Christopher Coons

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I rise to speak briefly in gratitude today. Yesterday, Dover Air Force Base once again had the honor of receiving the remains of three Americans who died in service to our Nation: SGT Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, of Des Moines, and SGT William Nathaniel Howard, of Marshalltown--both Iowans, both servicing in the Iowa National Guard--and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a resident of Michigan, originally an Iraqi, who served alongside American troops for 4 years during the war in Iraq and who has become a nationalized American citizen. All three were killed in a tragic incident in Syria. All three served bravely. And all three were welcomed home with the dignity and respect that all who serve our Nation and fall in service to our Nation deserve.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, today I would like to commemorate the visit to the United States of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the second-largest Christian Church in the world which boasts 300 million faithful. The Ecumenical Patriarch is also the spiritual leader of more than 4,000 Delawareans who are Greek Orthodox Christians. Delaware's Greek community has a long and vibrant history, and it is an honor to mark the Ecumenical Patriarch's visit. During his visit to the United States, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the Templeton Prize: a recognition of someone who has dedicated themselves to affirming the spiritual dimension of life. The Ecumenical Patriarch received this award for his remarkable leadership working to foster an ``ecumenical imperative'' to care for creation, in which he has brought together religious, scientific, and world leaders to advocate for greater care for our planet. The Ecumenical Patriarch joins a long list of powerful advocates for change who have received this award, including my good friend Jane Goodall. The Ecumenical Patriarch's receipt of the Templeton Award builds on his previous accolades, including his receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal: the highest award that Congress has to offer. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's commitment to fostering dialogue for the betterment of the world is admirable and an example that we should all seek to follow. His All-Holiness is a tremendous leader in the world and for many in our country, and I look forward to continuing to support his efforts to strive for peace on earth over the years to come.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, today is the anniversary of the election of President Trump in 2024, and, today, the shutdown of our Federal Government is officially the longest it has ever been--36 days--because we can't come to agreement between our parties and our Chambers. In fact, the House isn't even at work and hasn't been for weeks because Republicans won't work with us to ensure access to healthcare. We are in a dangerous and unsettled place here at home, but we are also in a dangerous and unsettled place abroad and around the world. My role in appropriations in this Congress is as the senior Democrat on the subcommittee that funds all of our defense and intelligence. Given that role, wherein I have worked with Senator McConnell, the chairman, to write the bill that we should be moving forward that would fully fund the security apparatus of the United States, I wanted to come to the floor for a few minutes today and talk with my colleagues and our Nation about what it is that actually keeps us safe at home and abroad. For my entire life, we have relied upon the U.S. military. We will soon celebrate Veterans Day next week, and all of us should thank those who have served or who are serving. We have relied on them to be something that we often take for granted--nonpartisan, nonpolitical, an all-volunteer, professional, career military. For that to be sustained--for the folks to continue to step forward, to raise their right hand, and to swear to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic--we need a nation that supports our warfighters; for it is our warfighters who answer the call to serve and to defend no matter what party is in charge, to respect and obey the chain of command and to execute all lawful orders. I think we rely on the best equipped, the best trained, and the most professional military in the world and, in partnership with them, a global network of alliances. We are the envy of the world not only because of our weapons--the most advanced and sophisticated weapons systems--but because we have the best trained, the best respected, and the most supported military in the world. That additional factor is something stronger than envy, which is respect. I have traveled over my 15 years here on the Foreign Relations Committee to dozens of countries on literally every continent and have seen directly the respect that other armed forces around the world have for our military--for its civilian control, its professionalization, its training, and equipment. I grew up in the shadow of the Vietnam war. It was raging as I was a young man. I still remember being in elementary school, with classmates who had older brothers in combat. I still remember, as Saigon fell, when I was in middle school, and as the POWs, including our former colleague, John McCain, were released from years of imprisonment, being shocked at the way some returning veterans were treated--disrespected-- and at how there had been a real loss of a sense of respect and appreciation for those who served. Over the years, our Armed Forces have earned their way back to a place of deep and broad respect in the hearts of the American people. Over the years that I served as county executive, I went to ceremony after ceremony as units of the Delaware National Guard deployed over and over, and then, often--9 months or a year later--as we would welcome them home at wonderful homecoming celebrations, I saw deep and broad support and respect for the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States. Tragically, I have also had the opportunity, along the flight line of Dover Air Force Base, to welcome home America's fallen, to get to know the families grieving over their loss, and, this year, to be joined by Members of the House and Senate as we have welcomed home our fallen heroes who died serving us overseas. The difference in tenor, in respect, in affection for the men and women of our Armed Forces over the arc of my lifetime--from the 1970s during the Vietnam war to today--has been striking. Today, as I rise to speak on the 1-year anniversary of President Trump's election, I just wanted to look back and reflect on how, in that year, he and Secretary Hegseth have set us on a course that risks losing again all of that accumulated good will, all of that respect. I want to talk about how they have weakened our alliances, politicized our military, dulled down our military readiness, and brought us closer to needless, even dangerous, wars of choice--all of that leaving us weaker and less safe as we confront the most dangerous world since the end of the Cold War. President Trump is a master of distraction. So you don't ever have time to step back and look at the bigger pattern. It is amazing how many times a day the topics change. Are we talking about the tearing down of the East Wing or the planning of a new ballroom or the renewed threat to invade a country in Africa--apparently, Nigeria, this week? It is a constant, unending smorgasbord of tweets and greatest hits designed to prevent us, with its blizzard, from ever seeing any pattern. One year after his election, I wanted to take a few minutes and show that pattern to you today. In his first 10 months as President of the United States, President Trump has fired or pushed out more than 15 of our most senior admirals and generals, starting