John Barrasso

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, 2 months ago, the American people gave Republicans a clear mandate. It is a mandate to get America back on track. Senate Republicans won 53 seats. In the House of Representatives, Republicans are in the majority. And President Trump won a historic victory. He won all seven of the battleground States, and he won the popular vote. The victory was decisive. Starting this week, Republicans are going to begin to deliver on the mandate. You just heard the minority leader in the Senate talk about what Republicans are going to do to help the American people. I want to talk about that because I want to contrast it to what the outgoing President is doing right now in his final days in office. The Democrat President who is leaving is trying to put in place leftwing, dangerous policies--policies that have been rejected by the American voters and policies that are going to make it more expensive for American voters to live their lives. These policies will make America less safe, less prosperous, and more vulnerable. These aren't policies the American people voted for. It seems that the lameduck President is working overtime to undermine the American values and the demands and the wishes of the American people. The outgoing President has actually had his administration sign contracts with government unions so government workers have the right to stay home from work, maybe pretending that they are working, while still getting paid for a job that they are supposed to be doing. To make matters worse, this past Monday, Joe Biden banned American energy production on 625 million acres of Federal waters. The Democrat leader says: Well, we need to do things to lower prices for the American people. That is not going to do it. That is going to make it more expensive for the American people when they use energy to heat their home and to drive their vehicles. Joe Biden and the Democrats are using an obscure law to sabotage American energy independence and American energy production. In the process of doing this, all in the name of the environment and climate, they are going to make it much harder for the American people to make ends meet at the end of the month. In my home State of Wyoming, the Biden administration issued a midnight rule that limits agriculture production and oil and gas leasing in Wyoming on public lands. He did this over the objections of the people of Wyoming. This is one more insult from this outgoing administration to the families and the workers in my home State. So it is not surprising that Joe Biden continues to do more damage as he shuffles out the door. Under his administration, punishing regulations have replaced common sense. His war on American energy independence has hurt us strategically and has caused prices to go up dramatically. On the whole, he has been the most anti-American energy President in the history of this country. Sadly, there are plenty more examples of malicious sabotage by this lameduck President. In December, what did we learn? We learned that the Biden administration was selling off materials purchased to build the wall at our southern border. It sold the materials for pennies on the dollar. Bidding began at $5. This is vindictive and an illegal violation of U.S. law. Joe Biden and Democrats let more than 10 million illegal immigrants cross our border illegally into our country. Among them, we know, were over 300 individuals on the Terror Watchlist. So this morning, when the Democrat leader says ``What are the Republicans doing? What are you starting out doing?'' Well, this week, we are going to be voting on the Laken Riley bill. She was a young woman--an innocent young woman--murdered by an illegal immigrant who came across into this country illegally. She was murdered. It is a bill that has been sponsored and cosponsored by every Republican in the Senate, and now I am happy to report that there are several Democrats who have also signed on to that legislation. We are now talking about something that should have been done in a bipartisan way earlier, but we have an opportunity this week to get a bill passed in the Senate that is absolutely bipartisan and would make a huge difference in trying to protect American citizens from illegal immigrants who are in this country. We are talking about a group of at least 10 million, some of whom are members of criminal cartels, drug dealers, people on the Terrorist Watchlist. Yet, by Joe Biden's actions of selling off materials that taxpayers have paid for--pennies on the dollar--he is now making it harder and more expensive for President Trump to do the job at the border that he was elected to do and for which Joe Biden and his party were rejected at the ballot box. This week, we also see that Joe Biden is rushing to release terrorists from American custody. One week after the New Orleans terrorist attack, this President has set free 11 terrorists from Guantanamo Bay--terrorists connected to the 9/11 attacks on America. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Joe Biden wants to give back a dangerous terrorist and close friend of Osama bin Laden. Here at home, we are seeing another type of Joe Biden jailbreak. Last month, the President pardoned 39 convicts and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 more--more commutations in a single day than the last three Presidents combined. These people are hardened criminals. They include murderers, child abusers, fraudsters, con artists, and corrupt public officials. This ugly action was a disregard for the victims, for their families, and for the facts, and a slap in the face of every law-abiding citizen. This abuse of power undermines our justice system and the power of the Presidency. This week, Joe Biden continued his march of shame by giving America's highest civilian honor to George Soros. Soros is a pro-crime activist. He is a supporter--an active supporter--of defunding the