John Barrasso

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to McKinley for her hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office. I recognize her efforts and contributions to my office as well as to the State of Wyoming. A native of Maryland, McKinley was raised in Washington, DC. She is currently a junior at the Madeira School in McLean, VA. She has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made her an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of her work is reflected in her great efforts over the last several months. I want to thank McKinley for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have her as part of our team. I know she will have continued success with all of her future endeavors. I wish her all my best on her journey.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a leader grounded in the traditions of the American West from my home State of Wyoming. Ruby Calvert has dedicated a lifetime of service to public broadcasting, most recently serving as the chair of the Board for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As the Corporation for Public Broadcasting prepares to conclude its work following 58 years of service to the American people, I wish to recognize her accomplishments and commend her service to the people of Wyoming. Ruby Calvert's education reflects the strong Wyoming roots that have guided her career in public service. Ruby's mother Dessie Bebout, a legendary World War II veteran and longtime postmaster in Shoshone, instilled in Ruby a love of serving others at an early age. She earned a bachelor of arts in English and secondary education from the University of Wyoming, where she developed the communication skills and instructional grounding that would later define her work in public media. She also completed postgraduate coursework in public administration and broadcasting, further preparing her for leadership roles that required discipline and a clear understanding of public service. Ruby devoted more than three decades to Wyoming PBS, beginning at the station's founding in 1983. Over the years, she served as director of programming, general manager, and president of the Wyoming PBS Foundation. In those roles, she strengthened local production, expanded educational programming, and ensured that our State had a credible public media voice. Her work underscored the fundamental Western belief in local decision-making, that governance should be closest to the people. Ruby understood that public broadcasting works best when it respects local communities, local values, and local accountability. She championed programming that told local stories and served viewers who are often overlooked by national media markets. Ruby has held a long record of public and civic service at the national, State, and local levels. She served two terms on the national PBS Board from 2008 to 2014, where she also worked on the station services, interconnection, national policy advisory, and station diversity committees. Governor Jim Geringer appointed her to the Wyoming State Board of Education, where she served from 2000 to 2006 and chaired the board for 2 years. Earlier in her career, she served on and chaired the Riverton Memorial Hospital Board from 1996 to 2000 and was an officer of the Riverton Rotary for 6 years. Ruby has also served as a trustee of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and currently sits on the museum's education and interpretation advisory committee. In addition, she is vice president of the Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation, established 3 years ago to support 3 Fremont County museums. Her dedicated service also includes time on the board of directors for America's Public Television Stations and on former Senator Mike Enzi's academy appointment committee. That same dedication carried over to her national service. First confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2018 and reconfirmed on a bipartisan basis in 2022, Ruby brought practical experience and fiscal discipline to the CPB Board. Elected chair in 2024, she led during a consequential period for public broadcasting. Guided by respect for taxpayers and a clear understanding of CPB's statutory mission, Ruby demonstrated principled leadership. Ruby and her late husband Edward have three children Chad, Kara, and Chris. I am proud to know Ruby, her family, and to call her a friend. I thank Ruby for her decades of dedication to Wyoming. She served as a national voice for Wyoming's values. Her legacy will endure in the communities she served and in the standard she set for responsible public service. I wish her and her family the very best in the years ahead.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Justice), the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Kennedy), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), and the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), would have voted ``Yea'' and the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker) would have voted ``Yea.''