with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Chief of Naval Operations--fired because they were somehow considered DEI hires or too woke, which is something I find to be utterly without foundation in their service or in the opinions of others who served with them in the Armed Forces. He hijacked the 250th anniversary parade to celebrate the history of the U.S. Army and turned it into a birthday parade for himself. More recently, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth gathered all of our most senior military leaders from around the world for a speech here near Washington, at Quantico, which was a massive national security risk, just so they could give political speeches about grooming and about using the military against the enemy within--pulling these decorated and seasoned men and women from core jobs, literally around the world, of protecting America against our adversaries on the frontlines, to be props for a highly political speech. In unprecedented decisions in modern times, the President has federalized the National Guards from California, from Illinois, and from Oregon over the objections of Governors and has deployed them into cities over the objections of mayors who say: We can deal with the challenges of crime. If you want to send us Federal resources, we would welcome your sending us additional Federal law enforcement, like the ATF and the FBI. This administration also mobilized the Marines to go into Los Angeles. All of this takes away our military from their central missions and training for partisan political ends. This brings us to a second key pillar of our national security--the best trained and equipped military in the world. Secretary Hegseth, at the beginning of this year, supported a full- year continuing resolution for the Department of Defense for the first time ever. Senator McConnell and I, as the chair and ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, were struck at how much harm that does. We are on the verge of doing it again for a terrible second year. Ask any senior military leader. It makes it impossible to plan, and nothing requires more stable, certain long-term funding than designing and building the next generation of fighter aircraft, building and deploying nuclear-powered submarines, recruiting and training the world's best military and then equipping them with things on land, air, and sea that make them the most lethal Armed Forces on Earth. We can't do that if Secretary Hegseth continues to support full-year continuing resolutions. It is also important that our warfighters be respected because they know they have the support engagement of the American people on difficult and dangerous missions--something that is lacking when they refuse to fully brief, support, and engage the Senate of the United States--a challenge that is happening right now. We need a plan, we need preparation, and we need clarity to Congress about what is going on in the Caribbean and what preparations are being made with regard to Venezuela. I have no objection to the idea that we need to work together to strengthen the interdiction of drugs coming to the United States, but this body, given the Constitution and our role, deserves to be consulted and included so that we can build consensus, common agreement, to support a plan of action so that our warfighters, the men and women of our Armed Forces, know we have their backs. That is the best way to send them into harm's way. All of this is built on another of President Trump's broken promises. He ran on lowering costs, making America healthy again, and avoiding new foreign wars. On the campaign trail, I often heard that was one of his most popular promises. Since then, the threats to start new wars with friends and allies and foes alike have been dizzying--Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Panama, Colombia, and Nigeria. Our President tosses these things off casually, but in a meeting I had earlier in his term with leaders from Denmark and Greenland, they were alarmed, frightened, and concerned about how a trusted NATO ally could threaten to seize Greenland--a seemingly casual remark that was then reinforced and repeated over and over. I am worried that we are now sleepwalking into a war with Venezuela and an effort to overthrow Maduro, all while leaving the People's Republic of China free rein to run roughshod over the Indo-Pacific, while they massively increase the scope and scale of their aggression. Let's be clear. There is no love lost between me and Maduro--a brutal dictator--but we should have clarity about how and why we might use our Armed Forces. Last, a key pillar to our security for the last eight decades, since the end of the Second World War, has been a remarkable global network of powerful alliances. I have long said that one of our key advantages over the People's Republic of China is our network of trusted and deep alliances. China has nervous neighbors and client states. President Trump is putting all of that at risk. Our adversaries are increasingly aligning. Russians are using Iranian drones, North Korean soldiers, and Chinese technology and funding to help carry out their brutal war of aggression in Ukraine. Meanwhile, our alliances are fraying. As I mentioned, the President threatened to invade NATO allies like Canada and Denmark and kicked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of the Oval Office but rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin; held up crucial arms deliveries and sales to nations that rely on us for their security--from Ukraine to Taiwan; and put at risk our commitment to article 5 and to collective security that have been at the heart of NATO since its founding. The tariff deals our President has imposed on some of our closest and most trusted allies--allies that have free-trade agreements with us, like South Korea--have put them profoundly on the back foot as they look and wonder whether they can count on our security agreements. All of this means that over the past year, President Trump has steadily hacked away at the pillars of our military that protect our Nation, making it less stable, making it more likely that the trust and confidence the American people have in our warfighters will crumble. This is a critical and concerning, even alarming picture from which he is trying to distract us. The Nation we had a year ago was strong, secure, and moving in a positive direction. Today, I am gravely concerned about the constant distraction and the threats and moves against our allies, our partners, and the ways in which we have undermined our warfighters. So what should we do from here? Pass our bipartisan appropriations bills. Put on this floor, pass, and get to the President the Defense appropriations bill that I have worked so hard on this year and all the other appropriations bills and move us out of this cycle of rescissions, reconciliation, and continuing resolutions and back to reliable, steady, bipartisan support. Strengthen our alliances. Reassure our nervous partners. End this recklessness with tariffs that is an on again-off again regime where these taxes, these tariffs, add to Americans' bottom line in a disastrous way and destabilize trust and confidence from our partners and refocus on training and preparing for real wars, not culture wars. This is how we keep our Nation safe. Just a few days ago, I was up in my father's hometown of Boston and drove through Lexington and Concord, where 250 years ago this year, our forefathers took up arms against the Crown and began what was a long- shot fight, a revolution for liberty and independence for our Nation. We have to remember all who have taken up arms and served our Nation. I am from a family of veterans. My brother, my sister-in-law, my father, my uncles, my great-great-grandfather, and back to the Revolution, members of my family have stepped forward and served. For all who have done the same, who have signed on the dotted line, up to and including their lives, committed their willingness to sacrifice, we owe them nothing less than the full measure of devotion that says we will support them. That support requires engagement and trust from this body, engagement and trust with our allies, and the support that our service men and women deserve. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I am grateful to my colleagues who have spoken this evening about the critical answer we should be giving to the question: Who is my neighbor? I know of no faith that teaches that we should take food away from hungry children, from the seniors and the disabled and the veterans in our communities, so that we can hurt our political opponent. But, sadly, that is what our President is doing. My foundational faith rests in the Gospels. One of the best known parables told by Jesus is the ``Parable of the Good Samaritan.'' And lots of folks know the ``Parable of the Good Samaritan'' but maybe don't know exactly what it teaches. So let me just take a moment. Jesus is asked: What are the most important parts of the law? And he says: Recite what the law teaches. He is asked: What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? And he says: What does the law teach? ``Love the lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind'' is the answer, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says: You read correctly. Then, being a lawyer--I always love that part--seeking to justify himself, the questioner asks the next question: But who is my neighbor? And Jesus tells one of the most radical, challenging, and disruptive of his parables. You have to think about it in the context in which it was given. Some of the most respected people in the society he was from are exemplars, characters in this parable. A man is going down the road and is set upon by robbers and is beaten and injured and lying on the side of the road. And a priest--one of the most respected religious leaders in ancient Israel--a priest is walking down the road and turns and passes on the other side. And then a Levite--part of a tribe of Israel that was known for their holiness and for their descent from the priestly class--he also walks by on the other side. And it is a Samaritan--a member of a community, a tribe, a faith that was considered abhorrent to the ancient Israelites--who stops, who puts the wounded man on his donkey, who cares for him, who takes him to an inn, who treats his wounds and leaves money, and says to the inn keeper: I will come back and pay you whatever is required for his care. And then Jesus says: Who was acting like a neighbor? To which the lawyer properly says: The one who had mercy on him, on the victim. Righteousness requires us to view and treat as neighbor those who are on the margins of life. It was Senator Hubert Humphrey, I believe, who said: The true test of a nation is how it treats those at the dawn of life--its children, those in the shadows of life, the disabled and infirm, and those in the twilight of life, the seniors. And yet President Trump, today, in defiance of two Federal court orders, has been saying that he will refuse to distribute SNAP benefits promptly and fully. I believe, last night, in a Truth Social post he said, ``SNAP benefits''--and I am skipping the attacks on his predecessor, ``will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government'' and not before. The larger point is that SNAP, which is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which feeds millions of hungry Americans, is being used as a weapon, as a tool in this moment to try and leverage the hunger of millions, to put pressure on us, as a Senate, to reopen. It is shocking that President Trump would say out loud his intention to defy court orders and to use whether or not to feed hungry children as leverage. In my home State of Delaware, where I have heard from the head of our food bank, from the heads of lots of local organizations that care for and support seniors and children and veterans, 11 percent of our State is on SNAP--48,000 children and 4,700 veterans. Nationwide, 20 percent of all of our children are on SNAP. It is critical to the health and safety and development of children so that they can hear the teaching in the classroom over the grumbling of their bellies. The Food Bank of Delaware shared with me the story of a young mother whose doctor had said she had to stop working because her pregnancy was so far along and, as a result, had to leave her work at a chicken processing plant and, today, desperately needs SNAP, these benefits, to feed her four children. What answer does President Trump and my colleagues give to the question: Who is my neighbor? On whom will they show mercy? The answer apparently is not America's children, not veterans, not working parents, not seniors and people with disabilities. In my home State, I am grateful for a Governor and leaders in our general assembly who have stepped in to fill the breach and to provide these SNAP benefits temporarily. But they cannot do so for long. I believe, in the richest country on Earth, it is a shame--it is a horror--for our children, our seniors, our disabled citizens, our veterans who rely on this program to go hungry just so we can continue fighting in this Chamber. It is long past time for my colleagues and our President to answer the question ``Who is my neighbor?'' in a way that includes all Americans and does not cut them off from this vital and needed support. I yield the floor.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I want to convey my thanks, my gratitude to the chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, my colleague and friend from Kentucky. We and our staffs have had a genuinely constructive and positive process in appropriations this year. Frankly, overall, the Senate Appropriations Committee has worked well. We have passed out of committee a significant number of major bills by big bipartisan margins--26 to 3 in the case of our bill and the Labor, Health and Human Services bill. But there is a stark contrast between the real progress we are making on appropriations and the lack of progress on addressing the core issue of can Americans afford their healthcare. Of course, I want to move ahead and appropriate, as my colleague from Kentucky has indicated. Of course, we need to do our job and appropriate, for this body to carry out and to continue its core article I responsibility. But part of what has got us to this moment is a vote earlier this year on the Big Beautiful Bill in July to destroy healthcare for millions of Americans. We need to find a path forward toward ensuring that millions of Americans do not lose insurance through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, something that will raise insurance costs for everyone and that will increase ER wait times in my State and in every other. This Saturday, 20 million Americans will see how much their premiums go up. And if the calls that come into my colleagues are anything like the calls I am getting, there will be then an accelerated motion toward resolving this issue and moving forward with appropriations. I will close by just citing one conversation I had yesterday. I spoke with a small business owner from Delaware. Her name is Jan. She is a stage IV cancer survivor. She is a small business owner. She told me yesterday that, without the Affordable Care Act, she would have died 10 years ago because insurance would have dropped her. And if her rates double, she will need to close her business of 30 years. This is one of many stories of entrepreneurs and families, of veterans, of servicemembers, of constituents that have reached out to me. There is an urgency about reopening the government--yes, I agree--and an urgency about finding a path forward on healthcare. We should be negotiating both now. I yield the floor.