police. George Soros spent $50 million to elect soft-on-crime prosecutors, including the partisan New York City district attorney Alvin Bragg. Biden rewarded Soros for funding the lawyers who launched the legal attacks against his political opponent, President Trump. In his final days in office now, Joe Biden is making America less safe, less prosperous, and more vulnerable. This is the opposite of what the American people voted for in November. There was a column in the opinion page of yesterday's Washington Post Magazine. This is a reflection, an opinion of individuals on what legacy there is going to be for Joe Biden. Presidents are concerned about their legacy. This is by Matt Bai, called ``Biden's legacy: A bridge to nowhere.'' And pulled out on the big line is: Joe Biden ``will be chiefly remembered . . . as a man who didn't know when to leave''--``a man who didn't know when to leave.'' Joe Biden's shelf life has expired. It is time for him to go. In our first days in office, Republicans have started to get America back on track. Working with President Trump, we will put our focus on what the American people care about: stopping the chaos at the border, taking the handcuffs off of American energy production, and putting the safety and the security and the future of all Americans first. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise today to talk about the threats to America's security and our Republican effort to fight back. On New Year's Day, 14 Americans were killed in a heartbreaking, deadly act of terrorism. Dozens of our fellow Americans were seriously injured as well in the carnage. These are people who were just celebrating the new year. Their attacker was a terrorist. He flew an ISIS flag. It was off the back of his truck. As a result of the terrorist attack, he destroyed families, destabilized a community, and broke the hearts of so many, many Americans. The shock of this attack is matched only by the urgency of the message that it sends to our country. The message is this: It is time to restore America's security and America's strength. Lives depend upon it. To keep America safe, we need to refocus our government on the priorities that matter to the people of this Nation. We have seen this in realtime in terms of the danger of the distorted priorities of the last administration. Their priorities were a wide open border, a woke Pentagon leader, a weaponized and distracted FBI, a feckless foreign policy, and, of course, a weak President. The current President's absence of leadership has made America and the world less safe. In 4 short years, our enemies have been emboldened; they have grown stronger; they are more aggressive; and they are more dangerous. America once worked to deny terrorists a safe haven. Now the terrorist strongholds are back. Today, terrorists control Afghanistan. They control parts of Syria. They attack American troops from bases in Yemen. And this is only part of it. Today, we face a serious security situation right here inside the United States. The New Orleans terrorist appears to have been radicalized while here in America. Over the past 4 years, over 300 individuals on the Terror Watchlist--our own Nation's Terror Watchlist--have crossed into our country boldly and illegally. Those 300, they are just the ones that we know about. We also know that Iran--the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism--is actively funding anti-Jewish protests on our college campuses. President Biden did nothing. Instead of showing strength, he kept our borders open and continued to ignore Iran's aggression. Weakness in the White House put us here. Returning to strength will help lead us out. In 13 days, our weak and wavering President will be replaced by a President who is respected for strength and for boldness. We have seen failure up close. Americans will now get a very good look at what strong leadership looks like once again. President Trump and Senate Republicans will act for Americans' safety. The Senate is going to work to confirm President Trump's strong nominees through a fair and speedy process. It is important for the President to have his national security team in place as quickly as possible. Especially right now, personnel is policy, and President Trump's team is ready to act. The President's nominees are not a return to business as usual. No, not at all. They are motivated. They are skilled. They are committed to the safety and security of every American. Our national security depends on confirming them. The New Orleans attack proves it. To my colleagues, I would remind each and every one of them that the Senate's power of advice and consent is no excuse to delay and deny or to try to search and destroy. Last month, a sleeping woman in New York City was set on fire in the subway. She died. Her killer was an illegal immigrant. He was deported under President Trump and snuck back into this country under President Biden. Since 2023, he has lived--this illegal immigrant criminal murderer--in taxpayer-funded shelters here in this country. That is what we have seen the last 4 years. The current President's actions invited and allowed 10 million people to cross into our country illegally. Our cities are overrun and overwhelmed. It was weak border policies that got us here, put us in this position, and it is strong border policies that are going to get us back to safety. That means funding a border wall, deporting illegal immigrant criminals, and restoring successful policies such as ``Remain in Mexico.'' Our goal is to empower President Trump to enforce the law. Republicans are also going to work to restore deterrence through strength and then what we have seen as the politicization of our military. Without a military focused on lethality, we can't be strong. If these actions are taken, peace and safety, security and strength are not just possible, they will be coming very soon. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

