Cory Booker

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Yes. I yield the floor.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I want to talk about a real crisis in America that we are not talking enough about. We have a farm crisis going on in the United States of America. It is facing our entire country. It is facing our rural areas, and it is facing some of the most noble Americans in our country who are part of a great tradition and a great heritage that is vital to all Americans. We are in the midst of a farm crisis, and we are in the midst of a nutrition crisis. And despite the need for Congress to step up to this moment, to meet this crisis, and pass a bold farm bill, it is not happening right now. Since we passed our last farm bill in 2018, we have lost over 150,000 farms--most of them small farms. That is an average of 51 farms we have lost every single day for the past 8 years. And the farmers who have managed to hang on are telling me that the economics of farming simply do not work for them anymore, and they fear that we are on the brink of another 1980s-type of farm crisis. I am hearing more and more now from farmers about the reality that most of them have to seek off-farm employment just to be able to keep their families afloat. Now, this trend has been going on for years. It is a trend that we saw under Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents. It demands a bipartisan response. I know the policies of this administration, though, are making the situation worse for farmers--not better. They are acting as an incendiary to this horrible fire. We see this President's reckless tariff policies have driven up costs for farmers; President Trump's reckless war in Iran, which closed the Strait of Hormuz, drove up costs for our farmers; USDA's decision to cancel critical programs that farmers were relying upon such as local food purchasing programs for schools and food banks--these are all things that have severely hurt our farmers. USDA's staffing cuts and field office closures have further injured our farmers, and I could go on with that list. But the heart of this problem that our farmers are facing, the heart of the problem is the massive amount of corporate concentration that has taken place in our food system over many decades as both Republican and Democratic administrations stopped enforcing our Federal anti-trust laws. Farmers are now being squeezed by monopolies on all sides. A handful of companies now control the inputs that farmers need like seeds and fertilizers and drive up those prices. And at the same time, farmers now have very few buyers for their products, and so they are not being paid a fair price for their crops and for their animals. Back in 2018, as I worked on my first farm bill here in the Senate, I went on a tour to meet with farmers--not just in New Jersey but also in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. Some of the farmers I met with were Democrats and some Republicans, but what I heard consistently from all of them was that our current farm system was not working for farmers. Farmers and ranchers told me about how decades ago they would have many buyers competing and bidding up the price for their livestock, but now, today, they often only had one buyer who was able to dictate a low purchase price undercutting them as they made more profit. I heard heart-wrenching stories about farmers whose land has been in their families for many generations but were now on the verge of losing their farm. Farmers told me about how the current system was created to keep farmers growing commodity crops like corn and soy for animal feed rather than healthy foods to feed their communities they cared about because nearly all of our farm bill subsidies and safety net programs are designed to benefit big farmers growing a handful of commodity crops but not to support the farmers that grow the food that people eat like fruits and vegetables. And these farmers were right. While our Federal dietary guidelines tell us that 50 percent of our diet should consist of fruits and vegetables, less than 10 percent of our farm bill agricultural subsidies actually go to farmers that grow fruits and vegetables. And that has led us to the second crisis I mentioned: The nutrition crisis in the United States of America. Diet-related chronic disease is now the No. 1 killer of Americans. Every single day in America, 2,700 people die from diet-related diseases. That is nearly a million Americans dead every year from what we eat. Half of adults are now prediabetic or diabetic--one in four of our teenagers are. Half the children alive in this country today are projected to be obese by the time they are 35. Cancer rates in young people are climbing. Dementia rates across our country are climbing. And a chorus of doctors and researchers are now tying this explosion of diet-related diseases directly to the ultraprocessed foods Americans are eating every single day. And so what our farmers need right now--and what all Americans need-- is for Democrats and Republicans to come together and pass a much bolder bipartisan farm bill that provides immediate assistance to our farmers--the assistance that they desperately need. We are losing farmers every day, and this body and the House and the President are not rising to meet this crisis. Farmers are wondering: Who is fighting for us? We need to show them that we are--in concrete policies that address their issues, that address this farm crisis, and for the millions of Americans suffering from preventable diseases that affects the nutrition crisis too. Farmers in America--our fellow Americans that farm--need a farm bill that provides substantial emergency financial assistance to all of our struggling farmers--and especially our specialty crop farmers who have so far been shortchanged in this administration. Farmers need a farm bill that puts more money into conservation programs and begins to reform those programs to better serve farmers and help them diversify their farms. And farmers need a farm bill that makes other policy changes to help our farmers and ranchers--policy changes like restoring mandatory country-of-origin labeling, reforming our Federal checkoff programs that are so broken, strengthening the Packers and Stockyards Act to protect our farmers and ranchers from abuses by big meatpacking companies creating a real farm safety net for specialty crop farmers in America. Farmers need a bold farm bill that reinstates funding for healthy food purchases from our local farmers for schools and food banks. Farmers need a bold farm bill that scales up programs like SNAP Double Bucks that purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from small farmers and gets those healthy foods to families that are participating in the SNAP program. Not only would a bold farm bill like that be a lifeline to our farmers, but it would be an example of using food as medicine and provide healing--healing--to Americans suffering from diabetes and other diet-related diseases. But unfortunately, how did the House of Representatives--the Republican-led House respond in this moment? Well, they passed a farm bill that fails to meet this crisis, that fails to lead when people are looking for help, that fails to meet the needs of our farmers and our families. They passed a farm bill that would hurt our farmers by preempting State laws such as Prop 12 that create new markets for our farmers. The Senate now has to do better. Democrats and Republicans in this Chamber must come together. We must put aside poison pills such as Prop 12 preemption and pesticide preemption and negotiate a bold farm bill that helps our farmers and families and meets this crisis that has been growing and growing and growing. And at a time when we are seeing President Trump's policies causing food crisis to increase at an alarming rate, that bold farm bill must reverse the destructive Republican SNAP cuts that already left nearly 1 million of our children today going to bed hungry. I hope that we rise to this occasion in the Senate. I hope that we are a nation that knows our fundamental health and well-being rely on American farmers. They protect our heritage. They are stewards of our land. They are the hope for a better, healthier future. Let's stand together, join together, and be bold, be strong, and bring about a better deal--a new deal--for our farmers.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, it might surprise you, despite the words of my colleague, that pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act and all budget resolution discipline, everything that applies, I move to waive all my good colleague's points of order for the purposes of the pending measure. And I ask for the yeas and nays. Vote on Motion

Mr. BOOKER. Thank you very much. I urge my colleagues to vote for independence, oversight, and accountability.

