Pete Ricketts

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I am proud to represent the great State of Nebraska. Agriculture is our No. 1 industry in Nebraska. I am also proud to represent our farmers and ranchers, who are the best in the world. Agriculture is the heart and soul of what we do in the State of Nebraska. We produce the finest products and the safest food. We feed and fuel our great Nation. Now, it is no secret that our farmers and ranchers have had some challenges. We have seen low commodity prices and high input costs. We have also seen a drought in my State as well as wildfires that are the worst in our State's history--burning over 1 million acres. But our farmers and ranchers, they are tough and resilient. They find ways to come together and get through the tough times, and they contribute to their communities. Despite all of this, they continue to invest to make sure that we have a strong agricultural sector in Nebraska. This is also important for our country, as food security is national security. Last week, the Senate passed my resolution to proclaim May as Beef Month throughout the entire country. Again, this is our leading industry in Nebraska: the beef industry. We are the leading State for exporting beef--$1.7 billion worth. We are a leader in every category of beef production. In fact, we have over 6 million head of cattle, and the 3 highest beef-producing counties in the country are in Nebraska. We are very proud of our beef industry, and, of course, it is the best tasting beef in the entire world--even if the Presiding Officer doesn't agree with that right now, being from Montana. So we are very, very proud of that. May is also Renewable Fuels Month. Again, Nebraska is a leader in renewable fuels with 2.2 billion gallons. Not only is this important for creating jobs in our small towns and rural communities, but this is one of the ways that consumers can save money at the pump. The last time I filled up on E10--a 10-percent blend of ethanol--I saved 55 cents a gallon at my local Hy-Vee. It is also a great way to be able to help clean up the environment. Of course, it is great for our farmers and ranchers. It is also great for our country. There are estimates that our renewable fuels industry that is so great for our corn farmers and soybean farmers also displaces about 640 million barrels of foreign oil. That means we are less dependent on foreign sources of energy. This is, again, a great way for consumers to save money but also for us to strengthen our energy independence--``America First'' energy independence. So our homegrown solution is biofuels. At the summit last week, when President Trump was in Beijing, we heard good news with regard to potential initial purchases of American agricultural products. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said there will be ``double-digit billions'' of U.S. agricultural products in 2026, 2027, and 2028--maybe $17 billion in each of those years. That is on top of the 25 million metric tons of soybeans that communist China had agreed to buy already, last year in October. That certainly is good news for our farmers. What we need is to make sure that we hold communist China accountable for those purchases. We recall that in the first Trump administration, they signed the phase 1 trade deal with communist China, but as soon as President Trump was out of office, China reneged on that deal. We have seen them capriciously turn away the cargo ships of our corn. They have delisted our beef processors. Communist China, at the end of the day, is a bad trading partner. We need to make sure we hold them accountable for the commitments they make, and I expect this administration will do just that. They have a track record of doing it. In addition, we need to look at diversifying our export markets. That is why I am introducing the MARKET Act. The MARKET Act would instruct the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative to look at ways we can mitigate our dependence on communist China and to look for new markets. Last year, in the Working Families Tax Cut, we put in an additional $285 million--doubling the amount of money for trade promotion--to be able to find new markets for our farmers and ranchers. My MARKET Act would require the USDA and the USTR to work together to look for new markets and to come back with a report to Congress on how we can further expand those and mitigate the risks of being dependent upon our adversaries like communist China. Do we need to do something with regard to legislative action or regulatory action? This will help make sure that we continue to be able to expand the trade that is so important for our agricultural States, like Nebraska. About a third of everything we grow in Nebraska gets exported overseas. We are the fifth largest ag exporter in the country. These markets overseas are important to our strong economy in Nebraska. My MARKET Act will help make sure we continue to look for opportunities to be able to grow that. I am proud of our farmers and ranchers. They do a great job of feeding our great Nation. And I am proud to be able to continue to support them here in Washington, DC.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged and the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 627.

Mr. RICKETTS. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 673, which is at the desk.

