Jerry Moran

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 3 minutes.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, $28 trillion, $9,700 per person. It is common for Members of this Senate to stand on the Senate floor and debate the pricetag of spending bills and legislation that costs millions, billions, and even trillions of dollars. These numbers are so large that for many people--perhaps even for us--it is incomprehensible and unrelatable. Today, I would like to take a moment to talk about dollars and cents. In Kansas, the current average price for a gallon of gas is $3.09. Last year, the average cost per gallon of gas in Kansas was $1.93. This means filling up a 15-gallon tank will cost you an extra $17 every time you fill up your car at the pump. If you fill up your vehicle once a week, that is an additional $904 you spent on gas this year as opposed to just last year. Electricity prices are up 5.2 percent this year. The average monthly electric bill for a residence in Kansas last year was $113.52. A 5- percent increase is an additional $68 per family. This winter is going to be expensive for American families, particularly in the Midwest, as households are expected to see their heating bills jump as much as 54 percent compared to last winter, making it the most expensive winter since 2008. Thanks to inflation, the price of eggs is up 9.9 percent. A used car is going to be about 24 percent more expensive. Chicken has a 7.2- percent increase in cost, in price. In fact, these realities are being reflected by media across the country. Newsweek's headline: ``Your Thanksgiving Turkey Could Be the Most Expensive Ever.'' MSNBC: ``Thanksgiving is now less than a month away and it's shaping up to be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday.'' CBS News: ``On the table for Thanksgiving this year? Higher food prices.'' NBC News: ``This Thanksgiving, be prepared to fork over more dough for your feast.'' And The New York Times: ``This Year's Thanksgiving Feast Will Wallop the Wallet.'' This is horrible news for almost every Kansan and for every American, and it is especially damaging to those who are already struggling to pay the bills because their hard-earned dollars just don't go far enough now. An extra $17 at the gas pump or $68 on an electric bill and an extra 50 cents here or there is quickly adding up, for middle-class and low- income families, to be a major challenge. These dollars add up to tough decisions, like: Will we be able to make our mortgage payment this month? Do we forgo a Thanksgiving meal this year so we can keep the heat on? Can we afford to make the drive across the country to see the grandparents for the holidays? The current trajectory for inflation doesn't look good either. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that the United States hasn't experienced the recent inflation levels in a ``long time'' and expects higher inflation to continue into 2022. Part of inflation--a significant portion of inflation is caused by government spending, and the Democrats' out-of-control spending and policies have sped up the rate of inflation, creating these higher prices for families. In particular, President Biden's effort to restrain American oil and gas production--this one is not about spending, but it is about policy. President Biden's efforts to restrain American oil and gas production while, oddly, hypocritically, strangely, appealing to OPEC to increase the global oil supply in the face of high gas prices at home has resulted in higher energy prices, which could drive inflation even higher in the months to come. It is time for Congress to turn off the spending spigot. The Democrats' nearly $2 trillion spending package that passed at the beginning of this session, in January, did nothing to help with our labor shortage or to improve the supply chain. It, instead, accelerated inflation around the country. We have been slow to turn that spigot off, and we have exacerbated it since the arrival of a Democrat majority and President Biden in the White House. The Democrats are awfully busy trying to fill their campaign promises by passing their tax-and-spending spree, and they are too busy to worry about the damage they are causing American families. More spending will only exacerbate our current inflationary circumstances, and the path that the Democrats have charted involves massive amounts of spending that will lead to higher prices for everyone. As Americans face higher prices at the gas station and grocery store, we must work at fixing our supply chain issues, returning to being energy independent, helping Americans return to work, and reining in our spending to slow down the rate of inflation. This out-of-control spending is jeopardizing our economy and hurting Americans. To my colleagues--to my Democrat colleagues, in particular--rather than assuming a mandate by the voters and pushing the tax-and-spend spree legislation with 51 votes, let's work together. Let's work together to get government spending and borrowing in check. If this is done, it will be done for the well-being of all Americans. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MORAN

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

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the achievements of Hanover High School in Washington County, KS. I want to offer my congratulations to the students, staff, and coaches of the Wildcats football, volleyball, boys basketball, and boys track team for winning the Kansas 1A DII High School State Championships during the 2020-2021 academic school year. After the challenges of the pandemic, the ability of these student athletes to succeed in the classroom and on the field is admirable. Continuing education and supporting student athletes is a top priority in Kansas, and these students exemplify how resilient our children are and the importance of being a part of a team. Achievements such as these do not happen overnight; they take the support of families, friends, teachers, coaches, faculty, staff, and volunteers. It takes a community, and Hanover should be proud. The Hanover Wildcats started the year coming out strong when the volleyball team won the State title for the first time since 1979 in straight sets against Attica High. The eight-man football team championship game against St. Francis, leading 46-24, ended a perfect 11-0 season. The boys basketball team went on to win Hanover's seventh State championship with a 24-1 record, while the boys' track team rounded out the year coming back against the odds to clinch the first place spot in the final relay at the State track meet, leaving with a lead of eight points. These young men and women have set an example for all of us, demonstrating that success in life comes to those who are willing to set goals and work hard to achieve them. Not only did they perform with exceptional mental and physical fortitude, but they also displayed remarkable sportsmanship while prioritizing work in the classroom and studying hard. This impressive display of prudence after a challenging school year demonstrates the grit of Hanover students in the face of difficulties. I once again extend my congratulations to these student athletes, as well as Principal Matthew Mattos, Athletic Director Scott Hutchison, and trainer Paige Radomski. I wish each of these young men and women continued success in the classroom and in their athletic pursuits.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I speak today to recognize the 3 million men and women, Americans, who have served our Nation in the two decades since September 11, 2001, in what has become known as the Global War on Terrorism. The days during--in just the last month--during this botched and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, were a terrible time of reckoning for our Nation. I am angry, discouraged, and concerned about the way and the manner by which the United States of America departed. President Biden's announcement in April to completely withdraw American troops by September 11 without taking appropriate security precautions, including preparation for a return of the Taliban to Kabul, was irresponsible and will damage America's interest for years to come and endanger the lives of thousands of women and children in Afghanistan. Additionally, the lack of urgency to do right by the thousands of Afghans who worked alongside Americans will forever be a source of shame for this administration. But as I said many times before, the withdrawal from Afghanistan was not the fault of the men and women in uniform. In the days following September 11, 2001, the call to service was answered by thousands--thousands--of Americans who sought to defend the United States. These men and women left behind their families and careers to serve a greater good. I cannot think of anything more honorable than stepping up to defend our homeland from a threat that was, at the time, relatively unknown. For most of our men and women in uniform, the Global War on Terrorism has been the primary mission of their entire careers. I