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I have a brief question for this body before I proceed to my motion: What is it that keeps our Nation secure? It is millions of Armed Forces, Active-Duty Reserves, National Guard, civilians supporting them, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, the intelligence Agencies; they are keeping us safe now, like all Federal employees, not knowing when they will get another paycheck. Our military is less than 1 percent of our Nation. That is how many people sign on the dotted line up to and including their lives to keep us safe. They put their lives on the line to secure liberty and security, and I am grateful to the thousands serving today at Dover Air Force Base, the Delaware National Guard, and throughout our Armed Forces. They and their families deserve the same devotion to them that they are providing to us. I come from a military family. My father, brother, sister-in-law, uncles all served in the Army, and my father long said he first really understood what it means to be an American when he was responsible for others and others' lives when deployed. Taking care of them is our sacred obligation. So while we keep fighting for better healthcare, more affordable healthcare for all Americans, my bill will pay our Armed Forces now. It will pay Active-Duty, Reserves, National Guard, Coast Guard, civilians at the Pentagon, and intelligence Agencies, and give those who keep us safe, often at great sacrifice, a small piece of security in return. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3079 introduced earlier today; that the bill be considered read three times and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I rise today to address the moment that we are in here in the U.S. Senate. We are about to proceed to a vote on a motion that the majority leader has laid on the floor. I am the senior Democrat on the subcommittee of Appropriations that writes the bill that funds our national defense. I have worked well and closely with Senator McConnell in this undertaking this year. I am about to vote no on proceeding to take up the House Defense bill, which may surprise some of my colleagues from both parties or my constituents or folks who are wondering: What the heck is going on here? So I wanted to take a few minutes and speak to this moment, my vote, and hopefully our path forward. Americans care deeply about security--about the security that comes from knowing that you and your family won't suddenly be bankrupted by unexpected healthcare costs, the loss of health insurance, and the security that comes from knowing that millions of highly skilled, trained, and dedicated American men and women are on the line around the world, shoulder to shoulder with our allies, defending America's security and that of the world, and we need a path towards addressing both. The Federal Government is currently shut down. It is shut down because we can't come to an agreement here in the Senate, with the President, and with the House to deal with the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits that make it affordable. Letters are about to go out in my home State of Delaware that will tell folks who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act that their rates are going to go up dramatically--in many cases, more than 100 percent--because of expiring tax credits. Well, what has that got to do with national defense? Bluntly, the process here in this Senate, the process with our President, and the process of spending or not spending appropriated funds has destroyed a lot of the trust that is essential for the Senate as a body to work, for the Congress to legislate, and for our Federal Government to reopen. In the last Congress, I was the chair of the subcommittee that wrote the appropriations bill. Roughly, $32 billion went to USAID--an Agency that no longer exists. Some of you may remember DOGE--an Elon Musk-led effort to get into and tear up and, in the case of USAID, to tear apart our longstanding, decades-old, U.S. foreign assistance program. It did a lot more damage than just that. In many ways, the actions that began in January and picked up speed in the spring caused alarm and concern by many of us in the Senate that we have an OMB Director and an administration willing to violate bipartisan agreements from the last Congress, commitments to spend money, and contracts and agreements with partners and allies around the world and across many different areas. In fact, just yesterday, a Federal district court judge in California ruled that the reductions in force--the layoffs, the RIFs--announced by the administration during this current shutdown were illegal because they were targeted and partisan. So many things have happened this year that it is tough to keep track, but the combination of them has led to a reduction in trust between our two caucuses--trust that is essential to having an understanding and an agreement to move forward. Let me be clear about this year's appropriations process. It was positive from when we started in March-April to when we concluded on the committee in July and voted out eight strong, bipartisan bills. The Senate appropriations process for at least eight of the bills--the biggest bills--was constructive and bipartisan. In fact, the bill that I worked on closely with Senator McConnell was voted out of the committee by 26 to 3. So, too, were other key bills that deal with housing, that deal with education, and that deal with healthcare. They came out of the committee 26 to 3 and are ready for action on the floor of the Senate. Yet we are not proceeding to them today. There are four bills remaining in committee that are unaddressed, and the committee should focus on them, take them up, and work them through. There are three bills that have already passed the Senate and are all but done being conferenced with the House. What I have heard from my Republican colleagues is that Leader Thune is trying to move ahead with a process that would put the Defense bill, the Health and Education bill, the Housing and Transportation bill, which we call Labor-HHS, and T-HUD--very compelling names, I know--he wants to put together a package of many of these bills. Well, if that is the intention, we need communication between our leaders and our caucuses. We have had a positive and productive process in Senate appropriations this year, but the leader's motion to go to the House Defense bill was not expected, was not discussed, and was not clear to my caucus as to what happens next. So it is with some real regret that I will vote no today but will continue to talk with my colleagues about how do we move forward. I want to take a moment and just speak to the Defense bill that we have worked so hard on and that came out of the committee with such strong bipartisan support. It would provide a better quality of life to the men and women of the American military and their families. It would invest, in total, $852 billion in our national defense--expanding shipyards, expanding munition production, creating stockpiles of critical weapons that we know we need for the future, investing in cutting-edge technologies--and would reject some of the Trump budget cuts in aid to Ukraine, to Taiwan, and to our Baltic allies, who are making positive progress in key areas. Our work together on this bill has generally been a positive experience between Senators and our staffs. Our challenge was the Department, and it was the Secretary and his budgeteers, who often appeared at hearings and meetings without their homework done, without the details ready, without a budget ready to go. Some of you may have forgotten this, but a principal focus of the administration and the majority here during this same time was the so- called Big Beautiful Bill and trying to put $160 billion onto the Defense Department not through regular order and not through the usual budget processes but through this one-time infusion of cash. Senator McConnell and I historically haven't agreed on much, but we certainly have agreed on this in hearings and in speeches: If we are trying to invest in the future of our Armed Forces, whether it be new planes, new ships, new systems, or new technology, doing it with 1-year money is unwise and unsound. We need to get back to regular order. We need to get back to a reliable and predictable appropriations process. In order to do that, we need bipartisan agreement that rejects severe cuts; that restores funding for programs like the NIH and the CDC, which is done in the bipartisan Labor-H bill; and that rejects cuts to WIC and rural housing, which is done in the Ag bill. We need to move these bills forward. The way we move these bills forward is by linking arms and making it clear: We reject rescissions. We want to appropriate beyond just defense. We want a broader package and to have clarity from our President, the House, and the Senate about how we address the imminent health security crisis that confronts millions of Americans and, for today and tomorrow, keeps our government shut down. Americans care about security. We care about security for our families from healthcare costs, and we care about security for our Nation from the threats that are greater than at any time in my adult life. Let's find a path toward working together to address them. I yield the floor.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Madam President, I am asking why we are here--why we are here on the floor of the Senate as the hours tick down to the end of the Federal fiscal year and the shutdown of the Federal Government. I have served here 15 years. I have seen my share of shutdowns, and I know how much they hurt, how much they hurt the men and women of our military, Federal law enforcement, folks who serve and protect our country at home and abroad. And they should not have to wonder when or if they will get paid. A shutdown isn't good for our reputation abroad and our cohesion at home. I have always worked to find some path, some deal, some way to keep the government open, and I have talked to a dozen colleagues in recent days about this fight and about tonight. This is about healthcare. This is about my party saying: Enough is enough. We know that if you have healthcare, everything else can work itself out. And if you don't have your health, almost nothing else matters. President Trump ran on making America healthy again, on reducing prices, on making life easier for the working people of our country and their families. And, instead, what we have seen is decision after decision, action after action by President Trump and the Republicans in Congress that raise prices--raise prices on healthcare, on insurance, on drugs, on medications. Whether it is the tariffs being imposed on prescription medications or the decision to end subsidies that keep health insurance affordable, or it is laying off thousands of researchers working to help cure pediatric cancer or address ALS or do research into HIV AIDS--decision after decision that moves us in the wrong direction, that makes us sicker, poorer, and more divided. I am usually one of the first to walk across the aisle and say: Let's find a solution. Let's find a way out of this. And I have been doing that in recent days, talking with colleagues. But I can't see a way forward if we can't change direction and, together, say to the people we serve: We want to help with your healthcare. We want to stop the cuts to NIH and CDC. We want to reduce the increases in health insurance costs. We want to help you and your family. In my home State of Delaware, emergency room wait times are too long. And as millions of Americans get thrown off of health insurance, they are going to go to the emergency room. And those wait times will get longer and longer for all of us. Next month, we are going to find out how much health insurance premiums go up. For some Americans, they are going to double. But for all of us, they will go up. Healthcare is getting costlier, and Americans are getting sicker. So why am I standing on this floor tonight saying I am not voting to keep this government open? Because enough is enough. There are ways we can and should work together to change direction, to put on the floor the bipartisan health appropriations bill that will restore tens of billions of dollars to the NIH and CDC, that will stop Trump's cuts to American healthcare and insurance and research. There is a path toward reforming and extending the Affordable Care Act that both parties should agree on. But, folks, if you are listening, your Member of Congress needs to hear from you, needs to know that you want us to work together to reverse course and end Trump's tragic cuts to healthcare. If my colleagues don't get those calls, they won't change direction. If they don't change direction, we won't reopen this government. Make no mistake, we have Republicans in control of the House and Senate and the White House. If they want to find a way forward that reduces the harm to Americans and our healthcare, we can. And I will be one of the first to extend my hand to find that path. But if we don't change direction, we shouldn't reopen this government because Americans have taken too many hits already, too much additional cost, too much in cuts to healthcare research, too much increase to health insurance costs. This is a fight about America's healthcare, and we are fighting for you. I yield the floor.