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I rise to offer an amendment that would fund the independent Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. I trust independent offices to provide oversight. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman would conduct random inspections of detention facilities, receive and investigate complaints from detainees, and make recommendations for improvement. The office was funded by us in a bipartisan appropriations bill each year since 2019, but it was unilaterally shut down by Donald Trump. My amendment would reopen the office, giving it full funding, and give it teeth to provide oversight of private corporations like the GEO Group which taxpayers are giving over a billion dollars to run our immigration system. I believe it needs oversight and accountability; that is the job of Congress. In Newark, NJ, right now what is happening at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center owned by GEO Group, is a moral stain on our Nation. They are providing inadequate access to medical care, substandard food, no ability to communicate with their families. There should be independent eyes looking at that and investigating it.

Mr. BOOKER. I call up my amendment No. 5803 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the restoration of fairness and equality in our country with this. I yield the floor. Vote on Motion to Proceed

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, in 1974, Congress passed a landmark piece of legislation, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The ECOA was put in place to protect people from what was widespread discrimination in getting and using credit. Congress knew how vital credit is to Americans, and they worked to expand that not just to women but also to minorities. In the five decades since, the ECOA has always protected people not only when they get a loan but from unfair treatment once they have it-- whether they can renew the loan, whether the terms change during the loan, and more. Now, look, as recently as 2022, a study found that women in America paid an extra $40.3 million annually in higher premiums for auto loans they received at car dealers compared to men. This is wrong. We have a nation on the principle that all are created equal and deserve equality. And so, despite these problems, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, our Nation's consumer watchdog, saw that banks and lenders were closing more accounts and doing more unequal things, and they acted-- again, because credit discrimination is not just about getting the credit you need; it is about making sure you have fair treatment. These decisions to deny credit, to revoke credit, to charge unfair prices are wrong, and we all know that. We know that when people have challenges, we should be there to make sure there is equality. In 2022, the CFPB took action to make sure the laws and the practices that are at the heart of fairness in our country were put into place. Unfortunately, the Trump administration scrapped the ruling that helped to make sure we get to equality.

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 398, S.J. Res. 154.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I am grateful to have this opportunity, and it really is about the fact that very soon, my colleague from California Adam Schiff will be bringing another War Powers Resolution to the floor. This is the sixth time that a group of us has said every single week we are going to continue to bring these War Powers Resolutions to the floor. And why? Clearly, we know the outcome of the vote. Why are we doing this? Well, we are doing this because it has almost been a month now that this Nation has been at war. In fact, we are coming up to that very 60-day mark. And we are a nation that has now pledged tens of billions of dollars we have spent in an overseas war where 14 servicemembers have died, where hundreds more have been injured, where our President has given multiple different reasons for going into this war, and none of them have been achieved. In other words, there has been no regime change--the regime is more extreme; their incredible race towards highly enriched fissile material is still there in their country; and we are seeing a nation that is still showing military capabilities. Yes, we have degraded their navy and their air force, but now, with low-cost drones, they are still able to inflict a lot of damage to their neighbors, to our allies. And they have closed the Strait of Hormuz--something that was not going on before but has caused a global oil shock that is hurting Americans at home. Tens of billions of taxpayer dollars--Americans spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars--all to support President Trump's folly--costly, tragic folly. And what do we do? We are bringing these War Powers Resolutions to the floor to force this body not to treat this like another normal day. American soldiers are in the line of fire. This is not normal that a President for almost 60 days has been able to conduct a war with this body being silent on it. In fact, today, we are having our first ever hearing with the Secretary of Defense, and he is saying that this war is going well. Well, by what account? The American people are against this war. The American people are paying the price for this war. American soldiers are dying for this war. Hundreds more have been injured for this war. We see a crisis in the Middle East that is growing and not subsiding. So this is yet another attempt of ours to force this body to confront an ill-gotten war, a war that has pulled us into further and deeper crisis, yet another quagmire in the Middle East. I want to make a couple of points. The War Powers Act says that a President can act in defense of this Nation if it is an imminent threat. We have not seen that. But many people have been saying that the reason why he doesn't need to come to this body for a declaration of war is because of the War Powers Act. So let's assume that he actually did have an imminent provocation-- which I say it was not there, but let's assume for argument's sake that there was an imminent threat to the United States of America that this President had to act upon. That would have triggered 60 days. The Senate now should be either acting on a war declaration or the Senate should be waiting for the President to ask for 30 more days. That is one of the two choices according to the legislation, the law of the United States of America. But just moments ago, in an open hearing, we had the Secretary of Defense say: Well, no, no, no, that 60 days is paused because we are in a cease-fire. That is illogical and not in alignment with the law of our land. We have an active military blockade going on. That is actually an act of war by our own laws and regulations. We have an area of this nation-- the Strait of Hormuz--under a blockade, an act of war. It is demanding aircraft carrier groups. It is demanding thousands of U.S. soldiers engaged and on the frontline. The cease-fire does not somehow escape his necessity to come to Congress after 60 days. To use that as some kind of escape valve to further escape scrutiny, debate, oversight, accountability