Richard Durbin

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I object to the modification as written.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we are considering the nomination of Todd Blanche, President Trump's nominee for Deputy Attorney General. How important is this job? It is the No. 2 job in the Department of Justice. Traditionally, it has been given major responsibilities and has been treated very seriously, as it should be, and we should consider that when we consider this nomination. I am not going to go into the background already outlined by Chairman Grassley about Mr. Blanche's legal representation of Donald Trump, which he did on repeated occasions. There is nothing to suggest that what he did was unethical in that capacity or unprofessional, so I am not going to raise a question about it. As to whether or not he has any bias one way or another in dealing with the President in the future is speculative, but it is important. The thing I would like to raise is January 6, 2021. That is the day a solemn constitutional proceeding was disrupted here in this Capitol, in this Senate Chamber, by a mob of thugs who were egged on by President Trump to attack and trash the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the Presidential election. I lived through that, as many of us did. The insurrection led to the death of 5 law enforcement officers and injuries to approximately 140 others, many of whom are still paying that price today. In a rally before the attack on the Capitol, President Trump said: If you don't fight like hell, you are not going to have a country anymore. Yet, in a court filing, Mr. Blanche argued: Not a shred of evidence suggests President Trump called for any violence. In fact, President Trump clearly and repeatedly called for ``peaceful and patriotic'' assembly. There was nothing peaceful or patriotic about President Trump's conduct that day, and the same goes for his supporters. Did it seem peaceful or patriotic when this crowd assaulted police officers who were doing their job and protecting us then, as they do to this day? One of President Trump's first moves in office--not the very first but one of the first things he did--was to issue blanket pardons for all of the violent January 6 insurrectionists. When Mr. Blanche was asked at his hearing to condemn these actions, he repeatedly refused to do so. In fact, it appears he buys into the conspiracy theory that the FBI is actually responsible for the insurrection. In response to our question, Mr. Blanche said he does not believe the inspector general's finding that the FBI did not have any undercover employees in the Capitol on that day. I am especially disappointed--especially--that Mr. Blanche refused to commit to me and the committee that he would not disclose the names of the FBI agents who worked on the case of the January 6 rioters even though some of the rioters are already calling for retribution against these men and women who were simply doing their duty. This is extremely dangerous. We have seen these violent individuals, and we know that they are willing to dole out their own form of justice. They believe they are above the law because of the Presidential pardon, and President Trump validated that belief with the pardons full and unconditional. Instead of accepting the legitimacy of cases brought against the President, Mr. Blanche has repeatedly used the word ``lawfare'' to describe these investigations. I have been around this Chamber for a long time and around Washington for even longer, but I don't know what this word ``lawfare'' means. And to use it as your explanation of what you are going to do in the No. 2 position at the Department of Justice is mind-boggling. After the hush money convictions came down, Mr. Blanche was asked if he accepted that the President had his day in court and a jury of his peers made the decision to convict him. In response, Mr. Blanche undermined our justice system by saying, ``No, not at all.'' Since the President has taken office, we have already witnessed the weaponization of the justice system. Mr. Blanche will not provide the necessary independence to avoid that. His response to questions was not satisfying in this regard. His record and his undying loyalty to the President notwithstanding, I don't believe he is the right person for this job. I ask my colleagues to join me in opposing the nomination.