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) and the Senator from Florida (Mrs. Moody). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to stand with the brave people of Iran. These are people who have been in a fight for their freedom. For the past 2 weeks, they have taken to the streets in 185 different cities in all 31 of the Provinces in Iran. It is unlike anything their country has seen in a generation. Iranians are rejecting the poverty, the repression, and the ruin that have been brought forth by four decades of tyranny. Americans stand with them. I think free people everywhere are watching. From Europe and South America to right here in the United States, we bear witness to the contrast--and it is a dramatic contrast--between the Iranian people's bravery and the Iranian regime's brutality. The regime's answer to these legitimate protests--we have seen it--has been mass murder. Ayatollah Khamenei has unleashed his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and they are doing tremendous damage. He has unleashed them to massacre his own citizens. Credible reports estimate that thousands--perhaps tens of thousands-- are dead in Iran. This surpasses the death toll of previous crackdowns throughout the Iranian regime's history of bloodshed. Tens of thousands of protesters have been thrown into prison, we understand. The regime has shut off internet and phone access. And the regime is doing that because it is anxious to hide its crimes. It has failed. The truth has gotten out. The world is seeing it. For decades, Iran's government has been the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. The world knows it. And now it has turned that same terror onto its own people. I applaud President Trump's leadership on Iran. President Trump's strategy has brought Iran to this breaking point. He withdrew from a failed nuclear deal. He destroyed Iran's nuclear program. He rebuilt the sanctions the previous administration had torn down. President Trump has made a significant difference around the world and certainly in Iran. Maximum pressure has strangled the regime's revenue, and it exposed its weakness. A weak Iran is a safer America. The Ayatollah has a history of paying his henchmen--Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other terrorist groups. Iran kidnaps American citizens and holds them for ransom. We have seen this. Iranian-backed militias killed one in six American troops during the war in Iraq. Today, it continues to target our troops throughout the Middle East. Iran's allies and enablers today are in Beijing and in Moscow. They share Iran's hatred of our freedom and our people. They share its determination to undermine our strength. That is why it is important for us to stand with the people of Iran. Their coconspirator from Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is now behind bars, thanks to a brave military action led by our Commander in Chief. What is happening in Iran today will determine the future of this entire axis of aggression. It is opposed to what we do as Americans, as free people. President Trump has made it very clear where the United States stands: Those who massacre innocent citizens will be held to account. This week, President Trump announced that any country that trades with Iran will face tariffs of 25 percent. We must continue to take action to help the people of Iran. In recent weeks, the United States has successfully seized several tankers that were smuggling oil from Venezuela. What were they doing? They were smuggling it in violation of international sanctions. Well, we must now do the same with Iran's vast so-called ghost fleet and stop them with the same resolve. Those vessels smuggle Iranian oil in defiance of sanctions. Cash from the oil fills the regime's war chest. It funds its murderous ways. Every dollar that we deny Iran's government is one less bullet that they can fire at their own people. The regime in Iran today is weaker, and it is weaker than it has been at any time since their revolution of 1979. The Iranian grip on power is slipping. The world sees Iran as true evil, and we must stand with those who risk everything for freedom. That is what it means when we talk about American peace through strength. When America stands for freedom, our Nation and the entire world is safer. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 300, S. 3627.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk for the motion to proceed.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 584, which is at the desk.

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; that the Kelly amendment to the preamble be considered and agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 519 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 585, which is at the desk.