run into people regularly who tell me about their service, and they saw what happened on 9/11 in New York City at Ground Zero. They saw what happened in the fields of Pennsylvania and what happened at the Pentagon. They decided it was their moment to step forward and defend and protect their Nation, to make sure that freedom and liberty remained the hallmark of who we are. And all of the sacrifices they and their families have made were in support of that effort and it was an effort they believed in and I certainly hope they still do. Those who stepped forward to serve, eradicated vast networks of terrorists who wished to do America harm, making it absolutely clear that no one can harm Americans without our swift and certain retribution. They also brought Osama bin Laden to justice, destroyed the ISIS caliphate, and eliminated its founder. In Afghanistan, our men and women serving in the military brought hope to a brutalized, war-torn country for the first time in decades. Incredibly, an entire generation in Afghanistan came to age knowing what it feels like to see freedom and to feel freedom. Tragically, we saw Afghanistan quickly fall to the Taliban. It happened because of a haphazard and unorganized withdrawal process that has made our country and our world a less secure place. We all saw the images of terror and desperation as Afghans tried to flee their fate, many at the cost of their lives. We saw the footage of the chaos, the tear gas, and the explosion. We lost 13 lives of our honorable brave men and women in uniform to an attack outside the airport gates as they tried to rescue innocent families from their Afghan brothers and sisters in arms. These scenes captured our Nation's attention, rightfully so. But unfortunately, in the days that followed, mainstream media's interest in Afghanistan began to wane. Take a look to see what is happening in Afghanistan now. See the desolation, the death, the destruction, the hunger, and the fear. This failure to have attention on what is going on in Afghanistan must not and should not be the case. We must continue to honor those who served and who will serve our country in the future. We should consider S. 535, the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Location Act. This bill was introduced by the Senator from Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst, herself a veteran. It will authorize the location of a memorial on the National Mall to truly honor those who served to eradicate terrorism. It will honor the 3 million men and women who served and especially the thousands of servicemembers who gave that ultimate sacrifice--their lives. This memorial will also honor, heal, empower, and unite soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coasties who made those sacrifices. I would guess many of us in the U.S. Senate have seen--we witnessed some of the healing that personally occurs in times that have met with the Honor--as I have met with the folks who have been here on the Honor Flights, those visitors who gather at our war memorials to remember, to be together, and, yes, to heal. Last week, I was at a number of our memorials here in our Nation's Capital with a group of over about 160 Vietnam veterans from Kansas. I have been visiting with those veterans in almost all of the visits of Kansans who come here, and in those visits, I met the World War II veterans, the Korean war veterans, and the Vietnam war veterans who have a place of honor on the Mall where they can go to meet other veterans, to lay flowers, to pause and reflect, and remember the brothers and sisters that they have lost. Just this weekend, back in Valley Center, KS, the Moving Wall--a tribute to those who lost their lives in Vietnam; the thousands, the 627 Kansans who lost their lives in Vietnam--was a place in which people gathered to do exactly that. I hope someday I will be able to attend an Honor Flight to the Global War on Terrorism Memorial and meet with the generation of veterans who fought to bring peace to the Middle East and who fought to bring the United States into a safer and more secure place. It will be my honor and privilege to do so. I am here on the Senate floor to pay tribute, to honor and respect, and to tell those who served in the Global War on Terrorism that we respect them; we thank them for their service; and we love them. I yield the floor.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I am joined on the floor today by my colleague from Missouri, Senator Blunt, and we rise today to welcome the FIFA World Cup selection committee to Kansas City and to express our strong support for Kansas City's bid to serve as the 2026 World Cup host city. I express my gratitude to the leadership of Mayor Quinton Lucas and to the leadership of Kathy Nelson from the Kansas City sporting authority, the president and CEO. Our community, our joint community--Kansas City, people may know, is on two sides of the State line--the Missouri side of the State line and the Kansas side of the State line. Sometimes we are rivals, but in many instances, we are allies and friends, and that is the circumstance we are here today. Kansas City boasts a rich history of both professional and amateur sports. Kansas City is the home of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame; the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; as well as the 2020 Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs; the 2015 World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals; and the two-time Major League Soccer Cup champions, Sporting KC. It is also the hometown of our world- renowned football coach, Ted Lasso. Sporting KC has energized the region's diverse and passionate soccer fan base--a fan base that I am confident is ready to pack up their bags and head to Arrowhead Stadium, the loudest stadium in the world, to cheer on the U.S. men's national team and other nations that compete there. Soccer has become an even larger part of the culture of Kansas City after U.S. Soccer's National Development Center officially opened in Kansas City, KS, in May of 2018. The NDC is the perfect location--the perfect location--for any team to recover, practice, and prepare for their upcoming matches. Spanning more than 50 acres, this 81,000-square-foot, state-of-the- art practice, education, and medical facility includes three natural grass fields and two artificial turf fields, with a two-story coaching pavilion, and houses the Children's Mercy Sports Medicine Center. Kansas City has been host to other major sporting events. The city regularly welcomes thousands and thousands of fans for events such as the Big 12 men's NCAA basketball championship and the NCAA March Madness and will be the location for the 2023 National Football League--the NFL--Draft. Due to major investment in Kansas City's transportation and infrastructure--something that both Senator Blunt and I and our colleagues, Senator Hawley and Senator Marshall, have worked on--Kansas City is well equipped to support soccer fans from around the globe. They will be welcomed at a brandnew Kansas City International Airport, which is currently undergoing a $1.5 billion renovation restart for a state-of-the-art terminal that is scheduled to be completed in 2023. In 2020, Kansas City also became the first major metropolitan area to offer bus transportation free of charge. Additionally, the Kansas City Streetcar offers free fares with stops just a short walk from many magnificent dining and dynamic entertaining experiences in Kansas City. Early in my postcollege career, I had an office in downtown Kansas City. The circumstances of Kansas City today and that long time ago when I was a worker in downtown Kansas City are significantly different. The entertainment opportunities are immense--the arrival of a major, magnificent Sprint Center; hotels, new, large, elegant--all have arrived in Kansas City in just the last few years. I am confident the entire Kansas City region is ready to make the 2026 FIFA World Cup a resounding success and is excited to add this prestigious tournament to its sporting history. Again, we welcome the World Cup selection committee to Kansas City today and to the State of Kansas and to the State of Missouri. We welcome them. They are being welcomed to a world-class city known for its heartland hospitality. I yield to the Senator from Missouri.