Marco Rubio

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I recognize Lindsey Bigelow, the Marion County Teacher of the Year from Ocala Springs Elementary School in Ocala, FL. Lindsey brightens her students' lives and begins each school day with a warm greeting. Her colleagues describe her as a triple threat style teacher. She brings creativity, student engagement, and classroom management, which shows how committed she is to the success of her students. She views her job as not being their teacher for 1 school year but for their education careers, and they are her inspiration to continue teaching. Lindsey teaches first grade English language arts at Ocala Springs Elementary School with 10 years of teaching experience in Marion County Public Schools. She attended Maplewood Elementary School, Osceola Middle School, and graduated from Forest High School. Lindsey earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Florida. I extend my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Lindsey for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Jeannie Mitchell Baumgardner, the Gulf County Teacher of the Year from Wewahitchka Elementary School in Wewahitchka, FL. Jeannie believes each of her students brings positive impacts amongst each other and plays an important role in ensuring they are successful. She values each day as a new opportunity to prepare her students for the challenges they will face throughout their lives. Jeannie enthusiastically begins her classes with activities that are meant to make learning fun and leaves a lasting impression on her students. She finds teaching a fulfilling job, allowing her to impart the lessons she has learned to the next generation of leaders. Jeannie has been an elementary school teacher since 2018 and teaches third grade at Wewahitchka Elementary School. She is a graduate of Florida State University. I convey my profound appreciation and extend my best wishes to Jeannie for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Lori Blue, the Taylor County Teacher of the Year from Taylor County High School in Perry, FL. Lori pours her heart out for her students each day in her classroom. She helps her students and makes her school a better place to learn and work. Lori's passion for her community and school shows in everything she does on campus. She begins each school day with a desire to impart wisdom to her students and to prepare them for success. As Lori enjoys reading, she works to show her students how important this fundamental skill is. Lori teaches English II honors and senior reading at Taylor County High School and is a National Honor Society sponsor. She previously taught kindergarten, first, second, fourth, fifth, and ninth grades. Lori graduated from North Florida Junior College and Florida State University with a bachelor of science in elementary education. I extend my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Lori for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Pierre LeVelle Lewis, the Gadsden County Teacher of the Year from Gadsden County High School in Gadsden, FL. Pierre began his teaching career 5 years ago in Gadsden County schools. He is a social science teacher. During the 2021-2022 school year, Pierre's students earned a 96 percent passing rate on the U.S. history exam, one of the highest in the State. His students enjoy his teaching style, and he continually works to get the most out of them. Pierre sets out each day to develop lesson plans to make learning enjoyable for his students and to keep an open mind when going through his class. His peers have seen firsthand his devotion to committing countless hours to developing a curriculum that ensures the success of his students. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Pierre for his tireless commitment to his students. I look forward to hearing about his continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Randi Lundgren, the Leon County Teacher of the Year from Amos P. Godby High School in Tallahassee, FL. Through adaptative teaching lesson plans, Randi gives her students assignments that allow them to show her all about them through arts and crafts paper projects. She teaches them that mistakes are nothing to be upset over and that they can grow from them. Randi considers these types of projects to not only better her students, but also help make her a better teacher. Randi began teaching at Amos P. Godby High School in 2008. She is the yearbook adviser, acting and technical theatre teacher, fine arts department chair, and the director of theatrical arts. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in English and theatre arts. I extend my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Randi for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Bobbi Crafton Pinkard, the Madison County Teacher of the Year from Pinetta Elementary School in Pinetta, FL. Bobbi is passionate about teaching and making it as fun as possible for students. She often spends hours looking at books for students to read and enjoy, as she wants them to find joy in reading and writing. She hopes her teachings will help her students succeed in their lives after high school and hopes to make a significant impact on their lives and their educational careers. Bobbi is a kindergarten teacher at Pinetta Elementary School. She graduated from North Florida Community College with her associates in arts degree, followed by her bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of West Florida. She loves teaching as it allows her to give back to her community. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Bobbi for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Adrianna Swearingen, the Bay County Teacher of the Year from Northside Elementary School in Panama City, FL. Adrianna believes education can be found anywhere and dedicates her time and talents to ensuring her students excel. She wants them to enjoy learning and come to class excited. Adrianna hopes she has significantly impacted the lives of her students and their educational careers. She credits the positive influences she has received in her life for receiving this award. Adrianna is a media specialist at Northside Elementary School. She is determined to ensure her students learn valuable lessons and believes teaching is her purpose to help them. I extend my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Adrianna for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Cassie Vickers, the Liberty County Teacher of the Year from Hosford Elementary and Junior High School in Hosford, FL. Cassie hopes to make lasting impacts on the lives of her students. Each day they are in school, she works with them to ensure they excel to be successful in her classroom and prepare them for challenges later in life. Cassie wants her students to continue to work hard and be passionate about learning. She credits those who worked with her to prepare her to be a teacher. This made her want to instill in her students the same guidance she received around their age. Cassie teaches English/language arts at Hosford Elementary and Junior High School. She graduated from James S. Rickards High School in Tallahassee and studied at Florida State University. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Cassie for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Tanya Sue Wiggans, the Jackson County Teacher of the Year from Hope School in Marianna, FL. Tanya instills in her students that hard work is key to success in school and later in life. She spends each day working to ensure her students excel in not only her classes but in others during their educational career. Tanya is an exceptional student educational teacher at Hope School. Prior to working at Hope School, she taught at Golson Elementary School. She studied at Florida State University. