John Hickenlooper

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 4956 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I am going to switch gears a little bit here. I want to talk a little bit about the SAVE Act. Despite its name, the SAVE Act is not going to help you or anyone in America save on anything. It won't help you save on your gas bill, your medicine, your rent. It won't help you save on student loans or childcare or what you pay for utilities. This bill has nothing to do with money at all, and it certainly isn't about helping Americans. We are going to fight against this bill with everything we have got, and it will fail because it is bad for the country. That is right--the Republicans know the bill will fail, and they are intent on dragging this out for hours, for days that could be spent addressing the real issues that Americans face. The cost of gas is rising every day, week after week. In parts of Colorado, the price of gasoline has almost doubled in the last several weeks. That is money taken straight out of your pockets. Grocery prices are going up. Doctor's visits are going up. Housing costs are going up as well. Right now, one in three American households spends more than 30 percent of their income on housing--one-third. And when they are not shelling out for rent, they are shelling out more for healthcare. Despite living in the wealthiest country in the world, Americans pay the highest costs for healthcare globally and in many cases get worse results. But we don't have to tell all of America this. We don't have to tell all of you this; you already know it. You are living it every single day--at the checkout line, in the pharmacy, at the doctor's office, when you pay your electric or water bill. And here is what makes it worse. You are doing everything right. You are working longer hours, picking up second jobs. You are cutting back in every way you can to make ends meet. You are skipping vacations. You are delaying buying a home. You are putting off starting a family. Some folks today are even skipping doses of medication just to stretch their prescription a few more days. This is not because you want to but because you have no choice, you see no other way. A year ago, at his inauguration, our President promised lower prices and no more foreign wars. This administration has already spent 20 billion of your dollars waging war on Iran, and the war has gotten bigger, bloodier, and more expensive every day since. Just today, the Pentagon announced their plan to ask Congress for $200 billion to fund the war in Iran--$200 billion. That is money that we don't have. Our deficit last year was somewhere in the vicinity of $1\3/4\ trillion. Yet Congress is going to be asked to borrow $200 billion more and add that to the national debt. The SAVE Act isn't going to save any of that. It is not going to save any American any money, and it certainly isn't going to change reality. So what is it really about? I think it is about saving this administration's failing agenda. And how is that? It is through voter suppression. The President knows that costs are high. He knows that you are angry. He knows that the majority of Americans disapprove of the war, are unhappy that their costs keep rising. But instead of actually lowering prices, he is backing a bill that is going to make it harder for most people to vote, especially for Americans whom he doesn't trust will vote for him. The SAVE America Act creates mountains of redtape for voters and will ultimately remove millions of Americans from the voting rolls-- Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. It requires every voter to dig through their basement, go up into their attic, and try to find their birth certificate--right--find their passport, just so they can register to vote, something most of them have been doing year after year for decades. But there are problems--real problems--with this plan. More than 21 million American citizens don't have their original birth certificate handy or they don't have a passport, they don't have either one of these types of identification; and 69 million married women have birth certificates that don't have their correct last name. They changed their name when they got married. Taken together, the SAVE America Act would make it more difficult for tens of millions of people to vote. It would also dismantle vote-by- mail as we know it. Now, about one in three Americans voted by mail in 2024, an election that President Trump won. During the 2024 election, the voters most likely to vote by mail were those over the age of 65. It is the single best way for folks with limited mobility to exercise their constitutional right. Just look at Colorado. Almost 99 percent of Republican voters in Colorado voted by mail in 2025. Now, way back in 2013, when I was still the Governor, we passed a set of laws that established our State as the gold standard for secure and accessible elections. We started by making voting as accessible as possible. We established one of the first universal vote-by-mail systems in the country. Now, you can still vote in person, but every single Coloradan gets a ballot mailed to them. Now, these reforms were largely created by Republican county clerks working with our Republican secretary of state. Vote-by-mail has proven to be less expensive, more secure, and people love it. The turnout just goes up. It is perhaps the single most effective way to increase voter turnout. Today, as I said, every single registered voter gets a ballot in the mail. Every ballot that they receive in the mail is printed on paper, meaning that we have a physical record across the entire voting system that can be easily audited at even the faintest hint of fraud. And we go beyond that. It is basic common sense. The ballot arrives weeks before the election, which gives Coloradans plenty of time to research the candidates, talk around the kitchen table about whom they think is going to do the best job, and submit their ballot by mail or go drop it off at a ballot box. And even if voters wait until the last minute, they can still register to vote and vote on election day. Now, Colorado Republicans were behind this initiative literally every step of the way because this was about making voting, the act of voting, easier for everyone. Coloradans--Democrats, Republicans, Independents--we have almost a third--actually, we have more than a third Independents now--everybody loves this system. During the 2025 election, 98 percent of all the Coloradans who voted, voted by mail. They submitted mail-in ballots. They dropped it off or they put it in the mail. And Coloradans didn't just make voting accessible; we made it secure. We created a multilayer system of checks and balances. Every single drop box that receives ballots is under 24-hour video surveillance from the time the box opens for ballot return until the end of an election-- day and night. We made sure Coloradans could track their ballot the same way you would use FedEX or UPS to track a package so voters could trust that their ballot had been counted. And in 2017, under the leadership of the Republican secretary of state Wayne Williams, Colorado took election security to the next level. We became the first State in the Nation to conduct a bipartisan statewide audit after every election. The results from these audits over the 6 years show that Colorado's vote-counting systems were more than 99.99 percent accurate. We put the burden on a team of Democratic and Republican leaders to use the State's resources--in other words, the State pays for this--to ensure that every person who votes is eligible and every vote counted matches the ballot. Now, the SAVE Act would completely reverse this progress. It would bog down the voter in endless mountains of new redtape, and in the end, millions of Americans wouldn't cast a ballot at all. Now, think about it and ask yourself who this really impacts: seniors who no longer drive, rural Americans who live hours from a government office. These are likely Republican voters, but it is going to impact them negatively. It will impact working parents who can't take time off to track down paperwork or take work off to vote in person. It would impact women whose last names have changed, as I mentioned. At the end of the day, none of it helps you, the voter. It is all a distraction--a rather large distraction. Every hour that we are spending in the debate about the SAVE America Act is an hour we are not spending bringing down the cost of groceries or housing, healthcare. While Americans are worried about costs and they are worried about their families and their future, the administration is relitigating the 2020 election and waging a war most Americans don't want. All of this chaos--from Colorado to Venezuela to Iran to Minnesota--is one big distraction from this administration's failure to lower costs for Americans. The bill was never about saving Americans money. They call it the SAVE Act. It creates a misrepresentation. But what we should be here today to accomplish is to figure out how to save money for the American people, for all of you. If your agenda is working and you are delivering on promises, you don't have to make it harder for people to vote. I would argue that agenda might not be working. I think the results, if your agenda is working--and the people--speak for themselves. So let me spell it out. Americans want lower costs--not wars abroad, not violence in the streets. Americans are looking literally for any sign that this administration still sees them, still sees the rising grocery costs, the gas prices, the huge bill increases from doctors' offices. This administration refuses to acknowledge these problems exist, and there is so much infighting within the President's ranks that they can't decide whether this war will go on for 2 weeks or 5 weeks or a year. Are American troops going to be deployed? The jury is still out on that as well. It is a lot of noise and not a lot of substance. So far, there is no evidence of a comprehensive plan and certainly no--and by that I mean zero--accountability to the American people. Let's remember, the Pentagon just announced their plan to ask Congress for $200 billion to fund the war in Iran. They want the American taxpayers to sign off on borrowing--because we don't have the cash--$200 billion more money--$200 billion more. With that kind of money, we could fund universal pre-K in every State in this country, we could get to universal healthcare coverage, we could have free school meals for every child and free community college for every American for a full year. So when they shout out the importance of the SAVE Act, remember this one thing: It will not help you save a penny on your rent, your groceries, the cost of your healthcare. The only thing it is saving, I would argue, is their political skin. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, ``We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while, at the same time, stumbling into continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad.'' That is a direct quote from President Trump a year ago, spoken about the Biden administration, which President Trump spoke in his inaugural address just over a year ago. Fast-forward 1 year, and now, it is this administration dragging the United States into an illegal war with Iran, one that has already taken American lives and spread chaos and destruction to an entire region. Iran's authoritarian regime is brutal, corrupt, oppressive, but the President's approach leaves us facing profound, unanswered questions about new dangers that may be unleashed. I don't think there can be a clearer question raised about this administration than the President's own words said a year ago. We have a government that can't manage a simple crisis at home, and at the same time, we have one that is actively seeking catastrophic conflicts abroad. Every strike, every military escalation, every headline is a distraction. It pulls our attention overseas from the urgent economic struggles that Americans face at home. It distracts from the hard, less glamorous work it takes to make life more affordable for the American people. Iran is only the latest in a long line of distractions. Right now, the United States and Israel are hitting targets all across Iran. The Trump administration entered this war with no plan of what comes next. And, now, the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader has left that country facing a dangerous, uncertain future. The conflict is spreading. Iran is retaliating by launching missiles at U.S. bases and partner countries across the Middle East. The entire region has now been dragged into this war, and six American soldiers are already dead. As we speak, more troops--our courageous men and women--are being deployed into this volatile region, all to fight a war of choice that is illegal. It is a war that the American people don't want. The administration can't agree on a joint goal, a strategy, or even an endgame. They don't seem to have one. They didn't anticipate how to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Americans living in or visiting in the Middle East who are now being told to flee a war zone but can't because the airspace is closed. The United Kingdom has been evacuating its citizens throughout the region, but our government, which has been planning this attack for months, doesn't seem to have plans for Americans. These are worse than mistakes; they are failures that are already costing American lives and throwing the region into chaos. All the chaos serves a purpose and distracts from the President's failures at home; the rising prices, the violence of ICE against American citizens, and the unreleased Epstein files. While this House--this White House--wages war abroad, working Americans are barely treading water at home. Over the last year, the President's disastrous illegal tariffs have crushed small businesses in Colorado and across the country. They have raised costs for all Americans. Tariffs clearly are a tax on Americans. Just this week, gas prices reached an 8-month high in the response to the war in Iran. Americans are already paying for this war at the gas pump. Rent and home prices continue to rise, pushing the average American's first home purchase to age 40--an alltime record. Tens of millions of Americans are paying double for their healthcare because the President and MAGA Republicans passed legislation that will lead 15 million people to lose their coverage altogether. In 85 of the country's largest metro areas, childcare for two kids costs more than rent. On top of all that, U.S. job growth is at its weakest since COVID, and wages aren't keeping up with inflation. According to Moody's, the top 10 percent of U.S. households now account for nearly half of all spending. That means, on paper, the economy may look relatively good but only for half of Americans--half of Americans at the top. While working families struggle to get by, the President has given an extra boost to the powerful and well-connected. The Trump family themselves have made $4 billion off the Presidency, and his administration helped pass $4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and for the largest corporations. They forced taxpayers to give up healthcare in order to pay for this tax cut. Meanwhile, our communities feel out of control. We have witnessed ICE arrest children, separate families, kill Americans, all with zero accountability. We have seen the President and his Department of Justice delay and deny the release of the Epstein files--the full Epstein files. And the selective files we do have, the name ``Trump'' shows up more than 85,000 times. Americans want safety. They want justice. They want to be able to pay their bills. Instead, what they are getting are coverups, corruption, and chaos. Here is the thing: Americans know that something is wrong. Every paycheck feels a little small. Every trip to the grocery store and the doctor, every bill for rent, energy, or childcare is never quite enough. It is a terrible feeling. Americans work hard every day and still feel like they are getting nowhere. The last thing that they need--the last thing that we need--is another war. Americans know how this story ends because we have been here before. We remember Iraq. The more the President fuels this war machine, the more American families are getting closer to running on empty. It is time to cut short this illegal war and demand that the administration deliver for Americans and focus on our homes, for every family, for every soldier, for every paycheck, for every taxpayer dollar. A year ago, the President warned about a government ``stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad,'' but that is what we have done. We don't need this war. We need to focus on doing better at home. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, we like to believe that when democracy erodes, it is unpredictable and in some ways out of our control, but history tells us a different story. Authoritarianism rises through a time-tested playbook. These leaders have learned which moves weaken opponents, which tactics will rally a crowd, and which moments of fear or crisis work best to their advantage. They don't need to invent new strategies. They can run familiar plays. There is one target we are watching this administration go after the hardest, and that is the truth. They begin by attacking every source of independent information. It started with universities and colleges. They moved on to our largest research institutions. They discredited or tried to discredit every journalist whose reporting differs from their own narrow point of view, and in doing so, they have tried to make the administration and the President the sole source of truth. We have seen this play out in Minneapolis during the past few weeks. So let's get a few facts straight. On January 7, ICE officers shot and killed Renee Good while she was in her own car. She was a mother of three, originally from Colorado Springs. Then, again, this past weekend, Americans watched the videotape of Federal immigration agents shooting and killing Alex Pretti. They fired 10 times in 5 seconds. It is sickening. No family should have to witness their loved one being killed in such a fashion, and yet, obviously, Alex's parents did. His parents live in Colorado. I connected with them earlier this week. Among other things, they wanted to make sure that we do everything we can to make sure that Alex's name is out front, that we keep their son's story alive to make sure that his life wasn't lost in vain. They have asked for truth and accountability. What they are getting--what all of us are getting--are excuses and lies--lies about their son. The reality of who Alex Pretti was doesn't fit the administration's playbook, so they are filling the airwaves with lies, repeating them over and over and over to try to somehow get them to stick. DHS Secretary Noem, within hours of Pretti's death, said: It looks like a situation where an individual arrived on the scene to inflict maximum violence . . . and kill law enforcement. Next, it was Greg Bovino, Trump's now-fired Border Patrol commander, saying that Pretti intended ``to massacre law enforcement'' and that he ``violently resisted.'' Stephen Miller called Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist, with Vice President Vance and President Trump promoting that sentiment and that blatant lie from their pulpits. By this point, we have all seen that video from multiple angles. We have seen it with our own eyes. Alex was not a terrorist. He was in no way an assassin. He was a U.S. citizen exercising his First Amendment right to protest ICE's lawlessness. This week, families in Eagle County, CO, experienced another type of cruelty that fits into this administration's playbook. They found ``death cards'' left in the automobiles of their family members who were taken away by ICE agents. These cards--I hold one up here--have a history of being used by White supremacist groups to intimidate people of color. Death cards is what they call them. These cards found in Colorado had the address and phone number of the Aurora ICE detention facility printed on them. Aurora is a neighboring city to Denver. Now, imagine just for a second that you haven't heard from your brother, your sister, and when you finally find their empty, abandoned car, it has one of these death cards sitting in the driver's seat. I mean, this is cruelty for the sake of cruelty, and it fits into the troubling pattern that we are seeing coming from some of the top officials in the White House. This morning, I voted against a government funding that would have handed billions of dollars to DHS. Continuing to fund ICE while Federal officers terrorize our cities and kill people is unconscionable. We need to stop ICE officers beating Americans, killing Americans, arresting Americans without due process, taking away the civil rights of Americans. The overhaul of ICE that we are demanding is common sense. The fact is that these are all basic standards of local law enforcement, who go after violent criminals, gangsters--in many ways, the worst of the worst. These are standards that those local police officers already follow. ICE needs, first, to take their masks off. They need to turn on body cameras. They need to be clearly identified. There can be no accountability without transparency. No more unmarked vans and masked agents pulling people over and pulling people away and arresting them to wherever. No more roving patrols. ICE needs to have judicial warrants signed by a judge. They need to stop arresting children on the side of the road and end these cruel family separation policies. Secretary Noem--what she said, I think, is untenable and unacceptable, and I think she needs to resign. But let's be clear. ICE is carrying out the policies of our President, so just changing leadership at ICE or DHS is not going to be sufficient. We have to fundamentally overhaul the lawlessness of these organizations. This administration is asking us to ignore what we can see with our own eyes. They get us to a point where we mistrust so many sources of information, and they force us to rely on believing what we see. They are asking us to believe lies about Alex and about Renee, about what is happening in Minneapolis, but we watched the videos. We saw those videos. Those words matter--``we watched,'' ``we saw''--because they acknowledge a larger truth that binds us all together. We saw what happened. We saw what happened. We saw the cruelty, and we saw and understand that it needs to end. Asking us to make peace with that cruelty is asking us to ignore the values that make us Americans. It is telling us to believe that somehow we owe nothing to each other--not to our neighbors, not to our community, not to our country. We will not. We know the truth, and we are not going to look away. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I am going to talk for a moment about my path towards science and what it meant. A lot of people know my mother was widowed twice before she turned 40. My father died when I was 8. I was the youngest kid. I had really thick glasses and acne, and I was let's just say marginalized when I was in third and fourth grade, the butt of many jokes. I was bullied on a regular basis. But it is funny, as I went through school, I did have this natural curiosity. I mean, I loved sports, but it didn't keep me from doing schoolwork around discovery. And there is a whole peripheral culture in most schools--the high schools and the middle schools I went to--where the kids that are the nerds--I guess I would call myself a nerd back then--kind of hung out together, and they were also the people who were into the arts or into music, into tech. It is really only in the last 25 years that that peripheral part of most colleges and universities became the foundation of--or I should say the fulcrum of our economic growth, and that is the beginning of the age of technology back in the 1990s. We are here today because before the holidays, the Trump administration announced that they were going to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research based in Boulder, as my colleague Senator Bennet so elegantly described. I am going to go through some of that, reiterate some of what he said, just because I think it is that important that we hear it more than once. In our office--my office, Senator Bennet's office--we are determined to do everything we can to stand up to this administration and their actions that harm Coloradans and I think in many ways harm the country. Our demand is simple: Put language into the appropriations bills that guarantees full funding for NCAR. I understand the Senator from Maine's objection to--in history and certainly in recent history, there has been no precedent for this, but in recent history, there has been no precedent for a President to go back and tell the National Science Foundation: You have to rescind this money from that specific office of research. NCAR isn't just a research center, as Senator Bennet described, it is a national resource. Obviously, this administration has a different view. When Russell Vought took to social media to announce his plan, he called NCAR ``one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.'' Now, I am not sure that Mr. Vought knows exactly what NCAR does. If he did, I think he would understand the irony in that tweet. NCAR quite literally powers our country's alarm system around weather. It is our watchdog for extreme storms, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, the things that cause floods. Every single American, whether they are aware of it or not, relies on NCAR data. Most of them--this administration is included--aren't really aware of it. So here are a few more reasons why all of us should want NCAR to stick around: If you are an American who likes to know whether a tornado is headed your way; if you are one of the people who appreciate an early text alert before you get an oncoming winter storm--let me say we have had far too few of those this year; if you would prefer to be on high ground instead of stuck in your car during a flash flood; if you like to look at maps to show you where and when extreme weather is going to hit, then you need NCAR. If you like any of those things, you are directly benefiting from the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Here is where the administration gets it really wrong. If we are going to call anything alarming, it is our weather patterns--wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, severe weather in all forms, winter storms. They are all becoming more intense and less predictable. I, along with many scientists, refer to it as climate change. Back when I was in graduate school, we called it the greenhouse effect. But to call it a hoax or just extreme weather doesn't change what is happening right outside your front door. We have had less snowfall in Colorado this winter than in any year in recorded history. Now, if you are going to get rid of NCAR, you are going to take away that opportunity to use history and the facts from recorded history. It is NCAR's job to use science to make extreme weather at least somewhat predictable and to make sure that we can save American lives and property. The National Center for Atmospheric Research built the backbone of American weather forecasting models that are now used all around the world. Their weather prediction system is used by NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is used by the National Weather Service, the Department of Defense, emergency managers in pretty much every State, and all the universities worldwide to predict hurricanes, blizzards, floods, and wildfire behavior. When we track hurricanes today, our 3- to 5-day forecast is as accurate as a 1-day forecast was back in the 1990s. That is from research, because NCAR research helped improve global radar systems. Take Hurricane Sandy in 2012. High resolution models helped forecasters predict the hurricane's unusual path a whole week before landfall. That extra time meant emergency crews could get a head start, could evacuate entire communities and prepare for that storm's landfall. It wouldn't have been possible even a decade before. Back home in Colorado, NCAR's fire weather research and modeling tools are critical for wildfire comparatives. NCAR's research helped us understand how extreme winds and local weather provided the fuel for the 2021 Marshall fire--the single most destructive fire in Colorado history. Almost 1,100 homes were destroyed. We vowed that would never happen again, but we can't make good on that promise without NCAR. Its research is actively improving wildfire prediction not just in Colorado but across the country. NCAR is our safety net, and dismantling it to combat so-called climate alarmism is the policy equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling ``la, la, la'' to drown out the tornado that is rearranging your living room. Without NCAR, our country isn't safer; we are just more unprepared. NCAR also conducts the research on space weather. This allows us to know what threats there are for our satellites, especially our GPS satellites, which are crucial for the health of our infrastructure, not to mention our weather forecasting. It is not just weather; it is also our national security. Without NCAR, our military defense systems could take a huge hit. NCAR has been central to President Trump's military adventure. On January 3, when the U.S. military launched 150 aircraft across the Western Hemisphere to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, they knew in advance that visibility would be clear. Members of Delta Force had been training for weeks under the exact weather conditions they would be operating in. Conditions had to be perfect because there was a zero margin for error. How did they know that the conditions would be clear on January 3? The National Center for Atmospheric Research. NCAR's scientists developed the advanced weather prediction system the Pentagon relies on, known as the Global Climatology Analysis Tool or GCAT. To put it simply, however you feel about the President's mission, a small failure--even the smallest failure would have been putting American lives at risk. NCAR's technology helps make our military the strongest in the world. It is a part of that strength. The irony here is that this administration is too focused on retribution--in this case, to our State of Colorado and our Governor-- to actually understand the consequences of really what is going to be the consequence of what they are doing. U.S. military success and our country's ability to keep Americans safe from natural disaster hinge on NCAR. This administration might as well declare war on smoke detectors in our homes or carbon monoxide alarms because those critical detection systems function in much the same way that NCAR's research does. This