Mr. COONS

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

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following motion to recommit for the bill H.R. 4 be placed in the Congressional Record. Motion to Recommit With Instructions Mr. Coons moves to recommit the bill H.R. 4 to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would prohibit the Director of the Office of Management and Budget from authorizing the use of amounts from accounts that are not subject to rescissions made by the bill for activities funded by accounts that are subject to rescissions made by the bill.

Mr. COONS

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

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, it was Ronald Reagan who said America is great because America is good. My amendment would restore $496 million of international disaster relief funding by removing it from this rescissions package. This money doesn't just save lives in countries around the world when they suffer earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and natural disasters. It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies, and helps us compete with China. Two months ago, I visited the Philippines on a bipartisan codel and was struck to learn it is the most disaster-prone country on Earth. Today, they are giving us access to nine new military sites. They are one of our strongest treaty partners in the region. And why? When I asked their leaders, they said because America helps respond to disasters. Mr. President, $496 million, 0.01 percent of the debt Republicans have just added to our Nation in the last 2 weeks, and this money is implemented by Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, and the World Food Programme. I ask my colleagues to support it.

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 2856 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, ``Jesus wept.'' ``Jesus wept.'' Most of us who grew up in Bible-believing households know this is the shortest verse in all of Scripture and, in some ways, the most powerful--one that haunts me. ``Jesus wept'' in John, the 11th chapter, 35th verse, because he had come too late, seemingly, to save the life of Lazarus. He wept because someone he knew and loved had died, and it had caused such harm and loss to his family. Today, we are doing something on the floor of this Senate--my Republican colleagues are doing something on the floor of this Senate-- that I believe would make Jesus weep. In Luke, there is a moment in the 10th chapter where a lawyer--and it is always a lawyer--comes to test Jesus and, in trying to justify himself, presses Jesus with questions. What must I do to gain eternal life? Jesus says: What does the Scripture teach? He says: You should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. The second commandment is like unto it. You should love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says: You have read well. Do this, and you will gain eternal life. But the lawyer, hoping to be justified, says: But--but--but wait. Who is my neighbor? And what follows is the well-known ``Parable of the Good Samaritan,'' where the righteous, the priestly, the respected, the powerful walk on the other side of the road when they encounter someone who has been set upon by robbers: not my problem, not my neighbor. But in the ``Parable of the Good Samaritan,'' it is this person, a Samaritan, from a disfavored ethnicity--someone outside the circle of concern to the ancient Israelites--who does the right thing. This parable would have been shocking at the time that it was preached by Jesus. The idea that the good neighbor was the outcast, the unexpected would be something that, frankly, would have been a surprise. So although today ``being a good Samaritan'' is a common term, it is important to know the history. We are taught as children that we are to see all as our neighbors, not just those who live next-door, not just those who look like us or speak like us or pray like us, but the widest possible definition of ``neighbor'' is what we are called through righteousness to see in the world. What a difference it has made because our Nation has, for decades, embraced the cause of being present, of caring, of making lifesaving differences to young mothers and children, to widows and orphans, to the imprisoned, to the hungry, to the refugee, to those fleeing oppression, to those seeking relief from authoritarian governments, for those seeking a better way. We are all God's children. And from childhood, we are taught that the Golden Rule, which appears in virtually every religion--``Do unto others as you would have them do unto you''--is the very foundation of the goodness of America: that we care for each other as neighbors and that we care for the world as neighbors. Yes, we are the most charitable, giving, philanthropic, engaged Nation on Earth. Yet all that we do in foreign aid is less than 1 percent of our total Federal budget. Months ago, when Elon Musk and DOGE began roaming about the Federal Agencies of our government, their first target was that that delivers disaster relief; that helps feed the hungry; that helps welcome the refugee; that helps stabilize countries going through turmoil. They laid off thousands. They shut down programs. They canceled billions. Yet, here today, we are at it again. Republicans are proposing even deeper cuts. I want to talk about one area of the many that will be cut, I fear, later today: disaster assistance. Our Nation was riveted as we watched the tragedy that unfolded in the Texas Hill Country, where a raging river killed dozens and dozens of innocent children. Do you know, around the world, when disaster strikes, it is the Americans who show up first? It is the Americans who show up with relief, with assistance, with skill and talent and ability. It has been this way for decades, and it should be this way still. I was on a bipartisan trip to the Philippines just a few months ago with Senator Ricketts, and I was struck to learn that the Philippines, of all the nations on Earth, is the most prone to natural disasters. They value our partnership, our alliance. We have been security partners for decades. There are many Filipino Americans, and there is a close and deep relationship. But in meeting with their national leaders, their elected leaders--their Senators and their Ministers of their Cabinet--they said: You know, it makes an incredible difference here in the Philippines. Every time there is a typhoon, an earthquake, a volcano, it is the Americans who come. It is the Americans who deliver the aid, who help us help ourselves with training and equipment and support. Do you know, in the excess of DOGE's deep cuts, they fired and laid off most of our experts who were capable of delivering world-class disaster relief? We saw the consequences with an earthquake in Myanmar just 3 months ago, where the few remaining folks who did this work were laid off as they were deployed, and, instead, the response was led by the Chinese. We are driving nations into the open arms of our adversaries. We have long been known as a nation that sought to be respected, admired, believed in, and embraced not for the example of our power but by the power of our example; that when there were dread pandemics killing millions, America showed up. One of the positives of this day is that my Republican colleagues have recoiled from fully shutting down PEPFAR, and that is a positive. One of the best things we have ever done as a nation is to save 27 million lives across the world who otherwise would have been lost to HIV/AIDS. But I will tell you, when Ebola raged across Africa in 2014, I was the one Member of Congress who went to Liberia at the request of the President--a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a brave and proud leader of a nation that was struggling, that was facing mass losses of life. Projections at the early stages of the Ebola pandemic were that a fifth to a quarter of their population would die in a matter of weeks. And who came to help? It was the Americans, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, CARE, the U.S. military, and our Public Health Service. I will never forget meeting a young Liberian named Alvin. He dropped out of college to become a physician assistant to help when the outbreak began, and he, in caring for patients, himself contracted Ebola, a near-certain death sentence. Yet Alvin was evacuated by the Americans to the Ebola treatment center that had been set up and funded and equipped by Americans, and his life was saved by Americans. Whether it was the President of the nation, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, or Alvin, the folks I met on that trip to Liberia thanked and praised the American people for our decency, our kindness, and our seeing them as our neighbor in their moments of deepest struggle, risk, and loss. Yet today--yet today--my colleagues would rather trim one-tenth of 1 percent of the budget--$9 billion--to cut deeper into food aid and disaster assistance and in fighting pandemics--all to justify a tax cut. I can think of few more despicable acts on this floor in my 15 years. I can speak to process. We have a bipartisan appropriations process, where we can and should debate and consider these further cuts and put them on the floor and vote them up, but this is an odd thing. It is a rescission. It is a cutting back further of money we have already appropriated. Just a few minutes later today, I will be trying to get votes to end $465 million of further cuts in disaster assistance that will be on the floor today, taking money from the World Food Programme and UNICEF, from Red Cross and Save the Children, from Catholic Relief Services and World Vision. Folks may think at home that this money that goes out to the world is money better spent here, but for the pennies on the Federal dollar that we spend responding to disasters around the world, organizations we all know and the majority of us believe in and support--like the Red Cross, World Vision, or Catholic Relief Services--are able to appear in time and deliver lifesaving aid. Think about what we are doing. Think about the example we are setting. Think about what we are teaching our children. Open your hearts and eyes and realize what we are about to do. This is a nation of which I am so proud, and yet at times it does things of which I am so ashamed. I cannot imagine the faces in the refugee camps, in the villages, in the clinics, in the schools, in the towns, in the cities around the world who, for years, have been used to the idea that when there is a pandemic, the Americans come; that when there is an earthquake, the Americans come; that when there is starvation, the Americans come. Today, we will vote, no, we won't. We are more interested in ourselves and in a bigger tax cut than we are in saving starving children--people laid low by the devastation of an earthquake, families suffering by a typhoon. The best part of this Nation, what truly makes us great, is our selfless giving to others. We will be judged by how we act today, for God's justice is swift and sure. And I tremble when I think about the answer this Chamber will give today to the question: Who is my neighbor? Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, we should turn aside. We should not, with this act and this vote today, make Jesus weep. I yield the floor.

