.6 trillions not free. congressional republicans are trying to sell magic math to help billionaires. thank you. >> my colleague from new mexico. >> thank you, thanks for coming by the office the chance to visit a little bit. when we talked about the department of government efficiency you said it's not as reasonable to stop unauthorized units. this treasury have the authority to stop authorized by fungus?

>> i also enjoyed meeting with you. it's not my understanding that treasury stops treasury payment legally approved payments. >> if you are asked to use treasury systems, would you stop the payments? >> it's my understanding departments and agencies are the ones who authorized payments sent so congress authorizes for an agency and procurement officers of the agencies allowed to approve use of the money and they send it to treasury and treasury processes it. >> doesn't like a note to me which i appreciate. if you were asked to stop payments would you comply? >> it's my understanding the

state department and what occurs is that they group those. >> i appreciate that. the university of pennsylvania. >> as a visiting faculty member for one semester teaching graduate course on empirical methods. >> this is the university and program president kemp attended? >> i taught a phd program so i don't believe president trump attended. >> i'm not suggesting he received a phd. >> he went to school -- i thought i heard you say program. >> i was interested to read recently the university of pennsylvania found president trump's proposal would increase to make deficit by 5.1 trillion. the reason i'm asking is the conversation you were just

having, the senate republicans are trying to pause $5.1 trillion -- my constituents told me the wealthy present spending 2017 tax follicles $0 so i have another question trying to understand. you rent here in washington d.c.? >> i don't live in washington. >> you rent? if someone's rent is $2000 and the landlord raises by 50%, going forward is the rent $50 plus. >> under baseline scoring, spending can use even though we only spent one.

so if you extend spending even though authorized by willingly accept current activity? is not something i would have any role in determining. >> that's not what i asked. if you rent went up $50, next month is it $50 for the cost you are paying plus $50 flex. >> your questions about it would be $2050. >> it's oversimplified version, keep it simple for all of us involved, call it whatever term

i'm surprised this is where we are. if we want to get our fiscal house in order we need to reinstitute it rate revenue to pay for the dollar. democrats ever put back to majority. i know they will stay here and explain as you did but of folks

pay for these programs they will have to cut programs to this program. >> it's not the treasury. >> using else was available and 7000 to the record and i appreciate the conversation commitment to use all tools exist. >> the next three here.

>> thank you, mr. chair. congratulations for being here. are you familiar in some predictions? they are an important tool for u.s. operators to engage in economic activity instead of abroad you briefly describe what could possibly happen if they didn't extend it? >> prior to this act, if the company engaged in activity they face corporate tax rate of 35%.

if they instead engage in activity abroad and recognize the jurisdiction could be minimal so it encourages the activity abroad rather than domestically. what is it is simultaneously brought down rates activities here from 35 to 21 and raised tax kids on applying abroad. reduce the wedge that is the differential when it comes to where it is located increasing benefits of the activity here. the u.s. company gets acquired by a foreign company march the purpose of abroad rather than domestically we saw $1 trillion

repatriated following the tax cuts and jobs act. >> other president trump administration secretary yellen requested a budget staffers. federal if you look but it seems like a big jump, can i get you to looking at that before you assume three times more? >> we are going to find ways make sure the activity official.

>> is the based on your past experience, a one-time it may be some ongoing benefits one-time benefits made by the station, you have insight that will require statutory authority? will. >> what is focused on right now where it is going and acting process changes in files failing right now and better understand other dollars are being used in vendor management and more

informed appropriations request they come back to congress and better identify how many. >> thank you, we've got a lot of people running around. supporting disconfirmation on the floor. nays are 43. the motion is agreed to. mr. tuberville: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: thank you, mr. president. well, it's that time again. i think i've given this speech three or four times in the last few years. this weekend all of america and my constituents back in alabama will spring forward to daylight

savings time. i'm working very hard to make this hopefully possibly the last time that we move our clocks. i recently joined my colleague, senator rick scott, to reintroduce for the third time the sunshine protection act to make daylight savings time permanent at the federal level. out of all the legislative efforts that i've been part of in my four years here in congress, the thing i hear about the most from my people in alabama is their desire to lock the clock. daylight savings time should be a thing of the past because it literally is a thing of the past. first introduced as a temporary measure during world war i, daylight savings time was

originally called, quote, wartime, and it was way to help conserve fuel during a very different time in this country. following the end of world war i, in 1918 standard time act was enacted that discontinued daylight savings time nationally but individual states continued to spring forward and fall back. then during world war ii, there was a renewed federal push for full-time daylight savings time, which then was repealed in 1945. finally in 1966 congress passed legislation to establish national standards for daylight savings time. all this to say, changes to our clock might have made sense when it first began many, many years ago. for one, the american workforce -- work culture and lifestyles are vastsly different

than -- vastly different than they were 100 years ago. plus disruptive time change can have serious consequences on human health. studies have suggested that the disruption of sleep patterns due to the time changes increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and physical injuries. northwestern medicine found that the fallback and the spring forward are connected to a 6% spike in fatal car accidents and a 24% higher risk of heart attacks. as most people change their sleeping habits. additionally, the long-term health effects linked to daylight savings time include weight gain, cluster headaches and depression. the time switch in the fall increases seasonal effective disorder every single year. in a study published in 2017,

found that the transition from daylight savings time to standard time increased the number of hospital visits for depression by 11%. by making daylight savings time permanent, americans would enjoy more sunshine in the evenings. this is so important for many americans who may not get a chance to get outside during the day. it would allow hardworking americans to go on a run after work or enable dads to play with their kids outdoors, neighbors grill and do things together outside. what a thought. many studies have proven that extra sunlight in the evening can lead to improvements in mental health, physical fitness, economic growth, and well-being. as a founding member of the senate maha caucus, i am very passionate about helping make americans healthy again. an important part of this is

making sure people get enough sleep and more sunlight. did you know that vitamin d from the sun is linked to preventing many diseases, including cancer. it's true, and many americans don't nearly, get nearly enough of vitamin d, especially those who work at desk jobs and are inside for most of the day. and that has increased since the invention of what we call the computer. locking the clock is an important first step to helping americans live healthier lives. it's a simple way we could positively impact the life of all americans. our farmers are also greatly affected by daylight savings time as additional sunshine during working hours means more time to work in the fields which could translate into a more profitable bottom line for anybody that raises a crop. all you know i'm about helping

our great farmers. more daylight in the evening could decrease expensive energy consumption on farms by reducing the need for artificial lighting and heating. back in the 1970's we had an energy crisis. we kept daylight savings time because it saved millions and millions of gallons of fuel. experts believe that the time change twice a year costs the u.s. economy more than $434 million in lost productivity annually. it's clear the evidence points to one conclusion. make daylight savings time permanent. 19 states, including my state of alabama, have already voted and passed legislation to make daylight savings time permanent. they just need congress, which means us, to vote for it. if we vote for it, it changes, and we'd never have to move the

clock again. president trump has also expressed support for locking the clock. congress should listen to the people and pass the sunshine protection act to make daylight savings time permanent. the change would improve our health, strengthen our economy, and benefit our farmers. this is a no-brainer. it's time for america to move forward and stop falling back. i'm looking forward to working with my senate colleagues to get it completely across the finish line to lock the clock once and for all. i yield the floor. i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: would the senator withhold.