Mr. DURBIN

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

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am going to ask unanimous consent on a resolution concerning one aspect of this conflict in Ukraine that is particularly compelling, from my point of view. It is a little different than the Senator from Vermont's, but I think it is very important that it be raised and part of our consideration. War brings out the worst in humans, there is no doubt about it. Russia, under the bloody leadership of Vladimir Putin, has been guilty of some of the worst wartime atrocities the mind can imagine--murders, mass murders, rapes, torture, deliberate targeting of hospitals and civilians. That has been the 3-year strategy of Vladimir Putin to bring Ukraine to its knees. But one of the most horrific atrocities is Russia's kidnapping of Ukrainian children. I cannot even imagine the reality of this. Since Russia's full-scale war of aggression started in 2022, the Government of Russia has abducted, forcibly transferred, facilitated the illegal deportation of at least 20,000 Ukrainian children--20,000 children forcibly taken from their homes, families, and communities to a place they have never known. The depravity of this Putin strategy is hard to imagine, but Putin and his government know no humanity, no morality. It is not surprising that Putin would stoop to such a repulsive strategy. That is why today I am asking unanimous consent to pass a resolution condemning Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children. I am calling on Russia to work with the international community to return all of these children to their families. There is no tactful way to violate the sovereignty of a nation, but Putin takes depravity to a new extreme with his kidnapping of Ukrainian children. This barbaric act must be condemned. It should be easy for Members on both sides of the aisle to just imagine for a moment if this had happened to American children. It should be clear to everyone that President Trump cannot side with this grotesque child-kidnapping by President Putin. I am sure he does not. But it has to be a priority of any peace process to acknowledge Putin's responsibility for the invasion and the terrible policies in Ukraine. So I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 110, submitted earlier today; further, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would just like to say briefly, I respect my friend from Idaho. We have a difference of opinion on this. I cannot imagine any resolution of this conflict on Ukraine that does not take into consideration these 20,000 kids who have been kidnapped by the Russians. They are going through this terrible indoctrination where they are being punished if they won't sing the Russian national anthem, where they are demanding that they learn a new language and develop a new loyalty to Russia. This is outrageous. The international courts have branded Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, and this is one of the reasons. I cannot imagine there will be any resolution of this peaceably without bringing these children back home to their families, and for us to be on the record saying that does not seem to me to be intrusive or a radical point of view. It just reflects the reality of where America should be.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I have been honored to serve in the U.S. Senate for a number of years, and I carry with that service a great number of memories. But there is one that is particularly personal that I will never forget. The year was 2021, and the day was January 6. The Senate Chamber was filled with Members who were witnessing a meeting required by our Constitution, where the Vice President presided over the Senate where the Presiding Officer is sitting. We gathered here and counted the electoral votes to determine who was the President as a result of the 2020 election. It is a fairly routine undertaking, but there is some solemnity to it because the Constitution requires it. And I can recall that episode because it was a hectic day. It was the same day that President Trump, leaving the Office because he lost that election in 2020, had called a rally down at the end of the Mall. Thousands of people showed up, and they decided to march on the Capitol at the President's urging and invitation. It is not unusual in this town or even in this building that protesters would gather to state their purpose, as they are entitled to in a democracy. But this was different. The group that was coming up here was not protesting or gathering for speeches. They had some other intent, and we weren't sure what it was. I can recall it was a few minutes after 2 in the afternoon on that day. Vice President Pence was sitting where the Presiding Officer is, and in the midst of the proceedings, some group--I believe now that it was the Secret Service--came in and literally physically removed Vice President Pence from where the Presiding Officer is sitting, leaving the chair empty while we were in session. It was a startling moment: What is going on here? In a few minutes, a representative of the Capitol Police stood at the podium where the Presiding Officer is sitting and made an announcement. Now, for those that don't know the Capitol Police, they are our security force. They are the ones that keep us safe as we do the duties of our government, and they protect everyone in the building--tourists, staff, everyone. They literally risk their lives for us. So one of them came and stood before us in uniform and said: There is a group approaching the Capitol, and we ask you all to stay in your seats. This is going to be a safe place here in the Senate Chamber. Others will join you along the walls, and don't worry about it. We are all going to be safe in this building. It wasn't 10 minutes later that another Capitol policeman came before us and said: Plans have changed. Everyone evacuate the Chamber as quickly as possible. We went outside and saw through the windows the demonstrators with their signs coming toward the Capitol. Some were beating at the windows, and some were approaching the Capitol from different directions. And we were spirited off to another office building on