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Tanya for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Lesley Anne Jamison, the Wakulla County Teacher of the Year from Riversprings Middle School in Wakulla, FL. Lesley's teaching inspiration comes from her belief that education opens every door of opportunity. School is where her students learn to dream big and know that anything is within their reach if they lean on their education and nurture a desire to learn something new every day. Lesley views educators as those who hand students keys to open the doors for possibility. They challenge and encourage students to explore every opportunity life offers. She considers it a privilege to enrich a young person's life and be a voice of encouragement that makes them stop saying they ``cannot'' and begin saying they ``will.'' Lesley is in her second year as an instructional coach at Riversprings Middle School and has taught for 11 years. Previously, Lesley was Riversprings Middle School's 2018-2019 Teacher of Year and was a Kagan coach and teacher coach. She also coached athletics, including baseball, soccer, track and field, and soccer, as well as cheerleading. She is a district collaboration team facilitator and is the Florida Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking Standards Math/ English Language Arts liaison. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Lesley for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Ashley Bangert, the Indian River County Teacher of the Year, from Sebastian Elementary School of the Arts in Sebastian, FL. Ashley works closely with each of her students as she is committed to supporting their academic growth. She knows building a relationship with each child is imperative in nurturing them to be successful. Ashley also works with her fellow educators in connecting with students and their parents. This helps ensure that lessons taught in her classroom are also applied at a student's home. Ashley is in her 17th year as an educator and is a member of her school's PTA board. She began teaching fourth grade in 2005 before becoming a fifth grade teacher and a Title-1 Reading Interventionist. She is in her second year as the math instructional coach at Sebastian Elementary School of the Arts. I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to Ashley for her dedication to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Lindsay Beam, the Calhoun County Teacher of the Year, from Blountstown High School in Blountstown, FL. Lindsay records her classroom lessons so her students can listen to them at home while doing their homework. She does this in the event one may be struggling with a topic. During the COVID pandemic, Lindsay would go to a student's home to help with a lesson and gives one-on-one tutoring during her free time. She wants her students to know she is always there for them and does her best for their success. Lindsay currently teaches grades sixth and eighth grade mathematics at Blountstown High School. She graduated from Chipola College in 2008, earning her associate of arts degree in general education. She began her career in Calhoun County, teaching first grade at Blountstown Elementary School in 2010. Two years later, Lindsay moved to fifth grade, teaching reading, language arts, and social studies. She then moved to Blountstown Middle School as a sixth-grade math teacher and added eighth grade pre-algebra. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Lindsay for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Tara Klink, the Franklin County Teacher of the Year, from Franklin County School in Eastpoint, FL. Teaching was different from Tara's original career plan. She initially wanted to be a biologist, but coaching volleyball at Franklin County High School made her want to be involved with students. She felt she was making more of an impact on the lives of others and decided to change careers. Tara finds teaching to be a fulfilling job and allows her to serve her community. She has worked with students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science. At the high school level, she taught marine science, biology, environmental science, and math for college readiness. She is currently in her 9th year of teaching and teaches forensic science. Tara graduated as valedictorian at Apalachicola High School in 2006. She earned her bachelor's degree in environmental science from the University of West Florida in 2011. She worked 5 years for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Since becoming a teacher, she has sat on the homecoming and graduation committees and is president of the Franklin County Teachers Association. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Tara for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued success as she enters working in school administration and completes her master's degree in educational leadership from the University of West Florida.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Joselyn Leon, the Palm Beach County Teacher of the Year, from Belle Glade Elementary School in Belle Glade, FL. Joselyn's students serve as her biggest inspiration. She believes she is making a positive impact in the world through her work with them. She is known for her in-depth planner that details each activity. Joselyn knew she wanted to be a teacher because of her passion for working with kids. She prayed for guidance in her career and found teaching to be the answer. While teaching is her official job, Joselyn does not consider it a job because she loves what she does. Joselyn became a fifth-grade teacher at Belle Glade Elementary School because she wanted to give back to her community. In 2017, she joined the School District of Palm Beach County and, shortly after, was named the school's Beginning Teacher of the Year. I convey my sincere gratitude and best wishes to Jocelyn for her devotion to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Richard LoSardo, the Martin County Teacher of the Year, from Martin County High School in Stuart, FL. Richie's colleagues believe he encapsulates what it means to be a Martin County High School Tiger. He is a dedicated and passionate educator committed to seeing his students and colleagues succeed. He leads various professional learning sessions and shares engagement strategies with others with a high level of success. Throughout Richie's career in teaching, he has taken on various Advancement Placement and Advanced International Certificate of Education Programs that furthered his learning and pushed him professionally. This earned his students' appreciation as they saw Richie continue to further his education after he graduated from Martin County High School. Richie is the school's debate coach, leading the program and traveling with students nationwide for championship competitions. He earned recognition from the National Speech and Debate Association as a Diamond Coach. He also has taken on leadership roles and officer positions in the debate community while hosting tournaments at Martin County High School. I am grateful for Richie's commitment to his students and work across the Martin County community. I look forward to learning more about his good work in the classroom in the years ahead.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Kasey McKane-Brown, the Okeechobee County Teacher of the Year, from Okeechobee Freshman Campus in Okeechobee, FL. Kasey wanted to be an educator since she was a little girl and values each day that she can impact the lives of her students. Kasey believes this award belongs not only to her, but also to her colleagues who have supported her over the years. She views her teaching as a work of heart because she gives a piece of her heart to her students' education process each day. Kasey is a biology teacher at Okeechobee Freshman Campus. Kasey's students note she is smart and funny in the classroom and is always willing to help them in any way she can. They value her work ethic, efforts to build a strong bond with them, and appreciate how she takes an interest in them individually. I offer my sincere thanks and best wishes to Kasey for her devotion to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Anna Babcock, the St. Lucie County Teacher of the Year, from Fairlawn Elementary Magnet School in Fort Pierce, FL. Anna treats each day as if she is teaching future businessowners, employers, and politicians. She works to leave a lasting impact on their lives, which often causes her to remember those who helped her become the teacher she is today. Anna credits receiving this honor to the many women who positively influenced her. She hopes her successful teaching career reflects on those who dedicated much time and effort in making her an educator and a parent. Anna is a third generation Fort Pierce local who has taught in St. Lucie County for the past 15 years. She teaches gifted students and focuses on lesson plans that detail contributions made by women to our Nation. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Anna for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Carrie Wahlquist, the Jefferson County Teacher of the Year, from Jefferson County K-12 School in Monticello, FL. Since she was a child, Carrie knew she wanted to work with children. While in high school, she volunteered at a preschool and knew she was destined to become a teacher. Her favorite part of teaching young students is being their first teacher and watching them grow. Carrie hopes her students find a love of learning in her classroom, leading them to develop confidence in their abilities and skills as readers and writers. She knows it may be challenging for them, which requires much patience to help them succeed. Carrie earned her associate in arts degree from Tallahassee Community College and her bachelor's in elementary education from Flagler College. She began her teaching career at Jefferson Elementary in 2012 for 2 years before moving away to Massachusetts. She and her husband returned to North Florida in the Summer of 2022, where she teaches kindergarten. I offer my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Carrie for her commitment to her students. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, there are just a couple of points I want to address. I have been watching in the office; I am not here to make a motion or anything, but this is an important topic. We don't do this enough, which is this back-and-forth, so I will be brief. The first is, this is not a First Amendment issue, because we are not trying to ban ``booty'' videos. I don't know if there is a better term for it, but that is not what we are trying to ban. It is not about the content of the videos that are online, it is about the dangers to the national security that are presented by the way that this company functions. And that is what people don't understand and what we owe people an explanation on. The reason why TikTok--and all the social media companies, for that matter--are addictive is two. They collect a tremendous amount of data on the individual user, not just what you are doing but what you are doing across the platform, your pictures, everything. They want to learn from it, but not just because some guy is sitting and reading all this stuff. They feed it into an algorithm that is powered by artificial intelligence. It knows you better than you know yourself. That is why the more you use it, the more attractive the videos become to you, because they know exactly how your mind works better than you know how your mind works--at least the algorithm does. So who owns the algorithm? The algorithm is owned by a company named ByteDance that is in China. Now, listen, I don't care who owns ByteDance. I don't care if it is owned 100 percent by Americans. ByteDance operates out of China. And this is what we need to understand: There are no such things as private companies in China; they do not exist. Under Chinese law, their national security law, their national intelligence law, every company in China has to do whatever the Communist Party tells them. So if the Communist Party goes to ByteDance and says: We want you to use that algorithm to push these videos on Americans to convince them of whatever, they have to do it. They don't have an option. They may not want to do it. But ask Jack Ma what happens, no matter how rich you are, when you don't want to do what the Communist Party tells you to do. You move to Singapore for a year and disappear. That is what happens. OK, so all these people have to respond, and ByteDance has to answer to whatever they are told. Now this thing about Oracle and the cloud, it sounds really good, but here's the problem with it: It doesn't matter where you store the data. You could store the data in my backyard in a locked safe. No matter what, for TikTok to work, you have to give the engineers in China access to it because they control the algorithm. So it honestly doesn't matter where the data is stored. They still have to open it up for the engineers at ByteDance in China to look at it or the algorithm doesn't work; and without the algorithm, there is no TikTok. You can't buy the algorithm. Do you know why you can't buy the algorithm? Because in 2020, the Chinese Government imposed a law that says it is illegal. You cannot transfer the algorithm out of China. What made me chuckle last week is when there was this talk of a forced sale, the Chinese Government says: We will block it. And I am like, how can the Chinese Government block the sale of a company they don't control? How can the Chinese Government block the sale of a company that is not theirs? The answer is, because under Chinese law, ByteDance cannot do anything that they are not allowed to do, and that algorithm can be used against us. The other one is we will just sell TikTok. Again, TikTok is the name of this platform in the United States. I heard an argument made that there is no TikTok in China. There is an equivalent to TikTok in China; it is just not called TikTok. TikTok U.S. is what they call it abroad, but there is an equivalent that uses the same AI formula and the like. The difference is that the videos they allow over there are ones that don't encourage you to choke yourself to death or drink poison or things of that nature. But, look, it is not about the content. All of these social media companies--there is a difference, though. I am not a fan of Facebook and how they handle things. I am not a fan of any of these social media companies. But the difference is, whatever they do wrong, they do because they want to do it. If the U.S. Government goes tomorrow to Facebook and says: We want you to do X, they will probably say no. They wouldn't need to listen to us under a law. You can subpoena them for records through a process that involves courts, but none of that exists in China. And that is the point that is being missed here. So last point I want to address: No evidence that they are doing anything now. You go on the video, you can search this and you can search that, absolutely. Because they understand that they want to grow their market share. But I would make the same argument about the weapons. China has hypersonic missiles. There is no evidence they are firing them at us today, but why do they have them? The Soviet Union--and now Russia--has intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads on them. They never fired them on us. And yet we spend a lot of money making sure they don't and trying to shoot them down if they do. Every threat is theoretical until the moment it happens. The truth of the matter is this: There is this powerful amount of data, a powerful algorithm entirely controlled at any time they want by the Chinese Government operating in our country, and there is no other way to handle this--not the sale of the company, not the storage of the data. If there was a lesser way to deal with this, I would be for it. But there isn't. And that is why since 2019, I have been calling for this to be banned. There is no other way to get control of this. The dangers it poses to the country are real. I think before we ban a company that 150 million Americans use, we owe them a better explanation than: Just trust us; it is bad. I agree with that. And we should be doing more of it. But be under no illusion--this is a weapon. And I will close with this: Think about all the people here that were freaking out because Russia was using bots to influence voters in America on Twitter, Facebook, what have you. Imagine if Russia owned Facebook or Twitter. Imagine if there was a law and now it owned them but told them: You must use it this way. Because that is what we are facing. That is what we have on our hands here. And not to mention the millions of small businesses in America that have grown because of TikTok. They will be hostages in the future to a Chinese Government that can destroy their business at a moment's notice unless they can convince their elected officials that America shouldn't defend Taiwan or that America shouldn't be tough on trade. However they want to weaponize it, the risk is real. I don't waste my time going after social media platforms unless it is important. This is important. I hope we will talk more about it. It deserves the attention that it is starting to get. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, back in 2019, I believe April of 2019, if not the first, I must have been one of the first people to call for the company TikTok to be banned in the United States. So it has been a while now; it is not something I just came up with the other day. But I do think that is a pretty extraordinary thing, to ban a company, and so before I think we--for someone like me, who has argued for a national ban on a company like this, to take away something from over 100-and-something million Americans, many of whom I have heard from, many of whom I know personally--before we do something like that, I think people deserve an explanation as to why is it that we would want to do that. I don't think the answer can just be ``Trust us. It is bad for America.'' I think they do deserve an answer, and I think they do deserve a clear argument as to why it is in our national interest to do this and why it is the only option we have. First, I think it is important to understand how TikTok works. It is an ingenious app--no one argues about it--these short-form videos, and it always seems to show you what you want to see. The more you use it, the more it shows you the things you want to see. How does it do that? Well, it does it two ways. First of all, it scoops up an extraordinary amount of data--not just data on what you are watching, all kinds of data. CNBC actually talked about it. TikTok, you know, collects your content that you viewed, content you created, shared. Beyond that, it includes your contact list. It collects your name, your age, your user name, your emails, your messages, your photos, your videos, and other personal information. In fact, in 2021, TikTok changed its privacy policies. It can now even collect biometric data, like your faceprint--you know that thing you use when the phone unlocks?--and the voiceprint of its users. It is an extraordinary amount of data. But that is not the only thing it does--because I hear some people criticizing us and all they talk about is, well, everybody collects data. It is not just the data. What really makes TikTok so effective is that it has an algorithm that uses artificial intelligence to combine all of this data and your usage, and what that does is it basically-- that algorithm, it knows you better than you know yourself. It knows the videos you are going to like before you even know you are going to like them, and it is an extraordinary power behind this. It is what they call a recommender engine. We are going to call it an algorithm. It is a predictor. Now, people would say: Well, what is the big deal? All social media app companies do that, not just them. I mean, Netflix does it to recommend movies you might want to watch, and Spotify does it to recommend music. Clearly, Instagram and Facebook and Snap and Twitter-- all of them have an algorithm, and all of them collect data. So what is the big deal? What they are doing is no different than anything else. Here is the difference. The difference is, of all these companies I just mentioned to you, the only one that has a parent company that is a Chinese company that owns it is ByteDance. And it is not just that there is a Chinese company; they own and they operate the heart and soul of TikTok, the recommender engine, the algorithm. That belongs to ByteDance. In order for this to work, in order for TikTok to work, ByteDance has to have access to the data of Americans. They have to. Now, here is where people will say to you: Well, so what if it is a Chinese company? It doesn't all have to be American companies. Actually, the CEO of TikTok was here last week, and he said: You know, ByteDance--I am trying to paraphrase it, but I wrote it--is not owned or controlled by the Chinese Government. They are a private company that is owned by outside investors that include Americans. Well, this is disingenuous. It is not true. And let me tell you why it is not true. First of all, there is no such thing as a private company in China-- not in the way we think of a private company. Let me explain why. In China, No. 1, they have a law called the national intelligence law, and the national intelligence law of China requires--doesn't ask for; doesn't say: We can go to court and require you to do this. No, no. It automatically requires--the national intelligence law of China requires every single Chinese company--that includes ByteDance--to do whatever the Government of China tells them to do. China has another law. It is called the data security law. What that law says is that every tech company in China--like ByteDance, a tech company in China--they have to hand over to the government whatever user information--whatever information they want. They have to do it by law. That is a big difference between them and these other companies. So the bottom line is this when it comes to those who argue that it is not a company controlled by the Chinese Government--I read the other day that China says they are going to block any forced sale of TikTok. Well, how could China block the forced sale of TikTok if they don't control TikTok? The reason they can block it is because they control-- the government, through these laws--they control the company that controls the algorithm that drives TikTok. It is controlled by ByteDance. Under Chinese law, if the Government of China tells ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to use the algorithm a certain way, they have to do it. It doesn't matter who the shareholders--it doesn't matter if 100 percent of the shareholders of ByteDance are Americans. If they are located in China and the Chinese Government tells them: We want you to use the algorithm and the data you have access to in a certain way, they have no choice but to do it. That is not just true for ByteDance; that is true for every company in China. So a lot of people say: OK. Well, then, the solution is this: Let's just store all the American data here in America. Let's just put it all in a server located in the United States, and that will do the trick. No, it won't, and here is why. Even if you stored all of the data that TikTok has on Americans--over a hundred-something million users-- even if you stored all of it, ByteDance in China still has to be given access to that data. You may have it stored in America, but you have to give access to ByteDance. Do you know why? Because the algorithm that TikTok depends on doesn't work without the data. ByteDance has to have access. That is almost like putting your life savings in a safe but then giving the thief the combination. Who cares that it is in the safe? Who cares where the safe is? If the thief has the combination, they can get into the safe. So it doesn't matter where you store the data; if ByteDance owns the algorithm, they have to have access to the data, and if they have access to the data, the Chinese Government has access to the data whenever they want. The latest iteration is, well, what we should do is we should force TikTok to be sold. Sold to whom? TikTok is worthless--worthless-- without the algorithm. So even if TikTok, as we know the company, is bought by Americans, they still need the algorithm that ByteDance owns, and you can't buy the algorithm from ByteDance even if they wanted to sell it to you. Do you know why? Do you know why ByteDance can never sell you the algorithm, the recommender engine that powers TikTok? Because the Chinese Government in 2020 imposed a law that