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order under the provisions of S. Res. 585 following the remarks of my colleagues.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess to then reconvene for pro forma session only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times: Friday, January 16, at 8:30 a.m.; Tuesday, January 20, at 10 a.m.; Thursday, January 22, at 11 a.m.; further, that when the Senate recesses on Thursday, January 22, it stand in recess until 3 p.m. on Monday, January 26; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; finally, that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motion filed today ripen at 5:30 p.m.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the papers with respect to H.R. 1834 be returned to the House of Representatives at their request.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, you know, Republicans have a simple message for the American people, and that is, what we are doing here as Republicans is putting more money in your pockets, creating more opportunities for the American people, for American families, and families all across America are feeling it today. Americans are no longer seeing these sky-high increases in prices like we experienced over the 4 years of the Biden administration--not at all. Five years ago, inflation began to soar because of the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spending plan. As a result, we saw inflation hit 40- year highs, and people suffered all across this country as a result. Well, over the last year, Republicans--now with President Trump and a Republican House and Republican Senate--have eliminated billions of dollars of wasteful Washington spending, and we are seeing that the pressure on prices is easing. Families in more than 40 States are paying less than $3 a gallon for gasoline. In the Presiding Officer's State of Oklahoma and in my home State of Wyoming, it is at $2 for gasoline right now. Lower gas prices, as the Presiding Officer knows, impact everything that a family does. It impacts everything in the country: the cost of groceries, the cost of commuting to work, or keeping going a ranch or family business. Energy prices affect all of it. And lower prices are happening because Republicans are successfully changing the direction of the country. We promised to cut burdensome Biden regulations--regulations that have been punishing, penalizing-- and we are getting it done. We promised to unleash American energy and we have done it. We have delivered on our promises. You know, under the Trump administration, permits to explore for energy right here in America have gone way up. It has been successful. The United States has never produced more energy than we are producing today. Energy dominance is fueling our opportunity economy. It is making a difference in families and in their lives. America is standing by our manufacturers and helping them. And, look, our Working Families Tax Cuts law and the incentives in that are making a real difference for our economy. It is helping businesses build things, building them right here at home in America. It allows for full expensing for factory improvements, new machinery, and farm equipment. We are seeing that in farms and ranches across Wyoming. I heard it at the Farm Bureau. I heard it from our stock growers. It is encouraging businesses to innovate. We have restored full and immediate expensing for research, for development, done right here in America. And we have made those savings permanent. For businesses, that means it is more affordable to build at home in America, not 5 years from now but today, not overseas but in places like Wyoming. And people are responding. These pro-growth policies are already driving a surge of business investment. More investment means more manufacturing at home and more American jobs--jobs that have been shipped overseas by the Democrats in the past. More manufacturing leads to high-paying jobs at home. Construction sites are booming. You are seeing it there in the construction sites. You are also seeing it in the assembly line. More innovation, more production means prices go down. And small businesses are the engine of Americans' prosperity. The Working Families Tax Cuts law helps small businesses all across America. The law makes permanent the 20 percent small business tax deduction. Every Democrat voted against that. Republicans are focused on helping small businesses grow. So American workers are the clear winners in what we have done with the Working Families Tax Cuts law. You know, what we put in that law--no tax on overtime--that means a lot for the miners and the linemen in Wyoming. They are going to be able to keep $1,400 more this year in their paychecks. Now, the Democrat leader, Senator Schumer, was just on the floor, and he talked about firefighters. Well, firefighters work a lot of overtime. They need to stay on the job. They do that. No tax on overtime now--that means more money in their pockets to take home. Firefighters, the nurses in Wyoming--they are happy with what we have done. Chuck Schumer, who was just talking about it, voted against it. The Democrats wanted to raise taxes by $4 trillion. How is that going to help our country? It is not. And then I heard Senator Schumer talk about bartenders. Well, we say no tax on tips. Bartenders get tips as part of their pay, so do waiters, waitresses. Lots of people work with tips. No tax on tips-- every Democrat voted against that. That was taking money--they would rather just take that money for themselves. They like the tips. They want it to go to the tax so they can spend more. We said: no tax on tips. Look, this is money that our workers in America have earned. They ought to