Mr. RICKETTS. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2066 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. RICKETTS. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Smith.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 16; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate resume consideration of H.J. Res. 140, and that at 11 a.m., all time be expired on the joint resolution, it be read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage; and that following disposition, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of Calendar No. 671, Andrew Davis, and notwithstanding rule XXII, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture at 1:45 p.m.; further, that if cloture is invoked, all time be expired and the Senate vote on confirmation at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Democratic leader no earlier than Monday, April 20.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the St. John nomination.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, my home State of Nebraska is currently experiencing a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions for our State. We are experiencing the largest wildfires since Nebraska became a State. It started last week. We have a number of fires burning across the State that have burned up to 750,000 acres of Nebraska. That is over 1 percent, approaching 2 percent of the total land area of my State. We have had one fatality. Rose Mary White, a grandmother of 12, died at her ranch near Arthur, NE. We have also had hundreds, if not thousands, of people impacted by these fires. I ask all Nebraskans and all Americans to pray for the victims of these terrible fires. I had the opportunity, with Governor Pillen and Congressman Smith, to tour the areas that were burning on Saturday. Thank you to all of the firefighters, our volunteer firefighters who are first responders on the scene, who worked tirelessly to be able to control this fire. By the time we arrived on Saturday, they had had little sleep over the past several days and were exhausted. At 6 o'clock that night, a Federal firefighter team came in to provide relief, and I thank those firefighters as well. Thank you to our Nebraska National Guardsmen. We have two Black Hawk helicopters with Bambi baskets that are on site helping to control the fire by dumping water on it from the air. I thank Iowa as well because they have also loaned us two helicopters to be able to help out. The Governor was calling the fire departments of Omaha and Lincoln and Columbus, seeking to get additional firefighter help to be able to relieve the volunteers that are working so hard around the clock. Nebraska is a great place. We have great community spirit. We saw it on full display as people pitched in to be able to help combat these fires. But we have a lot of work to be able to do. The Morrill fire has burned over 572,000 acres and is only 18 percent contained. The Cottonwood fire has burned over 131,000 acres, and it is only 40 percent contained. The Road 203 fire has burned 35,000 acres, and it is 36 percent contained. And the Anderson Bridge fire has burned 17,000 acres and is only 60 percent contained. I know that Nebraskans will continue to work hard to preserve life and property and take care of their neighbors during this time. We are no stranger to disasters. Nebraskans always pitch in to be able to help. I do want to say to my fellow Nebraskans that if you get the evacuation order, be prepared because this fire has moved fast. We got some relief from the winds on Sunday, but they kicked up again on Monday. Those winds can drive that fire very, very fast. So be prepared to evacuate. Please don't stay. If you stay too long, you are putting yourself and the firefighters at risk who are trying to put out this fire and protect you. And when it is safe, please make sure you are documenting the damage that you have incurred. The USDA Farm Service Agency has Disaster Assistance Programs. After you are safe and you have had a chance to document your damage, you can go to them to see what sort of programs are out there. The Nebraska Cattlemen, nebraskacattlemen.org, has the ability for people to donate to be able to help out those impacted by this fire, so do the Red Cross and Salvation Army. In talking with our ag director Sherry Vinton, over 30,000 cattle may be displaced because of this fire. And certainly, there will be cattle losses because of it. We just don't know the magnitude yet. It has been very dry this winter in Nebraska, and this fire has burned out of control. But we have many brave Nebraskans--volunteers, firefighters, the National Guard--who are working to be able to get this fire under control. As a Federal delegation, we will continue to support the local efforts and the State's efforts to control this fire and to help those impacted recover. And again, I ask for the prayers of Nebraskans and all Americans to be able to help us out in this terrible tragedy. With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 5 minutes prior to the scheduled rollcall vote.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, it has now been 26 days since Homeland Security has been funded and 51 days since the Democrats have announced their intention not to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The Democrats want the Department of Homeland Security to be closed. How do I know they want it to be closed? Well, it is because the Democrats are refusing even to talk to Republicans about what sort of deal we may be able to do to get the funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Just this past weekend, my freshman colleague from Alabama who sits on the Appropriations Committee and has the subcommittee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security offered the ranking Democrat on Appropriations a meeting, a meeting with our Republican leader, a meeting with the Appropriations chair--the esteemed Senator from Maine--and the White House. And the ranking Democrat refused to even meet, much less negotiate. Republicans want the Department of Homeland Security opened. Democrats want to keep it shut down. Democrats are playing politics with our national security and the safety of Americans and people in my home State of Nebraska. The Department of Homeland Security is funded to pay, for example, our Coast Guard. In recent days, our Coast Guard in the Gulf of America just intercepted a shipment of marijuana and cocaine worth about $1.3 million. That is what the Coast Guard does, keeps us safe from illegal drugs coming into our country, and yet they go unpaid. In fact, a