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I want to use the opportunity of the Senate floor today to call to the attention what I think is an alarming proposal that would allow the Internal Revenue Service to track nearly all inflows and outflows of Americans' bank accounts. I heard this story--I heard this proposal while I was home in Kansas, and my reaction was: I assume this is just something on the internet, something that people are perhaps fabricating. Surely no one seriously is proposing that every transaction of $600 in one's bank account and $600 out of one's bank account is something that the Internal Revenue Service should be monitoring and recording, or that records would need to be provided to the IRS with that information. It is one of those thing I thought, well, that is just some crazy something that somebody is talking about. But, lo and behold, unfortunately, I have learned that, over the years--sometimes my constituents have brought me things in the past that tell me the story. It is, like, I can't believe that would be true, but let me check it out; and far too often, it turns out that it really is someone's proposal in the Nation's Capital. Most Kansans would react to this concept by saying: I can't believe it is true. And then: Make sure you do something to keep it from happening. In this case, it is apparently true. And not only is it true, it is true because it is supported, it is proposed by the Biden administration. It is the Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, who believes and testified that this is a good idea. It is Charles Rettig, the IRS Commissioner, who believes that this is important to accomplish. It is not just somebody's ideas. It is somebody who has something that-- because they have something to say that matters that can cause it to happen is for this. For the IRS knowing how much money a Kansan earns, that just isn't enough. How much an American earns, it isn't enough to know our income. Now the IRS wants to know how you spend that income. This is an invasion of privacy that focuses on account flows, not just on income, and it intrudes on virtually every American. The claim that this will help tax wealthy cheats--I am all for taxing wealthy cheats, but instead, this isn't that. It gives the government the unprecedented access to nearly every working American's bank account. Rather than listening to the enormous pushback from Americans and eliminating from consideration this invasive mandate, Democrats are simply suggesting to tweak the proposal depending on the revenues needed to fund this massive tax-and-spend spree that is around the corner. In recent weeks, I have heard from more than 1,000 Kansans who are alarmed at this massive expansion of IRS reach and authority, this invasion of privacy. The last thing my Kansas constituents would want when it comes to their own bank account is more bureaucrats watching and dictating how they live their lives. This provision is a threat to their privacy. They see it that way, and it is. Kansas relies heavily on small-town banks and credit unions to provide rural communities and their citizens with lending services to finance a small business expansion, to allow a family to pay for college, or to buy a home. The relationship between our bankers, our credit unions, and their customers and clients is a special one. It is personal. That private relationship between a banker and their customer is one that is based upon trust. The banker no more wants to be in the middle of invading their customers' privacy. Mandating that banks report to the government their customers' account activities will significantly breach the trust that a customer, a client has with their banker. These financial institutions are often run by just a handful of employees, and are often a family operation handed down from one generation to the next. We have lots of small local banks and credit unions already knee-deep--perhaps waist-deep--in red tape; something they have to deal with every day, and something we have tried nearly every day to reduce or eliminate. Our bankers and credit unions spend millions of dollars to comply with the anti-money laundering policies, and those often yield minimal results. This proposal would turn our banking system into an extension of the Internal Revenue Service while forcing local banks to shoulder the cost. And these costs, of course, ultimately would be paid for--guess who--the customer, the citizen. So not only are we--would this proposal allow our privacy to be intruded upon, but we would be paying as it happens. Unfortunately, the IRS has increasingly politicized and--has been politicized and has a history of targeting disfavored groups and individuals, and has proven incapable of protecting taxpayers' data from leaks. Entrusting this bureaucracy, the IRS, or, really, any other bureaucracy in Washington, DC, with the supervision of your personal finances is no way to close a tax gap. At a time when the American people are more weary than ever of the Federal Government and their Agencies, this proposal will do nothing but further increase that distrust. Democrats in Congress and particularly in the Biden administration should prioritize strengthening the faith in the financial service, not pursuing these kinds of policies that will push underbanked Americans away. Ultimately, this plan will not achieve its stated goal of increasing tax revenues. Rather, it will lead to more harassment of average Americans and those who work at their financial institutions. It is clear to me that there is an attempt here to leave no stone unturned to find every possible way to tax everyday Americans in order to fund a massive spending spree. So while we hoped that this proposal was just idle talk, something that somebody said over a cup of coffee at the local doughnut shop or the cafe, something that when we went to find out if there was any truth to it we discover: Oh, no, I could tell my constituents this isn't happening, this is just something that somebody is gossiping about. But no. It is a serious proposal by the Biden administration, and it has serious consequences to the well-being, financial, but perhaps more importantly, the privacy, something that Americans deserve, something that Americans request, and something that is already too often lacking in our lives--privacy--and in this case, privacy from the Federal Government. I yield the floor.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I rise this afternoon to bring further attention to the growing humanitarian and national security crisis we see at our southern border. President Biden's and Vice President Harris's handling of the southern border has been as incompetent as it has been inhumane. This is not a partisan view: their own special envoy to Haiti has resigned in protest. This administration is in denial; it is in denial about the scope of this crisis. Migrant crossings into the United States have already reached historic levels and, as I speak, thousands continue to arrive along our U.S.-Mexico border. Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have shirked responsibility for this crisis by placing blame on the historic levels of illegal crossing on everything from COVID-19 to climate change, to former President Trump. They are hoping Americans will forget that President Biden's first order of business was to repeal nearly every immigration policy of the previous administration. The Biden administration's talking points say our borders are closed, but their actions indicate just the opposite. More than 12,000 of the Haitians who gathered under the bridge in Del Rio over the past week have been released into the country. This is not a new policy--tens of thousands of migrants who have illegally crossed our border have been released since President Biden took office. Many were released without a court date and given nothing more than a list of ICE offices around the country, with instructions to report within 60 days. Unsurprisingly, it was reported in July that nearly 87 percent of 50,000 individuals released without a court date fail to report as directed. This is a clear message that, if you make it to the United States, you will be allowed to stay without facing repercussions. This encourages families to make the dangerous trek north and entrust their safety to dangerous drug cartels at the risk of being murdered, assaulted, or trafficked because the reward is worth the risk. The Haitian refugees who recently began arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are evidence of that mindset. They believed the administration's actions, not their words. They watched as thousands were allowed to stay in the country, and they gambled that they, too, would get the same treatment; that after living nearly a decade in countries like Brazil and Chile, now is the time to come. Nearly 9 months into the Biden Presidency, it is irrefutable that this administration's policies are fueling, are increasing the crisis both for our security and the humanity of people. The historic levels of crossing at the southern border have not only created this humanitarian crisis and put an incredible strain on our immigration system, but have seriously compromised our national security. In April, a few months ago, I visited the border and had the opportunity to speak with Agents of the FBI and DEA to hear firsthand how the crisis has affected their operations and the challenges it has created for them in carrying out their mission to disrupt transnational criminal organizations and apprehend major drug traffickers. The cartels that operate in Central America are sophisticated, adaptable, and ruthless. Not only do they take advantage of individuals attempting the trek to our southern border by forcing them to pay