Capitol Hill where we were protected. That is a day you will never forget--I will never forget. I have been coming into this building since I was a college student at Georgetown, years ago. This is a special place to me. It is not my office building. It is the U.S. Capitol Building. It carries with it not only a history but a significance as a symbol. It means something to have a mob take over the Capitol, as happened that day, pushing Members of the House and Senate to hide in broom closets and to leave the building for their own personal safety. I never dreamed that would happen in the United States of America, but I lived it. It happened, and the American people know it happened because the videos are quite graphic. They tell the story of what was going on that day. At the end of the day, many of us were in different places, watching as C-SPAN broadcast the rioters coming into this Chamber, spiriting, going through my desk--not just mine but many others--posing for pictures in the Presiding Officer's chair. It was a scene that was sad, tragic, infuriating. I thought to myself, at the time: What if we had just heard a notice that at the Houses of Parliament--the House of Commons in Parliament-- in London, England, the door had been beaten down and a mob had overtaken the Members of Parliament? You wouldn't believe it. That doesn't happen. This is a civilized country. England--it couldn't happen there. Well, it didn't. It happened here. As a result of it, the Department of Justice took those people, those violent rioters, seriously and prosecuted almost 1,600 of them of wrongdoing--some of them very serious sentences, some just trespassing. But they were all taken seriously and treated appropriately. They answered under the law for their conduct that fatal day. So what happened when this new President came to office? He decided: That isn't what happened at all on January 6. These tourists, these demonstrators, were assaulted by the police. He ignored the fact that 140 law enforcement officials were injured on that day protecting this building and the people in it. He ignored the fact that three or four people died shortly thereafter because of that experience. He decided that the people who needed our sympathy were the rioters and not the police. And so the President, in one of his first acts of office--President Trump--signed the pardon of some 1,600 individuals. I have come to the floor to report to you what has happened since, in the few weeks that have passed since that mass pardon by President Trump. I want to tell you the story, today, of several of the people who were involved in January 6 and pardoned by President Trump. Last week, body camera video was released depicting a traffic-related felony arrest during which a sheriff's deputy fatally shot former January 6 defendant Matthew Huttle--not the first to be shot by a policeman after he was pardoned by President Trump. The video footage confirmed that there was a struggle during the incident, during which Huttle, a January 6 defendant, raised an object that the sheriff's deputy believed to be a firearm. At the beginning of the traffic stop, Huttle can be seen on video stating: I just want to let you know that I am a January 6 defendant. I stormed the Capitol. I'm waiting on my pardon. Investigators later recovered a loaded 9mm handgun and ammunition in Huttle's vehicle. Huttle was among the 1,600 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot pardoned by President Trump. Huttle had pleaded guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds for his role in the insurrection. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison. Peter Schwartz was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges that included four counts of assaulting police officers during the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Schwartz was seen on body camera footage spraying officers with pepper spray and wielding a baton, and prosecutors allege he threw the first chair at officers, creating an opening that enabled hundreds of rioters to push back the police lines. Prior to January 6, Schwartz had amassed criminal convictions in more than four different States for crimes including domestic violence, threatening his girlfriend, and assaulting security officers. One of Schwartz's former girlfriends, Shantelle Holeton, a 43-year-old factory worker who has voted for President Trump three times, she says, recently told CBS News that she fears for her safety now that Schwartz has been pardoned and released. Holeton reports that Schwartz persistently beat her during their months-long relationship until she called the police in July of 2019, alleging that Schwartz was threatening to kill her and her son. In reacting to Schwartz's involvement in the insurrection, Holeton stated: He found an opportunity to go and be violent. The man thrives on violence. He thrives on people fearing him. Another of Schwartz's girlfriends, Shelly Stallings, filed a police report in 2020 alleging that Schwartz bit her forehead and punched her in the head. Schwartz was one of those who was pardoned by President Trump. Jeremy Brown, one of the last January 6 defendants remaining behind bars since President Trump's blanket pardon, was released from the Federal correctional institution in Atlanta on Wednesday. Brown had not yet been released because prosecutors did not consider one of his two criminal cases to be related to January 6 and thus covered by the pardon. However, the Justice Department has since reversed course. In April of 2023, Brown was convicted in Tampa, FL, of possessing a short-barrel rifle, a shotgun, and explosive grenades--explosive grenades--and willful retention of a national defense document, all resulting from a January 6-related law enforcement search of his residence in September of 2021. He was sentenced to 87 months in prison for those charges and released by the pardon of President Trump. This is a horrible situation, and sadly, tragically, these are people who never should have been pardoned by the President. They attacked the police here in this building. They desecrated this Capitol. They were not the victims. They victimized innocent people who were doing their jobs under the Constitution.