be able to benefit from it. It is not going to be wasted away anymore by these unaccountable, unelected, heavyhanded bureaucrats who think they know better than the American people. And it is certainly not going to continue to be stolen like it has been by these fraudsters in Minnesota, while the Democrats look the other way. In all, American workers are going to see higher take-home pay, more money in their pockets, thanks to what we passed with the Working Families Tax Cuts law. Republicans are creating an economy that works for working Americans. We are creating a prosperous America, an America where citizens are free to use their money. If they want to save it, if they want to spend it, if they want to invest it, they get to decide. They want to use it to build a small business, good. They want it to control their family's future, perfect. It is no wonder that the University of Michigan found that consumer sentiment continues to go up. That confidence rose the most among blue- collar workers--the workers who were hit the hardest by the Democrats' unaffordable economy. Republicans were successful in stopping the Democrats' $4 trillion tax increase. We eliminated burdensome regulations. We unleashed American energy. We are getting America back on track. So that is why, today, Americans are seeing more money in their pockets. They are going to see bigger tax refunds. They are going to see more opportunities in their future. That is what Americans voted for last November, and that is what Republicans have delivered. And this economic progress is just the start of the prosperity to come. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, when government wastes taxpayer money, taxpayers have a right to know what happened. And when emboldened criminals steal money intended to help single moms and children in need, taxpayers have a right to be angry. Americans--and I am hearing it in Wyoming, and I am sure you are hearing it, Mr. President, in your home State of Ohio--Americans are infuriated with the staggering amount of fraud unfolding today in the State of Minnesota. The past few weeks have shown just how deep the corruption in Minnesota has turned out to be. Investigators have now uncovered fraud schemes across 14 different Minnesota Medicaid Programs. Most people don't even know there are 14 different Medicaid Programs. There is fraud in all of them in Minnesota. Joe Thompson, U.S. attorney in Minnesota, has spent his career prosecuting fraud, and based on his extensive investigation, he believes criminals have now stolen at least $9 billion--billion with a ``b''--from those Minnesota Medicaid Programs. That is half of the total amount of money Minnesota spends for Medicaid Programs in the State. Today, the fraud is so prevalent that Thompson says the State has ``developed a fraud tourism''--tourism--``industry.'' Can you imagine that--``a fraud tourism industry.'' Here is how these schemes work. Criminals, fraudsters, set up fake businesses for nonprofit organizations. The criminals then claim to provide services--services such as housing, food, and healthcare assistance. Then they bill Medicaid. They bill them for services never provided. They use the names of children and enroll them into the programs. Sometimes the children don't exist. Sometimes the children exist, and they are signed up by parents who are getting paid fraudulently to let them use their children's names. In 2021, taxpayers paid $4.6 million for something called Minnesota's Integrated Community Support Medicaid Program. It is a mouthful. In 2021, $4.6 million. Then the fraudsters hit. Three years later, due to criminal fraud, spending for that program ballooned to more than $170 million. From $4 million to $170 million--that is 37 times as much in just 3 years. Money completely stolen as the Governor and others in Minnesota, the Democrat elected officials, looked the other way. Taxpayers similarly paid $21 million in 2021 for something called Minnesota's Housing Stabilization Services. In the first 6 months of last year, due to criminal fraud, Democrats looking the other way, taxpayers paid nearly three times that amount. A Medicaid Program claiming to help Minnesota children with autism cost $6 million in 2018. By 2023, due to criminal fraud, it went from $6 million to $192 million. Daycare fraud is just one of these brazen schemes where the Democrats in Minnesota look the other way. Last month, an independent journalist visited 10 State-funded daycare sites in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis- Saint Paul. He found no children at the daycare centers--middle of the day, not a single child was there. One year ago, a local reporter visited several of those same sites. The reporter found no children at the daycare centers. They are supposed to be daycare centers, and getting paid to take care of children. Here is one of those sites. This is a sign from one of the sites. It is called--you can't make this stuff up--Quality ``Learing'' Center. It is supposed to be a learning center. They can't even spell ``learning'' right. But that doesn't stop the Democrats in Minnesota who keep shoveling money right to these programs, stealing money from the taxpayers--from the Democrats, going to Democrats who are running these things. It is appalling. The people of the United States are appalled and are furious. This ought to be a red flag for fraud. Why aren't the Democrats who run the place doing anything about it? There were 95 violations for this ``learing'' center alone between 2019 and 2023. Violations occurred. No records on the children. But Minnesota's--run by the Democrats--taxpayer money continued to flow. It is disgraceful. These aren't just one-off abuses. We now know