the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. ms. rosen: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. rosen: thank you. mr. president, i rise today to speak out against the harmful actions taken by the trump administration and elon musk. what they're doing, it isn't about government efficiency. they're mass firing the men and women who help provide vital services that countless nevadans rely on, from medicaid to food assistance. and this is being felt in nearly every corner of our country. it's impacting our veterans who rely on the v.a., our seniors who rely on social security and medicare, our families who rely on medicaid and chips for their child's health care. and so many others. the actions taken by the trump administration and elon musk, an

unelected billionaire, are tearing at the fabric of american society. and this is no way to run a country, and the people in my state, they're being hurt in the process. so today i want to focus on a specific aspect of the trump firings, how it's impacting veterans. not just veterans across the country, but particularly those veterans in nevada. just yesterday it was reported that elon musk and his doge tech bros are planning to cut 80,000 employees from the department of veterans affairs. 80,000. this is in addition to the 1,000 v.a. employees they have already laid off, which included people who staff the veterans crisis hotline. and so maybe mr. musk and his team, his team of teeny bopper

tech bros, they don't understand the magnitude of their actions, so let me explain to them what the v.a. does, what the v.a. me means. the department of veterans affairs provides critical help to the men and women who were willing to sacrifice their very lives for our nation, and for their families. it provides them with the benefits that they have earned and that they, frankly, deserve. it is quite literally the least that we can as a nation do for our veterans. firing those employees who work at the v.a. will hurt our veterans, plain and simple. it will hurt veterans not only because they rely on the v.a. staff, but because many of those who work at the v.a. are themselves veterans. v.a., the largest employer of veterans in this nation.

and i've heard from so many nevadans who are feeling the direct impact of these layoffs, and today i want to share a couple of stories with you. mark wagstaff, a marine corps veteran, a proud marine corps veteran, he currently lives in las vegas. he served our country honorably for ten years. even after his service in our military, mark wanted to still help others, and he transitioned into civilian public service. that's why he recently started working as a lead supply technician at the v.a. in las vegas. he is proud of his work. he is dedicated to his mission, ensuring that all medical supplies were delivered to the veterans clinics throughout southern nevada. and mark, so proud of his job, so happy to be there, he did such a great job that he was

promoted. when a position in administrative services in north las vegas opened up recently, he applied, and he got the job. he was so happy he was so doing meaningful work as a veteran for the veterans. it meant everything to him. sadly, this all changed after donald trump and elon musk started messing with the v.a. on february 14, the valentine's day present that mark received from elon musk and donald trump was an e-mail informing him that he no longer had a job. despite receiving an outstanding performance review, is despite his recent promotion, mark was being told he was being let go due to poor performance. by firing him in that way, they also immediately locked him out of all of his work accounts. that means he can't access his termination paperwork.

it means he might not even receive his last paycheck. so i want everybody to think about that. here's a veteran, put his life on the line, proudly serve our nation, he said willing to risk everything for all of us, was fired in the most despicable of ways. and this is beyond shameful. donald trump and elon musk, who actually don't know a damned thing about service to our nation, should be ashamed. should be ashamed. on valentine's day, no less. but mark is not the only one. lily stevenson, a devoted wife of a disabled veteran who lives in las vegas, was also impacted by these unjust layoffs at the v.a. she worked at the he henderson

vet center and recently received feedback in a performance view that indicated she was doing an outstanding job. for her, this job was more than just a paycheck. she could be working anywhere else and making more money, but she felt a calling to serve her veteran community, our veteran community, a calling that, like mark, she had answered with passion p and commitment. despite this, again on valentine's day, she received a termination notice, just like mark. and this firing also falsely claims poor performance, which does not line up with the facts as lily knows them. lily and her husband, her veteran husband, rely on her income from her job at the v.a. as their source of income. but now without a paycheck, she worries about her ability to continue to pay her bills and

make ends meet. you know, many veterans already face significant challenges in accessing the care and the services that they need. long wait times for medical appointments, overwhelmed but dedicated staff, and a system already stretched thin that they have created barriers that delay essential care. and these layoffs, these layoffs, the trump layoffs, they already worsen an already difficult situation. the loss of dedicated staff like mark and lily and so many others harms the ability of the v.a. to serve our veterans in a timely and effective, and i would say caring and compassionate manner. but these positions being eliminated, there will be fewer hands to process claims, handle scheduling, and make sure that our veterans are getting the care and attention that they deserve. this is going to lead to even

longer wait times for veterans, further delays in access to care, resulting in potentially worse health outcomes for our veterans. it is simply unconscionable that after years of sacrifice and service that our veterans will suffer due to cuts being made by people like elon musk who were never elected by the american people. so i urge this administration to take immediate action to halt and reverse these unnecessary and, frankly, unjust layoffs. we must always stand up for our veterans. we must always stand up for the workers who serve them. god bless our veterans. god bless our troops. i thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor.

dr. faulkender, of looking for number. if republicans slash up to $800 billion for medicaid as their own budget suggest come how many of the 7 million americans on medicaid will lose their health care coverage? >> thank you, senator. medicaid is not a program that's overseen by treasury and so i have not looked at the impacts. not only that i'm not familiar with any cuts to medicaid. >> do you agree we might want to know how many americans would lose medicaid with $800 billion slashed from etiquette? >> again i'm not familiar with cuts to medicaid. cost-cutting efforts of president trump and doge. a lot has been said about doge's work in the media in the last

month. the truth is, doge is working tirelessly to cancel grants and funding that taxpayers absolutely should not be footing the bill for. i want the american people to know exactly what some of these ridiculous funding items r so here are a few items from the last couple of weeks. at nih doge identifieds these grants for cancellation this week and last -- $532,000 to, quote, use mouse model to investigate the effects of cross-sex testosterone treatment. $32,000 test femme nizing hormone therapy in the male rat. $120,000 for personalized 3-d avatar tool development focused on gender identities. $160,000 for researching radicalized sexual discrimination among, quote, young sexual minority men of color, end quote.

$241,000 for an intervention to promote healthy relationships among transgender and gender-expansive youth. $1.3 million for transforming health for gender-diverse adults. doge also canceled grants at the inter-american foundation that included $903,811 for alpaca farming in peru. $364, 500 to reduce social discrimination of recyclers in bolivia. $813,210 for vegetable gardens in el salvador. $323,633 to promote cultural understanding of venezuelan migrants in brazil. $731, 105 to improve marketability of mushrooms and peas in guatemala.