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

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I want to rise just to spend a couple of moments discussing a bill that we just passed. It is the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative. The Senate passed this by unanimous consent. This legislation is very important to my home State of Wyoming-- something we have been working on for years. The bill would resolve the management status for thousands of acres of Federal public lands across 7 counties of the 23 counties in my home State of Wyoming. These acres involve what are known as wilderness study areas. These are lands managed solely for preservation, even though they are not included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Bureau of Land Management studies these areas. They study them to determine whether they should be designated as wilderness lands or if these lands should be returned to multiple-use status. Until Congress acts, the Bureau treats all of the land as if it is wilderness. In other words, these lands currently under study are closed off to almost every use. For the people of Wyoming who rely on access to the land to make a living and for recreation, this just doesn't work. In 1991--now, here we are in 2024, but in 1991, the Bureau of Land Management released a report recommending a balanced approach for these Wyoming wilderness study areas. Specifically, the Bureau of Land Management recommended that Congress designate some of the lands as wilderness and release the majority of the lands back to multiple use. Well, here we are over three decades later, and the lands still remain in limbo. That is why some of our counties began to work with me on the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative. I want to thank these Wyoming county commissioners for their collaboration going back 9 years, back to 2015. The bill, which I am proud to sponsor on their behalf, generally follows the recommendations of the 1991 report. It strikes a balance between protecting these special places the people in Wyoming love while expanding the multiple-use areas that our State and local economies rely upon. The bill was developed by the people who live near the land and who will be accessing the land when this bill is enacted. It has been developed really from the ground up by the people who know the land the best. This legislation resolves a decades-old stalemate. The bill is going to increase conservation. It is going to ensure that other lands can be unlocked and for uses that are important to the people of Wyoming and to our economy. I firmly believe the people of Wyoming, not Washington, should decide how to manage these lands. So I want to thank my friend and colleague Senator Wyden from the State of Oregon. We worked closely together. We serve on several committees together. We live near each other where we stay when we are in Washington instead of when he is home in Oregon and I am home in Wyoming. I look forward to continuing to work with him to get these bills passed into law and through the House in the near future. As I see my friend and colleague from Oregon on the floor tonight, I just want to thank him for his years of cooperation and working together as we have on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and thank him for all of his consideration in allowing us to get this bill passed tonight. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following bills: Calendar No. 422, which is S. 1348, and Calendar No. 501, which is S. 1890.

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported title amendment to S. 1890 be considered and agreed to; that the title of S. 1890, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider with respect to S. 1348 and S. 1890 be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendments be considered and agreed to and that the bills, as amended, be considered read a third time en bloc. The committee-reported amendments in the nature of a substitute were agreed to en bloc. The bills were ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and were read the third time.

Mr. BARRASSO. I know of no further debate on the bills, en bloc.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I would just like to say a few words, if I may, about the Senate passing S. 1553. In Wyoming, we refer to it as the RANCH Act, and that stands for Resiliency for Ranching and Natural Conservation Health. This is an important piece of legislation for my home State of Wyoming and for all Western States. Livestock grazing plays a critical role in my State of Wyoming and in a lot of the Rocky Mountain West. It is important to maintain rangeland health, and this is what this bill does. This also supports ranchers' livelihoods. Natural disasters and emergencies occur. They can have a huge impact on so many of our rural communities. In fact, this past summer, we had significant wildfires, and this is just one example of how bad it can get and how quickly. So when ranchers face the loss of the use of their normal public land allotments for grazing, they do need access to emergency pastures in a timely manner for their animals to continue to graze. So the RANCH Act allows for temporary use of vacant grazing allotments during extreme events and disasters, which, regrettably, happen more frequently than we would like. This bill promotes resilient and healthy rangelands. It also supports effective grazing management for the West. The RANCH Act is going to provide land management agencies the authorities that they need to help ranchers and rural communities facing emergency situations. I am so pleased it has passed the Senate today by unanimous consent. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment, where applicable, be agreed to; that the bills, as amended, if amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, as if in legislative session, and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6395, and the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following bills: Calendar No. 596, which is S. 3195, and H.R. 6395.