prohibits it. The Chinese Government specifically imposed a law in 2020 that says you cannot transfer the algorithm outside of China. So selling it is not going to make a difference because no matter who buys it, TikTok is worthless. It won't work without the algorithm. The algorithm belongs to ByteDance, ByteDance is in China, and they have to do whatever the Chinese Government tells them to do. This is where people have said to me: Well, who cares? Who cares if the Chinese Government controls the algorithm and has access to the data? They want me to explain how an app that features funny videos and the latest dance fad--how that is possibly a national security threat. So let me walk you through a very realistic hypothetical. Let's suppose for a moment that China decides they are going to invade Taiwan in 2027 or 2028, and the key to a successful invasion or taking of Taiwan is to prevent the United States of America from getting involved, and the key to keeping the United States from getting involved is to convince the American people that we shouldn't get involved because they know we are a democracy. They know that public opinion matters in America. Knowing all this, the Chinese Government goes to ByteDance, who, by law, has to do whatever they are told, and the Chinese Government says to ByteDance: We want you to align your algorithm to shape American public opinion on Taiwan. They won't do this overnight; they will spend a couple years laying this out. We want you to align your algorithm to make sure that people in America are seeing messages that convince them that America should not get involved, and not only that, we want you to use the data to target specific American audiences with specific messages. For example, some Americans might see a bunch of videos that allege to show people in Taiwan--probably fake but nonetheless people in Taiwan supporting a Chinese takeover. Maybe family members--remember, they have all this data on us. Family members of military members would see videos about how thousands of Americans will die if the United States gets involved. Others might see videos of Americans--or who they think are Americans--arguing: Why do we care about Taiwan? We should be focused on our problems here at home. When we notice that they are doing something about it--that is what people will say: Well, when that happens, then you deal with it. Well, once you notice that they are actually doing it and we try to do something about it, do you know what comes next? Here is what comes next--what is already happening now. You are going to have a bunch of small businesses in America that depend on marketing on TikTok. And let me tell you something. I don't diminish that. It is true. I know people who have built up their businesses, and they use TikTok for marketing, and it works. It is better than the other apps for that. But just imagine when we go to them and say: Guys, we have to shut TikTok down now because now it is real. Now they are using it against us. Those people are going to come up and say: You are going to destroy my business. In fact, China will probably threaten those people. China will probably make it very clear: The U.S. gets involved, we are going to knock all the Americans off of TikTok. Down goes your business. Those people will suddenly be asking their elected official here not to get involved in Taiwan. Do you know where we find ourselves then? Paralyzed. A country that is paralyzed, that cannot act in its own national security interests because we have allowed an adversary to basically use an app that they control and the data that they control to shape public opinion in America over an extended period of time, and we can't do anything about it. Now, here is where some people will say: Well, that is a violation of the First Amendment--free country. I agree. You have a right to speak. I don't agree that it is a violation of the First Amendment; I agree that you have a right to speak and say anything you want in America. This is not about the content of the video. What this is about is the existence of a company that is related to an important government interest. What is that government interest? It is not just a substantial government interest; it is the most important government interest that we have--the national security of our country. And preventing our country from being paralyzed from acting in its national security interest is the most compelling and important government interest one can imagine. Now, people say: Well, this is all hypothetical. There is no evidence the Chinese Government is doing any of this. Well, let me first start by saying that every threat to our national security begins as theoretical before it becomes reality. For example, China is building hypersonic missiles designed to sink our ships. They are not firing them at our ships today. They are not sinking our ships. They are not even threatening to sink our ships openly. Yet, somehow, everybody around here agrees that we have got to do something about the hypersonics. But they are not doing it now. It is theoretical, right? Russia has never launched nuclear missiles against the United States, but we spend a lot of money every year on NORAD, on monitoring our skies, on making sure that we aren't being attacked. It is a theoretical threat, but one we have taken seriously for 70 years. Second, what is so theoretical about using propaganda during a time of war? There is nothing theoretical about propaganda during war and conflict. In fact, propaganda has been a weapon that has been used in virtually every conflict for centuries to demoralize and to divide your adversary. Third, this is not just theoretical. We have actually seen TikTok be used to drive messages and to undermine opponents. It was used to spread pro-Russian messages during the invasion of Ukraine. It has been used to suppress videos talking about Tiananmen Square and the genocide of Uighur Muslims in China. It is already being used to censor all kinds of--in fact, it was used. It was used to control content and limit content about our elections in this country in 2022. It goes more. I can go further than that. ByteDance has already been used. ByteDance China has already been used to collect data on specific reporters whose stories ByteDance didn't like. So they used it to track the locations of these reporters. Where are they? Who are they talking to? In fact, here in America-- here in America--TikTok was caught spying on American journalists who were writing stories that TikTok didn't like, and TikTok denied it: It is not true; it is a lie. And then they had to admit it. So now, it is: Oh, we fired the people who did this. And now they are under Justice Department investigation. But here is the point I would say about this whole theoretical thing. If God forbid--and I say ``God forbid,'' I really do, because no one wishes for armed conflict with anyone. There is nothing good about war. If, God forbid, we are ever in a war with China, China will use cyber attacks to try to take down our electric grid. China will use space weapons to try to destroy the satellites we have in space. China will use these missiles to sink our ships and kill Americans. China will do all these things, but somehow we think they are incapable of using a social media app with 150 to 200 million users. They would never use that against us. They will sink our ships, shoot down our satellites, shut down our grid, but they would never use an app that they control. Come on. Of course, they would. Look, there is a lot more to say on this topic, and this is one we should debate and talk about. This is a big deal. Don't take this lightly. But I will say this. You know, since 1991, America has been the sole superpower in the world. I would venture to guess that almost everyone who serves here did not serve in government at a time when America had a near-peer adversary, for the most part. So I think we, generally, as a nation--certainly, the government--have forgotten what it is like to live in a world in which there is another country and another government that has almost as much power as we do. But, after 30 