to this body is unacceptable. I have heard some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle-- the Senator from Alaska, the Senator from North Carolina, the Senator from Maine, many of my colleagues, the Senator from Utah--say that the 60 days, to them, matters. So here is a bipartisan conclusion. We are about to go out on a recess. The question is, What will we do as a body when the President has not come forward after 60 days of this military conflict to ask for any kind of authority? This was not the constitutional demand of our Nation. This is not the law that we have sworn an oath to uphold. This is insanity that we--the most powerful deliberative body in the world that has a constitutional obligation where war powers sit with us--for us to do nothing, not to demand that the President come before us and make his case and let there be a vote of whether we declare war or not. We are at war. Sixty days have passed, and we are still doing nothing. So I am going to do everything I can with my colleagues to continue to force this body to confront this failing war where we are losing American soldiers; where hundreds have been injured; where we are spending tens of billions of dollars; where the regime is more radical and more extreme; when they still have the highly enriched fissile material in their country; where they have new capabilities that have been exposed, like their ability to cause havoc with low-cost drones; and where they have now choked the Strait of Hormuz, causing shocks around the country. And we are doing nothing? That is unacceptable. I want to make this last point. Donald Trump has engaged us in this war to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon. But remember that in 2015, we had the JCPOA. We had our NATO allies, European allies, Russia, China, and Iran all agreeing that Iran would, No. 1, ship out of country their highly enriched uranium, which they did; that all of their enrichment facilities, from Natanz to Fordow, would be open to snap inspections and constant surveillance, which it was; that their mining facilities would be under surveillance and snap inspections as well, which it was. Iran's ability to enrich uranium over a certain amount was stopped. President Trump criticized that deal and ripped it up, and at that moment, Iran raced to enrich uranium that put them closer and closer to breakout, and that was the pretext that Donald Trump said he invaded. It was one of the many pretexts of what he said is the reason why he started this war. Well, he caused that problem, ripped up a deal, and now he is racing to negotiate some way to get back to many of the same aspects of that very deal. This is what the President has done. He created the crisis, declared war to stop the crisis he created, and still has not solved that crisis. This is the great dealmaker. This is the person that said they would keep us out of wars like this that has gotten us into those wars. And now we have no off-ramp, while Americans are suffering with higher prices, higher costs, and billions of dollars of taxpayer money that could be used to reduce the deficit, reduce prescription drug costs, reduce the cost of health insurance or other things that are high priorities for Americans. So today, instead of ignoring this problem, we are going to force a vote. My colleague Adam Schiff will bring forward a War Powers Resolution. This is a sad moment for this body. Sixty days is about to pass, and we are doing nothing to demand any kind of oversight, any kind of accountability, or even following the War Powers Act by the letter of the law. We are allowing the President to flaunt our Constitution, to flaunt our laws. The only thing necessary for the Constitution to be so trashed and broken is for the good people of this body to do nothing. We are about to celebrate 250 years of our Nation's history. When the Constitution was created, this body was created, as Federalist Papers No. 47 says, to be a check on our President, to ensure that they don't overstep their powers, to assure that they don't abuse their office. That is the constitutional calling for this body. There are soldiers in harm's way right now defending the Constitution with their lives. The least we could be doing here in this body is upholding the Constitution with the moral fiber of our being. I thank the Presiding Officer for the recognition, and I yield the floor.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I know the Senate is running behind, and I wanted to jump in, but I do invite the pages to bring a podium for me when they are ready. The pages so rarely get recognition, but without them, where would we be? I am grateful.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague Tammy Baldwin for bringing this War Powers Resolution to the floor and for forcing it onto the Senate. By its own prerogative, the leadership on the Republican side did not want to have a debate or a discussion about a war that is affecting every single American. Remember, the problem we have right now, which I will talk about, is not just the actions of a President; it is the inaction of this body. Today, what my colleague is doing is saying: No, we will not have business as usual. We will not just go about as if there is not a cataclysmic war going on. We will not go about as if we are not spending billions of dollars a week overseas that are desperately needed resources here at home. My colleague is saying: No, we are not going to let the Senate operate as business as usual. We are going to force a debate and a discussion and a vote because the Senate is abdicating its responsibility--its constitutional responsibility--in that matters of war should be decided here and not unilaterally by one person, by the President of the United States. Explicitly stated in the Constitution is that those powers lie with us. What we have seen in the U.S. Senate is one of the worst examples in the history of our country of a surrendering of our constitutional responsibility, a surrendering of our power to a President who is abusing it. Now, those abuses are obvious. Those abuses are now seen forever for the historical record in that this President told us we were going to war because of multiple different reasons. Regime change. That hasn't been accomplished. We now have a more extreme regime. Because of nuclear concerns. Well, the ultra-enriched fissile material is still there in that country. He said that we are going to war to protect civilians. He threatened them: If you continue to kill your civilians who are protesting for democracy, the USA will jump in. Well, we now are seeing more civilian deaths, including a school full of children, and a more secure regime. He said his goals and his end in this--he stated them clearly: We will attain unconditional surrender. Well, that is clearly not the case when you are rushing off to Pakistan to try to negotiate an end. This is a President who has failed in everything he has said about this war that he wanted to achieve. If anything, he has shown the Iranians that they have more power, that this regime has more leverage against Americans. First and foremost, they found out that--as we send multimillion- dollar weapons into that country to bomb