$677,342 to expand fruit and jam sales in honduras. $483,345 to improve artiesal in -- artisinal salt production. and even more money for bekeeping in brazil. doge is cutting funding at epa which includes the vermont-based institute for sustainability to serve as the national environmental justice thriving communities, technical assistance center. another group losing funding was the san diego state university foundation which was tapped to help bring, quote, environmental justice, end quote, to, quote, underserved, tribal, indigenous and pacific island communities and is yet to receive $4.2 million of its $5.1 million in grants. doge is also looking to cover

ridiculous dei programs in the department of education. one grant was reportedly funding the training for teachers to, quote, engage in ongoing learning and self-reflection to confront their own biases and racism and develop asset-based anti-racist mindsets. additionally, 4.6 million credit cards results in $40 billion in spending last year. president trump and doge are saving your taxpayer dollars. tune back next week for more updates. i yield back, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts is recognized. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, president trump and elon musk and secretary of education linda mcmahon have declared war on public education

in the united states, plain and simple. they outlined their antistudent, antifamily, antieducator agenda in project 2025. trump vowed to dismantle the department of education last month from the oval office, so instead of nominating a secretary of education, he picked and senate republicans confirmed an executioner of public education. this administration is attempting to dismantle public education in the united states piece by piece. well, trump and musk and mcmahon are about to learn just how important federal educational funding is to every community in our country. the department of education guards the promise of opportunity for future generations.

the department provides $18 billion a year in funding so that the poorest children in our country can receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled. the department provides $15 billion a year in funds and oversight to ensure that students with disabilities across our nation have meaningful access to quality education. it ensures that teachers are trained, that first-generation students have a chance to go to college, that english learners and rural students receive additional support. trump and musk and mcmahon might talk about efficiency and dismantling the department of education, but we know that that's just code for cuts to educational funding for poor

children, for disabled children all across our nation. they don't want to educate. they want to eliminate. they want to loot our country's future, our students depend upon. children are only 25% of our country, but they're 100% of our future. and we have to invest in that future, invest in those children. why? because ultimately they want to loot the department of education for tens of billions of dollars in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and millionaires, like elon musk. that's what it's all b so just last year, the department of education provided more than $720 million to support k-12 education. in massachusetts alone, and every community across our country receives that funding from the department of education. so why did trump and musk and

mcmahon think they will pick up the bill for their cruel and cal loss cuts? who do they think is going to pick up the tab? we know who's going to pick up the tab. it's going to be poor communities. it's going to be families with disabled children. that's who's going to pick up the tab. and why are they doing it? to get the money from those poor families, get the money from those families with kids with disabilities to fund tax breaks for billionaires and millionaires. that's what it's all about. it's cruel. it's cal -- callous, but it's all about those cuts to education. and i'm hearing from communities who have no idea how they will keep the lights on if this federal funding disappears. i'm hearing from teachers, educators and families who are tirified that if the teachers

are laid out -- laid off, their students will not receive the services they need. i'm hearing from the parents who need this educational funding. they need to ensure that those programs are there. but at the end of the day, we know what it's all about -- it's to get that funding so that they can then voucherize the public school system, take the money from the public schools and put it over in vouchers and private companies will begin to benefit from all of that funding, and the remainder will just go to the billionaires for their tax breaks. and trump and musk and mcmahon's evil plan to lock the promise of education behind an ivory tower accessible only to those born into the right circumstances, it's just wrong. it's just plain wrong. massachusetts is the birthplace of public education. we are the top performer in the

country in math and reading because we invest in students, educators, schools, and communities. we do not believe in draconian cuts or in fueling jaycing in schools. over the boston public library, the inscription reads, the commonwealth requires the education of the people as the safeguard of order and liberty. well, trump tries to destroy and order in this country. we will fight to protect the education of the people. you want a fight, mr. president? you want a fight, secretary mcmahon? you got a fight. you are not going to be allowed to dismantle the department of education because with that all of a sudden be dismantling the hope that every family has that their child may fully realize the american dream. with that, mr. president, i

we are losing out on stopping some of the fraudsters and i look forward to respond. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. mr. faulkender, thank you again for agreeing to force today. you are and how duly qualified to serve as the next deputy secretary of the treasury and i look forward to voting in favor of your nomination. and similarly urge all of my colleagues to do the same. with that i remind my colleagues the deadline for submitting any questions for the record is 5 p.m. monday march 10. and with that the finance committee stands adjourned.

: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mr. cornyn: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no, we're not. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i was glad to see president zelenskyy clearly express his gratitude to president trump and the american taxpayer for our support for the country of ukraine over the last three years.

there's been much discussion in international communities and here at home on the war between russia, which has now been going on for three long years. it has cost hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides, with millions of people displaced as a result of the war. through it all, the ukranian people have demonstrated extraordinary courage and resilience. but one thing is clear. it's time for the war in ukraine to end. president trump is right. but the more difficult question is how. years ago i recall general david

petraeus, the leader of our military in central command, heading up our efforts in iraq and afghanistan, was asked the question, how does the war end. and he said you tell me how the war ends. wars are easy to start and hard to conclude. this is the most difficult question of all, how does it end. we should all be grateful to president trump for taking on the difficult but essential task of brokering a peace agreement to end this devastating war. during the contentious meeting at the oval office last week, president trump commented that he hoped to be known and recognized as a peacemaker.

well, this would be no small feat, but it is the right position to take. it's not hard to look at this incredible devastation, the massive casualties, the human misery and suffering of the last three years and understand that it's time for the bloodshed to end. but it will take both sides -- ukraine and russia -- to accomplish this goal. ukraine cannot do it on its own. president trump was correct to point out to president zelenskyy last week during this high-intensity meeting in the oval office, he said i have to align myself with both of you in order to make a deal. president trump's skill at making deals is famous, but this

would be the crowning achievement of his life if he's able to make this happen. but the point is in order to achieve a lasting peace, both sides of the conflict must be willing to sit down and negotiate and make concessions, no matter how hard that is. i'm glad to see that president zelenskyy has indicated a willingness for ukraine to do so in part through a critical minerals arrangement with the united states government. such a deal would compensate the united states and its taxpayers for our many years of military and economic support for ukraine, and it would actually be a vested interest that the united states would have every reason to want to protect in the future. and some have called that an

implicit security arrangement. perhaps most importantly, though, in order to ensure a lasting peace, there must be some real and tangible and enforceable security assurances for ukraine. but to put this in proper context, we have to consider history. the events that led us up to this point. in 1994, the united states, russia, and britain signed something called the budapest memorandum. this was shortly after the fall of the soviet union. and as the soviet union broke up, it turned out that ukraine, which was formerly part of the soviet union, had the third-largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world. the budapest memorandum was an