years, that is where we are. That is where we stand right now. Whether we like it or not, we are in a near-peer competition and, in many ways, a conflict with China for global influence, for the direction of the world, with two very different views of the planet--with the Government of China, by the way, because I always hear people talk about this: We have no problem. The Chinese people are the No. 1 victims of the Chinese Communist Party on the planet. The No. 1 victims of the Chinese Communist Party are the Chinese people. But their government--it is very simple, guys. They want to be the world's most powerful country, and they want to do it at our expense. And the consequences of that is that the world's most powerful country will be a nation that puts Uighur Muslims in death camps; that is trying to destroy Tibetan culture; that had no problem massacring their own people in Tiananmen Square; that as we speak, right now, are arming the Russians to commit these atrocities in Ukraine; that don't believe any of the things we are debating about free speech and the like. We are in a competition, and we are in a conflict--hopefully, never an armed one, but, nonetheless, a conflict. And we have, operating in our country, an app--the fastest growing app--a social media app that has the most detailed personal data on over 100 million American users and growing, and they are turning over the power for, one day, for them to use it to divide us, to paralyze us, to confuse us, to turn us against each other. Think of the damage that Russia did by putting bots, fake accounts, on Twitter and buying ads on Facebook. Can you imagine if Russia actually owned Facebook or Twitter--not put ads, not put bots, but actually controlled those companies--the damage they would have done to this country? Now, imagine that with a country with an economy 50 times the size and with 100 times more capabilities, because that is what we are facing here. It is not a game, and we should take it seriously. If there is a way to deal with this that doesn't involve a ban or something drastic, I have always been open to that. But it doesn't exist because of the way this company is structured. And we had better take it seriously or one day, 20, 30 years from now, people will look back and say: You guys should have taken it seriously--and we failed to do so, and we paid the price for it. We should act on it as soon as possible. We should ban TikTok because it is bad for America. It harms our country, and it is a danger to our future. I yield the floor.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I recognize the Belen Jesuit Wolverines varsity basketball team, winners of the FHSAA Class 5A State Championship Title in Boys Basketball held in Lakeland, FL, on March 4, 2023. The Belen Jesuit Wolverines basketball team, led by Coach Gaston ``Chachi'' Rodriguez, finished their regular season with a 28-4 record. They claimed the school's first State championship in the sport. Considered underdogs with an undersized roster, Belen defeated Daytona Beach Mainland High School in the championship game with a final score of 49-30. Senior Javi Rosell's 22 points led the team, followed by sophomore Bryce Fitzgerald with 13 points, including 11 of 12 freethrows made. The championship game was tied after the first quarter, but Belen broke open with 13 steals and forced 23 turnovers from Mainland's team during the rest of the game. The Wolverines' 30 points allowed in the championship game were the fewest scored by an opponent over the past decade. I extend my best wishes to the entire Belen Jesuit family, Principal Roca, Coach Gaston Rodriguez, players Kevin Garcia, Joshue Perez, Ryan Cuellar, Javi Rosell, Bryce Fitzgerald, Alec Arnholt, Ej Gross, Carlos Santana, Alejandro Lopez, Max Klemick, Vincent Lima, Al Madrigal, Dillon Diaz, Nicolas Portuondo, and Ignacio Falla. I look forward to hearing of their continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I recognize the Mater Lakes Academy Bears varsity boys' basketball team, winners of the Class 4A State Final at the 2023 Boys Basketball State Tournament held in Lakeland, FL, on March 4, 2023. The Mater Lakes Academy Bears basketball team, led by Coach Dylan Estock, finished their regular season with a 28-3 record. The team won Mater Lakes its first basketball State championship since the school opened in 2006. Ten players scored in the championship game, led by their primary trio of senior Michael Bradley, who scored 21 points; junior Christian Reid, with 20 points and seven rebounds; and sophomore Anthony Knowles, with 13 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Mater Lakes took command of the game in the second quarter, growing their lead to 23 points before defeating the Villages Charter by a final score of 77-41. Their stifling defense forced their opponent, who came into the championship game averaging 64.5 points a game, to score only 41 points. I extend my best wishes to the entire Mater Lakes Academy family, Principal Rovirosa, Coach Dylan Estock, Assistant Coach Peterson Morency, players Michael Bradley, Khalil Volel, Gabriel Farjardo, Ian Pascall, Emerson Felicien, Rolph Blanc, Anthony Knowles, Nicholas Perez, Jet Walis, Christian Reid, Clarence Burts, and Desmond Mcintosh. I look forward to hearing of their continued success in the years to come.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, no issue dominates our attention more these days than our growing rivalry with China, and rightly so. It is a historic challenge. It is one that I think we waited way too long to recognize, and now we are scrambling to make up for that. But I think, in all the attention that is being paid to this, it is important that we remember or at least recognize that the core, the essential issue here is not China, per se, by itself; the core issue here is a decades-old, bipartisan consensus that is entrenched in our economics and our politics--a consensus that said that economic globalization would deliver, well, freedom and peace. It was almost a religious faith in the power of the free flow of people and money and goods across borders as the answer to virtually every problem that faced the world. That is how we built our politics. That is how we built our foreign policy. You know what, for about 50 years after World War II, it generally worked. The reason why it generally worked is because we didn't actually have a global market. If you look at the economy we were engaged in, if you look at the free trade and the like during that period of time, it was primarily a market made up of democratic allies, of countries that shared common values and common priorities for the future. Even when the outcomes during that time were not always in our benefit, even when maybe some industry left for a country in Europe or maybe during the time that Japan challenged us in some sectors from Asia, at least the beneficiary--even though it may have harmed us in the short term, the beneficiary of that outcome was not the Soviet bloc, the Soviet Union, or some geopolitical competitor; the beneficiary was another democracy and an ally in our confrontation with communism during that period of time. The point is, it generally worked during that time because, by and large, the interests of the global market and the interests of our country never got out of balance too far. Then the Cold War ended, and our leaders--and I say ``our leaders'' because this was really a bipartisan thing--our leaders became intoxicated with hubris. I remember the lexicon was, it is the end of history, and the world will now be flatter, and every country is now going to naturally become a free-enterprise democracy, and economic liberalization will always result in political freedom. You flood a country with capitalism, and that country will not just get rich, but they are going to turn into us or some version of one of our democratic allies. So, in pursuit of that historic gamble, which had no historic precedent, we entered into all kinds of trade deals and treaties and rules and regulations on an international scale, and we invited into that all kinds of countries that, by the