administration's war on our premier weather research center isn't a stand-alone attack, and very sadly, it is part of a broader campaign to, well, spite our State. The President and his administration have set their sights on Colorado to settle what they perceive as a political score. He wants Colorado to release one of his most fervent supporters, Tina Peters, a former clerk and recorder of Mesa County. Ms. Peters is currently in prison after she was convicted on State charges of tampering with Colorado's election equipment in 2020. This wasn't just a case of election denialism or spreading conspiracy theories; Ms. Peters is in prison because she tampered with the election equipment she took an oath to protect. She was tried and prosecuted by a Republican district attorney and convicted by her peers, a majority Republican jury, in Mesa County. Now the President is pressuring our Governor to release her and in the process, hurting Coloradans to do it. We have one strong message in that Colorado is not going to give in to a bully or bow to a King. We believe in the rule of law, and we are going to fight to protect the traditional notion of American democracy. Even worse, most of Coloradans who these attacks harm have no clue who Tina Peters actually is. Many of the people most severely subject to the consequence of these decisions are Republicans. And NCAR is just one of the recent targets. As part of his campaign against Colorado, President Trump denied emergency disaster relief to help families rebuild after devastating wildfires and floods. He canceled millions of dollars for clean energy. He slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in childcare assistance for families and denied 50,000 rural Coloradans clean drinking water. Let me say it again. The President of the United States denied emergency funding for American citizens to help them rebuild their lives after wildfires and flooding that, for many of them, destroyed the lives they knew this past summer. This is not a game. These are people's lives. These are our constituents' lives. We can start with the President's second attack on FEMA funding, in August, when the Elk and Lee fires tore across the Western Slope of Colorado, burning more than 152,000 acres of land. Farmers and ranchers lost thousands of acres they were depending on for grazing and for farming. The fire also damaged electrical infrastructure that businesses and families depend on, not just to do their business but to live at home. They depend on it for energy. Just weeks later, floods ripped through more communities in western Colorado, including La Plata, Archuleta, and Mineral County. Families lost homes. Businesses lost everything. The floods even destroyed drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, risking people's safety. Residents have been left to pick up the broken pieces of their lives and try to rebuild. Colorado estimates the fires cost $27 million of damage, and flooding cost at least $13 million more. Unfortunately, Colorado is no stranger to major disasters and the struggle to rebuild the lives hurt in the aftermath. It is, sadly, a part of our way of life. We band together, we lift each other up, and we rebuild back better than it was before. We rebuild stronger. I will always remember the horrible wildfires and floods our State experienced when I was Governor. I remember visiting Lyons after the floods of 2013--the worst floods in the history of our State--and flying over that area in a helicopter and seeing people marooned on the roofs of their houses or their businesses. Some of them were there for a couple of days waiting to get help. I saw and heard how neighbors and small business owners reached out and helped each other. They helped get each other through the worst hard times of their lives. They cleaned their stores out, their shops. They rebuilt their homes. It was a herculean effort, and our Federal Government stepped up with emergency FEMA help that could make it possible. They don't pay for everything. They pay for a very small amount, but it is a crucial piece of the recovery. That is why President Trump's decision to reject Colorado's disaster request without any objective reason and to withhold resources that would help our communities recover--that is why it is so infuriating, not just to me and Senator Bennet but to so many people across our State and across the country. I mean, why in God's name would the Federal Government turn its back on its own citizens who have gone through, in many cases, the worst hard time of their lives? Why should Coloradans not get the same support to rebuild their lives that the Trump administration had already delivered to the people of Alaska or North Dakota, following the natural disasters in their communities? Because people in Colorado opt to vote by mail, like in many red States, and President Trump hates vote-by-mail? I am not sure that is true. That is certainly not how America should work. The President's third target was our booming energy economy. This October, the administration canceled $7.5 billion in clean energy grants in blue States. Colorado's Noble Energy lost $550 million in funding that had already passed into law and had already been appropriated. The rationale? He said the Democrats had a ``Green New Scam.'' I would really like to ask the President: Is making energy more efficient a scam and were all those grants--the majority of which went to red States, States that had a Republican Governor and a Republican general assembly--were they part of the scam? What about lowering energy prices so families can heat their homes this winter without sacrificing the ability to afford their kids' health insurance? Is that a scam? What happened to the Republicans' so-called energy emergency? Canceling billions of dollars in energy projects ready to go or very close to ready to go, or in some cases almost complete, while disrupting much needed updates to our energy grid is going to increase prices. This is going to hurt American families. It is lunacy. It makes no sense. Many millions of people voted for this President because they were struggling to afford their lives and they heard that promise to lower prices. But you don't lower energy prices by punishing communities and canceling energy projects that are almost complete. That wastes the money that has already been spent. The fourth step on this revenge list--this revenge tour against Colorado--is a direct hit to our kids and to our families. At the beginning of this month, the administration tried to freeze $10 billion of Federal funding for childcare, for Colorado and four other States-- again, blue States. Let me say this again. While prices are already increasing across the board, the President of the United States is cutting childcare services and other resources for the most vulnerable families. Childcare. No matter how you cut it, going after childcare services for American families and for Colorado families is just plain cruel. Even worse, these services are for families that need it the most. More than 1.4 million children around the country depend on those programs. In Colorado, these programs help more than 27,000 children get childcare so their parents can work. The administration has tried to claim that this is about rooting out fraud and waste, but there is no record in Colorado of fraud to justify their actions. We have safeguards in place to prevent fraud at that scale and to ensure that Federal funds actually go toward the care of children. Parents have enough to worry about. Now they have to figure out how to keep their jobs, deal with rising costs, and care for their children. The result? Families are going to lose the support that helps them keep financial stability. Thankfully, a Federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration's attack on childcare. But that has not stopped this President in the past, and we are not going to stop pushing back. That brings us to the President's other target: clean drinking water for rural Coloradans. In certain parts of our State, we have high levels of radioactive minerals, heavy metals. And in some cases, this is from waste. In some cases, this is natural. But it makes the drinking water unsafe. With one stroke of a pen, President Trump used the first veto of his second term to stand in the way of the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a 130- mile water project and infrastructure project that would bring clean drinking water to 50,000 Americans in Southeast Colorado. This is the first time a bill has gone through both the House and the Senate on a unanimous basis. It passed the Senate unanimously. It passed the House unanimously. But for the first time--for the first time since President Johnson--a President vetoed a bill that was passed by both houses unanimously--for the first time since President Johnson. I am not talking about Lyndon Johnson. I am going back to the Civil War, to Andrew Johnson. That is the last time this happened. It is a decision that really does defy logic, but it fits a troubling pattern. While parts of this administration are spending time on personal grievances and political beefs, the basic needs of American families are being treated as afterthoughts, and, in many cases, the prices soar. The Arkansas Valley Conduit has been in the works for 60 years-- almost 65 years--after President John Kennedy came to Pueblo, CO, in 1962 and gave a rousing speech and promised that the Federal Government would see it through. For six decades, Colorado leaders from both parties have fought to keep that promise. We are now in the final stages of the project, with the Arkansas Valley Conduit as the remaining piece. We secured more than $500 million for the project from our historic bipartisan infrastructure law, and we broke ground on the conduit--the remaining portions of the conduit--in 2023. We worked with Republican Representative Lauren Boebert to introduce the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act to keep construction on track and to lower costs. This bipartisan bill passed the Senate unanimously; this bipartisan bill passed the House unanimously--both, last year. That means every single Senator and every single House Member was good with it. But the President vetoed it. I am not sure why anyone would veto a unanimous, bipartisan rural water project, unless they had a pretty serious beef, especially when our bill and the project would actually help the President keep his campaign promises. The completion of the Arkansas Valley Conduit would mean water for our rural schools in communities like Lamar, which are teaching the next generation. It would mean water for our local hospitals in towns like La Junta, which keep Coloradans healthy. Trump has left these communities out to dry--communities that have been waiting for clean drinking water for over 60 years, communities that overwhelmingly voted for him. If you go look at these counties, they are a large proportion of who voted for President Trump in 2024. When a President puts a political grievance against the Governor of a State, against the working people that did their very best to elect him, against the schools and hospitals and ranchers that supported him, he isn't ``shaking up'' Washington. He is undermining the very people he swore to serve, and it is working people in rural communities who are paying the price. If members of either party wanted to actually deliver for their constituents, then the best path forward would have been clear. Congress could have stood up to this intimidation, honored the promise that 60 years ago came from Washington, and overridden this veto. But, last week, the House refused to do so. It was Washington at its worst. Now, rural Colorado is going to pay the price. Southeast Colorado was the target this month, but it could be your community tomorrow. I wish the President could spend some time in Southeast Colorado. If you go back and look at the book, the worst hard times--talking about the Great Depression and the dust storms--the far northwest part of Oklahoma and the far southeast part of Colorado were the hardest hit. And that durability and willingness to withstand the worst hardships and keep on keeping on is what really sets Southeast Colorado apart. They were still the target this month, but it could be any community across the country tomorrow. President Trump's cuts aren't limited to Colorado or blue States. He seemingly made it a goal to hinder America's leadership in science and innovation. He has fired, literally, thousands of scientists from our leading government Agencies, like the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, or NREL, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder. And in the face of natural disasters, he has even shuttered NOAA facilities. That is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He shuttered their facilities and fired scientists there, weakening not just Colorado but the entire Nation's ability to respond to wildfires or to track the West's worsening drought. The Trump administration also slashed funding for the National Institutes of Health, which is having a devastating impact on medical research projects in every State of this country. They left veterans battling PTSD who were beginning to find relief in clinical trials. They stripped resources from critical research to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome. They cut support groups for LGBTQ persons struggling with mental health issues. We can't be surprised that the President doesn't place a high priority in science and research. He has never shown a great respect or support for it. Back when I graduated, in 1979, with my master's in earth and environmental sciences--we called it geology back in those days--I published peer review papers. And from that process and that experience, I have a reverence for the scientific method. It is not always right. The science doesn't always get it right. I am not saying there haven't been glaring mistakes in the history of science. But science always points us in the right direction, and it helps us determine when and where those mistakes are and how to rectify them. Mark Kelly told me when I first got here--even though he was an engineer, I told him he was a scientist as well, and he said: No, no. You are the only one in here who has actually done experiments and then published peer-reviewed papers. As I said, science can sometimes surprise us. It is always evolving. It is always trying to figure out what is next, what the next frontier is. It is why the field relies on constant evaluation and research to make new discoveries or deepen our understanding of some of the most complex problems facing the world. I also know that leading with science helps us get the most accurate information we can--not always perfect but the most accurate information we can get. So it really is frightening when the administration has shown a bias toward elevating people who peddle disinformation, and they sow doubt into every level of settled science. Cuts to science funding are going to cause long-term and profound damage to our standing in the world in terms of innovation. How can we expect to beat China in the fight--in the race to succeed at AI or to find a cure for cancer or to remain the world's strongest economy if we are not investing in science? Science has been the foundation of every aspect of our economy. If our scientists are fleeing to other countries--and we are seeing