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be permitted to speak prior to votes: myself for up to 10 minutes, Senator Cantwell for up to 10 minutes, Senator Murray for 5 minutes, and Senator Schumer for 5 minutes.

Mr. COONS

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

Mr. COONS. Colleagues, the ugly truth about this so-called Big Beautiful Bill is that it will kick 17 million Americans off their healthcare. This bill cuts almost $1 trillion from Medicaid and other healthcare programs by tying people up in redtape. Republicans will tell you they are trying to improve Medicaid, but the truth is, they are not. It is cruel and dishonest to bury parents, kids, and seniors in paperwork and then blame them when they lose their healthcare, all to further rig our Tax Code for the very wealthiest. This week, I met with 30 nurses from Delaware. Their patients couldn't come to DC, so they did. They care for seniors and newborns, families, and the disabled. And their ask to us: Don't take healthcare away from tens of thousands of Delawareans and millions of Americans. Colleagues, support this Coons amendment to eliminate cruel and unnecessary redtape and allow Americans to keep the healthcare they need and deserve.

Mr. COONS. I ask for the reading of the motion to be dispensed with.

Mr. COONS. I have a motion to commit at the desk.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Motions to Commit for the bill H.R. 1 be placed in the Congressional Record: Motion to Commit With Instructions Mr. Coons moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee on Finance of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would remove provisions stripping individuals in the United States of the Federal benefits to which they are entitled, by methods including but not limited to the creation of new administrative burdens and paperwork requirements. Motion to Commit With Instructions Mr. Coons moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee on Finance of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would cause the bill to not increase the deficit for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2034. Motion to Commit With Instructions Mr. Coons moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would apply the conflict-of-interest requirements established under section 208 of title 18, United States Code, to the President and the Vice President.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, having just viewed a video of my friend and colleague Senator Alex Padilla being manhandled, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed after identifying himself as Senator Alex Padilla and attempting to ask a question of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in Los Angeles, I am shaken, I am angry, and I am gravely concerned about our path forward in this body and our Nation. Democracy is a gift hard won and hard earned by the sacrifice of millions who have served, fought, and died, some in moments of tumult and challenge on the beaches of Normandy, on the fields of Gettysburg. From the very beginning of our Nation until this moment, millions of Americans have stepped forward and said: I will risk it all so that my children and those I do not know can live free lives. Knowing the burdens of tyranny, knowing what it meant to live under the heel of a King, our forefathers risked everything. In nations around the world that I have visited on your behalf as a Senator, people yearning for freedom and people recently free have come and spoken about how much the American example means to them. Earlier this year, I was at a global security conference, concerned about what was happening in our Nation, about our division in the dialogue, and I heard three young parliamentarians from other countries talk about how hard they were working. Part of our job as Senators is to ask hard questions. It is to pose challenges. It is to test the Cabinet of the President, to visit Federal facilities, to ask questions that are sometimes uncomfortable or unwelcome. Just this week, I was at three committee hearings and had three members of the Cabinet in front of me. Did they want to answer my questions? Probably not, but they did. If a Senator of the United States who identifies himself as a Senator--in at least the video I just saw--gets handled this way, gets thrown to the ground and handcuffed, what is happening to those who have no such title or voice? If this gentle and decent and caring man is treated this way, what is happening along the margins in the dark spaces in the places we cannot see? So I call on my Republican friends and colleagues to look hard at this moment and say: What comes next? What comes next? Are we to be at risk of arrest if we threaten to ask a question or deign to interrupt? Is our very service here as Senators hanging in the balance in this moment? As we all learn more of the facts of what happened in Los Angeles, the future of what will happen here in our country and in the world will wait on your answer. Was this an overresponse? Was this a misuse of force? Was this a disrespect of the very Senate itself? Is this a moment when, as our Founders who wrote the Federalist Papers dreamed, my colleagues in the Senate will show their loyalty to the role, to the check and balance, to the independence of the Senate, more than they will show their loyalty to their party and their President and demand an answer, an apology, and a different path forward? Or is this a moment when all of us will watch this video of our friend--a member of the Judiciary Committee, a representative, a Senator of Los Angeles and the State of California--being roughly mishandled and say: Huh, too bad. At least it wasn't me. If we answer this moment with silence, we will be damned, and our children and the world will say: They didn't really mean it. The members of my family who served in the U.S. military knew that signing on that line meant being willing to give everything, and I believe and have been told that they understood that service to be in service of freedom--not in service of any particular President or party, any particular State or moment, but in service of democracy. Democracy is a fragile flower, and around the world, people look to what we do to know what they should do. There are petty, tin-pot dictators, authoritarians, and strongmen around the world who will watch this video and be encouraged and think this is the way to silence their critics. I can't image a Member of this Chamber who knows Alex Padilla, who has had the blessing of sitting with him in moments when he is asked questions or engaged in discourse, who thinks of him as anything other than a reasoned, reasonable, mild-mannered Senator. But even if he were not, even if he were outspoken, loud, aggressive, annoying, the title ``Senator'' and the role we have should entitle him to ask a question at a press conference. If the result is this mistreatment, heaven help us all, and heaven help our democracy. I yield the floor.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Madam President, in 100 days, in 100 days, what can a President accomplish? In the last 100 days, President Trump has made Americans less safe, less prosperous, and less free. He has chosen to move us in a direction at home and abroad that is the opposite of what those who voted for him expected and that is aligned with what those of us who worked against him feared. What I have heard my whole life, whether in business or in foreign policy, as a lawyer or in my community as a local elected official: Folks need trust, and they need predictability. Businesses say they need predictability in order to decide what to invest in, who to hire, where to grow. Other countries around the world say that they need to know they can trust us, that they can rely on us. And in the last 100 days, President Trump has shattered both of them. I am going to speak for a few minutes about foreign policy because so many of my colleagues in my caucus have stood to talk about the disastrous cuts led by Elon Musk and DOGE and the ways they have impacted Americans all over the country. But if you think about our reputation globally, statement after statement and tweet after tweet by President Trump has puzzled, concerned, even alarmed our allies. He is going to invade Greenland, a NATO ally. He is going to take back the Panama Canal. He is going to take over the Gaza Strip and make it ``Mara-Gaza.'' He is going to turn Canada into the 51st State. One of my Republican colleagues has said: Don't pay so much attention to what he says; look at what he does. Well, lots of our partners and allies have looked at what he has done by imposing tariffs on trusted allies and partners and recoiled. An election in Canada last night where Trump was the