way, were not democracies, did not share our values, and did not have the same long-term goals for the world as we do. Their long-term goals, in fact, were incompatible. Of all of the deals that were made, none has had greater impact than the decision that was made in the first year of this century: to admit China into the World Trade Organization. They opened up our economy to the most populous nation on Earth, controlled by a communist regime. They did it not because anybody argued that it would be good for American workers. Remember, they made the argument that eventually it would be, but they weren't arguing that this was going to help us in the short term and that this would be good for our industries. The central argument behind doing this with China is that we think capitalism will change them. They are going to eat Big Macs and drink Coca Cola. They are going to literally ingest democracy, and it will transform them. They argued that capitalism was going to change China. Now we stand here 23 years later and realize that capitalism didn't change China. China changed capitalism. They opened up their doors and said: Come on in. They attracted industries with cheap labor. They said: We have cheap labor and cheap workers, and it flooded. Millions of American jobs, important industries, and factories flooded into China, and they did it with the promise of luring American investors and American money, which poured into China--all of it with the promise that you could make a lot of money in this huge market very quickly, with huge rates of return, and, obviously, for the companies, lower labor costs and therefore more profits for them. We lost jobs and factories closed and towns were gutted, but the leaders at that time said: Don't worry. They are only taking the bad jobs. The jobs that have left are not the good jobs. These bad jobs are going to be replaced by good jobs--better jobs. Americans are going to be able to have those jobs. Those Chinese workers who took your jobs are going to get richer now, and with that money they start to make, they are going to do two things: They are going to start buying American products and they are going to demand democracy and freedom and they are going to change China. Well, I don't think I am going to spend a lot of time today explaining that that did not work out. That is not how it played out. China allowed our companies in, but do you know what they did? They forced every one of these companies to partner with a Chinese company-- a small one at the time. They forced you to partner with them, and they stole your trade secrets. So they invited them in and learned how to do whatever it was you did. When they no longer needed you, they kicked you out; their company took over. In many cases, they put the company that taught them how to do it or that they stole the secrets from out of business. That is what they did. They used it to build up their own economy, their own companies. The Chinese middle class also grew at a historic rate, but ours collapsed--an almost inverse effect. The numbers are stunning. If you look at the destruction of these American working-class jobs and the rise of the middle class in China, they happened at the same time and on almost the same scale. China did get rich--they most certainly got rich--but they didn't use that money to buy our products. They used that money to buy the products that are made in China. They didn't become a democracy either. What was once a poor Chinese Communist Party is now a rich Chinese Communist Party that has tightened its grip on the country and has actually started going around the world to try to export their authoritarian model. They literally go around telling countries: Democracy cannot solve problems. Our system is so much better at solving problems. We can move quicker. We don't have to have a townhall meeting before we do everything. We can have strategic 20-year plans. We can solve your problems. For developing countries around the world, it potentially has some appeal. The fact is that we are now confronted with the consequences of this historic and catastrophic mistake, and it is important to understand what some of these are. They will be familiar to you because we see them every day. They play out not just on the floor of the Senate, but they play out in our society and in our politics and on television. First, we are a nation that is bitterly divided. It is easy and lazy to say: Oh, we are divided as Republicans and Democrats or as liberals and conservatives. Frankly, the biggest divisions between Americans are not even ideological per se. They seem to be attitudinal, and, largely, they seem to be along the lines of an affluent class of people who work in jobs and careers and in industries and live in places that have benefited from this rearrangement of a global economy. They do jobs that pay well and that work in a system like this. It is divided against the millions of working people who are left behind by all of these changes and who live in places that are literally hollowed out-- once vibrant communities that have been gutted. By the way, remember when they would say, ``Don't worry. Those people will move somewhere else in the country for those new jobs''? They didn't move because people don't like to leave their communities; they don't like to leave their extended families; they don't like to leave all of the things that they have ever known that have supported them. It didn't work that way. It has left us a country that is addicted. We are addicted to cheap exports from China, and we are dependent on Chinese supply chains for everything--from food to medicine, to advanced technology. We just had a pandemic that reminded us of this. And what does that mean, these long supply chains being dependent on a geopolitical competitor. It means we are vulnerable--vulnerable to blackmail, vulnerable to coercion. Do you know what else it left us with? An economy that is highly concentrated and fragile. Our economy is primarily based today on two sectors. What is all the news about? Turn on the financial networks, and you will see what all of the discussion is about. They are primarily two sectors: finance, meaning people who take your money and invest it somewhere else. They don't make anything, but they invest your money. That is fine. It is a legitimate business. But it is finance and Big Tech. Those two industries that are now the pillar of our economy are controlled by just a small number of giant multinational corporations--the same ones that, by the way, outsource their jobs. These multinational corporations have more power than the government. In many cases, they have more power than the government, and they have no loyalty to our people or to our country. Their interest is not the national interest. They are multinationals. In fact, they are owned by shareholders and investment funds from all over the world. This idea that globalizing our economy would prevent a great power competition between nations was always a delusion. I think the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan and Ukraine can tell you that this idea that free trade always and automatically leads to peace isn't true either. None of us have ever lived in a world where America was not the most powerful Nation on Earth. I was born into and grew up in a world where two superpowers were faced off in this long, cold, and dangerous Cold War between communism and freedom, between the free world and people who lived enslaved behind an Iron Curtain. Then I came of age--literally came of age in 1989-1991, 18 to 20 years of age--my first years in college. I came of age, and, suddenly, I watched the Berlin Wall fall, and I saw the Soviet Union collapse. Let me tell you, if you had told me 10 years earlier--or told anybody-- that the Soviet Union was going to vanish off the face of the Earth, that it would be no more, I wouldn't have believed it. It was a time that was truly historic and unprecedented. Now, three decades later, we find ourselves once again in a rivalry with another great power, and this rivalry is far more dangerous and our rival is far more sophisticated