Nebraskan called in to my office. His son and daughter-in- law in the Coast Guard are deployed right now in Bahrain. They are risking their lives for us, they are risking their lives to keep us safe, and the Democrats won't pay them. Or let's take your TSA agents that handle the security for a billion travelers in the United States every year. They, too, are working without pay because the Democrats will not fund the Department of Homeland Security. TSA agents process about 2\1/2\ million people every day going through our airports to keep us safe, and the Democrats won't pay them. I stood here not long ago, sadly, talking about our air traffic controllers. I read letters from them and how the government shutdown that Chuck Schumer led the Democrats on just a short while ago put pressure on their families. Many of those air traffic controllers were veterans. The minority leader led the Democrats on the longest shutdown in American history. Does nobody remember that, what it did to the families? And yet the Democrats are doing the same thing again now on the Department of Homeland Security. The Agency that is assigned to keep us safe from the standpoint of cyber security--the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency--has furloughed 1,200 of their 2,000 people. Only 800 people are working right now, putting us at risk. We have a conflict in the Middle East right now with Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, that country that regularly chants ``Death to America.'' We know that Iran has plotted assassinations of our President, other officials, and dissidents here on our very soil. And yet the Democrats are not willing to fund the Agency that is meant to help keep us safe. Again, they are playing politics with our national security and our safety. There is common ground we can come to, to be able to get the Department of Homeland Security open. But if the Democrats refuse to even meet with Republicans to discuss this, the only conclusion I can draw is that they don't want the Department of Homeland Security open. And so they put all of us at risk, including my fellow Nebraskans. Democrats must come to the table to meet. We must reopen the Department of Homeland Security. We must pay our heros in the Coast Guard, TSA, Secret Service, CISA, all these people who are working right now to keep us safe are keeping us safe during this conflict in the Middle East with the largest state sponsor of terrorism. The least the Democrats can do is agree to meet with leadership and have a conversation. This must end. Democrats must talk. I yield the floor.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and remember a great Nebraskan. Noah Tietjens was killed by the Islamic Republic of Iran in Operation Epic Fury. As a young man, he joined the military to protect and serve our Nation, and he gave his last full measure of devotion after serving nearly two decades in protecting our country. I mourn for him with my fellow Nebraskans, and I ask my fellow Nebraskans and all here to pray for Shelly, his wife; Dylan, his son; and for the five other Americans who were killed in Operation Epic Fury. They are truly great Americans who are protecting our Nation. Moment of Silence Mr. President, I ask for a moment of silence to remember them. (Moment of silence.) Iran Mr. President, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a terrorist nation. Nearly 50 years ago, they started this reign of terror by storming our Embassy and kidnapping our diplomats, and they have been chanting ``Death to America'' ever since. They have been responsible, as the leading sponsor of state terrorism, for terrorist attacks all around the world. It has led to the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans. When we had American troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2,000 were killed by IEDs, and we know that Iran funded these weapons. We know that they have had plots to assassinate our President and other officials in our own country--on American soil. We know that they have funded the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah; that they have bombed our friends and killed civilians. And when their own people protest their terrible policies, they kill the protesters--their own people--by the thousands. We cannot let a nation that embraces terror in the way Iran does have a nuclear weapon. This has, again, been the policy of Presidents, as the administrations have changed--that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Thus, we come to the reason for Operation Epic Fury. Iran had been in negotiations with numerous administrations and had always refused to give up their nuclear ambitions. This administration has decided that enough is enough. The goal is to make sure Iran cannot threaten us or their neighbors. So we are targeting the things that they could use to do that--their missiles, their missile launchers, their missile stockpiles, their ability to manufacture those missiles that they are using right now to attack their neighbors. We are attacking their navy so their navy cannot threaten the shipping that goes through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and to make sure they cannot mine it to shut this down. Ultimately, we will continue to go after their nuclear facilities that they stubbornly refuse to give up. We will go after them. We have learned the lessons from North Korea that, once a nation has nuclear weapons and a missile system, they are not going back. Iran can already reach allies of ours right now with their ballistic missiles. We know they want to continue to develop those to reach Europe and then, ultimately, the United States. A country that chants ``Death to America'' and has a nuclear weapon and a missile that can reach us is a danger to our people. This can never be allowed to happen. That is why we have to destroy their ability to threaten us and their neighbors, right now, before it gets out of control. If we wait too long, we may not be able to stop it. Thank you to our brave women and men in uniform who are carrying out this operation, who are risking themselves to keep our country safe. I ask for the prayers of the Nation for all of our members of the military and to remember their families, who serve alongside them, and to continue to mourn our dead who have died defending our Nation.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. I ask unanimous consent the following Senators be permitted to speak prior to the scheduled rollcall vote: Senator Cantwell for up to 10 minutes, Senator Ricketts for up to 5 minutes, Senator Moreno for up to 15 minutes.