thousands of dollars to fund their operations and subject them to abuse, rape, and murder, they use these individuals to their strategic advantage. They will send thousands of individuals across the border at the same time in an attempt to overwhelm while cartels bring drugs and guns undetected. Just today, the DEA issued a public safety alert to warn against the alarming increase in counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and meth that are being trafficked in the United States. Thus far this year, more than 9.5 million counterfeit pills have been seized--a rate that puts 2021 on a path to more seizures than the last 3 years combined. This is no coincidence. The administration's decision to continue ignoring this humanitarian and national security crisis is allowing a horrible situation to get even worse. Actions always speak louder than words. The Biden administration must take immediate action to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I spent those several weeks that we were away from Washington, DC, around Labor Day in Kansas, and, unfortunately, it is clearly evident that inflation has returned. Gas prices are up, prices at the grocery store are up, and further price hikes are on the horizon. Unfortunately, price increases at the grocery store and at the gas pump and, really, everyplace else put the greatest burden on low- and middle-income families who are already feeling the strains caused by COVID-19 in their pocketbook. It is apparent, I think, that our spending here in the Nation's Capital over a long period of time is part of the cause for that inflation and, in fact, a significant part of the cause for that inflation. But it doesn't seem to me that my Democratic colleagues are aware of the consequences of pouring a massive amount of more money, more government spending on already this inflationary circumstance that our citizens are now encountering. The Democratic tax-and-spend spree will exacerbate our inflationary circumstances, meaning that the prices will continue to rise as we borrow more money to pay for these things. It means that interest rates will rise and, at some point in time, those who lend us money will no longer be willing to do so. While I am sure that many of my Democratic colleagues would tell me the good things that would happen from the spending that is included in this bill, we cannot discount the people who they indicate they are trying to help would be the ones who suffer the greatest burden from increasing costs of everything that they buy. Given the historic levels of spending that has occurred over the last year and a half, now is not the time to spend even greater amounts of taxpayer dollars. My view is that we were too slow in turning the spigot in regard to spending that preceded the election of President Biden and a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate and House. And that, then, resulted in-- even though we had already spent so much money--an additional nearly $2 trillion being spent back in January, and now a $3.5 trillion, which I think ultimately ends up costing a lot more than $3.5 trillion. In order for the $3.5 trillion package to be paid for--if it ultimately is paid for--the Democratic majority is pursuing tax hikes that will have significant consequence on small businesses and farm families, both of which are so essential to the economic well-being of Kansas and many other States across the country, especially in middle America. Tax increases on working Americans should be, if at all, a last resort, not a funding opportunity for sweeping--sweeping--massive government expansion. This government expansion includes funding of a radical climate agenda, like the Green New Deal, installing new entitlement programs, and increasing government intrusion into the lives of Americans to levels we have never seen before. While businesses are struggling to recoup lost revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic--the consequences of that pandemic--the Democrats' plan would slap more taxes on businesses and drive up the costs for everyone. We should not jeopardize our Nation's economic well-being so that Democrats can make good on their campaign promises. Voters certainly did not have that in mind when they elected such a slim majority here in the Senate: 50 Democrats, 50 Republicans. That wasn't a mandate for the kind of spending and taxing that is now being considered here on the Senate floor. This proposed massive influx of government spending is irresponsible. Americans generally know how to live within their means, and it is time that government show some fiscal restraint as well. For a long time, as I did the townhall meetings across Kansas, it was often the topic of conversation. One of the first things Kansans would raise with me is all this spending--all this deficit spending. And for a while that conversation kind of went away. Today, it is back. It is the topic of conversation at every townhall meeting I had for those several weeks in Kansas. It is what I heard at Rotary and Kiwanis and Lions Clubs. Americans, Kansans in particular, are asking for us to show some responsibility here, and this legislation now pending shows no responsibility. To make matters worse, as the Democrats have spent valuable time testing the limits of their power to pursue this tax-and-spend spree, they have shirked their basic duties of governing. The debt limit and government funding, the appropriations process, are clearly the province of the party in power. I am anxiously awaiting for our Appropriations Committee to be able to do its work. The appropriations work is to be completed by September 30, which, once again, will not be the case. We await an agreement on topline spending numbers and a balance of prioritization between domestic and defense spending. While the air--the oxygen--is being sucked out of the Senate for purposes of a reconciliation bill and a $3.5 trillion-plus spending bill, we need to be focused on the basics of making sure that government doesn't shut down and that we do our work in appropriating the necessary amounts for government to function. We have known that the suspension of the debt limit would expire this summer--that has never been in question--but Democrats, with control of the White House and both bodies of Congress, have neglected to address either the debt limit or the regular appropriations process, the funding. They are now combining the issue of debt limit with the annual funding for government operations. This is what we call a CR, a continuing resolution, in which we fund the government at its current level into the future because we haven't gotten our work done. Now that CR and the debt limit increase are tied together. This is another example of not owning their governing obligations, not acting as honest brokers, and not, certainly, seeking bipartisanship. They only seek bipartisanship when it suits their political interests. What you won't hear from the majority leader and my Democratic colleagues is that there is a clean, short-term continuing resolution that has been proposed by Vice Chairman Shelby of the Appropriations Committee and the minority leader, Leader McConnell. In addition to avoiding an unnecessary lapse in government funding, the Shelby- McConnell CR includes funding for our ally Israel, relief for hurricane-stricken States, and support for Afghan refugees. This is an act of good faith, and it deserves bipartisan support. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I join the Senator from Missouri and his colleague, Senator Blunt, expressing my condolences and concern for the family of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz from the great State of Missouri and others who died at the Kabul airport in the effort to free Americans and Afghans who helped Americans from their country and from their deaths. It takes us back to this weekend, Saturday, September 11. Our Nation remembered the horrific attacks that occurred 20 years previous and reflected upon the fight against terrorism, which was set in motion on that very fateful day. The events that unfolded in Afghanistan these past few weeks have made the 20th anniversary of September 11 that much more painful; painful especially for the men and women who served our Nation in Afghanistan. The chaos and collapse of that country cost American lives, opened old wounds, and left many Americans questioning how all this could happen in this manner. The American people require answers from the administration on how our withdrawal from Afghanistan went so horribly--so horribly, horribly wrong. Officials should be, must be, held accountable for their weak leadership and mismanaged withdrawal. During my tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives and here in the U.S. Senate, following the attack of 9/11, I visited Afghanistan four times. Over the course of those visits, I saw progress being made by our troops and by civilians, by our NATO allies, and by Afghan partners. My last visit was about 4 years ago just to the day about a week ago. At that