this now at an increasing rate--if our scientists are fleeing to other countries that recognize the economic and national security value of scientific research, what is next? Not only are our scientists leaving to work in other countries, but our students are choosing different careers because they don't see a safe, reliable future in science. With the administration's cuts to research funding, some of those folks who are finishing their PhD research are now stopped. They won't get that degree that in some cases they have spent 3 or 4 or 5 years working on. We can't train the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators without having that upward flow. President Trump's Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is an example of someone who in many cases seems willing to overlook facts and overlook settled science. One of his most anti-scientific claims--that autism is caused by childhood vaccines--is a claim that has been spread within communities for decades, but it is all based on one single paper that was published way back in 1988. That paper has been retracted for years. There have been hundreds of studies investigating the link between autism and the measles vaccine ever since, and they have found no--let me reiterate. They have found zero connection between vaccines and the cause of autism. It is settled science. Vaccines are not only extremely safe but extremely effective. Every year, they save millions of lives around the globe, effectively eliminating some of the worst diseases, like polio, and we are already making considerable progress toward a vaccine for some of the other really debilitating diseases, like HIV and AIDS. In the last 100 years, our country's life expectancy has increased by 30 years, and 25 of those 30 years have been attributed to public health intervention, including clean drinking water and widespread vaccine adoption. So 25 of those 30 years of our improved life expectancy came from those investments in science. We should recognize and accept that vaccines have had a huge impact on all of our abilities to lead healthy lives and to get out of childhood being spared from diseases that in previous generations would have killed us. Some of the damage from the disinformation about vaccines is almost impossible to undo. Why do some accept the results of one debunked paper rather than the conclusions of the hundreds of studies that have been conducted since in careful, measured processes? I mean, they have even tried to link Tylenol to autism with, again, no conclusive proof. People who peddle vaccine skepticism are preying upon a parent's very rational fears. These skeptics are trying to advance their own conspiracy theories. Parents are trying their hardest to keep their kids safe and healthy, and I think it is irresponsible for people to plague them with misinformation and what is not real science when the science has been settled for decades. The measles vaccine is safe, and it doesn't cause autism. We can't let ourselves backslide in the number of children getting vaccinated, but that is what is happening. President Trump and R.F.K., Jr., are moving full speed ahead in putting the health of our children and communities at risk by implementing health changes based on conspiracy theories and not science. Measles cases are now higher than they were in 1991, with there being over 2,000 confirmed cases nationwide. We have literally slid backward in the progress of eradicating measles. The U.S. eliminated the disease in 2000, but due to vaccine skepticism and vaccine rates going down, we have had a resurgence. Mr. Kennedy seems unfazed that our kids are getting sick. He fired the top, nonpartisan public health officials at the CDC because they wouldn't adhere to his agenda. I asked two of them, in a Senate hearing back in September, what keeps them up at night when Mr. Kennedy is at the helm of America's public health. They both said the same thing: the next pandemic. In President Trump's first term, which was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Operation Warp Speed helped bring vaccines to the public in record time. It was a remarkable success, and President Trump deserves credit for that. The National Institutes of Health estimates that Operation Warp Speed saved 140,000 lives by speeding up the development of the vaccines by 5 months. It is not if the next pandemic comes but when. We will need a robust Federal response and a thorough preparedness plan, one guided by actual science. Otherwise, we will endanger lives and the health of Americans. Reproductive health care--they are getting at that too. Back when I was Governor, we made free and low-cost birth control accessible to every Coloradan--low-cost, reversible contraception. We reduced unwanted pregnancies by nearly 60 percent. Those were pregnancies that were unwanted, but you were also looking in many cases at avoiding what would have been abortions. Now this administration is doing everything it can to eliminate the last remaining protections. They are threatening access to mifepristone--a medication that has been proven to be safe and effective for decades, especially when someone has had a miscarriage as it allows them to deal with that safely at home. Colorado understands the importance of reproductive freedom. Women deserve the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions without having politicians or the government telling them what to do with their bodies. All of this comes at a time when some MAGA Republicans passed their One Big Beautiful Bill last summer. Some of us call it the ``Big Ugly Betrayal Act.'' The bill cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act--more than $1 trillion. The results are going to be clear, and they are already becoming clear. Over time, 15 million Americans are likely going to lose their health coverage. Again, about 240,000 of them are living in Colorado. Hundreds and hundreds of hospitals and nursing homes around the country are at risk of closing. Many of them are in Colorado. Since both sides--well, certainly Republicans--have refused to work together to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, 20 million more Americans have been hit with some of the largest price hikes in recent memory for their health insurance. We have heard from Colorado families across the State that their monthly healthcare premiums have doubled, tripled, and in some cases quadrupled. In many cases, that is higher than their mortgages now. This is unsustainable and is crushing many Americans and many Coloradoans. It means that working families are being forced to choose between putting food on the table or their healthcare or, even worse, dropping their insurance altogether. Without a doubt, this is a crisis. It seems that the other side has realized that this will be devastating to their constituents. Hopefully, we can find some compromise to resolve this. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a clean 3-year extension of the ACA enhanced premium tax credits in a bipartisan vote. Yet, yesterday, it got blocked here in the Senate. Soaring healthcare costs are squeezing working families in ways we couldn't have imagined a few years ago. We should be making it easier for Americans to get healthcare that is affordable, accessible, and universal and not harder. It is worth remembering why they made all of these cuts to healthcare in the first place, why they made all of the cuts to research funding or to childcare grants, why they fired so many government employees. It is because they wanted to pass a budget and find a way to pay for $4.5 trillion in tax breaks, most of which go to the largest corporations and to some of the wealthiest people in this country. To do this, they cut food stamps and they cut healthcare in order to pass the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the history of the country. I think that speaks volumes as to the values before us. We are not going to let some of these actions go down without a fight. It has been clear from the beginning that President Trump's goal in his second term is shock and awe--to bombard the American people with wall-to-wall coverage of every aspect of every decision that they make. They are trying to attack anything that is the status quo. I think he believes that this constant chaos will drown out all voices of opposition. Well, we are still here, we are still fighting, and we are not quitting. This past year, we have seen the administration send masked armed agents--without identification--into communities to separate families and to pull people off the streets and into unmarked vans. We have seen them target people strictly based on the color of their skin or on the accents they may have when they speak. In the past week, the footage out of Minneapolis and out of Portland, OR, was truly horrifying. An ICE officer shot a woman, Renee Good from Colorado Springs, apparently in cold blood. We are going to argue the legal aspects of this case, but she was shot, to the best of our knowledge, while she was trying to have her voice heard that what was being done to her and to the communities in this country was wrong. Our office has been working tirelessly trying to help families who have been desperately searching for loved ones who have been arrested by ICE. We have shown up repeatedly at the ICE detention facility in Aurora to press officials on the concerns about the conditions of the facility, on the delays in communication, on the irregular process changes and on the reports of ICE pressuring detainees--some of them minors--to voluntarily deport instead of proceeding through the judicial process. We are also working on legislation with Senator Cortez Masto to redirect the excessive increase in Federal funding for ICE that was snuck into the Big Beautiful Bill to triple ICE's budget, and we are working to redirect that money to actually keep our communities safe. When President Trump shut down the government last fall, he went after the most vulnerable in this country, but we were resilient in raising awareness of the healthcare crisis and in fighting back against--we have to call them--the heartless SNAP cuts, which is the nutrition support for many of the neediest people in our communities. Both times, Republicans put forward a continuing resolution to keep business as usual, but we pushed back in every way we could. Back in May, when Republicans were on an ill-fated mission to sell off public lands to the highest bidder to supposedly lower the public debt, we fought back hard and got them to abandon that plan. Some things just shouldn't be for sale, and one of them is our public lands. Even as they continue to try to sneak in different pieces of legislation, we have tried to stop them every time, but we know that President Trump and his MAGA allies aren't going to stop. That is why they have nominated Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM manages many of our Federal lands and is the caretaker for some of the most breathtaking and sacred landscapes. Mr. Pearce, on the other hand, has proudly advocated to sell off these public lands. I will say once again--I have said it a bunch of times--Colorado's public lands are not for sale, and they never will be for sale. So I will certainly vote no on Mr. Pearce, and I will be fighting his nomination every step of the way. All of this brings us back to the final question: How did we get here? It was the NCAR disaster relief, the canceling of clean energy projects, freezing childcare funding, the demolition of the Arkansas Valley Conduit, and the relentless attacks on science. The President was elected, as I said earlier, because Americans thought he was going to make their lives better. One year later, families are still wondering when that relief is going to come. The cuts to NCAR, to clean energy and to clean drinking water, the cuts to childcare and to financial assistance for Colorado families--all this does nothing to improve anyone's quality of life. It doesn't make groceries cheaper. It doesn't bring down the cost of rent or the utilities cost at the end of the month. To be frank, we have pretty much completely lost the narrative, the plot line of the administration. They seem to be more focused on building ballrooms and getting involved in wars without a necessary plan in place. If you want to talk about how to get and create a forever war, that would be to depose a leader of a foreign country without a plan of what the transition is going to be. And they have been vetoing unanimous, bipartisan legislation for rural water infrastructure projects that actually help working people. And that brings us back to NCAR. The work the National Center for Atmospheric Research does is critical. Senator Bennet talked about that at great length. I have talked about it. It informs so much of the weather data and scientific research that makes our country safer, both militarily and in terms of natural disasters. We can't let the dismantling of NCAR be just a blip in the news. Time and time again, the President makes critical announcements, but before we can even digest them, he has moved on to the next reckless action. This pattern leaves everyday Americans to pick up the pieces. The consequences permeate the fabric of our society. Dismantling science and cutting funding for the National Center for Atmospheric Research harms every single American and diminishes the opportunities that we will be able to create for the next generation. It threatens our safety. It threatens our economy. It threatens our national security. It threatens our livelihoods. We can't just stand by because of one more crazy thing that comes out one way or the other. We need to all be determined to do everything we can to stand up to these attacks on science, and I think that starts with standing up for the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Senator Bennet and I have a simple demand: Put language into the appropriations bill that guarantees the full funding for NCAR through the end of this fiscal year. That was money that was appropriated to the National Science Foundation with the full expectation that that is where they would allocate it, and they did allocate it there. Once they have done that, the President should not be able to come back in and tell them to--I don't know if ``deallocate'' is the right word, but ``rescind'' the money, if you want to use legal terminology. It should be abundantly clear that the work of the National Center for Atmospheric Research impacts every one of us. Again, it saves lives. It protects property. It boosts our economy. It creates the foundation on which our future economy is going to be based. We have heard countless stories from our constituents about how important it is. We have heard from family members of NCAR researchers who don't want the work of their loved ones to be thrown out, families who will struggle to support someone who got laid off at NCAR, students whose work relies on NCAR data who may be in the process of finishing their Ph.D. We have heard from scientists who recognize this international crown jewel of research. We have heard from them all, and I brought just a few to read today. One constituent wrote: My father has worked at NCAR for 20 years . . . and I'm seriously concerned about its continued existence. I voted for President Trump in the latest election but feel this attack on NCAR is more about a personal attack on Colorado for being a largely blue State than a legitimate action for