Mr. RICKETTS. Since Senator Cantwell is not here, I will go ahead and get my program rolling.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, in the last several weeks, we have witnessed some terrible tragedies in Minnesota that involved law enforcement operations and the loss of life. We should all continue to pray for the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. As a former Governor, I know that when there is an officer-involved shooting, there is always an investigation to determine whether the shooting was justified, and there will, indeed, be multiple investigations into these shootings. I also know that as a former Governor and having had the State patrol of Nebraska report to me, that our law enforcement officers are dedicated professionals, women and men who put their lives on the line to keep us safe, and they will do a great job for us in investigating what could be done better. The Department of Homeland Security should take this opportunity to review its policies and procedures because of this investigation to determine if there are areas to improve upon. One of the areas I think they will define is that there could be better cooperation with the local law enforcement. However, this is not the fault of ICE or Customs and Border Protection; this is the fault of the mayor who is not allowing his administration to work with ICE, for example, to apprehend criminal illegal aliens who are in their jails and forcing them to go out on the streets to apprehend these folks. And they are not providing the sort of crowd control that would allow protestors to exercise their rights and keep them safe and stop them from interfering with law enforcement operations. So the Democrats are holding up the Department of Homeland Security bill. Ironically, because of the continuing resolution that we passed, we are funding ICE with more money than we would have otherwise if we just passed the regular Homeland Security bill because Republicans are working on fiscal restraint. Also ironically, they actually can't get at the Agency they are mad at. ICE is fully funded for the next 3 years because of the reconciliation bill we passed last year. So Democrats really can't impact the funding of the Agency that they are unhappy with. Now, they have various demands that they have with regard to this, and again, some of these demands are already addressed in the Homeland Security bill. For example, they want body cameras. There is actually funding for body cameras in the Homeland Security bill if the Democrats would join us in passing it. There is also funding for deescalation procedures. Presumably, Democrats would want that. There is also funding for an inspector general. Presumably, Democrats would think that was a good idea. All of these things that are in the Homeland Security bill, the Democrats would just work with Republicans to pass it, but they are not doing so. They have some demands, like better cooperation with local law enforcement. Well, that is something that we would like too. We would like to see it in sanctuary cities that are blocking our Federal law enforcement officers from apprehending illegal immigrant criminals who are in their jails. Work with us to be able to allow us to do that. That would be great-- I am sure the ICE members are saying to themselves. So that cooperation would be wonderful. In fact, that is the key. I see it in my home State, that our local law enforcement, our county sheriffs, they don't do ICE's job for them, but they do cooperate to be able to get criminal illegal aliens into the custody of ICE and also provide security to make sure that law enforcement is not interfered with and that protesters can have their ability to exercise their rights in a safe way. One of the other demands that they have is for no masks. And again, talking to local law enforcement in Nebraska and my own experience with Nebraska State Patrol, I know that typically our law enforcement officers wear a badge, a name, but in special operations, that is not always the case, that we see that masks are necessary to protect the identities of our law enforcement officers. Far-left radical people are using face recognition software or use that to identify law enforcement officials and then dox them. That is a risk. In fact, we have seen it in Nebraska. I was talking to one of my county sheriffs about one of his deputies who was doxed; his name and address, his children's names were published on the internet and even going so far as to publish his parents' names and addresses in different city. This is just pure intimidation. I know that when we have drug interdiction programs, we want our officers to wear masks because, again, the cartels want to intimidate our law enforcement officers into not doing their jobs. This is something we have to be worried about. If the left continues to villainize our law enforcement officers who are there to keep us safe, it will make the job less attractive. It will be hard for us to track the right kind of people we want to be able to fill those positions in law enforcement. It is absolutely appropriate in certain circumstances to wear a mask. In