Mr. BARRASSO

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

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. I want to congratulate him on the success in the passage of the EXPLORE Act. This is great news for every State, all 50 States. It is certainly most important and very important to my home State of Wyoming. As is often the case in this body but not often seen by the press and by the public, this bill is bipartisan. It is a first-of-its-kind recreation package, and it will boost our Nation's outdoor economy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, outdoor recreation added over $1 trillion to our national economy in 2023--$1.2 trillion. That is 2.3 percent of our entire gross domestic product, our Nation's gross domestic product. This is a big deal. In my home State of Wyoming, outdoor recreation contributed over $2.2 billion to our State's economy. That is 4.1 percent of our State's gross domestic product. We have a strong outdoor legacy in Wyoming. We work hard to support the local communities. We try to do that by developing an outdoor recreation economy. We do it all across the State. The EXPLORE Act that we have just passed here in the Senate-- previously passed the House and will soon be on the way to the White House--is going to help Wyoming and help the rest of the Nation increase access to the great outdoors. This legislation does several things. It streamlines and simplifies the permitting process for outdoor guides and outfitters. Chairman Manchin and I began working on this legislation the last Congress. It is the result of years of work, bipartisan work. Senators east and west, north and south are committed to this legislation. It includes bills from many Members on the House floor as well as the Senate floor. For example, this bill includes the Federal Interior Land Media Act. It is called the FILM Act. The FILM Act modernizes film and photography permitting on public lands. Now, you think that wouldn't be an issue, but it is. What we have seen is, currently, anyone who uploads a video at our national parks of the adventures they may have had as tourists-- they put it up on a social media platform--and I know, Mr. President, your social media platform is heavily subscribed. People turn to it regularly. Well, they also do that at the national parks, put things on social media posts. Well, you know, in national parks right now, you have to obtain a permit and pay a fee. You wouldn't think that would be the case. The Park Service hasn't enforced that requirement consistently, but it has been fining people whose videos become very popular. So you would find yourself in that position, Mr. President, had you gone to the national parks and posted something, knowing how popular your videos have become. There are examples of families who have been fined by the Park Service for posting their vacation videos on YouTube. That is not right. So this bill updates the law by requiring Agencies to focus on actual impacts to park resources. That is not visitors' videos. The FILM Act is a win for the First Amendment and for commonsense management of our public lands. This piece of legislation--there are lots and lots of very good component parts of this. It also includes something called the Connect Our Parks Act. That bill ensures visitors to our national parks have access to cellphone service--realizing how vital that is to save someone's life if they find themselves lost, stranded, or they can't find their way back. It directs the National Park Service to assess where broadband and cellular service is lacking in each park. The Park Service will then develop a plan on how to improve these services over time. This has been long overdue. The legislation also includes something called the CAPE Act. The CAPE Act is a conservation victory for, specifically, Grand Teton National Park's native bighorn sheep. Of course, Grand Teton National Park is in my home State of Wyoming. These iconic animals are threatened by nonnative mountain goats. Through coordinated efforts with the U.S. Park Service, volunteers play a major role in helping to conserve the bighorn sheep by culling the nonnative goats. Current law gives discretion to the Park Service to donate the meat obtained during these wildlife management activities. Unfortunately, the rest of the animal goes to waste. The CAPE Act would allow the Park Service to donate the hides and the horns to the volunteers who help protect our native bighorn sheep. Finally, let me conclude by reminding all those viewing today that Americans love to recreate outdoors. Whether it is hunting or fishing, hiking or skiing, we need to support these and many other activities by modernizing the very way that the government manages them. The EXPLORE Act does this, and I am glad the Senate has passed it. I am grateful for the cosponsorship and the hard work and the work together I have done with Senator Manchin, and I am so very grateful that Senator Cruz would come to the floor and, in such a gracious way, help us with the passage of this important piece of legislation on the Senate floor today. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, reserving the right to object, this bill does two things my friend and colleague from Nevada mentioned. It would eliminate multiple-use management from hundreds of thousands of acres of Federal land. It would also grant authority to the Secretary of the Interior to convey thousands of acres of Federal land to local governments in Nevada. Other Western States are trying to do this exact same thing. Former Majority Leader Harry Reid cut special deals in the past like this for Nevada. I am happy to work with my friend and colleague from Nevada, but Congress should not enact another special deal for Nevada when other Western States are seeking similar legislation. Therefore, I object.