time, the U.S. had less than 15,000 servicemembers in Afghanistan and our men and women were operating as advisers to the Afghan military. For the most part, the war seemed to be being fought by the Afghan military. Certainly, several terrorist groups had a presence in the region, but our military was preventing them from gaining the ability to strike our homeland. President Biden's withdrawal plan, if it could be called that, led to the deadliest day for American servicemembers in Afghanistan since 2011. Thirteen of our servicemembers returned home in flag-draped caskets. Most of them were too young to remember 9/11, yet they laid down our lives to help Americans and Afghans flee the Taliban and find safety. Americans remain in Afghanistan and thousands of our Afghan partners who are likely to face persecution or death at the hands of the Taliban have little hope of escaping the country. Our own office continues the effort to try to find and help those individuals remove themselves from a country where death seems certain. I thank my staff, and I pray for those people, and I thank the Kansans who brought them to our attention. People at home worried about Christians being persecuted for being Christians in Afghanistan. Those who serve in Afghanistan worried about someone who saved their life--an Afghan who saved their life or who was their interpreter or who was there side by side with them--now being left to the fate of the Taliban. I am a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees that fund the Departments of Defense and State. We must hold hearings to examine the President's decision-making process and his consideration of the advice provided by his military and intelligence community leaders. We need to determine what steps, if any, were taken to plan for the withdrawal of Americans, with Special Immigrant Visas holders from Afghanistan. We also need to hear directly from the administration how costly the lethal American weapons ended up in the hands of Taliban. The high- ranking officials who were responsible for this failure must answer to the American people why this operation failed so spectacularly and why their taxpayer dollars were left behind for the Taliban in the form of helicopters, combat vehicles, and weapons. How is it that we came to rely upon the Taliban to help those we are responsible for, we owe a debt to, to be able to escape from the Taliban? The administration must also be held accountable for its mismanagement and for the precarious security situation that this incompetent withdrawal created. Hastily withdrawing thousands of troops, apparently in the interest of a symbolic departure before the 20th anniversary of 9/11, made this world a more dangerous place. It created an environment that will allow radical terrorists to find refuge under the Taliban rule, and produced one that was the most pressing humanitarian crisis in history. We deserve answers on how we will remedy this complex security situation, how we will help Afghan women and girls who are already being persecuted, and how we will learn from mistakes that were made to make certain it cannot happen again. Finally, our veterans who served honorably in Afghanistan need to know that their service--and when I say ``finally,'' this is not the least important point. It is made at the end to make the point so clear. Our veterans who served honorably in Afghanistan need to know that their service was not--was not--in vain. More than 775,000 servicemembers were deployed to Afghanistan over the two decades since 9/11. To those servicemembers: Make no mistake, your service has left a lasting and unparalleled impact upon the world. Our country has been safe from a terrorist attack from the region of Afghanistan since their arrival in Afghanistan. Their work and efforts, their sacrifice and service made a difference for the safety of their fellow Americans. Those who served significantly reduced the threat from al-Qaida and brought Osama bin Laden to justice. You deserve to know that the collapse of Afghanistan does not fall on your shoulders but on the failure of leadership here in the Nation's Capital City. Our sudden, disastrous, and poorly executed withdrawal opened old wounds and created new ones. I commit as the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs to work side by side with our chairman, the Senator from Montana, to make certain that our veterans receive the care and attention they deserve and are entitled to, the respect and honor from their fellow American citizens, and the benefits that we promised to be available, available. We have made the world a more dangerous place by our failing departure, and we have left Americans and our Afghan partners behind. I served in the House of Representatives on 9/11, 20 years ago. I remember the day and the attack. I was one of the first Members of Congress to visit Ground Zero, where I saw the remains of the two Twin Towers--still smoke coming from the ground, steam--a bit like a construction site as they were trying to remove the rubble that were the remains of those towers. First, family members were brought in to see the site where their loved ones died, which captured my heart as I watched them see where their loved ones died. After paying my respects to those family members and as I was leaving, I found a makeshift memorial that New Yorkers had placed there. It was a series of long tables at which people had brought flowers and cards, stuffed animals--teddy bears--and notes to pay tribute to those who had died just a few weeks before at that location. I picked up one thing from that table of remembrance and honor and respect. It was a piece of notebook paper with a jagged edge along the side, torn out of a spiral notebook, with a child's handwriting: Dear Daddy, how much I love you, how I hope Heaven is a wonderful place, and I hope, Daddy, that I live a life good enough to join you there someday. Amanda, aged 12. That moment has stuck with me for 20-plus years now--the point being that we have a responsibility to make sure that there are no more Amandas who suffer the fate that this young girl suffered that day with the death of her father. It occurred because of a terrorist attack occurring on the lands of Afghanistan, held by the Taliban, that allowed ISIS to attack the United States of America. I have tried to change my conduct as a Member of Congress, since that day, to be a more responsible Member, to do the things necessary to be more worldly and understand what is going on, to make sure that I make the decisions that help make the world a safer place. What we have seen in the last few weeks discourages me in making the world a safer place, but I rise to the call again to say we have responsibilities left in Afghanistan; we have responsibilities to the people we left behind to allow and to help them escape near certain death; and we also have responsibilities to those men and women who served in Afghanistan, who answered the call because they saw what happened to our Nation on 9/11 and said: I have something to give. I have something--perhaps my life--to give to see that this doesn't happen again. I hope that we, despite the circumstances that we have seen in the last days, now have the ability as a U.S. Congress, as a Member of the U.S. Senate, to rise to the occasion in which we are still needed in this world to protect American lives, to save lives in Afghanistan, and to make certain--to make certain--that there are no more Amandas asking for the opportunity to see their fathers someday in Heaven. The burdens are great for us. The responsibilities are real. Those who have failed us to date need to be held accountable, and the rest of us need to rise to the occasion to protect this country we love, the United States of America. I yield the floor.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 3795, and I ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, there is no denying that we have a humanitarian crisis at the southern border. I have witnessed this personally. Just last month, Customs encountered 200,000 individuals attempting the dangerous and deadly trek across the southern border. At least tens of thousands of these individuals have been released into our country without an official court date. The Biden administration's rollback of immigration laws has not only magnified the humanitarian crisis, but it has left our law enforcement with the impossible task of trying to slow the flow of illegal crossings while also attempting to stop drugs, weapons, and human trafficking entering our country. My amendment simply states that we must enforce our existing immigration laws to address the humanitarian crisis and to increase resources for smart and effective border security, improve asylum processing, and reduce immigration court backlogs. Voting no on this amendment signals a refusal to acknowledge we have a humanitarian crisis on our southern border and an unwillingness to support our existing immigration laws. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this straightforward amendment.