and to achieve an erosion of their navy and their army, they have actually shown now that their low- cost, inexpensive drones can still inflict maximum damage; that when the President bragged about having control of the air, our planes were still being shot down. This is a President who now has seen Iran realize: Wait a minute, we have tremendous leverage here; we can choke the Strait of Hormuz and cause a global economic shock--the likes of which we have never seen and an oil shock here at home that we have never had. There is no way to look at this war as if there is any modicum of success, when you have the Iranians holding more cards than they did at the beginning of the war, still have their highly enriched uranium, have a more extreme, entrenched regime, and have us rushing to try to negotiate to get something out of this horrible ``excursion,'' as the President has called it. And not only has this cost tens of billions of dollars, but it has cost American lives. We are seeing it already as, recently, a brave U.S. servicemember, who survived a deadly attack by Iran in Kuwait, spoke up. This attack killed 6 servicemembers and injured 20. One of the injured soldiers stated that the story Secretary Hegseth was telling the public that the building was ``fortified,'' and that one of the drones just ``squeaked through'' is a falsehood, our military servicemember said. The servicemember said: I want people to know the unit was unprepared to provide any defense for itself. It was not a fortified position. Now, you would think, if a U.S. member of our armed services is shedding factual light on our unpreparedness for a war that our President rushed us into--unprepared, no plan, no strategy--that the one body that was responsible for providing check, balance, oversight, and accountability, the U.S. Senate, wouldn't just sit back and do nothing. But that is exactly what this body has done. Republican leadership has done nothing to call for open hearings where we could ask questions, which we can show those U.S. servicemembers on the frontline that, while you are upholding your oath to the Constitution, we will uphold ours. But we are not. They are showing the ultimate fealty and loyalty to the Constitution, but we are not. They are brave enough to confront the enemy, but we are not brave enough to call questions to the President of the United States that must be called. Were you prepared? Under what grounds did you go? How much is this costing the American taxpayer? And more. We are not doing our job. We have abdicated our responsibility. We have betrayed the Constitution, and yet we do nothing. So what my colleague is doing today is forcing this debate, forcing this vote. But dear God, this is a sad day, because the only thing that we need to do to check the power of the Presidency when it is being abused, when it is reckless, when the consequences of that recklessness are higher prices for every American, when the consequences of that recklessness is giving a dangerous Iran more power and more leverage, when the consequences of that recklessness is the death of our soldiers--what is this body doing? Nothing. Republican leadership has called no open hearings, no sufficient accountability, no substantive oversight. They are kowtowing to a President and allowing him into a reckless war with grave consequences and a shredding of our constitutional intent by our Founders. Woe be to us at this 250th anniversary, where people will rush out with flags, waving to celebrate our Constitution and our country. But here, they are betraying it. We have a job to do. It is clear in the Constitution. We have three equal branches of government that function when they check each other. They function when there is oversight. They function when there is accountability. But when one branch fails to rise to the historic urgency of this moment, that is when our Constitution and the people on the frontlines--the people like this brave servicemember--are not only being ill-served, but they are at graver danger. Our Nation is in crisis right now. Our precious, scant resources are not spent on healthcare, our children's education, science research, but on this President's war. We have servicemembers in danger. The least we should ask from this body is to do its job, uphold the Constitution, and provide a real check and balance, real accountability, and oversight to this President. I thank my colleague for forcing this debate and forcing this vote. This is yet, unfortunately, another sad day in history for this body. This is the least we could do, but we should be--we must be--doing so much more. I yield the floor.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, it has been 2 weeks since we last voted on a War Powers Resolution to responsibly end Trump's unauthorized, unconstitutional, reckless war with Iran. In just those 2 weeks, the war has continued to spiral out of control, and Americans are paying the price. Here is where we are since we last voted and why we are calling up another War Powers Resolution for a vote, why we are forcing that debate onto this floor. Americans are facing soaring costs, and this war is making those costs explode and get worse. Prices are rising because of the decisions made by President Trump without congressional approval. Gas and essentials are surging as global energy markets react to the blockade, the destruction of energy infrastructure, and the unbelievable, immense uncertainty in the market. Inflation jumped sharply, driven overwhelming by energy costs tied to the conflict. Analysts say we spent $25 billion during the month of March on the war, and this month, it is expected to be similar. Now, remember, the President launched this war without congressional consent. He has basically said that any President is entitled to commit tens of billions of dollars, to commit American lives--13 we have lost, hundreds of Americans injured--as he began this war without authorization, without transparency. Observers note that this is a war the administration initiated not only without approval but with shifting reasons for the provocation of our going to war itself. This President has said everything: We are going to stop this regime. We want regime change and then we don't. He has said that we are going to save civilians from being murdered by this regime, and now, he says that is not the priority. He says: Oh, we are getting in for the nuclear crisis. Even though I had obliterated it just months ago, it is now a crisis again. His shifting reasons and provocations are bad enough, but now the outcomes he says he seeks are outcomes that have shifted themselves. He has failed to tell the American people why we are in this. He has no endgame. Just today, the administration deployed 10,000 more U.S. troops into harm's way into this region. Naval forces have expanded to now enforce a maritime blockade that takes the efforts of tens of thousands of American military professionals, and officials are preparing for potential additional strikes and ground operations. So where does that leave us? Well, No. 1, if the war ended today-- which it won't. It seems to be expanding. But if it ended today, the oil shock, the economic crisis would go for months and