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, first, I want to express my gratitude to Senator Cruz for his very gracious effort today on the floor of the Senate. You talk about a champion, a mature, experienced, reliable, and responsible voice in this body--that is Senator Cruz from Texas. What he just did today in deciding to not object to a piece of legislation that we worked on for so long was the right thing to do, and we credit him for that. We also stand here saying that we want to do everything we can to ensure that his major piece of legislation is one that does get passed--out of Senate previously--out of the House, the TAKE IT DOWN legislation, and take it down to the White House, where it gets signed into law. It will be such a benefit to so many Americans. We stand united in this Senate behind Senator Cruz, who will soon be the chairman of the Commerce Committee, to thank him for his efforts and his help and his assistance on this bill today in this body. I also rise to congratulate my friend and colleague Senator Manchin, who will be leaving this body, on the success here today. If the Senator from West Virginia would like to head over to thank and shake hands and walk in front of me to congratulate and thank the Senator from Texas--

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, reserving the right to object. This bill is not the right response to address the permitting challenges at the Department of the Interior. The bill would create a duplicative database, and the database would lack privacy protections for sensitive business information. I am committed to addressing permitting challenges. This bill is not the right answer, and, therefore, I object.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise today to pass important legislation in the State of Wyoming. This bill has only to do with Wyoming and no other State. It is H.R. 3415, the Pilot Butte Power Plant Conveyance Act. It allows the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to transfer the ownership of the facility to stakeholders in my home State of Wyoming. The Pilot Butte power plant is owned by the Federal Government, but it has not been in service since 2008. It closed when it became too costly to operate. So it has been sitting idle there in Wyoming in a small area of 2\1/2\ acres for the past 15 years. It is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and they are planning to demolish it. To be clear, we are talking about a mothballed hydroelectric structure. We are talking about 2 acres of Bureau of Reclamation land. This is essentially 1\1/2\ football fields in size. That is how small of a footprint this is. Well, the Midvale Irrigation District in Pavillion, WY, reached out to the Wyoming congressional delegation--all three members of the delegation--saying that they were willing to take ownership of this power plant that has been sitting idle for 15 years and ready to be demolished. Midvale Irrigation proposed this transfer as a solution to provide energy to local users. The local people right there came to us. They said that they will make the needed repairs to bring this power station back into operation. If enacted, the bill will enable the facility to be revived after years and years of neglect and sitting idle. Communities in my home State of Wyoming will once again be able to get electricity from this local source of hydropower. This transfer is the only option to save the facility for future use. Without this bill, the Bureau of Reclamation plans to demolish the facility. As a result, it is going to cost the American taxpayers over $7 million to destroy this property. This bill that I have introduced, sponsored by the entire Wyoming delegation, is a win-win. The American people will no longer own a mothballed facility that is going to cost $7 million to demolish, and the people of Wyoming will be able to put the hydropower plant back into use. Now, there has been a lot of conversation about the consultations and discussions that I have had with community members and stakeholders. I have met directly with both the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapahoe Tribes regarding this specific bill and the hydropower plant. Since February--February of this year--my office has been actively engaged in discussions with all parties involved. This summer, my staff visited the facility and met with all of the stakeholders. Everyone wants to see the facility operating again, and I am confident that the people of Wyoming will properly manage this facility in a way that benefits everyone in the local community. The House of Representatives passed this legislation unanimously back in February. It has the support of the entire Wyoming delegation. So, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3415, which was received from the House; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, this 2\1/2\ acre piece of land is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation--not owned by the Tribe, not owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation. It is a title transfer to create an energy source for local stakeholders. This is all about my home State of Wyoming. We are talking 2\1/2\ acres. I understand the Senator from Minnesota is making this objection on her behalf as well as the behalf of the Senator from New Mexico. Let me assure the Senators from Minnesota and New Mexico that I will be vigilant and watching out for bills that impact at least 2\1/2\ acres in their home States. For example, the Senator from New Mexico, right now, has a bill, Cerro de la Olla, and it was reported favorably out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Madam President, that bill established 12,000 acres--not 2\1/2\ acres--12,000 acres of wilderness in New Mexico. This bill in my home State--not New Mexico, not Minnesota--Bureau of Reclamation land is 2\1/2\ acres. As I said, I will be vigilant and watching out for bills that impact at least 2\1/2\ acres in their home States. And I consider their bills now dead until the Pilot Butte issue is resolved. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, could I clarify for the Chair, Calendar No. 304 was misread as 301. It is 304, which is S. 961.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc: Calendar No. 595, S. 3123; Calendar No. 644, S. 5125; Calendar No. 306, S. 2018; Calendar No. 649, H.R. 5443; Calendar No. 304, S. 961; and Calendar No. 613, S. 4209.

Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments, where applicable, be considered and agreed to; that the bills be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. BARRASSO

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

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, the new Senate Republican majority begins on January 3, 2025. So our day one starts in 3 weeks. Republicans are going to enter the next Congress with a long ``fix it'' list on behalf of the American people. And at the top of the list is an agenda to lower costs and to restore American energy dominance. Prices today, we know, are 20 percent higher than they were 4 years ago, and, just this morning, we learned, once again, that prices have gone up in November. And we know the culprits, the problem behind the high prices: wasteful Washington spending. And we have seen a lot of it the last 4 years. The other reason, of course, is the Democrats throttling American energy production. Republicans are going to fix the fiscal insanity of the last 4 years. We will put Americans--not Washington bureaucrats--back into the driver's seat. We are going to start by repealing the Biden car bribe. This is something that President Trump strongly supports, and he is supporting what we are promoting. He has asked for it. He has campaigned on it. Eliminating this car bribe by the Biden administration--it is one of the most wasteful policies we have seen from this administration over the last 4 years. It is the Democrats' $7,500 subsidy for people buying electric vehicles. It was included in their reckless tax-and-spend legislation. It received zero--zero--Republican votes, not a one. It is an attempt by the Democrats to bribe the American people to go along with their unpopular climate fantasy. It is a welfare check for wealthy elites and for green corporations. It is a giveaway to communist China, which controls key parts of the EV supply chain. We were initially told by the Joint Committee on Taxation that these subsidies would cost about $14 billion. Well, the pricetag has continued to tick up since then. Today, there have been some revised estimates, and they have ballooned to projected costs of way over $300 billion. That is right, over $300 billion. And that is for vehicles that most Americans don't want, can't afford, and don't work for them or their families. The auto dealers in Wyoming tell me it takes much, much longer to try to sell these things compared to the traditional gas-powered vehicles. They say they can't even sell them at a loss, and they are stockpiling them on the lots. Less than 10 percent of the new car sales in America last year were EVs. The sale figures have been abysmal. EVs lost market share. It is hard to believe. They actually lost market share in 2024. So you have these carmakers from around the country who are hemorrhaging cash. They are losing tons of money. And we have autoworkers who have lost their jobs. The CEO of Ford says his company is projected to lose $5 billion this year on their EV market. Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, is also in the ditch. In August, it announced plans to lay off thousands of autoworkers at its plants in Michigan. Yet, last week, it won a $7.54 billion loan--a loan, an additional loan--from the Biden administration, over $7.5 billion for something that is failing. Joe Biden is leaving the White House the same way he led it: by doubling down on failure. America now has fewer manufacturing jobs today than it did last year. And do you want to know the dirtiest secret of Democrats in terms of the Biden car bribe? It sends taxpayer money to communist China. But the original law was clear. It said, if your EV was made with Chinese batteries or used their critical minerals, it would then be ineligible--not eligible--for taxpayer-funded subsidies. Chinese batteries, Chinese components can't get any of the subsidy benefits. Senator Manchin actually wrote that provision into that bill. Republicans still voted against the entire bill. We thought it was a waste of taxpayer dollars. Joe Biden signed it, and then EV sales stalled out. So what did the Democrats do? They double-dealed. They could have made it easier to mine more critical minerals in America, to use our own supply chain. But, no, President Biden decided to overrule the China ban. The Department of the Treasury came out with lax rules on sourcing materials, meaning that communist China will benefit from American tax dollars. It also means that American workers will pay a higher price for a policy and for vehicles they don't want. We need to go back to a consumer-driven, free-enterprise system. This is the United States of America. We should never be dependent on dictators and despots, like those that we have in communist China. Electric vehicles make sense for some people, but they are not an option for all people. Consumers have legitimate anxiety about the range of these vehicles, about costly repairs, and about extremely expensive insurance, because, often, a minor ding on one of these electric vehicles, with damage done, well, they call it a total and complete loss of the vehicle, not something that can be repaired. That is why the insurance is much higher on electric vehicle than traditional vehicles. And, frankly, if EVs were better options, then government wouldn't need to bribe Americans all across the country to buy them or to bribe businesses to build them. Electric vehicles are a luxury item. They are toys with severe limitations. They are not must-have means of transportation. Taxpayers shouldn't be forced to pay for the cost of luxury vehicles. It is wrong for taxpayers, tax dollars, and for working American families to subsidize the car purchases of the wealthy elites. The American people have proven that they refuse to be force-fed these electric vehicles. They can't be pushed into buying, can't be bribed into buying them. ``No, thank you,'' said the American consumer. But that is exactly what the Democrats have been trying to do--to ban traditional vehicles and to bribe people to buy electric vehicles. Democrats want to pick what you can drive. They want to punish everyone who doesn't want to do it--all as a result of their smug, moral superiority. Well, I have a message for my colleagues. It is the same message that Americans sent in November. When taxpayers and voters went to the polls, they said: Government--big government, Democrat government--does not know better than we the people. Senate Democrats don't know better than we the people. We the people have a right to decide what is best for us, what is best for our families. The incoming Trump administration and the Republican Senate majority will get rid of the Biden car bribe and the Biden car ban. We are going to embrace free enterprise and fiscal responsibility. We will lower prices for the American families and restore America's energy independence and dominance. We are going to strengthen our manufacturing. We are going to bring back good-paying jobs. We are going to put Americans back in the driver's seat. I yield the floor.