Mr. DURBIN

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

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, instead of improving lives or lowering prices for Americans, we are seeing policies in the Trump administration do exactly the opposite. The President has spent his time trying to systemically dismantle the Federal Government, creating riffs with our closest allies and now imposing restrictive tariffs on our biggest trading partners. The tariffs that he has unleashed--25 percent on Canada and Mexico as well as an additional 10 percent on China--will hurt American consumers and supply chains and undermine American manufacturing. Illinois is the fourth largest exporter in the Nation. In 2023, our exports to Canada totaled more than $21 billion--billion. These tariffs will hurt Illinois farmers, workers, and manufacturers, not to mention consumers. Additional tariffs on our three biggest trading partners will add to the economic strain that is already beginning to show under the new administration. A survey of consumer sentiment published last month recorded this largest month of decline in 4 years due, in large part, to concerns about trade and tariffs. Tariffs are taxes. They are taxes the consumers of America will have to pay. These levels of concern have not been seen since the trade wars in President Trump's first term. As Americans already struggle under the weight of high housing costs, these tariffs will make things worse. Much of the lumber used to build new homes in the United States comes from Canada, and more than 70 percent of the imports of two essential materials that homebuilders rely on, softwood lumber and gypsum, come from Canada and Mexico. With a 25-percent tariff on imported goods from those two countries, American homebuilders will need to pay more and so will the consumers. While the President claims that foreign countries will pay for U.S. tariffs, that isn't the truth, and we know what the truth is: The burden of tariffs is carried by American companies and passed on to American consumers. Indiscriminately slapping tariffs on the goods American consumers need means higher costs, higher costs on groceries, gas, cars, while inspiring retaliatory tariffs and even boycotts on American-made products, further hurting our economy. I understand we are probably having a rollcall. I see a number of Members coming to the floor. But President Trump's economic chaos isn't just happening overseas. You see, right now, Congress is in the midst of doing its most basic and essential job: Funding the government. But under the direction of President Trump, instead of coming to the negotiating table to pass a serious, full-year spending bill that serves the interests of everyday Americans, Congressional Republicans are bargaining away the well-being of working families to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. And what is the most egregious example of this? Their plan to slash health coverage for millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid. House Republicans have proposed $880 billion in cuts to the Medicaid program, and Senate Republicans have similarly put this health program in the crosshairs. Why? Not because they want to lower health care costs or improve our health care system, but because they want to use Medicaid cuts as a piggy-bank for tax breaks to billionaires. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, can dance around on stage with a chainsaw, cheering cuts to basic health care programs, but let me explain to you what that means for working families. Medicaid covers 30 million children--nearly half of all children in America--60 percent of seniors in nursing homes, and is the largest funder of addiction and mental health treatment. In Illinois, 3.4 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, including 1.5 million children. Under Republican plans to slash Medicaid, 775,000 adults who gained health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act could lose coverage almost overnight. And for other children, elderly, or disabled Illinoisans who depend on it, they may no longer be able to access lifesaving medical treatment. Republicans are ignoring the obvious: Medicaid is a lifeline for children's hospitals and rural hospitals in their communities. In Illinois, 60 percent of our 102 counties are rural. Rural hospitals are the backbone of communities in central and southern Illinois. Rural hospitals anchor the local economy--they often are the largest employer in town. And they are a critical access point for health care. If you suffer a farm accident or face a complication with your birth, you cannot afford to drive hours to the nearest hospital. That's why I have worked for years to improve access to health care in rural areas--working to strengthen rural hospitals and recruit more doctors, dentists, and nurses. But rural hospitals in Illinois and nationwide could be at risk of closure if Republicans put Medicaid on the chopping block. Already, half of rural hospitals in America operate in the red. And for many rural hospitals, Medicaid covers a large percentage of their patients and accounts for a large portion of the hospital's budget. For HSHS St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield, IL, Medicaid pays for 53 percent of the hospitalizations. For OSF St. Clare Hospital in Princeton, IL, Medicaid pays for 45 percent of hospitalizations. It is 42 percent for SSM St. Mary's Hospital in Centralia, IL. Do you see the picture? Cuts to Medicaid put rural hospitals in jeopardy. And if rural hospitals close because of Republican budget cuts, communities will suffer. Children seeking cancer treatment won't be able to access the local care they need. Pregnant women will have to drive further to deliver their babies. And your grandparent will have to wait months to get in to see that diabetes specialist. If Republicans push forward with their cruel and unpopular funding plan, working families will lose and billionaires will win. It is simple and devastating math. If Americans cannot access health care because funding was slashed to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, if they cannot afford groceries because of an ill-conceived trade war, know that it is because President Trump is the billionaire's president.