months longer-- again, Americans paying the price. We still have our American troops in greater harm's way. We have an Iranian regime who--even though their near-term combat capabilities have been significantly degraded--now are flexing more power in that region and influence by choking the Strait of Hormuz, which we have not been able to stop. The situation is worse. The regime is more extreme. The fissile material to make a nuclear weapon is still there in that theater. This President has made the situation worse, at the cost of tens of billions of dollars, American lives, and hundreds of troops injured. The thing that makes this all worse is the enabling that Congress is doing of this war, their failure to ask for accountability, this failure to have even one open hearing on the biggest military engagement since the war in Afghanistan, not one open hearing where Congress has asked for accountability, for transparency, for facts and information. On top of that, this body was designed just for that purpose--to provide a check and a balance, to provide oversight--and what we have done is nothing of any substance to play that critical role. Our Founders warned us what an out-of-control Executive could do if not checked by Congress, and we are not doing it. The price we are paying--every American is feeling it. That is why this war is overwhelmingly unpopular with the American people of all political backgrounds, because they know. Not only are they feeling the pain of it economically, not only are they seeing the pain of it when American troops are killed in battle and the families live with that loss, not only knowing the pain of the hundreds injured, but they are also seeing with their own eyes how the situation is getting worse and not better. We are bringing this War Powers Resolution back to the floor today because Congress cannot look away. Congress must do their job. Congress must stand with the American people, ask the tough questions that we deserve answers to, hold this President to account, really do our job of asking the hard yet urgent questions. We need transparency. We need accountability. We need the Senate to do its job. So today, I again lead, with a handful of my colleagues, to bring these War Powers Resolutions, to demand a debate, to demand that this body show some account for its inaction on a war, for allowing an Executive to spend tens of billions of dollars, throw the world and our Nation into economic shock, not achieve any of its stated goals with the nation of Iran, and make more of that region more dangerous and unstable by the day. We must do our job. We must defend the Constitution, which spells out the checks and balances that should be happening but are not. But we will continue this fight. We will continue to force debate on this floor. We will continue to call on my colleagues across the aisle not to just let Donald Trump do whatever he wants but to hold him to account, to hold public hearings, to ask the difficult questions, to demand accountability. I yield the floor.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, there is something awful going on here in the U.S. Senate, and people should focus on it right now. The Senate is not doing their job. And we see a President unilaterally going off to fight a war--to declare war without any authority from the U.S. Senate or the U.S. Congress. What does it mean when the body that is supposed to provide checks and balances checks out? What does it mean when the body that is supposed to provide oversight covers its eyes and refuses to see what is happening? What does it mean when the body that should be having hearings on this war will not hear, will not look, will not ask questions? We are in a constitutional crisis, and Americans are paying the cost--the worst of all costs: the deaths of our men and women, with 13 dead and over 200 injured. And Congress is doing nothing--no checks, no balances, no oversight, no hearings. What does it mean when Americans all over this country are paying the cost with the worst energy shock crisis in the history of our country? According to the International Energy Agency, as of yesterday, the crisis we are experiencing is larger than the two major oil shocks of the 1970s combined. And what does Congress do? Nothing. No oversight. No hearings. No checks. No balances. Americans are feeling the pain already of this administration cutting healthcare for millions. They are feeling the pain already, seeing their energy prices go up. They are seeing the pain already from billions being cut from our Veterans' Administration and millions more being cut from student lunch programs and the services we provide for special needs. And Congress does nothing. We are supposed to be the body that declares war. Well, we are at war. But we also have the power of the purse. And what is happening with the purse right now? We have just spent $25 billion in Donald Trump's war--that kind of expenditure with no oversight, no hearings, no checks and balances. Twenty-five billion dollars is enough to provide health insurance for over 3 million Americans. Twenty-five billion dollars means 30 million children could have free school lunches. Twenty-five billion dollars could provide millions of Americans with affordable housing or housing assistance. There are things going on right now that nobody on either side of the aisle thinks the President should be able to do without any kind of oversight, without any kind of hearings, like give Russia billions of dollars, relieving them of sanctions, the very adversary that continues to prosecute their war in Ukraine and undermine our democracy at home-- no hearings, no checks and balances, no oversight. This is not just a constitutional crisis. This is a shame upon this body. I am grateful for the War Powers Resolution that Chris Murphy has brought forward. I am grateful for Tammy Duckworth, Tammy Baldwin, Tim Kaine for joining together to force these War Powers Resolutions so that the Congress is not silent, that at least people have to take a vote. But think about what is happening right now. We see a President moving to move more American troops. It was reported that the Pentagon is considering deploying 3,000 soldiers from Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division. That is 3,000 of our American courageous sons and daughters-- no oversight, no hearing, no checks and balances. The biggest military engagement since the war in Afghanistan--tens of billions of dollars, American lives, the worst oil shock ever, prices going up--and what does this Senate do? Nothing. It is a shame upon this body. It is a surrendering of our duties. It is the submission before Donald Trump and his authoritarian-like inclinations to declare war and not come to Congress as the Constitution dictates. We swore an oath in this body to defend the Constitution. Our fealty should be to the Constitution and not what this President is doing. So we bring War Powers Resolutions, and we will bring more. My fear is that this body, amidst this shame, will be dismissed for a recess. How many soldiers will die during that recess? How many billions of dollars will be spent during that recess? How far will they go with this war? I call this what it is: one of the more shameful stretches of this body--no hearings, no oversight, no checks and balances. It is time that we stand up for the Constitution and stand up to Donald Trump's unconstitutional war. I know my colleagues and I, we have been calling these War Powers Resolutions. We will continue to do so until this body does its job and lifts the shame off of this body and checks a President, who is clearly running us into a war with no off-ramp in sight, putting more of our men and women in danger as Americans suffer from skyrocketing costs. I yield the floor.