agreement between the united states, the united kingdom, and russia, that if ukraine would give up its nuclear weapons, its territorial integrity and independence would be preserved and respected. this was a historic point in world history. it was an important step toward nuclear nonproliferation and prevented the rise of a major third nuclear power in eastern europe. but unfortunately, russia proceeded to violate that same agreement. in 2014, with the annexation of the crimean peninsula, and then as we know, the russian government led by mr. putin violated that agreement a second

time in february 2022 with its invasion of ukraine. if russia was unwilling to honor the commitments it made in the budapest memorandum in 1994 by its invasion of crimea in 2014 and invasion of a nation in 2022, how can ukraine be assured that russia will honor a peace agreement brokered in 2025? that perhaps is the single-most important question that we need to ask. given the history and pattern of behavior by russia, if zelenskyy does not receive adequate security assurances, will this incentivize him to do other things to protect and preserve his nation? for example, to reacquire a

nuclear weapons program. against an existential threat, we know that president zelenskyy himself has floated this as a possibility. and more recently, the newly elected chancellor of germany had suggested that both germany and the united kingdom would share perhaps their nuclear weapons capabilities with ukraine, which would be a dramatic and dangerous development. but this is not all. we have to keep in mind that both president zelenskyy and president putin are not fighting this war in some sort of vacuum. allies of the united states and adversaries alike around the world are watching. will our actions in ukraine

suggest to allies in south korea, for example, that they should pursue their own nuclear weapon capability, especially in light of the north korean nuclear program which receives russian assistance? will more citizens of taiwan cast their vote for representatives pushing closer alignment with the people's republic of china as the most prudent way for their people to maintain and guarantee against a catastrophic war in the indo-pacific. seeing that unanswered aggression is awarded with president xi be emboldened to seize taiwan, as he has made clear he intends to do one way or the other. these are just a few of the unintended consequences that could play out, depending on how

these peace negotiations transpire and how they develop. we, the duly elected representatives of the american people, must ask ourselves, with a world of unreliable security assurances of greater prospects of nuclear proliferation, of insufficient deterrence in the face of unprovoked aggression result in a safer world for our children and grandchildren? well, given these difficult but necessary questions, i would once again applaud president trump for taking the initiative of embracing peace through strength. his approach is a correct one, and he is right that an important piece of this is for

our nato allies who live in europe where ukraine is located, need to increase their contribution to our collective security under the north atlantic treaty alliance. through strength, we can guarantee peace both in europe and around the world. the suffering resulting from the russian invasion of ukraine on two occasions, 2014 and 2022, has been devastating not only for ukrainians, but also for russians as well, who lost hundreds of thousands of casualties in the process. president trump pointed out during their meeting that with l president zelenskyy, that both sides are losing 2,000 soldiers a week. as we sit here and talk, people

are being shot and dying in the battlefield. what president trump is doing to secure peace in this dangerous world is an act of moral leadership. and i believe divinely inspired. jesus said in the beatitudes, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of god. if president trump is successful in securing a lasting peace, i for one think he will have earned the nobel peace prize. as president zelenskyy himself said in the p oval office, he said if president trump can bring peace to our country, i think he will be on this wall. of course referring to the walls of the oval office that have the pictures of historic american presidents who have done great and important things. it's my sincere hope that

president zelenskyy and president putin will both accept the olive branch offered by president trump by coming to the table and by making the necessary enforceable concessions to ensure a lasting peace. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll, please. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

think about this the second. what are we created some form of funding whatever it may be and

said i'll tell you what we're going to do. we're going to rate our states. west virginia would rate really well. we're going to rate our contribution. do you know when we trade, take and cut a tree and it turns into this right here call the carbon is frozen in this forever here the carbon doesn't go into the atmosphere that if it falls down on the ground because we are not cutting but a third of our growth and not managing our force and we get any kind of level of force fire, in west virginia we get 800 a year. they are not bad but 800 a year. what happens to this carbon when the fire goes poof right back into the atmosphere? we all absolutely hair on fire about carbon in the atmosphere. why don't we just say i'll tell you what were going to do, were going to greet some kind of management funding whatever and are going to apply that towards labor back in states and rated

and scale it an absolutely then bring our absolute furniture and cabinetry you know manufacturing back to us instead of it being in another country. they're so many things we can be doing. the intelligence is all right here. we need to do it on a bipartisan you no matter absolute without any question we can do it and we can do it right now. absolutely. question is will america react? with that being said i would say i i stand ready to work with anybody anybody. i stand ready to accept that invitation, too. and you'll see you'll see that i am a hunter, i'm a fisherman, i'm a person that loves the outdoors and i'm a person who wants to absolutely preserve our soul.

we don't watch out what we're doing what we're doing right now is a ludicrous. let's figure a way to figure this out and we need to do it right now. thank you so much, mr. chairman,. >> thank you, senator justice. now it looks like we have a contest to see who the second-best fisherman on i see in a statement is. senator schiff, your next. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to the witnesses for being here. sorry i missed a chance to issue earlier. matt and i have known each other a long time when he served as executive director of the california democratic congressional delegation and advised our chair zoe lofgren, speaker pelosi as well as 42 democratic members of the house on california policy. appreciate how you brought their expertise to bear in trying to tackle this a difficult problem. we are seeing in california what americans are seeing all over

the country that wildfires are now characterized by a longer forced season by more massive size can buy more acres burned every year. the loss of life in altadena and the palisades, the loss of homes and businesses was just devastating. and with one of my an hour winds it was just an irresistible force to be reckoned with. appreciate all of your efforts to try to improve our forest management so that we can reduce the chances of these fires and the work that's been done on a bipartisan basis by my colleague scott peterson of california, congressman westermann. i have concerns about the bill which many democrats in the house shared when the bill came

before the house. that parts of the bill seem more focused on timber harvesting than they do on wildfire mitigation. they are not concerned that can't be overcome. there are good faith negotiations going on to try to make changes to the bill that would i think potentially dramatically ask and the work for the bill and i hope we can get a yes on those changes. one of the reasons i think there is skepticism about the priority in the building more on wildfire and less on timber or vice versa is the issue that my colleague senator bennet was raising. that is some of the actions were taken are completely counterproductive. they have nothing to do with the need to change law but they involve the laying off of firefighters, the higher and freeze on other firefighters,

the termination of 3400 employees at the forest service, the funding freeze affecting the halt of hazardous fuels reduction. all of this is moving as in the wrong direction. so it's hard to make the case for the emergency legislation when were taking steps that are nonlegislative that are moving us in the wrong direction. i hope we can both restore these employees in its workforce in this important work and make improvements to the bill and get this moving. i would like if i could received a letter from the project which have a question and of his consent to be entered in the record. this project is for to workforce development organization in