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Welch) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Welch) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I want to thank my colleague from Hawaii. If he can spare 30 seconds, I would like to tell him a story. Years ago, I went to India to the dusty villages--not the big cities--just to see what USAID was doing. I heard about it. I wanted to see it. The most graphic example I can remember from that experience was when they showed me a bag of some grain supplement, and on it was written ``USAID from the people of the United States of America.'' What they were doing with this was making a lunch for the children in the village. I don't think your kids or mine would have touched it. It looked like some odd rice crispy ball that was held together with water. They sat with little tin plates with this rice crispy ball on it from the USAID package to eat their lunch. But before they ate their lunch, they paused. I said, ``What is going on?'' The guide said to me: They are saying a prayer of thanks to this United States of America for giving them food to eat. I thought to myself, for goodness' sake, it is 1 percent of our Federal budget--1 percent--that we spend in this manner to try to give kids around the world a chance to survive. There are many other things we do, but that basic example with those kids sitting in the dust of that village eating that rice crispy ball and thanking the United States of America for it touched my heart and still does to this day. Thanks for what you said. I appreciate it so much.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting with leaders from Joliet, IL--including Mayor Terry D'Arcy, city manager Beth Beatty, fire chief Jeff Carey, deputy chief of health services Aaron Kozlowski, emergency management coordinator Dr. John Lukancic, and Sister Mary Francis Seely. I take dozens of meetings every week in my office here in Washington, but I was struck by the remarkable work underway in Joliet. Joliet is the third-largest city in Illinois, and like all communities, it faces its share of challenges. But over the past few years, Joliet has launched an incredible program to address mental health and addiction among its residents. Starting in 2020, Joliet noticed that mental and behavioral health calls accounted for a growing percentage of the 9-1-1 calls. The fire department was spending less time putting out fires--and more time responding to people in mental health crisis. Some residents were dialing 9-1-1 regularly--several times a week--because they were facing underlying mental health needs. This cost the city money. It strained resources. But most of all, it meant residents of Joliet were suffering. So they decided to do something about it. Joliet began by training 200 firefighters and paramedics in ``crisis first aid,'' to be able to respond appropriately to callers in mental health distress. You see, after experiencing trauma--like witnessing a shooting or seeing their home destroyed by a fire--people can suffer. Exposure to trauma can harm the brain, changing the way people see and interact with the world. We know that young people who experience trauma have a shorter life expectancy, are more likely to misuse drugs, attempt suicide, commit violence, or not graduate from high school. By providing Joliet firefighters with the tools to help individuals facing trauma, these first responders are able to recognize the signs of stress, and plant the seeds of a healthier tomorrow. It also helps the firefighters understand their own mental health needs from the strains of the job, so we can keep them healthy, too. Additionally, after being dispatched to one of these serious calls, the Joliet Fire Department pays a follow-up visit within 48 hours. These visits help to show residents that someone cares and is looking out for them; it helps calm them down and can help provide referrals to additional services the residents may need. In less than 3 years, the Joliet Fire Department has provided more than 2,000 Joliet residents with these mental health services. Think about this for a moment: Rather than just throwing up their hands and saying, ``Sorry, we just fight fires,'' Joliet is taking ownership of the community's needs and preventing future 9-1-1 calls. But they are not stopping there. Of course, not every patient's mental health needs can be addressed by first responders; some individuals require specialized treatment from a professional. But in Joliet, like most places across the country, there is a shortage of counselors and psychologists, causing waitlists that can last for months until the next available appointment. And what Joliet had realized was that, if a patient couldn't see a mental health provider, they were resorting to calling 9-1-1 and taking an ambulance to the emergency room. It is similar to a problem that the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago was seeing: where 48 individuals accounted for more than 776 visits to the emergency room in a single year. The reason? They were homeless. That hospital realized they could save money and better treat these patients, by paying for supportive housing. Joliet is applying a similar lesson. They have partnered with the local hospital and a mental health company to offer free mental health services with a clinician, usually within 24 hours. Whatever insurance won't cover, the city has set up a fund to pay the co-pays and other out-of-pocket expenses for the mental health care of its residents. What has been the result of this effort? Well, in the year before the program launched, Joliet area high schools experienced 12 teenage suicides. But in the last 2 school years, there have been zero teen suicides. Across all ages, citywide suicides have decreased by 50 percent. That is lifesaving work. It is