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to honor the life and service of a great advocate for justice and nonviolence, Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr. Dr. Lafayette was a Freedom Rider who risked his life challenging segregation across the South. He helped organize the Selma voting rights movement, laying the groundwork for the march from Selma to Montgomery and the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a young activist in Nashville, Dr. Lafayette worked closely with John Lewis, who later became my mentor and a moral compass for so many of us who serve today. Together, they believed deeply in the power of nonviolence and the courage it takes to stand up for justice, even in the face of violence and hatred. The late Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette helped shape a generation of leaders who carried forward the spirit of the movement. Today, I rise to honor his life and legacy. May we continue the work he devoted his life to building a nation that lives up to its highest ideals of justice, equality, and dignity for all. Dr. Lafayette and his family are in my prayers.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, in an effort to uphold the Constitution and pursuant to section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from further consideration of S.J. Res. 118, to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized, as is by the Constitution necessary, by Congress.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I am grateful for the recognition of the Presiding Officer. I have listened carefully to my colleagues who have come down to oppose this War Powers Resolution that I am bringing up right now. I have listened with an open heart because many of them I have worked with on Middle East issues assiduously to bring about peace in that region. I share many of the beliefs that were expressed of the danger of Iran and their proxies, of the chaos and the harm and the lives they have taken, the instability in that region. We have worked side by side on bipartisan delegations, bipartisan work--as the Senate should function--to deal with the challenges in the threat matrix that affect the United States as well as our allies. But here is the issue: We are bringing a War Powers Resolution to the floor to bring this to a vote and to a debate. My colleagues do not want a debate on this issue. Nothing has been scheduled--no floor debates, no hearings, no oversight, no checks and balances. This resolution seems to almost offend my friend and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; that how dare we bring this to the floor. Well, we have the power to bring such resolutions to the floor because of incredible sensitivity to the idea of war powers. The idea that the power to go to war--unlike in times of despots and Presidents--in the United States of America, the power to go to war does not lie with one person, the President of the United States. Now, at first, there were some people trying to deny--on the other side--that this was a war, but tonight they showed it clear. Multiple people talked about us being at war. We, as a nation, are at war, the largest military engagement we have had since the war in Iraq. And in this war, in barely over 2 weeks, thousands of people have died. In this war, in barely 2 weeks, 200 Americans have been injured. In this war, 13 Americans have paid the ultimate price for a war that we have gone into on the decision made by one man. And the American people at large are paying costs in the billions of dollars a week. They are seeing prices at the pump--energy, consumer goods--skyrocketing on top of already this President cutting their healthcare, cutting their food programs, cutting their veteran services. We are at war, and Americans are paying the price and our servicemen--too many--have paid the ultimate price. And what is our constitutional obligation when the Nation is making billions of dollars of expense? What is our constitutional obligation when lives are being lost every single day? What are our obligations when our brave military men and women, carrying out their missions, some of them not coming home? Well, the Constitution is clear on this. There is no debate even possible. The Constitution says that the war power belongs to Congress. And so I know the noble issues and ambitions of my colleagues that they mentioned--noble ideals like not letting Iran have a nuclear weapon, noble statements that they are making about trying to stop evil--those are important. That is a debate we should be having, but we are not having it. It seems that my Republican colleagues, all they want to do is to try to pretend that this is business as usual, to try to ignore or even cover up all that is going on because as my colleague who just spoke on the floor said to a bunch of us today: I do not want open hearings. I do not want executive people of the administration, like the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense, to have to answer questions in open hearings. They want to circumvent the Constitution. They want to go around public oversight. They want to avoid the glare, the questions of the American people. Woe to a nation--our Founding Fathers believed--woe to a nation that makes it so easy to go to war. They developed this government with a check and a balance. They developed this government oversight. They developed this government with the dispersal of powers so that we could have an enduring democratic Republic. But what the Republicans are saying is they want none of that--none of our constitutional obligations, no checks and balances, no oversight, no hearings, no accountability. We want to rush to war, spending billions of taxpayer dollars, costing American lives and costing our constitutional fidelity. It has been 2 weeks since we had a War Powers Resolution brought up by my colleague Tim Kaine. In 2 weeks, this war has expanded. In 2 weeks, more Americans have died. In 2 weeks, more countries have been attacked. This is not just Iran being hit. It is now 11 countries have been attacked, and even some of our European allies have had their bases in the region attacked. It has been 2 weeks, and we have seen the mistakes of war, like a school of girls being targeted and attacked, and the administration not feeling that they have to stand before Congress and be accountable for that; 2 weeks, and we have seen more soldiers perish; 2 weeks, and we now have a report that it is over 200 that have visible injuries and perhaps even more invisible injuries. Today, in the Capitol, we had veterans come, veterans of foreign