oregon and california. the work has resulted in thousands of acres of hazardous fuels reduction scam millions of feet of 10% to mills, billions saved in a void of property firefighting costs and freezing the funds has really adversely impacted their efforts. the question i like to ask another open to the panel is first how do we make sure that when making the problem worse with some of the actions we are seeing now? but second hike we address some of the legitimate concerns have been raised in the bill that some of the versions go beyond what would be necessary for wildfire prevention and risk without adequate public input taking actions that really could hurt the very forest which are

trying to say? if you could, unless efforts to negotiate some of the difficulties and then o the panel. >> let's be brief. we are past the five minutes of maybe one minute for an answer. >> i can quickly speak to the last question. thank you for the introduction. i think when you engage in a process with chairman westermann and scott peterson to a lot of raise eyebrows from a lot of conservation community, what we found was an entirely productive process and a good-faith process in terms of working to identify some of this challenge is you raised. we are heartened there's a bipartisan group of senators working to look at a senate companion bill now but the bottom line is we think it can continue to be improved in the senate and with good faith partners and house to get that then a make sure this bill does it says what it will do. >> thank you, mr. chairman. we are core need with my colleague senator padilla to try to be a constructive part of

those negotiations. i yield back. >> senator warnock you are next. >> thank you very much, mr. chair. many of my colleagues here today represent states that are at high risk for large scale wildfires. wildfires are not limited to the west. alanna is known as the city in the forest because of the cities dense tree canopy and about two-thirds of georgia is covered with forest putting it at risk for wildfires. national interagency fire center predicts georgia and much of the south east will be at above average risk for wildfires over the next couple of months. in the last week alone georgia has seen over 4000 acres burned in neighboring south carolyn's governor declared a state of emergency due to wildfires. mr. beum, what are some of the

contributing factors that are increasing george's wildfires? >> thank you for the question. our weather patterns are contributing to the wildfire risk. what we're seeing now in the carolinas, what we saw in georgia we saw in gatlinburg, a number of things were quite frankly shocking to i worked in the south for number of years and didn't anticipate this happening in the south. climate change probably is a factor. there's a number of factors to that. in addition the lengthening of the season, again we don't really prefer to fire season timor, it is a fire year. >> climate changes is that come to go in fact, are, climate change is clearly causing us more frequent larger and stronger hurricanes. last fall hurricane helene ravaged the southeast, including

georgia. i remember spending time on the ground with folks who lost everything. helene paved the path of destruction all the way from the bottom of the state to the top, taking down 8.9 million acres of timber with it. mr. beum, can you describe the increased fire risk, fallen trees from stronger storms create? >> thank you for the question. anytime we have trees fall in the forest like that they will start to decay and you get a fire through there and they will contribute to the intensity of that fire. in the south that might take a a year to produce, trees to dry out and be a large witty fuel for fire but regardless that significant increase fire risk in the state because of those, because of hurricane. >> given that risk how important is swift cleanup? >> very important. >> and i ask that question because at this time of

increased wildfires risk across the southeast, the current administrations firing every workers who are responsible for mitigating the risk through storm cleanup and proper forest management. will these firings help or hurt george's ability to mitigate wildfire risk? >> as i stated earlier they will actually hurt the ability for georgia to mitigate the fire risk. >> i agree and we need legislation to require federal agencies take on more responsibility to address wildfires. if congress does not provide them with proper resources and adequate staffing we're not setting them up for success. i look forward to working with my colleagues to address the shortfalls as we work towards a conference wildfire strategy. thank you so much. >> i would add one thing that to the bumpers of research law and inflation reduction act that was passed previous congresses, infusion to the forest service was generational money to

address wildfire mitigation. even so 5 billion north of 5 billion that is a down payment and was really needed. i don't know what the figure might be, 20, 30 billion. >> an important point especially since the average right now in congress to take that back. thank you so much. >> senator booker. >> the grace and generosity of our chairman and bring the member for letting a gamestop on the subcommittee come in a what a lot of folks in this room don't know is that new jersey is a forest state yes. i'm glad you all know that, 40% of my state is covered by forest. last year we had some horrible, horrible forest fires signed a lot of attention is to the west of jersey but allow my bon jovi and bruce springsteen jersey pride to come out here and come before you all right now. what my friend and brother warnock were talking about come these catastrophic wildfires are being caused by climate change.

this is because climate changes led to higher temperatures, extended droughts, earlier snowmelt which create higher dry conditions for longer fire seasons which we are all seeing and even again worse conditions in new jersey. we know to combat climate change one of the things we need to do is preserved our existing forest. i been working with our current secretary of agriculture trying to continue our treeplanting efforts but a special our old-growth forests. we need to get more trees in the ground. we need to engage in large-scale efforts to reduce the amount of hazardous fuel that has accumulated into our forest as manipulative testified today. really a massive scaling up of the meta prescribed burns that were doing is important but, unfortunately, we seem with an executive order by the president as well as this version of the fix our forests act which passed the house would do the opposite of this and instead focus on cutting down our forests not

planting more. in order to fix this act which is important somebody said how we were in a bipartisan way i believe this changes we need to make an want to mention a few. section 121 of the bill this would severely restrict additional reviews of agency actions. these provisions need to be deleted in their entirety and right now we're dealing with an administration that will take any action legal or not that i'm saying that will only check against the illegal actions in the judiciary and we need to make sure we preserve that ability. the section, secondary i want to point out in this hearing was in section 121 which shortened the statute of limitations from six years to 120 days. i believe some shortening may be appropriate but do not believe they it should be reduced to less than one year. we should not limit who has standing to bring these challenges. finally in section 106 of the

bill this would shift when environmental views happen from prior to agency actions to after those actions have already happened and essentially making the reviews meaningless. this bill is already watering down the reviews that will happen but is critical those reviews continue to happen prior to projects commencing. my final concern with the bill i'll mention and lead into a question is a proposed increase in categorical exclusions up to 10,000 acres. so mr. houck, if you don't lie because you the best haircut everybody up there, can you please talk about what the impact would be on both the environmental reviews and community participation of categorical exclusions were increased from 3000 acres of the we're we're up to 10,000 acres? >> yes. thank you for the question. my experience in an gunnison

county and applicable to the pine barons as much as a rocky mountain but the idea of having the communities closer to this involved in a process are important and my concern with watering down for the lowering or increasing the threshold for this categorical exclusions would be that it doesn't allow the more robust issues to be discussed in a way whether it's upfront input from local government, from industry and also from other folks in communities invested. and then on the back and what they will do is litigate in order to slow things down. sometimes the idea of going slow to go fast is there. i agree there's opportunity for reform. this bill has the seeds of that and what i look at the welfare commission report he seems to be that would be a good north star to find some direction of the how to mold and shape -- >> so the answer, i'm going to do a sense of the senate resolution that you can become an honorary new jerseyan but can

you please expand on your written testimony which i thought was really appointed that nepa have not been a problem in developing into preventing vegetation management projects and say more about what the real causes of the delay in project implementation are in your view? i believe we need to cut bureaucracy and get things done but it seems like you are saying it's a delay in project implementation is not the nepa and esa. >> what i've experienced in gunnison county is the contracting, the time it takes contracting to getting the resources on the ground after the environment analysis has been done. that has been more of an impediment to getting good work done on the ground in my neck of the woods than the actual nepa process. >> thank you very much. >> is that for everybody? >> no, sir. bennett must pay. >> thank you so much. in the closing remarks?