that the fraud schemes used in the State's childcare programs have been used to defraud other social programs as well. Even the New York Times has pointed to this. They say the fraud in Minnesota, run by the Democrats, is ``staggering in its scale and brazenness.'' I don't see any Democrats coming to the floor here today to point out the fraud, talk about what is happening there, how the money has been stolen from people that need it, the services that are needed by people. That means they are not getting it. The Department of Justice has charged 98 defendants in Minnesota Medicaid fraud-related cases. So far, 64 of these have been convicted. Last month, one defendant was found guilty of stealing $14 million from Medicaid. Yes, she did. She stole $14 million from Medicaid. You don't hear a word from the Minnesota Democrats coming to the floor here to talk about it. Nope. She also stole nearly half a million dollars from child nutrition programs. The Democrats come to the floor and say: Oh, we need more money for child nutrition and more money for child healthcare. Why aren't they looking at where the money is being taken from the mouths of the children? For fraudsters, how much money was taken? Let's put this into perspective. The stolen money was supposed to be used to provide 200,000 meals for hungry children who did not get fed. Democrats must think that is fine. The defendant instead sent the hundreds of thousands of dollars overseas, and she bought real estate in Kenya, in Africa. Apparently, that is how business goes in Minnesota with the Democrats who are running that State. This organized, systemic theft has gone on for years under Democrat leadership, and it really exploded under Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The Democrats have permitted schemes stacked upon schemes to drain money meant for those in need. Republicans are not going to allow this massive theft of taxpayer dollars to be ignored. Democrats want us to just look the other way. We are talking about a comprehensive approach to root out the fraud in Minnesota and across the country. Now, our Working Families Tax Cuts law fights fraud. We strengthened eligibility requirements for Medicaid. We ensured that illegal immigrants don't receive taxpayer-funded healthcare. We put in place work requirements for Medicaid and for food stamps. These policies will protect taxpayers and will increase accountability. Additionally, Republicans are conducting aggressive congressional oversight. On Friday, the entire Senate Republican conference demanded Governor Walz explain his actions. We asked nine specific, detailed questions--questions such as why Minnesota failed to adopt key fraud prevention measures. Why aren't they trying to prevent the fraud? Why do they keep looking the other way? These are measures that the Department of Health and Human Services recommended to Minnesota back in May. Nope. Governor Walz wants nothing to do with it. He knew about this widespread fraud. He refused to do anything about it. Senate Republicans are ready to give the Trump administration the manpower it needs to tackle this fraud in Minnesota and wherever else it appears and occurs. The Trump administration has asked the Senate to confirm a new Assistant Attorney General position--a position that will be focused on the fraud--and the Senate will get that person in place and on the job quickly. The Trump administration has taken other bold and decisive actions to stop fraud. To further strengthen enforcement efforts, the Department of Justice has doubled the number of attorneys handling these fraud cases. The Treasury Department is cracking down on businesses in Minnesota for alleged money laundering because that is what is happening. The Department of Health and Human Services under President Trump froze Federal funding for fraud-prone programs in Minnesota. If Senate Democrats care about stopping fraud, why are they preparing to vote today to loosen eligibility and income verifications for ObamaCare subsidies? They ought to want to be tightening these things up. But that is what the Congressional Review Act resolution from Senator Mark Warner of Virginia does, and we are going to vote on it today. Eliminating these vital protections invites more fraud. It means subsidies go to individuals who don't qualify for them. Congress shouldn't make it easier to defraud the American taxpayers. This is the wrong direction to take after the biggest fraud scandal in Minnesota history. Protecting taxpayer dollars should not be a partisan issue. The fraud scandal in Minnesota should be a wake-up call for every American taxpayer. Our Federal Government spends nearly $1.5 trillion each and every year to try to help feed and house and treat and care for vulnerable families and children. Those programs are there for a reason, but Democrats seem to think they are there to be a piggy bank for people who want to steal from the government. Medicaid, food stamps, and other social programs have been called a lifeline. Years of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption have pushed those who truly need the help away from the lifeline and to the back of the line. That is what Democrats have been enabling and continue to enable. Republicans aren't going to stop until the depth of this fraud is uncovered and prosecuted, and Republicans are committed to preventing it from happening again. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn), the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Iowa (Ms. Ernst), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Paul), and the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) would have voted ``Yea.''

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.