wars, veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, veterans who came to this building today to remind people in the Capitol the true costs of war. We cannot question their bravery. We cannot question their sacrifice. And they stood with us today to make the simple point: When will Congress do its job? There is something inexcusable about people who will stand in this Chamber and swear an oath not to a President, swear an oath not to an authoritarian leader, swear an oath not to a political party; they swore an oath, all 100 of us, to the Constitution of the United States of America. And if there is anything that is plain in that Constitution, it is that a President does not have the power to unilaterally bring a nation and its treasure--to bring a nation and its men and women into conflict without a say of Congress. This is not a partisan issue. This is not a left or right issue. It is a right or wrong. Do you stand with the Constitution of the United States of America or do you stand with what our Founders rejected; that we should be a nation where all power, especially the power that sends our soldiers into making the ultimate sacrifice--do we stand with the ideal that that lies with the President and not with this body? And so I am telling you right now, those who feel that this vote is an inconvenience to them, those that feel offended that we are having an hour--an hour--debate of what we are entitled to when we bring up a War Powers Resolution, I say to those who feel angry--how dare we try to force the Senate to try to focus on this war--I say to you: I don't care about your objection. We have privileges as Senators, and I refuse to let business as usual go on in this body. I and my colleagues will bring up these resolutions again and again and again as more and more Americans on both sides of the aisle see this war for what it is: one President's decision costing all Americans, costing us at our homes, around our kitchen tables, costing our budgets, and then costing the greatest cost of all, the lives of our men and women in service. In a few moments, we will take a vote. I know what the outcome of that vote will be. But my dear friend Tim Kaine, who has brought these War Powers Resolutions--not just about this war, not just about our war that we declared with Venezuela or bombing ships in the Atlantic--he has called this question before, and he quoted a great faith leader. The outcome of this vote, I know what it will be, but he quoted that faith leader in saying simply: I was not called to be successful. I was called to be faithful. That is the real issue before us right now. Are we faithful to the oath that we swore to uphold the Constitution? Are we faithful to the most sacrosanct ideals of this Republic? Are we faithful to the service men and women who also swore an oath to this Constitution and make greater sacrifices than any of the hundred of us are making today? Are we faithful to the ideals that this is not a monarchy, that we do not have a King, that we are a democratic Republic with a Constitution and no one is above the law. This President cannot take us to war without coming through this body. He is not able to do that unless this body supplicates itself before that man and surrenders its responsibilities. Today, I say no. Today, we will vote, and whatever the outcome of that vote, we will come back here, again and again, with a simple demand that the world's most deliberative body must deliberate; that the branch of government that was supposed to hold the Executive to account demands some accountability; that the checks and balances designed by our Founders should operate, and we should check and balance his power; that what the American people want and what the American people deserve is to have a Congress that functions, and a President that seems so cocky and confident and is taking us to war should have to come before this body; that the members of his Cabinet sit here and justify both the provocation of why we went to war and what is the endgame--because it is clear to me now that we have seen this from Libya to Afghanistan, President after President taking us to war in the Middle East and leaving chaos, instability, and terrorism and subjugation behind. This is a moral test for this body. It is not just a vote. This is a moral moment. Where do you stand? It is not whether you stand left or stand right, stand Republican or stand Democrat. The question is, Do you stand with the Constitution that you swore an oath to uphold? This vote may fail, but this failure is not final because even after this vote, there are many in this body that will continue to fight to uphold the Constitution and make the U.S. Senate do its job. Business as usual is unacceptable. This fight will continue. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I am grateful for the recognition. I think we should set the scene very clearly. During the last 2 weeks since we voted on the War Powers Resolution, led in a bipartisan manner by Senators Kaine and Paul, the Trump administration's unconstitutional war with Iran has evolved tremendously. In the span of just 2 weeks, 13 U.S. servicemembers have been killed and at least 200 of our American men and women have been injured. U.S. diplomatic posts and military facilities in the Middle East are under constant attack. The war has expanded, now impacting at least 15 different countries, from the bases of our European allies to our allies in the region. American citizens are still, 2 weeks in, stranded in the region trying to get home. Civilian casualties are increasing, and here at home, we are seeing the skyrocketing costs of basic goods, the skyrocketing costs of energy, and the skyrocketing costs we are seeing at the pumps at our gas stations. We now know the Trump administration is spending over a billion dollars a day on this unauthorized war, while Americans are struggling to make ends meet here at home, and this President is throwing millions of people off of their healthcare. And this administration, amidst all of this, has failed to come before the U.S. Senate and the American people for public hearings to make its case on the biggest military war engagement since the war in Afghanistan. Now, all of us--all 100--swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States of America. Well, fealty to that oath is clear because the Constitution is clear. Congress has the authority to declare war and authorize the use of military force. But in this case, Congress and the U.S. Senate, in particular, has done nothing. The Senate has a solemn responsibility to assert itself along the constitutional mandate in matters of war and peace. This is why I urge my colleagues soon to support the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 118. I ask for that because of what is at stake: billions of American taxpayer dollars, hundreds of American lives. What is at stake is the Constitution of the United States of America. We swore an oath. We have an obligation. This is the moment now. This is not left or right; this is a moral moment and a solemn, sacred patriotic duty to uphold the Constitution, especially when the President of the United States of America is so willfully violating it. I yield the floor.