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I joined the bipartisan infrastructure group of 22 Senators. I am one of the originals. I did so for a number of reasons. One is how important infrastructure is to Kansas and to the country. I would highlight the importance of infrastructure investment to my State. We are in the middle of the country, where our manufactured goods and agricultural commodities need to be able to compete in the world economy. How efficiently and effectively we get those goods and those commodities to market has a huge consequence to the ability for Kansans to earn a living. Across our State, from Southeast Kansas to Southwest Kansas, from the suburbs of Kansas City in Johnson County and Wyandotte County, all across Northwest and Central Kansas, the demand for improved roads, greater safety, is there. There is a great desire to see that roads and bridges are repaired. County commissioners and trustees of our townships have called to say: We have a bridge. Could you help us do something about that? So I entered this group of 22 Senators. I was one of the 11 to provide some input and to see that Kansas priorities--that we had a seat at the table and to help negotiate a deal that didn't raise taxes, that didn't spend trillions of dollars and focused on actual traditional infrastructure, and to avoid what I fear is to follow, what I would describe as a Democratic wish list. I wanted this to be a smaller, more affordable, paid-for package that was not excessive in scope, didn't add to the national debt, and did not raise taxes on the American people. This package includes a number of priorities of mine, including a historic increase in investment in broadband and does provide critical resources to repair our roads, bridges, and airports. So a desire for a seat at the table, a desire to invest in infrastructure, and I also would add a desire to see that this U.S. Senate, Republicans and Democrats, can work together for a beneficial product for the American people. However, from the very beginning, I outlined criteria that would be needed to be met for my support on any final outcome of the negotiations. My priority was that the bill be paid for and therefore not raise the national debt. Half of the new spending in this bill is not offset--is not offset-- with reduced spending or increases in nontax revenues. The Congressional Budget Office scores this bill as adding a quarter of a trillion dollars to the national debt. My view has been from the beginning that if we can only find offsets to pay for a certain amount--in this case, about half of the increased spending included in this bill--then the size of our bill should be half of what it is. If you can only find a way to pay for half of what you are spending, then spend less money--spend half as much less money. That, of course, was not the outcome of these negotiations. Additionally, I had hoped that this bipartisan plan would dissuade Democrats from pursuing their own partisan $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend spree. The Democratic plan to immediately follow this bipartisan infrastructure bill with their own spending bill significantly undermines the bipartisan effort to deliver a good outcome for the people of this country. I had hoped that if we reached a bipartisan agreement--in fact, I had hoped a bipartisan agreement would be reached among the 22 Senators, but pretty early in the negotiations, it became clear that there was significant input and direction from the Biden administration and from the majority leader, the Democratic majority leader in the U.S. Senate. So instead of negotiating with my colleagues and seeking an outcome that we supported, it had to be run by those who are in the White House and those who are the leadership of the Democratic Members of the U.S. Senate. My desire to see that we pass or reach an agreement to pass a bill that would be paid for did not occur, was not met--that criteria was not met--and the desire to see Democratic Senators say: If we do this together, we are not going to do something else on our own. In fact, some of the things we negotiated in or out of the bipartisan package will now be included in the broader package of the Democratic wish list. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to reach an agreement, only to discover then that in a succeeding bill, one that immediately follows, the things that we negotiated in or out are now included or taken out. So the bipartisan nature of the agreement is in many ways offset by the bill that follows. Reaching an infrastructure deal in a bipartisan way would send a great message that we are capable of working together, and I certainly indicate to my colleagues--I particularly indicate to Senator Sinema, the Senator from Arizona, how much I appreciate her efforts to pull us together and to lead our meetings in a productive way, and I would say again that I am open to those opportunities. I am saddened by the fact that this did not reach an agreement that I can support, but I certainly indicate to my colleagues that I am willing to work with Republican and Democratic Members of the Senate to see if, in other instances, we can come together in a way that provides hope for the American people that we can work together on a better product than we were able to reach in this instance. Unfortunately, to sum up, there is too much spending, too much debt, and therefore there will be too much inflation. My efforts to reach a compromise were honest and sincere, and I regret that we were unable to arrive at a bill that I can support I yield the floor.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, 10 years ago I attended the memorial service for CW2 Bryan J. Nichols. I vividly remember the outpouring of support from the Hays community as hundreds of people lined the streets with American flags to honor their hometown hero. On Friday, August 6, 2021, a memorilization ceremony was held in New Century, KS, by the Army Reserve Center and Aviation Support Center to once again honor the bravery and sacrifice of Chief Nichols. I have been told that Bryan knew his life's purpose was to become a soldier, a calling he pursued to defend our freedom. He took his oath of enlistment in 1996, swearing to protect our country from enemies foreign and domestic. After 9/11, he answered our country's call to defend our homeland, serving on multiple tours abroad, including in Iraq. As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the way Americans like Bryan dedicated themselves to their country following the attacks continues to move and inspire me. After graduating flight school in 2008, he was assigned as a pilot to the Army Reserve's 7th Battalion of the 158th Aviation Regiment in New Century, KS. He deployed in May 2011 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as a CH-47 Chinook pilot. On August 6, 2011, he gave his life for his country alongside 29 of his brothers in arms when his helicopter was shot down by enemy fire. It remains the single deadliest loss of U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan. The ultimate sacrifice he made a decade ago is a painful reminder that freedom is not free. And that it is the solemn duty of our Nation to make certain his sacrifice--and those of all American heroes--are never forgotten. On Friday, that duty was fulfilled in a particularly special way with the Memorialization Ceremony remembering Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nichols as a fallen hero and beloved member of this community. As Kansans so naturally do, we have also seen the Hays community continue to keep his legacy at the forefront of our minds, from creating the annual Memorial Ride in his honor to dedicating the new flag pole outside Thomas More Prep-Marian High School in his name. Shortly after his passing, I was also pleased to support efforts to designate the junction of I-70 and US 183 as the ``CW2 Bryan J. Nichols fallen veterans memorial interchange.'' This designation serves as a reminder to all those who drive by of the heroes who have safeguarded our opportunity to live in the strongest, freest, and greatest Nation in the world. While Bryan was an American hero to all of us, he was also a son, brother, husband, and dad to those who loved him most. Military service is family service, and I want to recognize his family's sacrifice to this country as well. Thank you. Our nation is forever indebted to Bryan for his service. May God bless our servicemembers and their loved ones.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I want to congratulate and pay tribute to Mildred Schindler Janzen, a World War II survivor and author of the memoir, ``Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin.'' Mildred was born in Great Bend, KS, in 1929 to German parents. Shortly after her birth, her family returned to Germany to take care of the family farm. Growing up in Nazi Germany, World War II completely disrupted Mildred's childhood and her family's life. Mildred and her family were driven away from their home, separated from each other, and forced to become refugees in their own country. As a teenager, Mildred and her family were captured by Russian soldiers, and eventually, her father was led away to never be seen again. After returning to their family farm, she and her mother and brother were displaced once again by Polish soldiers. Mildred experienced the horrors of World War II and her courage in sharing her story should be commended. After the war and with the help of her American birth certificate, Mildred was able to return to the United States to live with relatives. Back in the United States, Mildred came back to Kansas, to her birthplace. She settled in Ellsworth, KS, where she attended high school, learned English, and worked at a local bank. During her time in high school, Mildred met and married Leon Janzen, and they had four children together: Karen, Kenton, Susan, and Galen. After sharing her story with many others, Mildred decided to write a memoir. It is her hope that releasing this memoir will help prevent history from repeating itself. Mildred's bravery and resilience is a testament to her strong character. Her choice to rise above past hardships and instead focus on a life filled with happiness, persistence, and love is a prime example of the enduring survivor that Mildred is. Today, Mildred spends her time gardening, baking, being active within her church and being with family. She embodies a true Kansan: determined, hard-working, and committed to her community. Mildred, I congratulate you on the release of your memoir and thank you for demonstrating to Kansans and the world your outstanding courage and character. Thank you for telling your story.