>> i want to thank you, mr. chairman. it's been excellent hearing. i know you had a million . thank you to critically important for a country and grateful. to the witnesses thank you all. was a pleasure. the depth of your knowledge, , e depth of your commitment and i think there's a broad view we can move forward on here and i look forward to working with you, chairman. >> thank you, senator bennet. a big thank you to our witnesses again. i know this was short notice. you gave up for some time. you put this together and your statements will be reviewed under questions as well. the records will be open for five business days to i would say big thanks to our staff members, too, both the ranking members and my personal staff, the committee members on both sides of the aisle have been an incredible job putting this together, maybe very, very productive meeting as well. members and my personal staff,

the committee members on both sides of the aisle have been an incredible job putting this together, maybe very, very productive meeting as well. i think this says a

>> president trump has restored order at the southern border. if initial reports are accurate approximate 8450 illegal immigrants were apprehended trying to cross the border last month. not long ago border patrol would sometimes apprehend that many illegal immigrants in a single day. in a single day. with less chaos border patrol can focus on the criminals cartels terrorist and traffickers that are used to try to hide behind the surges. that makes our country safer. but we have more work to do, mr. president. illegal drugs can to take commit

american life americans dies of drug overdose in berkeley died in the entirety of the vietnam war. "the new england journal of meds died of overdoses each week in 2022. that's an entire high school classroom lost every week to the scourge of drugs. and some of these tragedies from a lethal dose of fentanyl in a single pill. fentanyl that can quickly be traced back to the southern border. mr. president, this crisis inspected every part of the country. we seen in south dakota. police in sioux falls sees more fentanyl to kill 2.5. people last year. law enforcement reports the cartels have a presence in our area. and the price of a single pill has dropped from $40 a few years ago the five dollars per pill today largely because of increasing supply.

i'm grateful for the men and women in law enforcement and first responders work every day to save lives. we need to help them get these drugs off our streets and prevent more overdose deaths. the president is already taking steps to halt the supply of drugs flowing across our borders. later do the senate will vote to begin consideration of the halt fentanyl act which will provide law enforcement with the critical tool to combat fentanyl. until a few years ago the fentanyl analogs that have killed so many americans who are jelly classic is scheduled to substances, meaning they were less tightly regulated and violations carried lighter penalties. in a particular analog was moved to schedule one, cartels would slightly alter the chemical composition of their fentanyl, equivalence to avoid a crackdown, changes that made

those drugs no less deadly. but in 2018 president trump put a stop to that. all fentanyl analogs were temporarily reclassified as schedule one drugs enabling law enforcement to go after the people bringing this poison to our communities. congress has extended this provision times because it works but the most recent extension expires at the end of this month. it's time all fentanyl analogs are permanently classified as what they are. the most deadly kind of drugs. our colleague senator cassidy, grousing heinrich a put forward a bill to just that, expanding on senator johnson's leadership in this area and senator graham good work. the halt fentanyl act would probably list fentanyl analogs on schedule one. doing this love law enforcement keep pace with the evolving threats of fentanyl that is driving drugs, drug overdoses in our country.

and has backing from a number of states attorney general and from law enforcement. attorney general bondi has endorsed the bill. and has bipartisan support in congress including bipartisan cosponsorship and strong bipartisan votes in both the senate judiciary committee and in the house of representatives. mr. president, on the proud this bill has come to the senate floor through regular order. the senate judiciary committee held a hearing on fentanyl where members are the stories of lives taken or changed forever i deadly fentanyl analogs. the committee held a markup and reported the bill to the floor by a bipartisan vote of 16-five. and now we are going to a debate on the bill on the floor of the united states senate. i hope in the coming days we will have a productive process to make a law that will save american lives. so mr. president, i think

senator cassidy, senator grassley and senator johnson and senator graham for their work as well. i'm looking forward to sending the halt fentanyl act to president trump's desk soon. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. >> while, mr. president, last night reports came out that president trump is preparing to sign an executive order to abolish, and the department of education as soon as today. if this report is true this would be one of the most distractive and devastating steps donald trump has ever taken. and the main victims of this decision, american children. right here is what every single democrat said hell no to the nomination of linda mcmahon. that this is why we did it. she's and education secretary,

linda mccann is an education secretary who personifies males on the chalkboard. i have never heard before of a secretary who wanted a cabinet job solely for the purpose of detonating the very agency she seeks to lead. i've never heard of an education secretary who wants to give every teacher in america a rotten apple. but this is where we are. these are not just metaphors of the moment. they are the perils of the present. this would be horrible for our schools, our school leaders, our families, and the children sector mcmahon is supposed to serve. the blast radius of this order will harm nearly every child in every teacher, every family and every community in the country. and don't forget, defunding education means property taxes will go up to make up the funding gap.

homeowners are about to get blindsided by the toxic rule of seeing their property taxes go up, while seeing the quality of many schools go down. but nobody, nobody will suffer more from donald trump's decision than our kids. almost 90% of of the students in america attend public schools, and they will suffer because of what donald trump is doing. why? the department of education is a lifeline for public schools across the country. it particularly strong in rural areas because there's not much choice. there's one school in the town. with federal funding many rural schools would vanish and some schools would crumble at the foundation literally. education is the best investment for turning a a struggling community around. with good schools and without the funding to support these

schools are children will be hurt, our country will be worse, the notion of the american dream will fall by the wayside. rural schools would be particularly hard-hit because rural communities often have only one school in the area, and if that disappears, the communities will deteriorate. kids with special education needs will be left out in the cold. public school teachers already worked to the bone will be thrown into chaos. class sizes will explode. job-training programs will vanish. school districts will be at the mercy of state budgets that are already struggling to find education. and albatross of student debt will become insurmountable for tens of millions of americans, many of whom come from working families. every single one of us wants our schools to do better, our students to perform better, and eliminate wasteful spending. education reform is necessary,

to make things better, to improve education you do not use a chainsaw. using a chainsaw will make things worse. because it doesn't discriminate between the funds that are needed and the the funds the unnecessary or should be redirected. the racing the department of education in the blink of an item is not what education reform looks like. donald trump should immediately reverse course before he causes irreparable harm to our students and our classrooms. again, let me just repeat that you do not call you do not hire a secretary whose purpose, whose very purpose is detonating the very agency she seeks to lead. that makes no sense. ..