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, to my colleagues in the Senate, to the Senate President, to all those assembled here, I am rising to give this speech, and I feel such privilege because I get to recognize someone whose work most Americans never see but whose contribution is woven into the very history of this institution. When a Senator comes to the floor to speak, whether it is daily routine address or a moment that will echo through generations, there is always someone standing just off camera, often unnoticed, a stenograph machine hanging from their neck, capturing every word we say. They record our arguments and our aspirations, our disagreements and our dreams, our long speeches, and sometimes our longer ones. The dozens of people who are watching C-SPAN may not realize it, but the words spoken in this Chamber simply don't float away into the air. They are preserved--faithfully, meticulously--by extraordinary professionals who ensure that the Congressional Record becomes the living memory of the U.S. Senate and our Nation. For those of you who do not know about these extraordinary stenographers, their work is not easy. It requires years of training, immense focus and concentration, and a remarkable command of language and speed and accents that range from a southern Texas accent to a Jersey one. And it requires a hell of a lot of patience because, as everyone in this Chamber knows, brevity is not always the defining virtue of the U.S. Senate. Yet, through late nights, historic votes, moments of celebration, and moments of national grief, Senate stenographers have stood quietly at their posts ensuring that what happens here is captured for the American people and preserved in American history for generations yet to come. Today, I want to recognize one of the very best of them. Today, I want to recognize Carole Darche. Carole has spent more than 45 years as a court reporter, bringing her extraordinary skill to the Senate floor to record some of the most consequential moments in our Nation's history. Through long sessions, overnight debates, and pivotal moments in our country, Carole has been there--steadfast, precise, and deeply committed to this institution. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the lights of this Chamber have shone a little bit brighter because of her presence. What has always struck me about Carole is not just her professionalism but the spirit she brings to her work. Day after day, she arrives with warmth and enthusiasm and a quiet pride in serving something larger than herself. And the dedication required is extraordinary. Each session week, Carole boards the Amtrak from New Jersey to Washington, listening to her audiobooks along the way, traveling hundreds of miles that would make even Joe Biden a little bit jealous, to stand on this floor and serve the American people. This kind of commitment to public service, to this institution of the U.S. Senate, and to the preservation of our democratic record is something we should all aspire to. While we will deeply miss Carole--I am sure I speak for my 99 colleagues; we will miss her in the Senate--I must admit that I am delighted that her retirement will take her back home to the great State of ``New Joisey''--I mean New Jersey; forgive me--where she plans to enjoy the Jersey Shore with her husband Fred, her three stepchildren, and her five grandchildren. She also plans to travel to Paris, to Portugal, and beyond. I have no doubt that the same spirit of curiosity and joy she brought to this building will accompany her on those adventures. Carole, the Senate will miss you. We will miss your warmth. We will miss your enthusiasm for this institution. And, yes, we will miss hearing about you, witnessing your humanity, seeing every day the truth that it is leaders in the Senate--often who don't stand in the spotlight, who don't face the camera--it is leaders in the Senate like you that make this institution functional for the American people. Carole, that is what patriotism is. It is not seen often in one flash or one flourish. Patriotism is steadfast dedication to serving this Nation day in and day out. What does your service render? I have come to learn that the Congressional Record is more than ink on paper; it is the story of our democracy. And for decades, you have helped ensure that story was captured with precision, care, and integrity. For that, the U.S. Senate and the Nation and every one of the Members of this body owe you gratitude. Carole, thank you for your extraordinary years of service. May your retirement be filled with family, with travel, with laughter, with yoga, and many beautiful sunsets along the incredible Jersey Shore. The truth is, you will be leaving this Chamber, but the history you helped preserve here--your contributions--will endure for generations. I yield the floor as I give tribute to another great member of this body who herself is yielding this floor and saying her farewell. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, thank you. I truly appreciate the Presiding Officer. I hope that was recorded by the stenographer that the Presiding Officer called me a gentleman.

Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, your mic wasn't on. What did you call me? What was the name that you used?

Mr. BOOKER

Mr. BOOKER. In this body, I see cowardice now. I see people afraid that the President will retaliate against them if they stand up and say something. Well, Thomas Jefferson said clearly: When the people are afraid of government, there is tyranny. When the government is afraid of the people, there is liberty. We have a President that calls people up and threatens to run primaries against my colleagues. We have billionaires that say: I will put $21 million in opposition if you don't submit to the unconstitutional actions of the Executive. Two of our colleagues, arrested for their free speech--a grand jury summoned to try to arrest them for their free speech, and I hear silence. We are in a constitutional crisis. The silence is complicity. The failure to stand up and speak up is an insult to our ancestry. We are in a moment of crisis. I fear for this body. I fear for this institution. I fear for our Constitution. But I still have faith in the people. We can stop this erosion of our constitutional norms. We can stop this democratic backsliding. We can protect our rights and our values. But more people need to speak up. And it is a shame upon this body that those who have power and position now do nothing. I yield the floor.

Mr. BOOKER. I ask unanimous consent for 2 more minutes. Is there an objection?

Mr. BOOKER. Even people in the Senate being arrested, and so now I say unequivocally--