Mr. BARRASSO

Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I spent Thanksgiving in the Middle East with 400 members of our Wyoming National Guard. These heroes come from, actually, 40 different hometowns all across the Cowboy State-- small towns, our larger towns, east, west, north, south. I spend every Thanksgiving with deployed Wyoming troops. I go to thank them--to thank them for all they are doing to keep all of us safe and free. Most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving surrounded by their loved ones. These soldiers spent Thanksgiving not with family and neighbors but in the neighborhood of America's enemies. Our enemies today are much more dangerous, aggressive, menacing, and powerful than they were just 4 years ago. For the past 4 years, Americans have seen the current administration surrender, squander, and sell out our Nation's strategic advantages. This administration stopped enforcing sanctions on Iranian oil sales that allowed Iran to sell discounted oil to China. Iran got richer and more menacing as a result of all the money they got, and China got more powerful by being able to buy cheap energy. Well, the Wyoming soldiers that I had a chance to visit, they are strong, they are tough, and they are brave. The thing that is so interesting, though, is I believe they are being failed by a Congress that hasn't done its job. It is incumbent upon Congress to make sure that all of these soldiers, each and every one of them, is fully equipped to protect our freedoms. The Senate should have passed the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act months ago. It increases troop pay, modernizes our military. It also refocuses our forces on specific military hard power, instead of this politically correct woke policy that the military has been working under for the past several years. Right now, high prices are crushing military families. Prices are 20 percent higher right now than they were 4 years ago. And, as a result, one in seven servicemembers today--today--relies on food stamps or food banks just to support their families. This, of course, has a direct impact on our problems in terms of trying to recruit more and more members into our military. The pay raise means that a stronger military and a stronger America will be there on the world stage. Now, as for military modernization, we need to overcome 4 years of weakness. The current administration has failed to keep us safe. It allowed 10 million illegal immigrants to cross over our southern border. It allowed a Chinese spy balloon to fly across America. It led a deadly and disastrous retreat from Afghanistan. And it slashed away America's hard power. Under the Democrats, America became a nation in retreat. Well, the National Defense Authorization Act reverses that. It equips our military. It equips them to meet the challenges of a dangerous world. So why hasn't the Senate--this body right here that is here today in session--why hasn't it yet passed the National Defense Authorization Act? Well, the problem isn't the product; it is the process. In the final weeks of their majority, the Democrats in the Senate have prioritized voting to confirm radical judges rather than protecting our Nation's security. As one Democrat Senator said last month, Democrats are ``hell-bent,'' he said, on getting liberal judges confirmed. Why can't Democrats show that same level of passion for supporting our troops? Democrats' dithering and delaying--it is downright dangerous. It sends a terrible message that America's deterrence isn't credible. And as a result of the November elections, that is about to change. The Senate is going to change. The American people voted for change. They voted to return to a nation that is safe and strong. In less than 60 days, America will once again have a President and a Senate majority that prioritizes making America safe and strong again. I yield the floor.