being recognized, too. Joliet recently received the Congressional Fire Service Award for Excellence. I hope to support this effort in any way I can. Illinois recently received Federal approval to use Medicaid to cover preventive mental health services in the community, which can reduce costs down the line. And with Senator Capito, I have worked on Federal legislation to increase funding for trauma-informed care in schools and with first responders, to help break the cycle of mental health challenges. I applaud the city of Joliet's efforts, which are serving as a new national model for emergency medical services and using first responders to address the root causes of suffering in the community. I look forward to working with them to identify additional Federal resources and opportunities to grow this project. But to do that, my Republican colleagues need to understand a few things: We must fund the Federal Government and the critical programs that pay our first responders--and not allow Elon Musk to decide what he thinks is worthwhile spending; and Medicaid is the insurance program that pays the largest share of mental health services; we cannot slash the Medicaid program to pay for billionaire tax breaks. These may sound like distant debates in Washington, but when it comes to preventing suicides in Joliet, IL, it is a critical investment. And I will work every day to defend these programs.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it has been almost 6 weeks--maybe a couple of days beyond 6 weeks--of the new administration of Donald Trump and his second term. It is a lot different than his first term. I was here for that occasion as well. What we have found is unique is a blizzard of Executive orders issued by President Trump from the beginning of his administration. Among those Executive orders was his declaration of an energy emergency-- energy emergency. It turns out that claim is not based on fact. There is no energy emergency in America. Under the Biden administration, we saw record deployment of wind, solar, biofuels, batteries, oil, gas, and nuclear. In fact, the United States is producing more power than ever. Last year, the United States of America produced more oil than any other nation in the history of the world. Yet President Trump continues to insist that America is on the verge of nationwide blackouts and that clean energy will raise prices. It is simply not true. So what is the reason for the President to try to mislead the American people? The short answer is that he wants to give handouts to his billionaire buddies in the fossil fuel industry. Before Elon Musk showed up with his multibillion-dollar fortune, it was reported that then-Candidate Donald Trump invited fossil fuel executives to Mar-a- Lago to ask for--hold on to your seats--a $1 billion campaign contribution--1 billion bucks. Now that he is in office, President Trump is doing everything he can to keep those billionaires happy. That means tax cuts for the ultrawealthy--which is on its way, I am afraid--opening up Federal lands and waters for drilling, and, yes, declaring this phony energy emergency. Why is he doing it? Declaring an emergency grants the President additional statutory authority. Donald Trump is using these authorities to fast-track pipelines and drilling in the Gulf of--may I say it?-- Mexico. But there is nothing in this declaration to support fossil fuel's cleanest competitors: wind and solar. If Trump doing the bidding of billionaires wasn't bad enough, his so- called emergency will also raise the electric bills of thousands of families. Wind and solar are the cheapest energy in the world, and those cheap prices get passed on to the families who take advantage of them. I know personally. A few years ago, my wife and I made the decision to install solar panels on the roof of our home. Our home project gave union workers in my community a good-paying job, and it was just one project contributing to hundreds of thousands of jobs created in the Biden administration. Since Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act was enacted 2\1/2\ years ago, more than 1\1/2\ million Americans have installed solar panels. Was it a good idea? Well, I compared the electric bills I had been receiving in my home before and after the solar panels. Before the solar panels were installed on my roof, my monthly bill was about $115 for electricity. Now it is $15 because of the solar energy. Every one of these installations also helped to create good-paying jobs for electricians, carpenters, and other workers, and supplying those panels created thousands of new jobs at factories around the country. But President Trump is not impressed. He wants to eliminate those jobs. We have an opportunity to undo the harms of one of President Trump's many lies today. I want to thank Senator Kaine of Virginia for leading this effort. We need to raise up American workers, lower utility bills, and put America back on track to lead the world on clean energy. I urge my colleagues to support the Kaine measure. January 6 Pardons Mr. President, on January 6, 2021, a solemn constitutional proceeding was disrupted when a mob of thugs, egged on by President Trump, attacked and trashed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of a Presidential election. The grim result of that insurrection was the subsequent death of 5 law enforcement officers and injuries to approximately 140 others, many of whom are still paying the price to this day. It came as a shock when, on the first day of Donald Trump's Presidency, he issued a blanket pardon for those who had been convicted for that January 6 attack on the Capitol. We all saw the videos. We all saw the photographs. Here is an illustration of one of them. Listen to what President Trump said about 1,600 pardons at a recent press conference when he was asked: Why did you pardon all those people who attacked the police officers at the Capitol Building? He said: I pardoned people that were assaulted themselves. They were assaulted by our government. . . . They didn't assault. They were