things are operating in a way i've never seen before. outsiders with the nuances it will make mistakes. social security will is perhaps the most for seniors and those with disabilities and now for the first time social security benefits.

the american people are frightened. outlandish lies in chair peeking data the reality social security is the last place for a change and wake up to this crisis, a disaster waiting to happen. are you fine with this? elon musk and an experienced people through social security benefits, work on boarding this. what leads to people. >> kung fu.

donald trump, elon musk security benefits. stuart: already doing it is and it is a benefit cut is. >> mr. president, the american people know much. we spoke washington spending for them and cannot her washington and wants to work efficiently

the lesson, waste, fraud and abuse. and it's not an outcome president trump forms really want more active responsibly. so 19 million conversations.

in 1.5 million, lotus conference and were tramp. here's how one and shut down the government should send they want to stop down in the way, fraud and abuse. democrats in this let's down this past week and another from

the hills and shut down the line. shut down government employee booker and scott president trump. he said his thoughts open to any account negotiate spend worthy of the roof was. would you start and stop some. should a very difficult to make

ends with bruce. democrats to permeate through president trump and his lack of. dubuque and drinks with will and our president trump and taxpayers their services and that control. and shut down, but the

president's. service it's my understanding the professional businesses and they are. here's the formula for greatness the president is pushing including aid cutting back. for of course i want to stop

waste, fraud and abuse. the department of education closing found the federal agency cut fact that federal funds. and the number of kids and the classroom is how can you close down the schools but what and

medical research will 99%. and that the standard. cut my losses research. will and a distinction export

wide they are looking you and everybody supervised. moving on to five years in the university of florida. recognized grassley i ask the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: last week, i led my colleagues in reporting a bill that's entitled the halt fentanyl act. this bill was reported out of the senate judiciary committee.

this is a battle-tested bipartisan bill that passed the house of representatives with a supermajority of votes, including 98 democrats voting in favor of the bill. if you have been involved with this issue over the last three or four, five years, you'd know that bipartisan fentanyl legislation has been hard to come by. but i'm pleased to see that this bill has seven democrat cosponsors here in the senate, and had nearly half the democrats in my committee vote in favor of it. so we should thank and i want to thank all my democrat colleagues for working with us on such a

vital piece of legislation. i think you all know the statistics about 70,000 of the hundred thousand people that die of drug overdose are dying because of fentanyl. the halt fentanyl act does three things. first, it makes permanent the class scheduling of fentanyl-related substances. this is the same classwide scheduling that occurred during the first trump administration, and has been continued nine times by congress on a short-term basis. so this legislation would eliminate that from time to time scheduling of fentanyl analogue

s. that's why permanent legislation is so important. second, the bill confirms the sentencing penalties the federal courts have long applied to fentanyl-related substances. and thirdly, the bill creates a streamlined registration process for studying schedule one controlled substances. classwide schedulings that been a successful policy. it has been a success in stopping the creation of fentanyl-related substances that would have authorized killed countless americans. if you don't believe me, i'd like to have you listen to dr. tim westlake. dr. west lake is the inventor

the classwide system that the dea adopted. he came before my committee and test testified, quote, these efforts have resulted in shutting down the creation and flow and the very existence of new fentanyl-related substances into the united states. it's why congress must act to finally make permanent this temporary policy, end quote. i began by saying that fentanyl is bipartisan legislation, has been very hard to come by. i'm proud to lead the halt fentanyl act with senators heinrich and cassidy. as one democrat and one republican.

our bill has the support of the leading law enforcement organizations. these 12 organizations have called on us here in the congress to, quote, advance this critical legislation without delay or modification, end quote. our bill also has the support of an organization called facing fentanyl. that's a coalition supported by over 200 family groups impacted by fentanyl. they, quote, stand in full support of the halt fentanyl act as it is currently written without amendments, end of quote. i've also received over 100 individual letters from parents who have lost their children to fentanyl poisoning. our bill also has the support of

the medical community. the halt fentanyl act is truly bipartisan compromise, bringing together stakeholders and members from across the spectrum. during the last four years, senate democrats couldn't be bothered to bring this bill or any other permanent legislation to schedule fentanyl to the floor for a vote. and that was the situation even after halt passed the house with 74 democrats voting in favor, and even with the biden administration coming out in support of the bill, all taking place in the last congress. so the time has surely come. this is long overdue legislation, and i urge my colleagues to move to and support this bill.

if we can't come together to pass this battle-tested bipartisan legislation, then we will have failed the american people and made the environment for even more people to die of drug overdose and fentanyl poisoning. we owe it to the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to this very poison. we owe it to our constituents. it's time that we found the will to act. and now is that time to act. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will please call the roll.

quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

today i think we are discussing most complex foreign policy.

world war ii. the gravity of the president, marked even more difficult israeli hamas workers. it is well-founded you will or around 1 million individuals you sick of this will hear this, ukrainian side alone united

states and the korean war will. russia has a little more 90000 sorry and it's largest in the united states. in the city but i feel the and pulsatile. this is the world catalyst to include ongoing energy security scarcity across the entire. i see the destruction firsthand

having visited ukraine including the donbas reason and this worked is ultimately competing a structure and these alliances career plan is supporting russia is not stopping ukraine, the war will spill over go laredo recently low spending days talking to them as and there years and concerns. doing this to conclusion in the russia ukraine were?

and in this structure. they will pick up support and openly proclaim the united states crisis present their united states is the primary objective to stop the deleted you the digital implement and americans funded this work and the united states. president is submitted the heels of the interest security deposit is first member by the of what professor paul kennedy wrote of

the right and for the great powers historically and involve themselves overreach violated simple the nation is concerned about filling almost more than their own peace between nations bill is legacy of this administration for this will start donald trump's life. the strategy of the previous administration and it's not a study. what part a resolution work in

the high priority you look at. how many individuals initiate review is the last five days you live in 45. we are working as a sport every avenue with guns. in the administration and peace is only because it will strength. the trump administration and the moment he saw resolution is that what they don't work.