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I want to pay tribute to our colleague Mike Enzi and express my condolences to his family and pay my respects to him. Senator Enzi's long career in public service began when he was elected as mayor of his hometown of Gillette, WY, in 1974. I can just see Mike Enzi--a younger Mike Enzi--being the mayor of a place like Gillette, WY, and it brings a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart. And I can imagine how hard he worked to see that only good things happened to the citizens of his hometown. He then went on to serve in the Wyoming House of Representatives and the Wyoming Senate, before being elected to four terms in the U.S. Senate, beginning in 1996. Prior to being elected to office, Senator Enzi served in the Wyoming Air National Guard. In Congress, Senator Enzi never wavered in his deeply held values and his beliefs, and yet he was always held by all of us in high esteem, by all of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. He had the ability for bringing a consensus, to bring us together, and that remained true even as this body became increasingly polarized. In his farewell speech to the Senate, Senator Enzi--unfortunately, just a few months ago, Senator Enzi spoke about his 80-20 rule. It is a rule that those of us who work with him knew well: the rule which emphasized focusing on the 80 percent of issues we agree on versus the 20 percent of issues where we disagree. It allowed Senator Enzi to work with Senators across the political spectrum on legislation that he cared so much about. Senator Enzi carried himself in a quiet and serious demeanor. He was interested above all in achieving good policy outcomes for the people of Wyoming and the people of our Nation. His leadership has been missed in this Chamber this year, but his legacy as a statesman and his impact on the State of Wyoming will live on forever. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this time, including his wife Diana, their daughters Amy and Emily, and son Brad and his grandchildren. Senator Enzi, may you rest in peace, and please know that your time in the U.S. Senate and your time living on this Earth was well spent, a role model for the rest of us. Thank you. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I have the privilege of representing Kansas in the U.S. Senate and Kansans and especially the opportunity, the privilege of representing farmers and ranchers. It is a huge component of our State's economy and a significant way that we live our lives. Agriculture has molded the nature of our State generation to generation. In agriculture, farming and ranching is one of the few remaining professions where sons and daughters still can work alongside moms and dads. They can work alongside their grandparents. I still remember a video that a farmer proudly showed me of him and three generations of his family, so four total--him and three other generations--cutting wheat in Kansas one July summer and how proud he was to look out and see that his son was in one combine, he was in another, his father in another, his grandfather in another. Family farming and ranching is not just important for food production. We are productive in that family farm setting. It is not just important for food production for our country and for the rest of the world, but it also is important for us in preserving our values and principles which are passed down from generation to generation. The love of life, respect for others, the joy of earning a living, the idea that what you do every day has a consequence in feeding the world--those characteristics of Kansas farmers need to be around for the country not only today but into the future. But unfortunately, the tax-and-spend spree, the Democrats' tax proposal, is a direct assault on multigenerational farms and ranches in Kansas and across the country. These proposals threaten the ability of producers to be able to pass on their operations to that next generation. I have watched farmers talk to their kids about where the future lies for them, and sometimes it is positive in the sense that there is hope for a bright future, and at other times, in difficult days in agriculture, it is the worry about whether or not the next generation can afford to be on that farm. For the past century, this thing called stepped-up basis--so that the value of a piece of property for its inheritance tax purposes is valued at the date of the death of the person--the farmer in this case and rancher in this case. For this past century, stepped-up basis has been a cornerstone of our Tax Code, and it has protected family farms and ranches in their plan to transition to the next generation. Farm- and ranchland have tripled in value since the late nineties, so even a second generation, somebody currently just now coming to the farm because of the death of a parent, could be devastatingly impacted. For example, a 2,000-acre farm purchased in the midnineties in Kansas by a first-generation producer--kind of a typical-size farm, particularly in western Kansas. Even with a modest capital gains exemption, the inheriting farmer, the son or daughter, could face a tax liability close to a fourth of the present-day value of the land. To keep the farm in operation to satisfy the tax liability, the son or daughter inheriting the farm would be faced with the difficult decision of either to sell a significant portion of the land that was farmed by their parents or take on even more debt in a business that is faced with increasingly tight margins. The damage would only get increasingly worse for family farms and ranches passed down through additional generations. If the proposed changes in stepped-up basis are implemented, the big farms will get bigger by purchasing land from the smaller operations unable to meet that tax liability. The consequences would certainly be felt by the small farmer and his or her family, who are forced to sell the land, but also throughout the entire rural community in which the farms are built around. We need those family farmers on land in Kansas producing food, fiber, and fuel for the well-being of our country and its economy, but we need them especially for the well-being of the community's future. In the absence of those family farmers and their kids, the family ranchers and their children, the ability to keep a grocery store, to have a farm store, to have an implement dealership, to support the local bank, to pay the taxes for the school--we lose those things when we lose family farmers. Our farmers and ranchers should not be forced to shoulder the Democratic trillion-dollar spending spree to expand social programs. Our Tax Code should work for American families, not against them, and especially for family farms and ranches that often lack the cash flow to make ends meet. I urge my colleagues, my Democratic colleagues, to reject imposing taxes, to changing the issue of stepped-up basis that is so valuable and viable for farmers' and ranchers' future, and it would endanger their ability to pass on land to the next generation of producers. It would be a bad thing for the farmers and ranchers and their families, it would be a bad thing for the community in which they live, and it would be a terrible thing for our Nation. I yield the floor.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I rise this evening to express my support for the Cuban people who have taken to the streets of their country to advocate for a government that can meet their basic needs of food, medicine, and political rights. The Cuban Government is attempting to deflect responsibility for the plight of its own people by blaming the United States of America. It is not our country that denies basic political freedoms to ordinary Cubans. The oppression is underscored by the fact that these are the first significant protests in Cuba in 25 years. The people of Cuba cannot be blamed for the actions of a Cuban Government that greets those who speak out for a different future with violent crackdowns. In response to the latest protests, the regime says it is ``prepared to do anything'' to protect the current system. Along with most all American people, I stand in solidarity with the demonstrating Cubans, and in a particular way, I seek to improve their lives by leading bipartisan legislation that would lift our country's 60-year-old trade embargo with Cuba. While this legislation would provide a new market for our own farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers, it also deprives the Cuban Government of its false talking point that the United States is somehow the cause of the misery of the Cuban people. After 60 years of communist rule, 11 million Cubans deserve better. They deserve freedom. They deserve dignity. They deserve hope. We have witnessed this intense desire in a powerful way this weekend. The courage of Cubans who are risking their livelihoods--and possibly their lives--does not go unnoticed. They stand alongside those in Hong Kong, in Minsk, and in Moscow who challenge governments that disregard inalienable rights. As demonstrations to enact change in Havana continue, I pray they be peaceful and effective at bringing about a brighter tomorrow for the citizens of Cuba.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President.