the betterment of the American people. My Dad has worked tirelessly for this place for decades, putting in long hours and taking on more responsibilities than he ever bargained for to keep up the work that he loves being a part of. Please fight for NCAR, fight with all you've got, it means so much to the people who have spent their life's work to keep it going. Another constituent, this one from Lafayette, CO, wrote: NCAR is important for Colorado--and the nation--and provides not only top notch science but employs close to 1,000 people in my community. My husband has worked for NCAR for over 16 years as a scientist and administrator. The loss of his job would be devastating to our family. We would not be able to help support our two college-aged daughters. My husband carries our health insurance. I have stage 4 breast cancer and having to find new health insurance--that is affordable--would be very difficult [and quite possibly impossible] and would [certainly] threaten my current health status. Another constituent from Glenwood Springs wrote: I have worked with NCAR scientists and educators for all of my carer as a science teacher here in Colorado. I now live in Glenwood Springs, retired, and I think NCAR is one of the jewels of our state. I feel the same way about the former [National Renewable Energy Laboratory]. And then last--I can't wrap it up more succinctly than this constituent: I am writing as a constituent and a scientist to ask you to stop the dismantling of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, as announced by OMB Director Russ Vought. NCAR is the beating heart of climate research in the US. I grew up in Boulder and I am one of the scientists who has worked at NCAR. My current research depends on NCAR. My future career opportunities in Colorado will be decimated if NCAR is dismantled. NCAR provides essential forecasting support to our nation, such as: Partnerships with airlines to provide in-flight turbulence and icing guidance--Collaboration with reinsurance companies to assess risks of wildfires, heat waves, and hurricanes--Forecasting capabilities that inform farmers, truckers, and other critical components of our economy about severe weather disruptions. Dismantling NCAR is a wasteful exercise that could cost lives. Please do everything you can to keep our community safe and don't let NCAR be dissolved. I would like to urge Congress to stand up and protect this critical scientific research, to stand up for American innovation, and to protect American families. Amendment No. 4153 I ask unanimous consent to call up and make pending amendment No. 4153 to H.R. 6938 to maintain operations and capabilities at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I speak today to echo the sentiments of my fellow Members of the caucus. This is a moment where, at least in Colorado, we hear stories every day of people faced with the challenge of whether to pay their rent or to make sure they maintain their healthcare, people who have preexisting medical conditions that are worried that if they go off their healthcare now, they might be pushed into a circumstance where they can only receive attention in emergency room situations, defeating the purpose of their treatments. By going forward and taking a 1-year extension, nothing new, but just a 1-year extension, we allow all those people in Colorado and across the country to sort through their healthcare issues, to reequilibrate, and to make sure that they are not left out in the cold. And I think that is the key here. We are looking at tens of millions of people that will either lose their healthcare or have dramatically significant increases in the cost of their premiums if we do nothing. So I hope that we can come together and move forward with this clean CR with the extension of the subsidized tax credit for the ACA. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to celebrate the achievements and the legacy of Chairman Manuel Heart of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Chairman Heart is retiring after a long and remarkable, successful career serving the Ute Mountain Ute people. His career spans 27 years on the Tribal council, including 15 years as chair, and will undoubtedly leave thousands of lives better off. Through his long and storied career, I have had the privilege of working with Chairman Heart, first as Governor and now here as a Senator, and his efforts have been and continue to be remarkable. Over the last few decades, he charted a path for the Ute Mountain Ute. He struck that delicate balance between preserving and investing in Ute culture and securing more resources by navigating intergovernmental relationships to make sure to deliver for the needs of his community. He championed investing in better water access and improving the Tribe's health, safety, and education. Chairman Heart always paired his strong leadership skills with a true entrepreneurial spirit in order to deliver results, to deliver real results. One great example is the new Kwiyagat Community Academy, which I was lucky enough to visit 2 years ago. We had a wonderful tour, met a lot of the kids, and saw the power of the Ute culture. The academy connects elementary students to their indigenous language and to their traditional culture alongside traditional class work: reading, math. The chairman led this effort to secure Federal funding to help this project take flight, to get it set up, and to actually make sure it worked. Chairman Heart doesn't just understand the value in investing in our youth, investing in our community, investing in our natural world, he acts on it. I think I lost a page here, but I am just going to go a little bit off script and just say that in my years in service in Colorado, as a mayor first but then as a Governor, I can think of very few leaders that have been as successful and insightful and as diligent as Chairman Heart. He has always stood up when the time for it called. He has been unshakable in his passion and drive to help Ute people. I know that his deep commitment and his love for the Ute people and for the Ute community is not going to end now as he steps down as chairman. He will continue to be a leader in his community and in the State of Colorado. We wish him the very best in his retirement, and we want to make sure to thank him for all his dedication and all his service, not just to the Utes but to all Colorado. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, the United States is stuck in the painful throes of one of the worst, longest government shutdowns in our history. Americans are calling out for leaders in the White House and Congress who will cut through the chaos and begin to restore order. Last week, our President played his ``Trump'' card. In the middle of the shutdown with healthcare for 35 million Americans on the line, the President gave a green-light to a $40 billion bailout--$40 billion bailout; I had to read that twice--to Argentina. You heard me right. President Trump decided to prop up the far-right agenda in Argentina right before their elections and leave Americans nervous that they are going to be able to afford their healthcare. It doesn't make a lot of sense. The real gut punch, he did it right as 20 million Americans are bracing for their healthcare costs to, in many cases, double or more when the ACA premium tax credits expire. If you think about that for just a moment, instead of spending $40 billion to lower healthcare costs for 20 million Americans, President Trump decided that $40 billion should go to Argentina. That is certainly not ``America First.'' Instead of spending $40 billion to make sure that seniors can afford their insulin, cancer patients can continue their chemo, sick kids can see a doctor, President Trump is sending $40 billion to Argentina. Twenty billion of that bailout is backed by all of you, the American taxpayer. Trump promised to lower costs for working families, but food prices are up, electric bills are up, and now healthcare prices are going to be exploding. It is all because of what the MAGA Republicans and the President are doing. Here is the reality. In July, Republicans passed their budget bill that is going to strip roughly $1 trillion out of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. It is the largest cut to healthcare in the history of this country--the largest cut to healthcare in American history. It is exploding our national debt by trillions, and it gives pretty lavish tax breaks to some of our largest corporations and some of our wealthiest individuals. As if working families needed another hit, 20 million Americans are going to see their healthcare premiums double when ACA tax credits expire at the start of the year. On this Saturday, every single American can log online and see the new cost of their premium if they are on the exchange. In Colorado, the Denver Post reported today that premiums will double--will double--and for far too many, this is going to be financially devastating. We are trying to get our arms around the increase that we are going to see in medical bankruptcies. In Colorado, a family of four making a combined $128,000 is going to have to pay $14,000 more for their healthcare. They are making $128,000 and at the end of the month, they are still trying to make sure they balance the household budget and now they are going to have to spend $14,000 more just on healthcare. If that family lives on the Western Slope in Colorado, west of the Rocky Mountain divide, or whether it is out on the Eastern Plains, they will pay even more, somewhere between $16,000 and $21,000 in additional premiums. Nobody has that kind of money. I am not sure why the President doesn't understand that. Small businesses, some with very tight margins already, are going to be forced to choose between insurance or layoffs. Roughly 225,000 Coloradans are in that group that are going to see their premiums double--double. It is so much more expensive, that an estimated 4 million Americans will be priced out of their healthcare next year, including roughly 75,000 Coloradans. And for those people with preexisting conditions, boy, that is taking a dangerous hit. If you think you are safe because you receive insurance through your employer, think again. People are going to continue to get sick regardless of whether or not they have healthcare. The fact is, of course, that more Americans get sick when they can't afford basic preventive care. That is why they call it preventive care. Here is a startling fact that came out of a Harvard study in 2009. Americans without health insurance in any given year have a 40-percent higher risk of death than those with insurance in that same given year. I am going to repeat that. Americans without health insurance have a 40-percent higher possibility of dying than those with insurance in any given year. The result? Where there are fewer insured Americans in the entire system, insurance companies raise premiums on those who do have insurance to make up the shortfall. That means we are all in the same leaky ship. A little over a week ago, I spoke with one of the many Americans who will be impacted, a young woman named Mercedes who lives in Commerce City, CO. Mercedes and her family, U.S. citizens, live in a district represented by Congressman Gabe Evans, who has been a vocal advocate of Trump's budget bill, the same budget bill that is going to cut $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. In Representative Evans' district, one in four Coloradans are on Medicaid, including 86,000 children--86,000 children--one in four people on Medicaid. Just over 7 weeks ago, Mercedes's family of three became a family of four. She gave birth earlier than expected to a baby girl. Her newborn spent 49 days in the intensive care unit, the NICU, before they were finally able to bring her home last Friday. Doctors diagnosed their baby with a rare disorder that is going to require some level of specialized care for life. Even now at home, their baby still depends on a home health nurse and a feeding tube. So when Mercedes recently opened a letter informing her that her insurance premiums are going to skyrocket once the ACA tax credits expire, it wasn't a function of being frustrated; for her, it was terrifying. Mercedes's premium is already more than $1,000 a month and is about to jump even higher. In addition to running their business, caring for their newborn with a fragile health condition, and raising their 7-year-old daughter, Mercedes and her husband now have to worry about their ability to be able to afford healthcare, to be able to stay on the healthcare that they have. They have a baby who is fully dependent on expensive hospital care. If their premiums go up, how are they going to afford the NICU bills? What will they have to sacrifice? Will food take a cut? Will rent go into arrears? Will they afford their medications? Mercedes doesn't have to go through this. No American should have to go through this. Mercedes isn't alone. There are 20 million Americans bracing for these types of cuts--20 million more people just like Mercedes who depend on their healthcare to afford their prescriptions, to keep a roof over their heads, and, importantly, to stay out of the hospital. It doesn't have to be this way. All the President and MAGA Republicans have to do is extend the healthcare tax credits. If they can find $40 billion to send to Argentina, they can almost assuredly find $40 billion to begin to stop premiums from doubling for Mercedes and 20 million Americans. I think we have lost our bearings. We lost our North Star in this. Healthcare isn't political. It impacts every single one of us, Republican or Democrat, urban or rural. And it often interrupts our lives when we least expect it, especially when we are most unable to afford it. This problem is easy to solve. Republicans and Democrats can reopen the government today and fix this healthcare crisis. We need to start talking together and having a discussion, but we can work together and reopen the government. Working families want us to take leadership on this. They want us to get back to the issues they sent us to Congress to solve to make life better for them and their communities and for us to hold down the costs that are making their lives more difficult. I think we need to listen to Americans. I don't think it is too late, but it is long overdue. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, this really is a turning point for our country and a turning point in our fight to make healthcare more accessible for all Americans. For the first time in 6 years, the government is shut down. Certainly, nobody wanted to get to this point, including me. But we are here for one reason: because MAGA Republicans shut down the government because they refuse to address the healthcare crisis they have created. Earlier this summer, the Trump administration passed their--what we call--``Big Bad Betrayal Act,'' as we call it. At a time when Americans are begging for financial relief, they were stripped of their healthcare and are faced with the loss of healthcare for 15 million people. That is right. MAGA Republicans have gutted more than a trillion dollars over the next 10 years from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, healthcare that literally millions of Americans rely on. And we are not just talking years in the future. It starts this month. At the end of this year, the Affordable Care Act's tax credits will expire, unless Republicans act now to extend them. If they don't--and they are clearly divided on this issue--premiums across the country, on average, are going to double starting next year. As a little perspective, that means many Coloradans will pay over a thousand dollars more for healthcare in 2026 than they did in 2025. Now, insurance companies are just starting to notify Americans about these massive cost increases. You talk about a kick in the gut. When I was Governor, we expanded healthcare to 400,000 Coloradans with help from the ACA tax credits. We got to 96 percent coverage for Coloradans to have healthcare. MAGA Republicans want to undo that progress, and we shouldn't let that happen. It doesn't end there. The budget bill is a centerpiece of a much broader campaign to strip healthcare coverage away from millions and millions of Americans. The moment the President took office, MAGA Republicans essentially handed him and Secretary Kennedy a free pass to attempt to dismantle our public healthcare system and to destroy much of the science-backed public health policy. Now, what exactly did they do? Well, the President and R.F.K., Jr., fired every single member of the CDC's independent panel on vaccines and replaced them with vaccine skeptics, people who really didn't believe too much in the value of vaccines. Then, when the President's own CDC Director voiced her opposition, they fired her too. Now, that puppet panel completely changed the COVID vaccine recommendations for Americans. Now, folks across the country are struggling to figure out whether they can get a vaccine at the pharmacy and what it is going to cost. The President's first administration oversaw Operation Warp Speed, which developed the first COVID vaccines in what was almost a miraculously rapid timeframe. But now he is actively undermining that same science. It is astounding. Reproductive healthcare? They are gutting that too. Again, back when I was Governor of Colorado, we made free and low-cost birth control accessible to every Coloradan. We reduced unwanted pregnancies by almost 60 percent. Now, this administration is doing everything it can to eliminate the last remaining abortion protections. They are threatening access to mifepristone, a medication that has been proven safe and effective for nearly 30 years. On top of that, they have completely given up on things like fighting cancer, slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in cancer-related research grants. That is right. You heard me clearly--cancer. Now, we can't even agree that cancer is worth beating. If that wasn't enough, the White House actually reached out and publicized--the President talked to pregnant women and told pregnant women not to trust their doctors, but that they can feel assured that taking Tylenol while you are pregnant would cause autism. They did this without any scientific proof. It is hard to believe that they were telling pregnant women that Tylenol was going to cause autism. It is in many ways one large diabolical fear tactic, and it puts the health of so many Americans at risk. And we can't let it continue, which really brings us to this showdown. We are asking for this administration to negotiate and to take basic action to restore healthcare to Americans. MAGA Republicans, I think they should be thanking us for giving them an off-ramp to undo the horrendous cuts that are going to ruin people's lives--real lives. It will cost people their lives. So far, no one seems to be listening, but here is what is at stake if we don't hold our ground. I, recently, a couple of weeks ago, visited a nursing home in Lakewood, CO. Now, many Americans don't know this, but Medicaid covers the cost of roughly 60 percent of residents in nursing homes across the country. At the facility I visited in Lakewood, over 90 percent of the residents are there because of Medicaid. I sat in a circle surrounded by residents, some with disabilities, and their caregivers, all trying to understand what these cuts meant for their health, for their lives. One resident told me pointblank that Medicaid saved his life. He said he would still be living on the streets without it because the cost of his epilepsy medication was far too high. His healthcare, his medication, and the roof over his head are now under threat with these cuts coming to Medicaid. This is a very sobering truth. If you are a single adult in Colorado, you don't even qualify for Medicaid--you will be making too much to qualify for Medicaid--if you earn more than $1,735 a month. That is $10 an hour. If you make more than $10 an hour, you don't qualify for Medicaid. So you have to be working, and you have to make less than $10 an hour. It is pretty easy to verify. And creating the redtape of bureaucracy to get at these mythical cases of abuse--it defies rational thought. The President's ``Big Ugly Bill'' doesn't just put a $1 trillion hole in healthcare, but it creates mountains of paperwork and endless reams of redtape. It creates challenges that people with disabilities and people making $10 an hour are going to have a really hard time navigating. And if they fill out a form incorrectly or they don't turn it in on time or they get something wrong, they will get kicked right off of healthcare. It is immoral. It is inhumane. This is what Medicaid is for, to make sure Americans get the care they need to stay alive, to keep shelter over their heads when they need around-the-clock care. All of it is under threat. Take one look on social media, and you will see why the White House and MAGA are trying to make this into one big joke. It is a carnival of jokes, but they can't avoid the suffering and the fear that their actions are causing. Americans elected the President because he promised to fight for the people who slipped through the cracks. But he is turning the very ground they stand on into quicksand. MAGA Republicans have passed a bill to take healthcare from 15 million Americans--Americans with cancer, sick kids, people living in nursing homes. With the money they saved, they gave trillion-dollar tax breaks, in many cases, to the wealthiest of Americans and to the largest of corporations. Now, hundreds of rural hospitals and clinics are at risk of closure. Millions of Americans are going to be uninsured. Many of them have preexisting conditions, which will make them getting insurance again nearly impossible. And they are going to be faced with healthcare premiums that will be doubling, and that is for literally millions of Americans. And we are not talking decades in the future. We are talking about next month, when these premiums go up. By November 1, Coloradans on the marketplace plans that they get from the healthcare exchange, they will be getting the terrifying news--the alert from the insurance companies--that their premiums are about to increase. What we are being told is some Colorado families are going to see pricetags a thousand dollars a month higher than what their normal payments were. Democrats are fighting for one thing: to protect the essential care that millions of Americans rely on every single day. It is about making sure that moms and dads, little kids, grandparents, and newborn babies don't fall through the trillion-dollar hole that MAGA has created in our healthcare system. Let's work together. Let's reopen the government and protect the healthcare for the people of this country. We will be waiting and ready at the negotiating table. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, the United States is the wealthiest country on Earth. I think it is fair to say it is the wealthiest country in the history of the world, probably in the history of the solar system. What we do with that wealth speaks volumes about who we are as a country, about the responsibility we feel to our fellow Americans; it define us. Earlier this month, Republicans passed, I would call it a truly devastating budget bill that gives many of the wealthiest people in this country and many who don't want a tax break--it gives many of the wealthiest people in this country and corporations a $4.5 trillion tax break. That was their goal. They just needed to find a way to pay for it. Well, actually, they only paid for a small part of it. But in doing so, they cut more than a trillion dollars from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and food stamps--the programs that help struggling Americans meet their most basic human need for food and healthcare--again, just so they could pass the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the history of our country. That speaks volumes about whom this administration values, but what does the bill mean for Americans? Over time, 15 million Americans are likely to lose their health coverage, and 241,000 of them live in Colorado. Hundreds and hundreds of hospitals around the country are at risk of closure, many of them in Colorado. Take the Sunrise Monfort Community Health Clinic in Evans, CO. We were there in May, and Sunrise's network of 14 rural health clinics serves 43,000 patients across a broad swath of Northern Colorado. Seventy percent of them are enrolled in either Medicaid or Medicare. Now, we spoke with their CEO back in May, and we were told point-blank that gutting Medicaid--dramatically making cuts to Medicaid--will force them to dramatically cut services. They estimate that those cuts in Medicaid will force between 7,000 and 14,000 of their patients off of healthcare. That is a quarter of their patients. Again, all because lawmakers in Washington have decided to give still bigger tax cuts to the ultrawealthy and, again, many of whom don't want or need tax cuts. It is nuts. The administration knew taking healthcare away from many Americans would be unpopular. So they crafted and snuck in a provision to solve that. Most of the Medicaid cuts won't take place until 2027. ``Well, why wait till 2027?'' you might ask. Well, because it is after the midterm elections at the end of 2026. They basically gutted our social safety net system and then made sure that Republicans wouldn't be--well, they found a way to make sure that Republicans would be insulated from the immediate political costs from their voters. That is why, right now, they are building a massive public relations campaign to go out and sell the bill to Americans. They, so far, completely deny that this bill is going to harm Americans in any way. Instead they say it is about efficiency, government efficiency, and cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse. Well, listen, I am all for making government more efficient. When I was mayor of Denver, we made the city smaller. We had a hiring freeze for 2\1/2\ years. We asked the workers to do more with less, and they did that. But we did it in increments, and we worked to make sure people knew how much they were valued and they could make a difference. When I was Governor of Colorado, we balanced our budget every single year. We went through every board and regulation that we could find on the books, 24,500 rules and regulations, and we simplified or eliminated 11,000. We did all this without cutting services and without cutting resources that people rely on. Now, Republicans knew they were going way beyond waste, fraud, and abuse. That is part of the reason it took 24 hours of voting and arm- twisting to pass this, what we call in my family, ``God Awful Bill.'' They knew they were going to be hurting their constituents and Americans. I mean, the bill itself is a prime example of a--what my grandfather used to call a drunken spending spree. It is going to cost the American people more than $4 trillion when you consider the interest payments on the national debt. And none of the arguments the Republicans have used have legs. Ultimately, the bill isn't just a trillion dollars in cuts for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. It really, through these rules and paperwork, creates new barriers to access. That means more paperwork, more hoops for families to jump through. Under Trump's ``Big Ugly Bill,'' government efficiency just means rolling out the redtape, miles and miles of it. And who pays the price? Well, rural Coloradans are going to pay some price. People living in Cortez and Lamar or Rifle will pay a price when their closest healthcare center closes. Pregnant women who have to drive 50 miles to give birth after their closest hospital will be forced to close their birthing centers and kids who lose their healthcare because their parents had to navigate so much redtape to prove they do, in fact, meet the requirements will pay the cost and adult children who can't provide sufficient proof that their full-time job is taking care of a disabled parent. Now, listen to this, if you are a single adult in Colorado, you don't even qualify for Medicaid if you earn less than $1,735 a month. That means making less than $10.01. If you make $10.02 an hour, you already don't qualify for Medicaid. So people making less than $10 an hour have to fill out reams of paperwork to demonstrate that they qualify. It is not just, they should be able to show their W-2 and say, hey, I am making $9.50 and that should be enough, but somehow there is a worry that people making less than $10 an hour should fill out all this other paperwork. In what kind of a bizarre world do we live in? Bottom line, Republicans are cutting costs by punishing the poorest and most needy in our country when they can't keep up. They are making the people who suffer the most suffer more. That is not the America that I believe in. The Medicaid system is not perfect, but it exists in our country because that country, our country, decided that no matter where you live or how little money you make, working Americans deserve basic healthcare. Who knows, someday we might get everyone covered. It is a vow we need to make. And certainly when we created Medicaid, it was a vow we made to help take care of the neediest people--or many of the neediest people in our country. Now, because our country is measured by how we treat people--let me put this a better way. Because our country is measured by not how we treat people at the top but how we treat large numbers of Americans who start at the bottom, striving for a better life, that is how our country should be, and that is the dream we are all chasing. And, ultimately, it is the American people that are going to have the final word. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

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