in the u.s. national security and the united states already splintering he's to both sides is one sad going to let the other enclosed proxy workaround national security interest. president trump was asked 2020 through townhall ukraine or russia to win just for spotify is a relational was born in a proactive signal united states

serves bringing a resolution said we saw house supposed and zelenskyy selected the and ministrations. president zelenskyy trump in an effort to get the united states cosigned on the u.s. and clearly former president trump drive. lindel is lindel and you would

making a gala the elca length of the light and it is like small meals on want bills down at his it's not 98 and when they saw at all and putting panel is not going to and i want to. the human cost this. i will on average. it is ukraine quickly approaching and that is a term for warfare global. just about a year ago green is

not allowed near to the issue and stands so that will bring and ukrainian military where you see the toll on ukrainian soldiers. and the education spoke uplifting and grievous injuries in the cause of gratitude. this is where president trump the war from human connection product for energy outline this approach and the realization not

engaging could close allies and adversaries. the previous administration in which the united states failed and leveraged strong diplomacy with deterrence. nation will state leaders particularly during times of war and the primary duty and direct the quality. keeps are asian and plus of course. immense ramifications isolation in the war in ukraine from toulouse and this was all a little reliable and certainly not a responsible approach diplomatically and the cost and

the need to reset the care the battle national and stop u.s. entanglement. seamless publicly. what you are witnessing are urgent offenses in the trump of administration to reach both sides of the table both sides of the table both sides to get to the table. there aggressive movements applied pressure.for ukrainian parts to rebuild and maximum pressure are a few of the tools.

it is honey present of the oil out of russia and we sanctions those 70% of that all. the president has been clear and all options are the table. ukraine, the president also incentives and it is an important part of this effort. it's a very transactional manner. the foundation in trying to enforce the america first transaction diplomacy. the transactional diplomacy approach for leaders the first

question asked when a court official came and. what is the trade imbalance? that is the same underpinning between the united states ukraine and the foundation they can directly turn on this investment and they are supporting support from russia or 170 billion in this deal and the mechanism in which american taxpayer can be recuperated. more broadly how it feels offers between the united states and ukraine which can underpin in

the united states has direct economic interests in ukraine in the united states direct investment to protect as well. it is the de facto of a security ukraine to new with these efforts on both sides of the table. we are at the early stages and all peace negotiations are. now three years old the world. thank you for having me. [laughter] sept set aside.

i ask unanimous consent that we proceed to calendar number 18, s. 331 be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection mr. lankford: mr. president. i ask that we move to begin the vote right now. the presiding officer: without objection. the question occurs on the nomination. mr. lankford: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. 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. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. l mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. the clerk: ms. hassan. l mr. hawley. mr. heinrich.

mr. hickenlooper. signed an executive order in pike's peak be honest, they are aiming on this and here's what was donald trump likely to be

closed immediately. they are erratic usual it would be if it happened. it's going to be like them, america's school choice get tax breaks for millionaire friends, i don't think that's what america wants. the bedrock of our country. >> we went to madison high school. start you 90% of america and 90%

of public schools all and everything will suffer. your kids education. she goes is that simple solution place and they can pay even less signed by every democrats, one of the only nominees on these agencies and decimate the department of education just destructive. every child and every teacher and every family.

taking a change to the department of education and educate our next generations in our schools and families better what it is. don't forget. and the dismantle particularly rules for an there is one in your community it is dramatically supplied. we'll do it and it is an education as the best investment

for the community without the funding children will be hurt what they will be qualified want to know what they were be left out and there is a good chance. and going at it changed all. if the republicans want to work, we will bepe the first in line f there are things that are wasteful, show us what they are.

and democrats will fight this decision. >> elon musk now the war asked working against the working family. saving money, which by the way so that the billionaire can receive tax breaks public policy and reprehensible. and do not have to worry because

they send their kids and grandchildren to private fools what happens is not of great concern to them. the working class is imperative if the kids are going to do well in life. they are cutting the funding 26 billion working-class, many of whom are in you will save a disaster. my cost of college and entered college they want but that's not the case and they depend on pell grants.

worker kids. we have progress and that the years. seven and a half million kids with disabilities unable to receive what they need. what happens to those families if selects this would be for all kids to get education no matter the color or gender. if the federal government is needs working-class unities, that would mean local and state taxes of the works in education and cost families.

and destroy it and wreak havoc for working classes across the country, absolutely not. the wealthiest country in the world and the educational system in the world. we need to attract the best and the brightest and 50000 a year. we need to invest in the mental health and educational. our job is to low and no class income families. we american people and must not.

>> thank you very much. we do know trump is preparing to slam every door they can. let's not pretend about doing so before the law. the department of education fundamentally goes against bipartisan law and it goes against the basic principles. we do everything we can and are future depends on the support we need and tell you how obliterating this is and even preschoolers can tell you it's a

terrible idea. they don't care what they can easily do or care about the consequences. terminate spending and teachers at publix. it will mean less access for students was disabilities. no enforcement of basic education and helping us know what is working and more barriers and protecting our students.

and that is all just the reality. you can bet companies. this is from a they will say it will throw this away, we will just move it somewhere else and we haven't seen how they operate. we know that playbook. just because the program will disappear but he broke it so badly and 99% so how is it any different that's how they are on

the entire department they don't know what it's like having resources. they don't know why pell grants are so important they want to break the department and they are not going to let the department go down without a fight. there are a heck of a lot of moms and dads and they do not like. it moms and dads speak up.

and because making clear and we will not let anyone not as they are the president or anyone. >> thinks it's wildly distributed. this is really important. they are in charge right now the

most elite and disappear in this education. in this administration. and it disappeared in rural hospitals and addictions treatment centers. exact about social security shutting down around the country. they are us billionaires will order to put food, this is different. but senator schumer, that's all

that matters right now, that's all matters built for middle-class and families so they can pass on. and they help pass along more help. and they don't close those inside the department of education and their hands on the schools and every other aspect. what they want to the side.

and implement the department of education is really about it easier. the program of the government. and enable the best of regular families and likely to result in waking up one day and local elementary schools owned by a private equity firm. this is and it's eliminated.

>> this is very personal it's not about publix future. i'm a product of public school, my children except that as well. my colleagues highlighted today from a they play a critical role in the france in support pell grants to make sure americans can go to college. it's going to open up for this administration is senator murphy said and it's taken away from public education and we know what it's going to go and it will be a tax break for billionaires.

for will transfer the voucher program and senator murphy mentioned private schools will have the ability to handpick. we've already seen this program and republicans were led by mark education secretary which is attempted to direct them away from public schools. doctors are overwhelming rejected. the michigan state house tried to/public funds to provide tax credit for private schools over $50 million. and voters once again a couple of years ago.

and don't know when it will likely come and public education and put more power into private wells and we know they are going to privatize. no matter the are they have the quality and the decisions spirits is says and government

agencies the system and i want to highlight back the resolution. and on the republican side and it's given us was? >> your holding this side, can you do anything else on this

position? to the nih rejected 100 lawsuits 187% coach. one hundred act was and they are more popular on the reconciliations. so. >> if you use this for the department of educational this will on these terms