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, earlier this week--in fact, yesterday-- the Senate Democrats attempted an unprecedented power grab in the Senate that, in my view, clearly would have affected the sanctity of our elections and violated our Constitution. S. 1 was one of the most monstrous bills I have seen during my time in Congress, and it certainly didn't meet my standard of doing things that are constitutional. In doing so yesterday, the Senate Democrats underscored for me something I thought I knew well, and they reaffirmed it, and that is the importance of maintaining the legislative filibuster, the 60-vote threshold for legislation. I am sorry we went down the path of changing the rules for judges, then for the Supreme Court, and now, potentially, for legislation. Sixty votes is a good thing. Sixty votes allow--people say they want us to work together--60 votes require us to do that. In the absence of 60- vote rule, everything becomes political. In the absence of 60-vote rule, there is no certainty. A party in power, one that has the majority of the Senate, the President--the election changes, and there is a new majority, and then we change what we just passed 2 years before. There is nothing good for job creation and economic security. There is nothing good for families and trying to figure out what is next in their life when the law can change every time a new, a different party has the majority in the U.S. Senate and House or there is a new President. My view is that what happened yesterday was not by design. As a matter of fact, the vote, among others, was designed to fail in order to pressure Democratic Senators into altering the rules of the Senate and render this place a majority-run institution. Democrats achieved control--the voters gave them control of both Chambers of the Congress and the White House--and are convinced that they have a mandate to erode the governing norms of the Senate. By my count, the Senate stands at an evenly divided, 50-50, and the majority, by a slight number, Democrats have in the House of Representatives. Surely, this is hardly a mandate for a radically progressive agenda, much less changing the threshold for which minority rights are protected and bipartisan cooperation is promoted. Should the legislative filibuster meet its demise at the hands of this Senate because Democrats decide on a majority vote, that the rules that have been in place for decades should be changed overnight on a whim, the august U.S. Senate will be condemned to a partisan spectacle. The idea that everything should be decided by one vote means that everything here becomes political and that the American people become even more partisan. If every vote in the U.S. Senate--every outcome--is determined by one person, then politics become the passion of the American people by necessity. The 60-vote rule is designed to moderate both sides of a question, to bring us together, to pull us to the middle in something that is more acceptable to the American people than anything we might decide if we could decide it on our own, Republican or Democrat. It means that every citizen would feel the need to lobby us. The normal course of life becomes much more about politics. While politics is important to the country and while it is important for the American people to be engaged, they send us here to make decisions. That 60-vote rule allows us to make decisions that are more acceptable to them so they can spend their lives living their lives, not worrying about what, on any given day, the U.S. Senate might pass. I don't think the motivation by the Senate Democrats is what it may seem to some. The suggestion is that we can't seem to pass any legislation here. I read this week in the Wall Street Journal an editorial, an op-ed piece, by Mike Solon and Bill Greene, and this was a comment that stood out to me: The movement to end the filibuster is less about a Senate that doesn't work than it is about a socialist agenda that doesn't sell. The idea that everything is decided on the margin of one means that we become politics, that politics rules in this country. The freedoms and liberties that the American people enjoy every day because they can rely on not radical change but modest change--on improvements day by day, not improvements overnight--means that we have a different country. We certainly would have a different Senate, but a consequence of having a different Senate means America is not what it is today. Again, I say this in a way that would, I hope, remind my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: I stand ready to work on many issues on which we can bring ourselves together. I hope this week--tomorrow, today--that we learn there is an infrastructure agreement, a bipartisan agreement. This isn't a belief that I have the ability to dominate the agenda of the U.S. Senate or that one party should. It is a reminder that America is better when we work together and that eliminating the 60-vote rule, ending the filibuster, changes America for the worse. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. MORAN

Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I am on the floor this afternoon to discuss the issue of student athletes having greater control over their name, image, and likeness. Over the years, intercollegiate athletics have become a staple in American culture and higher education. No other country in the world has a sports college model that compares to ours, which affords thousands of young adults each year the opportunity to leverage their athletic ability into a quality education and continue playing the sport they love. But over the years, college athletics have grown into an increasingly profitable, billion-dollar industry, and the rules surrounding athlete compensation have not kept pace. Now, individual States have created laws that will guarantee an amateur athlete the ability to profit off their name, image, and likeness without fear of being reprimanded. Again, I highlight that individual States have made those decisions and are creating laws. Nineteen States have now passed NIL legislation, and of those 19, 6 will go into effect in less a month--July 1, just, really, a few days away. As more and more States continue to pass their own legislation, we are quickly headed for a system of inconsistent State laws that will be cumbersome and in some cases unworkable for athletes and the schools to navigate. Intercollegiate athletics are an inherently interstate matter. Our model makes certain the best teams and the best athletes compete against one another no matter their geographic location. This requires a single Federal standard that all schools and all athletes can operate under. College sports and the opportunities they provide student athletes will be dramatically harmed if we are unable to pass a Federal standard. Each year, we will have States introducing or updating their NIL laws in order to gain just a bit more of an advantage in attracting athletes to their institutions. We have already seen this begin to play out. Following California's passage of the first State NIL law in September 2019, there has been a rush of action by 18 other States to quickly follow suit, hoping to remain competitive as athletic departments recruit athletes to their States' schools. The floodgates will fully open on July 1--only 16 days away--when State NIL laws begin to take effect. The time to act is now. There is a compromise to be found to both empowering amateur athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness and guaranteeing greater protections, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of our one-of-a-kind collegiate model that has provided millions of people the opportunity to get a quality education. We can accomplish both of these goals and provide college athletics with the certainty that it needs. In February, I introduced the Amateur Athletes Protection and Compensation Act--my proposal to accomplish this necessary balance. My legislation would create a single set of guidelines that would enable amateur athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness by prohibiting conferences, schools, and athletic associations, like the NCAA, from rendering an amateur intercollegiate athlete ineligible on the basis of receiving that NIL compensation. It would also codify serious athlete protections like extended healthcare coverage for athletic injuries or illness and scholarship guarantees. I understand this legislation is not perfect in everyone's eyes. It is not perfect in its current form, but it offers not only the quickest but the best path towards enacting meaningful Federal legislation on issues of amateur athletic name, image, and likeness. When I say it may not be perfect, there are certainly things that we can negotiate to improve, and it is not the extreme on either side of this issue, but it is something that a broad set of Senators, Members of the House, and a President could come behind and certainly is perhaps the only piece of legislation that has a chance of being enacted anytime soon. I recognize there are many ideas on what should and should not be included in an NIL bill, and I welcome those conversations with my colleagues. I strongly encourage the U.S. Senate, the Commerce Committee, and my colleagues on that committee to act quickly on this urgent matter and join us in this legislation to make progress on this important issue. The time is short, but if we work together, we can accomplish a goal that is needed in this country and accomplish it by the time that it is needed to occur. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.