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I rise today to honor my great friend John Stulp. John passed away this past Monday, July 7. He was with his family in Lamar, out on the Eastern Plains, a place that he loved more than anything. John was a good man--a great man, by any measure. Certainly, he was defined by his unwavering commitment to his family, his neighbors, his friends, and his home State of Colorado. He was the essence of a public servant. His list of contributions to our State is impressively long. He served as Colorado's commissioner of agriculture during my predecessor Bill Ritter's governorship, and I appreciate Governor Ritter introducing me to him, discovering him for me. John Stulp was a former Prowers County commissioner, a Democratic commissioner in a county that is not well-known for Democratic commissioners. He was also a former State board of land commissioner, a State wildlife commissioner, and a member of the State board of agriculture. And in John's mind, above all that, he was a dryland wheat farmer and a cow-calf rancher from southeast Colorado. John's reputation for patient consensus-building is well-known throughout our State and trusted throughout our State. In 2011, I was the newly elected Governor, and Colorado had already experienced a couple of years of drought. The years 2011 and 2012 were bad years for drought, and I was convinced that we needed a blueprint, a plan of some sort, to address the gap between the State's projected growth and its future water supply to make sure that we had the supply that could match our needs. I recruited John to serve as my top water policy adviser. We made it a cabinet-level position. He came to all our cabinet meetings. He was our water czar. It was clear to me that we would be hard-pressed to find anyone that could do the work he did. John understood the agricultural community in Colorado better than almost anyone. Maybe that is why, when I first approached him with the idea of a statewide water plan, he wasn't immediately convinced. Actually, he was far from it; he was, I would say, more than skeptical. He knew how hard it would be to map Colorado's water supply, to chart a plan to conserve water that we might need in the next 50 years, and to get everybody at the table. In Colorado, we talk about how whiskey is for drinking but water is for fighting. He didn't think it was a smart idea for me politically, as a new Governor, to take on an issue that had the potential to be so divisive, but he understood that we couldn't let our rivers and farms be at risk of running dry and that we needed him, Colorado needed him. He set aside his reservations and he rolled up his sleeves and he went to work--he and James Eckholt and a lot of other people. It was remarkable to watch them. He crisscrossed the State hosting roundtables, talking with farmers, listening to stakeholders--really hearing them--trying to resolve the issues and trying to align their self-interests. John poured his heart and soul into that plan, and in the end, John accomplished what I think even he previously believed would not be possible. We finalized the State's first-ever water plan in November of 2015. It certainly would never have happened without his prodigious efforts. He created a framework that will evolve as our State's climate and demographics continue to evolve. More importantly, in the process, he created an ecosystem, a network, of relationships across geographic and political boundaries. And that was one of his many great legacies--his many legacies--that he leaves to Colorado. Certainly, his family is his greatest legacy, but he did a lot for the ability of Colorado's future and water. When you travel a lot with someone, you spend a lot of miles with them and you stay at their home, you share their food, you meet their neighbors, you get a real sense of their goodness. I am not sure there are gradations of goodness. But I have traveled long distances with John Stulp. I stayed at his home in Prowers County, where he and his remarkable wife Jane would cook up a barbecue and get me together with some of their neighbors. He even loaned my son Teddy a .410 shotgun so he could learn how to shoot. If I did believe in gradations of goodness, John and Jane Stulp would be at the very top. Even with all the great contributions he made to our State, I think John's goodness, the pureness and the deepness of his heart, is what I will miss the most. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

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

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

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

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, Coloradans are already worried about keeping their lights on and their homes cool. My God, has it been hot. This budget bill makes it worse, actually increasing energy costs while killing over 2 million Americans jobs. Republicans want to gut the residential clean energy credits that help millions of Americans power their homes and save on electricity. They will shut down the better part of an entire industry--85,000 jobs--in 18 months. It is just like running into a brick wall. They are also taxing clean energy and cutting larger energy credits, which will create more expensive energy and more blackouts. We should create jobs, cut costs, and boost energy production, not sacrifice working families so that the richest Americans pay less taxes. That is why we have introduced our simple amendment to extend the residential clean energy credit to the end of next year, giving small businesses a runway to weather this storm--just 18 months to give a valuable industry a fighting chance. Please vote to give them that chance. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 2719 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following motions to commit for the bill H.R. 1 be placed in the Congressional Record: A motion to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 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 ensure that any sales of public lands exclude-- (A) land deemed valuable for watershed health; (B) land used for, or suitable for, hunting, fishing, or recreation; (C) land with cultural or historic significance; (D) land with critical wildlife habitat; (E) land including areas sensitive for reasons relating to national security; (F) land within the limits of an Indian reservation; and (G) land over which federally recognized Indian Tribes retain reserved rights, including hunting, fishing, and gathering rights through a treaty, agreement, or Executive order. A motion 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 strike any provision that cuts funding for Medicaid which covers care for 60 percent of all nursing home residents. A motion 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 strike any provision that cuts funding for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act which-- (A) protects access for the 7,000,000 small businesses workers who depend on Medicaid coverage; and (B) protects access for the 4,000,000 small businesses who depend on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. A motion 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 ensure the State of Colorado is included in the definition of `affected area' in downwind States, due to the catastrophic amounts of radiation exposure in this State after United States testing above ground nuclear weapons during World War II and the Cold War.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, this month, my fellow colleagues in the Senate--the Republican Senate Members--are working to pass a budget proposal that I feel can best be described as dangerous. Their plans are going to dramatically reduce--even gut--services like Medicaid and SNAP, which give food to hungry, low-income workers. It will strip healthcare away from, most likely, more than 16 million Americans and threaten millions of seniors living in nursing homes. All of this is focused, really, on just trying to give larger tax breaks to very wealthy people--who don't, really, in most cases, want them--or to the largest corporations. This lavish--and I think ``lavish'' is the only word that describes it fairly. This lavish tax bill gives more to the top earners while taking away from Americans with the least. But it really doesn't have to be that way. If Republicans could focus on extending tax cuts for working families rather than on the wealthiest--that one effort, in and of itself, that one initiative-- they could avoid ripping away healthcare from more than 15 or 16 million Americans; gutting our much needed investments in climate change--in fighting climate change--and making sure we have lower energy prices. Instead, they are going full steam ahead with really what is a god-awful bill. I want to focus today on another dangerous part of this plan: how it explodes our national debt and really risks our economic future. Many proponents of the bill love to hem and haw about being financially responsible. Like a few people in here, I have managed budgets before. It was back when I started Colorado's first brewpub and then as mayor of Denver and as Governor of Colorado. So I know something about fiscal responsibility, and it is not partisan. At its best, fiscal responsibility should be bipartisan. I can definitely say this bill that we are looking at is the opposite of fiscal responsibility. It is fiscal madness. This is a massive spending bill that is going to create the largest national debt in American history. You don't have to take my word for it. You can look at the numbers. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the House Republican plan--so this is the plan coming over from the House--would add $2.7 trillion--that is trillion with a ``t,'' $2.7 trillion--to the deficit over the next decade. The Penn Wharton model, which includes something like north of $500 billion in additional interest payments from that accumulated debt year after year after year, over 10 years, suggests it would add up to not just $2.7 trillion but more like $3.2 trillion or $3.3 trillion. The bill our Senate colleagues are putting together makes many of the same mistakes, and I think, by most measures that a small businessperson would look at, it is reckless. The bottom line is that more American tax dollars would go toward tax cuts for the ultrawealthy. Again, at least in Colorado, the very wealthy people I have talked to aren't asking for and aren't seeking these tax cuts. You know, under this tax plan that is coming over to us right now, those tax cuts for the very wealthy are coming instead of expanding access to healthcare or building roads or improving our schools, and more tax dollars would go to paying off the massive debt-- to paying the interest on the massive debt--than all of our defense spending combined. It will become more than 25 percent of our Federal budget just to pay the interest on the debt. Now, if that sounds like a bad idea to you, it is because it is, and the markets agree. Moody's, which is the last major credit rating agency to maintain the U.S. at its highest rating--at its highest, you know, designation as being a safe place to invest your money--just downgraded our credit rating. It is the first time that happened, and it shook investors that Moody's would downgrade our credit rating. Investors aren't confident that the United States will be able to pay its debts. At least in terms of Moody's, that has never happened before. It is really just going to lead to more trouble. Those investors who buy those tenured bonds and help pay for our national debt are demanding higher returns because they view it as a riskier investment; that they will need a higher return if they are going to hold U.S. debt. Since you have got to attract that investment, it means you have got to offer higher interest rates, which means you have got higher borrowing costs. That means that Coloradans and Americans are going to pay higher interest rates when they want to buy a house or expand their business or if they want to pay off their credit cards. They are going to have to pay more because the interest rates are going to be higher. Americans are already plenty concerned about rising prices and for good reason. This whole system could lead to the dreaded stagflation. This could all become a one-two punch to working families, all the while the wealthiest families will end up being better off. But we don't need to do this. We can certainly grow our economy. We can help working families, and we can cut the deficit. We were able to balance the budget all 8 years I was mayor of Denver and all 8 years I was Governor and still grow our investments in our roads, in our education system, and in our healthcare system. We also did this with the Inflation Reduction Act, which will reduce the deficit by over $175 billion over the next 10 years. It has already, dramatically, lowered a number of prescription drug costs, has expanded healthcare access, and in the process, has created hundreds of thousands of good jobs. The Republicans' budget, I think, does the opposite. We also can't forget that this budget comes in the midst of the Trump administration's efforts around tariffs and what our good friend, the Senator from Washington, was just talking about when she described the consequences of Smoot-Hawley and how those tariffs, just at 20 percent, led to a global slowdown in the overall economy. We all know that these tariff taxes are really not so hidden; they are taxes on the American people. They raise prices on everything from groceries to kitchen appliances. None of this is a growth strategy. It really is a recipe for a recession, at best, and stagflation, at worst. We can't borrow millions, we can't borrow billions, we can't borrow trillions just to hand out tax cuts to the top when working families are struggling to afford everyday goods. It doesn't add up. It never has. It never will. There are many issues that may be partisan but being financially responsible doesn't need to be one of them, neither should good, strong economies, neither should economic fairness, neither should protecting working families. They don't have to do it this way. Now, I am always game to roll up my sleeves and dig into a balance sheet, but we haven't seen from the other side that they are willing to negotiate or really invest in long-term economic growth. I would suggest that we write a budget that reflects our values and puts tax cuts toward working families first, a budget that strengthens the middle class, one that keeps our economy strong and will keep it growing for generations to come. This bill is not any of that. I urge my Republican colleagues in the House and the Senate not to temporarily put a pass on their values and to support, again, what I think is a truly reckless fiscal bill. I hope that we can come together and negotiate a better bill that does more for economic growth and puts a far, far lesser penalty on the working people of America. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

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