issue elected a new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who ran on a platform of standing up to America, of standing up to Donald Trump. Look, folks, the actions he has taken in slashing foreign aid, in abandoning decades-old, bipartisan programs around the world that save lives and that help other countries to trust us and rely on us, have weakened us abroad and created openings for our pacing threat, the People's Republic of China. I was recently in the Philippines, a nation that faces more natural disasters every year than any other country on Earth--more typhoons, more earthquakes, more volcanos. For decades, they have relied on the United States and the help of USAID, volunteers, nonprofits coordinated through our government to respond to these disasters. It has built a long and close partnership of trust. Gone. I was recently in Taiwan, a country looking to decide whether they can rely on us should China make real their threats to reunite Taiwan with the mainland by force. Can they trust us? Well, what I am going to say is that in 100 days, President Trump has shown weakness in Europe and created openings for China. We have long relied on a global network of allies and partners to keep us safe and strong, to make us prosperous, and to build our role in the world. China doesn't have that. They have nervous neighbors, client states, countries that can't count on them and view them as predatory. Yet now, through the actions of President Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE, and the silence and the collaboration of Republicans in this Chamber, even our closest, most trusted allies, like Canada, question whether they can count on us. Back to the Reagan days, Republicans have talked about ``peace through strength.'' What we have seen from Donald Trump in 100 days is weakness through chaos. One hundred days in, he is not stopping Putin; he is preparing to sell out Ukraine and Europe to Putin. One hundred days in, he is not deterring Xi Jinping; he is backing down every time he says he is going to stand up to him. At the end the day, these first 100 days have shown that we are weaker, the world is less stable, and Americans are less safe. I have to say that 100 days is more than enough time for my Republican colleagues to have seen enough, to stand up to this President, and to restore the role of this Senate and return our position of strength to the world.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Madam President, I get a lot of questions from my constituents. Delawareans raise a lot of issues, whether they are stopping me at the Wawa, talking to me on the train, knocking on my door. They ask me about three things more than anything in the last few months. They are concerned about Elon Musk having huge access to their personally identifying information. They are concerned about the richest man on Earth, whom they didn't elect, getting into their data. They are concerned about Trump's tariff tax and how the tariffs he has just imposed are yanking up prices for everything in our country. And they are also deeply concerned about Social Security. I am going to focus for a few minutes about the alarm I am hearing from Delawareans that the Trump administration, Elon Musk, and Republicans in Congress are going after our Social Security net--the social safety net--the Social Security benefits that so many rely on for stability and security in their lives, as part of the bill that is moving on this floor tonight to help pay for tax cuts for billionaires that are buddies of Elon Musk. Ask American seniors what they think of Social Security, and they will tell you it is an earned benefit. It is a vital lifeline. It is the thing that keeps them out of poverty, pays for their medication, helps them afford rent, helps them live decently and safely. Seventy million Americans get Social Security benefits every month. Four out of ten rely on it for the majority of their income. A few quick examples. Arleen reached out to my office. Arleen is a Delawarean whose husband died in January, and she relies on Social Security to keep paying her bills. Senator, what is going to happen? Ian, a disabled adult who is able to work a few hours a week but requires assistance from his mother due to his intellectual disabilities, without Social Security and the disability benefits, his whole livelihood is at risk. Kathleen reached out to tell me what she thinks of Social Security. She said: I am a 64-year-old disabled woman. I'm concerned about my Social Security disability. I am totally dependent on that check and I'm terrified of what's going on with DOGE. Cheryl Ann wrote my office saying: I am 68 . . . and still work to keep from falling behind in my bills. Since COVID, prices have [gone] up, and with all these new tariffs [or] taxes, seniors [can't] make ends meet. . . . I [want] to retire but [I am afraid that] with Trump messing with Social Security and [Medicaid], how can I? A simple question: What happens to Arleen, Ian, Kathleen, and Cheryl Ann if Republicans are successful in further undermining the stability and reliability of Social Security? What happens to millions like them for whom this program is what keeps them able to afford their medications, keeps food on the table, keeps a roof over their heads? I told you what Delawareans think of Social Security, but if you ask Elon Musk, he will be clear. He has called it a Ponzi scheme. Maybe you don't know Mr. Ponzi. A Ponzi scheme is a fraud. It is something that is fake. It is a Jenga puzzle that comes tumbling down when you pull one of the key pieces. A Ponzi scheme is a fraud. Already, the DOGE boys are slashing the workforce at Social Security. They are making it harder for seniors to get the benefits they earned. They are cutting the budget, firing employees, closing offices, and these needless cuts will just make it harder for seniors to get answers to their questions and to get their checks, forcing those seniors who live in rural areas or who are disabled like the few I just cited, to struggle to access what they earned. Doing all of this in the name of cutting waste and fraud is compelling because where there is waste and fraud, we should go after it, but there are tiny amounts of fraud in this program. Don't take my word for it. Listen to Lee Dudek, the Trump administration's chosen Acting Social Security Commissioner. Lee Dudek, the Trump administration's Acting Social Security Commissioner, at a press conference just last month, estimated that of all the Social Security payments every year 0.00625 percent, less than 1/10 of 1 percent, are fraudulent. That is actually--I am sorry--less than 1/100 of 1 percent. To give you some context, if you think about the entire world, the landmass of the world that is covered by Delaware is 0.003 percent. Delaware is pretty small, and the world is pretty big. That gives you a sense just how small the fraud is in this program that is treasured by Americans. DOGE's favorite talking point about dead people collecting Social Security has been debunked more times than I can count. They claim there are people 200, 300 years old still getting benefits. Trump even said--President Trump said the same thing right here in the Capitol in his address to Congress as he read out the names of folks 200, 250, 300 years old. There is only one problem. It is not true that they are getting benefits. The badly outdated Social Security computer system has a problem with birth dates, and it automatically adds a reference point in certain date errors that is 150 years ago. So, yes, there are names on a register of people who were born, allegedly, a long time ago. But for the last decade, the Social Security Administration automatically stops payments to anyone over 115 years old--automatically. The checks aren't going out to people whose birth date is reported as 200 or 250 years old. An independent inspector general looked at this question and said ``almost none of the number-holders discussed in the report currently receive SSA payments.'' So if the fraud doesn't exist, why do they keep talking about it? Well, they have to find ways to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. House Republicans have made plans. They want to cut $2 trillion in spending to pay for their massive reconciliation bill that we will soon turn to, and you can't do that without touching Medicaid and Social Security. Let me conclude. Social Security is not a giveaway. It is not riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse, and Democrats are united in protecting Medicaid and Social Security. We need to strengthen Social Security, not cut it, and I stand with my colleagues and every Democrat in this body in saying: Hands off of Social Security, President Trump and Elon Musk. I yield the floor.