assaulted, and what I did was a great thing for humanity. The American people overwhelmingly disagree with the President, and they disagree with his decision. In fact, 83 percent of them oppose the pardons that he gave. That includes 70 percent who lean Republican in their voting. Despite this overwhelming opposition, the Justice Department has now broadened the scope of President Trump's pardons for January 6 rioters to include separate charges stemming from searches conducted during those investigations. I will describe a couple of them to you. Federal prosecutors recently dropped explosives and firearm crimes being pursued against two January 6 defendants pardoned by President Trump: Daniel Ball and Elias Costianes. Ball and Costianes had both been charged in separate proceedings with illegally possessing weapons that law enforcement discovered during the January 6-related search. Ball had been accused of throwing an ``explosive device that detonated upon at least 25 officers'' during the Capitol riot and of ``forcefully'' shoving police who were trying to protect the Capitol. Ball was barred from possessing firearms because of his prior criminal record. Listen to this prior criminal record of a man who was pardoned by Donald Trump: Before January 6, Ball was convicted of domestic violence battery by strangulation, resisting law enforcement with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer. President Trump says that poor man was assaulted by the police. Does it sound like it? Remember, President Trump told us Ball and his fellow rioters were the actual victims. No wonder so many of the January 6 perpetrators have shown a stunning lack of remorse. Just last Friday, just a few days ago, a number of these pardoned individuals decided to hold their own press conference outside the U.S. Capitol to announce their intent to sue the Justice Department for prosecuting them for this--dangerous individuals, including former Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio, who had been serving a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy before the Trump pardon; Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, who had been serving an 18-year sentence; Dominic Pezzola, the first rioter to breach the building on January 6, who was serving a 10-year sentence for stealing a police riot shield and using it to break a window. I will bet you saw that video. I did. The group paraded through the Capitol after the press conference, following the same route they took on January 6, 2021. They posed for photos, chanting as they did that day: Whose house? Our house. After the press conference, Mr. Tarrio was even arrested again outside the Capitol for assaulting a female counterprotester. Tarrio also posted video of himself stalking Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn, former police officers who had defended the Capitol on January 6. Tarrio was following them through the lobby of a hotel where the officers were attending a conference. While Tarrio followed them, he was calling out at them that they were ``cowards'' and telling them to ``keep walking.'' Does this sound like a man ashamed of his actions on January 6 and full of remorse? Does this sound like an innocent victim of assault? No. This sounds like a man who now thinks he is above the law with his Trump pardon and expects to be bailed out by President Trump for every crime he decides to commit. In another horrifying turn, the same hotel that I discussed earlier where these rioters were stalking policemen had to be evacuated after someone claiming to be MAGA emailed a threat about four bombs--two in the hotel and one in Officer Fanone's mother's mailbox. After listing the names of several of the conference attendees and singling out Officer Fanone, the email said they ``all deserve to die.'' These are men and women in police forces who risked their lives for Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives on January 6. The perpetrator of this tweet claimed to be acting ``to honor the [January] 6 hostages recently released by Emperor Trump''--his words. These are just last week's updates on the January 6 rioters President Trump pardoned. The list of crimes committed by these thugs just keeps growing longer and longer. We must be clear that these individuals are a threat, and the more power and freedom they are given, the more danger they pose to our democracy and the law enforcement officers and families of those officers that they are harassing. Just this month, dozens of January 6 offenders joined forces on social media to compile and publicize the identities of at least 124 individuals who had been involved in their convictions, including prosecutors, judges, and FBI agents. The post, which has received at least 60,000 views, included names, photos, disparaging remarks, and demands for accountability. In January, another pardoned January 6 defendant who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers, Ryan Nichols, Sr., identified in a Twitter post ``officers in the DC Jail who need to be investigated for corruption and abuse,'' adding the names and LinkedIn profile photos of two DC jail employees. This is stalking and harassment of law enforcement men and women who were assigned to this Capitol to protect us. The men and women who bravely defended the Members of this body deserve better than this, and we should honor them for their heroic efforts on that day, not excuse the rioters who attacked this Chamber and the ideals it represents. Government employees should not fear for their safety or that of their families for simply doing their job. I hope that all of us, regardless of our political persuasion, will finally agree on one thing: Violence has no place in a democracy, and Donald Trump's pardon of these 1,600 January 6 attackers is not only an insult to the Capitol Police who risked their lives to stop them but has emboldened these convicts to harass these officers and their families. The question for the Senate is simple: Whose side are you on--the police or the rioters'? I yield the floor.