than the Soviet Union ever was. The Soviet Union was never an industrial competitor. The Soviet Union was never a technological competitor. The Soviet Union was a geopolitical and a military competitor. As for the near-peer rival in China that we have now, they have leverage over our economy. They have influence over our society. They have an army of unpaid lobbyists here in Washington-- unpaid lobbyists because these are the companies and the individuals who are benefiting from doing business in China. They don't care if, 5 years from now, they won't even be able to work here anymore as they are making so much money off of their investments, their factories, and their engagements there now that they lobby here for free on their behalf. By the way, this is a rival that has perfected the tactic of using our own media, our own universities, our own investment funds, and our own corporations against us. They have used it against us every day. With all of this focus on China--look, I have talked as much about China as anybody here, going back 5, 6 years now, but this is not the story of what China has done to us. What China has done is--they saw a system that we created. They took advantage of its benefits, and they didn't live up to its obligations. Do you know why? Because China was trying to build their country. They were making decisions that were in China's national interests, not in the interest of the global economy or some fantasy about how two nations are in business, and if there are McDonald's in both countries, they will never go to war. This is not the story of what China has done to us. This is the story of what we have done to ourselves because we have allowed this system of globalization to drive our economic policies and our politics, and it remains entrenched. Even now, people who agree that we have to do something about this will tell you: But we can't do that. We can't do that because it will hurt exports. They will put a tariff on some industry or China will kick us out. None of this is going to matter in 5 or 6 years. They won't need the tariff on farm goods from the United States. They will own the farm. They are already buying up farmland. You won't have to worry about the investment funds not being able to make a return on an investment in 5 years. They won't need their money anymore. So this system was a disaster, and the result of the system was not global peace and global prosperity. The result was not a world without walls in which we were all part of one big, happy human family. The reality is that people live in nations, and nations have interests, and, by and large, for almost all of human history, nations have acted in the interests of their nations. Now we see what happens when one side does that and the other does not. The result has been the rise of China and Big Business--the two big winners. All of this is the consolidation of corporate power in the hands of a handful of companies and key industries and the rapid and historic rise of China at our expense. China is a populous country. They were always going to be a superpower--they were always going to be one--but they did it faster because they did it at our expense. They didn't create these jobs; they moved them. They didn't create these industries; they took them. We buy solar panels from China. Who invented solar panels? We did. They lead the world now in battery production for these electric vehicles. We invented it. They make them; they have perfected them; and they now lead in the technology. I can go on and on. They are building more coal-fired plants than any country on Earth. Today, China has more surplus refining capacity for oil than any nation on the planet. This era has to end now. It is not about just taking on China; it is about changing the way we think. It is not 2000 anymore. It is not 1999 anymore. This is a different world. In a series of speeches over the next few weeks, I am going to attempt to outline a coherent alternative moving forward in the hopes that we don't just sit around here all day and try to outdo each other about who is going to ban ``this'' and who is going to block ``that'' from going to China. This is about a lot more than just banning ``this'' and stopping ``that.'' It is about having a coherent approach to a difficult and historic challenge. Look, it is a complicated one, and complicated problems rarely, if ever, have simple solutions. The simplest way I can describe how I think we should move forward-- and I will have to describe it, obviously, in more detail--is that we need to fundamentally realign the assumptions and the ideas behind our economic and foreign policies. We need a new system of global economics where we enter into global trade agreements not with the goal of doing what is good for the global economy but what is good for us. If a trade deal creates American jobs or strengthens a key American industry, we do that deal. If it undermines us, we don't do the deal just because it would be good for the global economy or because, in the free market lab experiment, it is the right thing to do. We don't live in a lab. We are human beings of flesh and blood. We live in the real world. In economic theory, when a factory leaves and a job is lost, it is just a number on a spreadsheet. Realize, when a factory leaves and a job is lost, a dad loses his job or a single mom, for example, loses her ability to support her family, and a community is gutted. So we will need to enter into the world of trade agreements. We are not talking about isolationism here, but the criteria for every agreement needs to be, Is it good for our industries and workers or is it bad? It sounds pretty simplistic. I don't know how anyone could disagree that we should not enter into trade agreements that are bad for American workers and bad for key industries. We also, by the way, need to enter into foreign policy alliances that reward our allies and strengthen those who share our values and our principles. That also, by the way, helps to create American jobs and strengthen American industry, and if it can't be here, then have it strengthen the ability of an ally to be the source of our supplies. But I will tell you this at the outset: It will not be easy because those who have prospered and flourished under the status quo, they still have a lot of power, and they will use it to protect that status quo. But we have no choice but to change direction because our success or our failure is going to define the 21st century. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I recognize Brian D'Isernia as he retires from a distinguished 53-year career as a lawyer, fisherman, sailor, and shipbuilder at Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, FL. Brian graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in economics and a law degree from Fordham University School of Law. He passed the New York State Bar, practicing for a few years before changing careers and opening his commercial fishing enterprise out of New Bedford, MA. Operating his commercial fishing business for 8 years, it eventually grew to become a vessel construction shipyard. Constructing fishing boats allowed Brian to design fishing vessels his way. These designs quickly drew the attention of other professionals in the boating industry, and customers soon contacted Eastern Shipbuilding Group from across the Nation. By the 1980s, Brian's reputation was that his shipyard could fulfill any custom vessel request. Today, Eastern Shipbuilding Group's vessel portfolio consists of more than 350 vessels, with many used by commercial fishermen and the U.S. Coast Guard. His work was recognized in 2017 by receiving the National Maritime Historical Society's Distinguished Service Award. Brian's work over the decades has made a lasting impact on the boating industry. As he embarks on his new retirement journey, Eastern Shipbuilding remains a family-owned and operated business led by the next generation of his family. I extend my best wishes to Brian, his wife Miriam, their children, and grandchildren.

Mr. RUBIO

Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to yield back all time.