Mr. COONS

Mr. COONS. Madam President, today I would like to talk about MG Michael R. Berry of the Delaware National Guard. Major General Berry is recommended for the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his exemplary meritorious service as the Adjutant General (TAG) for the Delaware National Guard (DENG). As the 35th Adjutant General of Delaware, Major General Berry's steadfast leadership, expertise in strategic planning, and keen operational oversight have sustained and grown the DENG as a reliable and effective force ready to respond to both State and national challenges and emergencies. Throughout his tenure, Major General Berry ensured that DENG members and their equipment were always ready to respond and deploy in support of nations across the globe. During his time as TAG, the Delaware Army National Guard (DEARNG) deployed over 500 soldiers to Kuwait, Romania, Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Additionally, the Delaware Air National Guard (DANG) deployed over 800 airmen in support of six combatant commands. Major General Berry's leadership was also crucial as demands for the National Guard reached unprecedented levels during the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest, both in the Delaware and our Nation's Capital. Under Major General Berry's leadership, the DENG was heavily relied upon to administer vaccinations and COVID-19 tests and to manage test sites for hundreds of thousands of panic-stricken citizens. Major General Berry also led the DENG as it supported several food distribution sites, conducted a contact tracing mission, and supported a nursing assistant program to fill the crucial void of nurses needed to combat the pandemic. Major General Berry also provided guidance and direction to support our Nation's Capital during the attempted insurrection on January 6, 2021, as well as support for the 59th and 60th Presidential inaugurations. Major General Berry's deployment of soldiers and airmen to Washington with little notice was critical in restoring order and helping facilitate peaceful inaugurations during these two periods. In an effort to remain ready and relevant in aviation, Major General Berry led the DANG in two fleet conversions that included the acquisition of eight C-130H2.5 models and seven C-130H3 models totaling $450 million. These aircraft were critical in the modernization of the DANG's fleet, helping to decrease maintenance requirements and increase flight time. Major General Berry also led the acquisition of a UH-72 Lakota helicopter detachment with two aircraft including flight crew, maintainers, and support personnel. This unit enhanced the domestic response capabilities of the DEARNG. Major General Berry also made it a priority to ensure that DENG facilities remain current and professional, facilitating over $172 million in increased funding for property acquisition, as well as major and minor construction. These funds were utilized to procure land and build new armories, alongside other major military construction improvement projects. Major General Berry's service as TAG will have a lasting positive impact on the DENG, Delaware, and our Nation. Despite serving during a tumultuous time, Major General Berry executed his tenure with poise and decisiveness, bringing professionalism and security to the citizens of Delaware. Thanks to Major General Berry's leadership, the DENG has never been better positioned to serve the State and Nation in times of crises. His outstanding leadership and legacy of excellence will endure long after his retirement.