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, our Colorado community is reeling from a heinous hate crime against the Jewish community in Boulder, CO. On Sunday, 12 Coloradans were badly injured after a suspect threw Molotov cocktails, incendiary devices, into a crowd, specifically targeting the Jewish people there--a targeted, anti-Semitic attack. The 12 individuals were part of a peaceful march in Boulder that happens every week to call for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The suspect has since told investigators that he planned the terrorist attack for over a year; that he specifically wanted to target the Run for Their Lives group, this group that had been meeting every week lobbying for the release of hostages. Bottom line, this attack was not random. It was a deliberate hate crime against the Jewish community that was planned for months. The scope of that hatred is unconscionable. These were men and women who dedicated their time to advocating for innocent hostages who have been now held in captivity for over 600 days. Most importantly, the demonstrators were motivated by a desire for peace and were operating in a peaceful fashion. Let me repeat that. These men and women wanted peace. Instead, they were met with horrifying and senseless violence. The upswing in violence targeting the Jewish community needs to be condemned at every level. And now, anti-Semitism and the hate that comes with it has taken root at home in Colorado. But Colorado is not alone. Our country is still mourning the recent assassination of two Israeli Embassy staff members who were shot as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum just a little over a week ago. And just this past April, the Pennsylvania Governor's mansion was firebombed as Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family celebrated Passover inside. These are just a few of the recent and most visible anti-Semitic attacks. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents have reached a record high since the October 7, 2023, attack. It is absolutely unacceptable for anti-Semitism to exist in our country. And yet, the Jewish community in Colorado and the Jewish community across the United States has to live with the daily fear of targeted terrorist attacks and escalading calls for violence against the Jewish people. We need to do more to protect the Jewish community in Colorado and across the country and make sure that they feel safe in the aftermath of this horrific attack. Across the country, Jewish people are angry. They are terrified. Jewish Coloradans woke up this morning feeling unsafe--unsafe to go to school, unsafe to go to work--wondering what and if there is a path forward. In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote: The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Colorado has always been a State that embraces difference and always will be. The answer to this violence is not to turn to the comfort of simple or black-and-white answers, backing into our corners and spreading more fear and more hatred. Now is the time to double down on our commitment to unity in the face of our differences. It is the only way we can guarantee safety and peace for our Jewish community and for every community. Now, what does that mean in real terms? It means fully investigating this hate crime and making sure the suspect is fully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It means zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in Colorado schools, our workplaces, or in our public spaces. It means taking a lesson from the 12 demonstrators who were victims in Sunday's attack. Through peaceful action, they stood up for their beliefs, supported one another, and helped our country take small but meaningful steps forward. They wanted to end this descending spiral of violence. The rest of us should too. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to honor the incredible life of Rev. Dr. James D. Peters, Jr., who passed away last week at the age of 92. And what a life he lived. James was truly one of the greatest men I have ever known. Reverend Peters' story started not far from these walls here in Washington, DC. He grew up in Washington during a time of deep segregation and became an early leader in the civil rights movements of the 1950s, 1960s, and into the 1970s. In 1957, he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He worked with Dr. King for many years to help shape the course of American history. He marched unbowed in the March on Washington in 1963 and numerous other marches--notably Selma, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965. Reverend Peters carried that same commitment when he came to Denver and to Colorado--that same commitment to justice. For more than 28 years, he preached Dr. King's gospel of freedom and unity as pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church, the largest Black church in Denver. He served many years on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission to make Colorado a better place for all of our residents. Along the way, he had a significant impact on many of Colorado's leaders. I was one of them. In 2003, I was the newly elected mayor of Denver. I was not quite inaugurated yet. On July 5, Paul Childs was shot and killed in his own front hall by an inexperienced Denver police officer. Paul was only 15 years old, but he was beloved by his community, and his death shook the entire city. Following that awful tragedy, Reverend Peters, alongside my predecessor Wellington Webb--one of the great mayors of the 20th century--they helped organize their community and mentored me on the appropriate ways to address this tragedy in such a way that it could be constructive, that somehow the community would be made stronger and more resilient. Reverend Peters knew that the community had to change and use this tragedy to make a better future for the entire community. He was one of the leaders who helped us create Denver's first Citizen Oversight Board to oversee the Denver Police and Sheriff Departments and to make sure any allegations of police misconduct could be investigated and to make sure that all neighborhoods had an active voice in how their neighborhoods were policed. He also helped us start the Office of the Independent Monitor, with subpoena power, again, to make sure that allegations of police misconduct could be fully investigated. Over the past 20 years, the Citizen Oversight Board and Independent Monitor have worked to improve the policies of Denver's police department and improve the relationship and the trust between the community and law enforcement. Many, many years later--about 8 years ago--I was fortunate enough to join Reverend Peters, along with Rev. Dr. Patrick Demmer and a small group, in Montgomery to visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, our country's first national memorial to victims of lynching and racial terrorism in the United States. It is hard to describe the feeling of that memorial--the power is so immense; the weight of our country's nagging, persistent shame remains so heavy. In walking through the memorial with Reverend Peters, he spoke about his life growing up in Washington, DC, during segregation and his fierce belief in nonviolence and nonviolent movements. He reflected on how their nonviolent tactics led more and more people to join them. He knew that they were--and that we are--strongest when we are united, when we are marching hand in hand. In walking next to Rev. Dr. Peters, it was impossible not to feel buoyed up by the enduring hope that he carried with him, pretty much at all times. I think so many of those lessons from Rev. Dr. Peters still ring true today. As Reverend Peter's friend and mentor, Dr. King famously said: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Like many around the country today, I have felt in recent years that the arc has not bent as far as we had hoped, but if Reverend Peters taught us one thing, it is that neither today nor tomorrow is the day to bow our heads. We can't give up our work and our dreams that Dr. Peters fought so hard for. I yield the floor.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a great American and an exceptional member of the U.S. Air Force, SMSgt Martha Adelaja. A true champion for our Nation and expert communicator, this New York native and Spelman College graduate brings 21 years of distinguished uniformed service. She has consistently demonstrated exemplary leadership and an unparalleled ability to navigate complex legislative landscapes in service to our country and the 116th, 117th, 118th, and 119th U.S. Congresses. She left an indelible mark as the first bicameral Department of the Air Force legislative liaison, providing that vital link between Congress and the Department as she effectively advocated for critical defense priorities. Throughout her military career, she has demonstrated exceptional and unrivaled airmanship and is the epitome of what a noncommissioned officer should be. As an Army combat veteran prior to her transition to the Air Force in 2007, her career spans two services in numerous of positions critical to U.S. defense and its national security interests worldwide. As a legislative liaison and action officer in the Department of the Air Force's Senate liaison division, she advised Department senior leadership and helped develop strategic engagement opportunities to advance U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force priorities. Her leadership facilitated seamless collaboration on behalf of the Department of the Air Force across 62 congressional offices, serving as the principal Air Force liaison to 17 Senators and their respective staffs. She supported numerous engagements and delegations spanning 150 Senators, Congressmen, and staffers to showcase Department equities in the United States and abroad. Most notably, her strategic acumen was instrumental in navigating congressional concerns regarding the Air Force's divestment of 261 legacy aircraft and securing $2.6 billion in cost savings, significantly strengthening the Air Force and Senate relations prior to congressional hearings. Her efforts synchronized nine Department of the Air Force directorates with 98 congressional staffers for modernization efforts and ensured the Department of the Air Force's support of the National Defense Strategy in our return to Great Power Competition. Senior Master Sergeant Adelaja spearheaded international delegations of congressional members, showcasing critical Air Force capabilities and strengthening partnerships at key events like the bicameral Reagan National Defense Forum. Through her tireless efforts, Senior Master Sergeant Adelaja secured direct engagement between Members of Congress and key decision-makers, including the Secretary of the Air Force, resulting in successful advancements of critical Air Force initiatives. Drawing on her deep understanding of Space Force requirements, Senior Master Sergeant Adelaja successfully championed the Department of the Air Force's position on future space-based missile warning capabilities, ensuring congressional alignment on this critical national security priority. Finally, as the sole enlisted representative in the Department of the Air Force Senate liaison office, she effectively advocated for Department priorities. Collaborating with U.S. Space Command she arranged seven visits to Colorado Space Force bases in 2024 for key decision-makers, highlighting the quality-of-life concerns of guardians. Her efforts secured a significant $42.9 billion investment in quality-of-life programs, including a 4.5-percent pay raise. Due to her direct involvement and stewardship, Members of Congress were able to make informed decisions and ensured the Department of the Air Force was properly resourced and funded. After serving in this crucial role and becoming a fixture on Capitol Hill, SMSgt Martha Adelaja will move on to serve as the congressional liaison for the newly established Integrated Capabilities Command, Headquarters Air Force, Pentagon, Arlington, VA. She has sacrificed much in service to our Nation. I am thankful for Martha's service and her work with my office and the Senate over the past year on issues of vital importance to the defense of the United States. I salute this American patriot whose selfless service has kept our country safe and strong.

Mr. HICKENLOOPER

Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Madam President, today, the other side is trying to pass I think what can only be called an extreme budget plan--very extreme--which is chock-full of bad ideas to help pay for their tax breaks, most of which are for the ultrawealthy. They are targeting critical services like Medicaid. They are trying to green-light a fire sale of public lands, which I have an amendment on to present later to try to prevent. They are even floating an idea to stick small businesses with the bill for some of these cuts. One idea they proposed could cap or eliminate the ability for businesses to claim a deduction for their property taxes, which is one of the most common business expenses there is. Bare bones, it would raise taxes on small businesses, these businesses being the engine of our community. Running a small business isn't easy. I know that firsthand. I remember how hard it was when I first opened the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Colorado's first brewpub. We worked long hours, both before we opened and especially after we opened. We were constantly stressed about having enough money to pay for our rent, our staff, to purchase the foodstuff that we made into meals--all of our expenses. I can tell you that having to pay even a little more in taxes would have made life that much worse. It would have devastated us. So why would Republicans on the other side want to make it harder to grow or open a small business? We should be helping entrepreneurs. We should be helping small businesses and not adding to their burden. These proposed changes would also wreak havoc on the real estate industry. Coloradans and Americans are worried about the cost of housing. We hear from people all the time from all across the country about how they work two or three jobs just so they can afford their rent and their groceries. We need to build more housing, and we need to make rent more affordable. Why would we want to disincentivize new housing construction and encourage higher rents for families or businesses? But that is what happens if you take away some of the basic, fundamental deductions that businesses need. It is just one out of many what I would call reckless ideas to fund these in many cases unnecessary tax cuts for the ultrawealthy. Now, this budget comes at a time when small businesses and American entrepreneurs are already under pressure from what I would call the administration's unhinged trade policy. As my colleagues have noted, this week, President Trump announced another wave of what we have been calling tariff taxes that will go into effect this weekend and are going to raise prices for Americans all across the country. Ten percent on all goods from all countries, 20 percent on goods from the European Union, 24 percent on goods from Japan, and 34 percent on goods from China. These tariff taxes mean Americans will pay higher prices on pretty much everything, starting with their groceries. Buying a six-pack of Colorado beer? Better bring some extra cash; it is going to be more expensive. Filling up your truck? That is going to cost more. Replacing a part on your car? Be ready to pay a surcharge. Building a new home? Expect the bids to come in. Expect inflation during the construction project. Expect to pay more. We are already hearing from small businesses back in Colorado. Craft brewers whom I know well are worried about the sky-high increases in imported aluminum. Farmers are worried about fertilizer and other products they depend on that are getting more expensive, and this doesn't even mention that most of them recognize they need to export some of their food. We grow more than we can consume ourselves. The impacts for consumers are just as bad. Major companies like Target and Best Buy are saying that they will have to raise prices. Even President Trump's own Commerce Secretary has publicly said that these tariff taxes are going to raise prices. The bottom line is that these tariff taxes will lead to higher costs. They are going to hurt small businesses, and I think ultimately they are going to increase unemployment. I don't think I could find anyone in Colorado who would say this is what they were voting for in the last election. We should be focusing on helping small businesses, not just in Colorado but across the country. We should be helping lower costs, not just in Colorado but across the country. I think we should be trying to stimulate and expand their businesses rather than being forced to shrink them. I yield the floor.