fact, in some operations, it is a safety issue. If we are having our law enforcement officers, for example, go into a residence where they know there is a criminal and they are using, say, an ordinance to do that, the mask actually helps protect them. So there are times and circumstances where that is appropriate. Certainly, protecting our law enforcement officers from malicious actors who want to intimidate them is important. It is a time to make sure we are keeping our law enforcement officers safe and making sure we continue to have people--brave women and men--who want to step up and do that job. One of the other things that our Democrat colleagues want is to end administrative warrants. A little history: Administrative warrants were originally passed in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952, so they have been around for nearly 75 years. Getting away from that would bring our law enforcement operations with regard to illegal immigrants in this country to a halt. This is an important way that we actually get to deport the people who are here illegally. So that is a nonstarter. We can't slow down the system. Yet we just saw under the Biden administration an open border policy and 10.5 million illegal entry attempts into the United States. The President has now brought those down 95 percent and, since April 2025, has stopped releasing illegal immigrants into our country. That is progress. But I believe the President was hired to address the issue Joe Biden created. So we need to give the right tools to our law enforcement officers to be successful. I encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work with the White House and Senate Republicans to come up with a reasonable compromise based on common ground and to make sure that we are funding Homeland Security. That funding runs out Friday at midnight, and if Democrats allow this to happen, it won't impact ICE operations, but what it will do is interrupt FEMA. We just had a major winter storm on the east coast and parts of the South. FEMA will be interrupted if Department of Homeland Security is not getting funded. Our TSA agents who help make sure we get around the country safely through our airports, they will stop getting paid. That could potentially lead to slowdowns at airports. The Coast Guard will stop getting paid. Our heroes who keep us safe on our oceans and rescue us when we need it, these are all the things Democrats will be putting at risk if they don't fund Homeland Security. And, of course, any continuing resolution will just mean that the Democrats are funding ICE to a greater degree than they would otherwise. So, again, I encourage my Senate Democratic colleagues to work with the White House and Senate Republicans on a reasonable compromise. And one more thing, if we cannot fund Homeland Security, I urge my Senate Democrats to not go on all the codels they are supposed to be going on starting on Friday. We need to stay here and get it fixed. We need to get Homeland Security funded. I yield the floor.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I rise today to note that the House, earlier today, passed a series of appropriations bills that will now be sent to the President's desk that will allow us to continue to fund our Agencies. And that is good news. It represents 11 of the 12 appropriations bills that we pass every year. I want to thank our Republican leader for bringing these bills to the floor. I want to thank our chair of the Appropriations Committee Susan Collins and Ranking Member Patty Murray for their work to be able to get that done. This is important work. One of the reasons I came to the U.S. Senate was to be able to help bring fiscal responsibility. As Governor of Nebraska, my budget grew at 2.8 percent per year, on average, across 8 years. That demonstrates the sort of fiscal responsibility you find in States like Nebraska. It is part of our ``Nebraska Solutions, Ready for America'' is bringing that sort of fiscal responsibility here. It was sorely lacking under the Biden administration in Washington, DC. In 2019, the Federal Government, broadly speaking, spent $4.4 trillion, and we had a $900 billion deficit. Under Joe Biden's leadership, by 2024, that spending had grown to $6.8 trillion and a $1.9 trillion deficit, more than doubling the deficit, a 55-percent increase over those 5 years--a 55 percent-increase over 5 years in that spending. In 2025, the deficit had declined by 9 percent. Now, we still have a long way to go. We have to get that spending under control, and that is why this appropriations process is so important. The way we get our spending under control is by bringing appropriations bills to the floor of the Senate and giving us, as Senators, the opportunity to offer amendments and to vote on those bills. Under the previous majority Democrat leadership, that did not happen. Though the Appropriations Committee was doing its work and passing appropriations bills out of committee--last year, 11 out of 12; the year before that, 12 out of 12--the previous Democratic majority leader would not bring those bills to the floor and, in fact, in some cases, brought the bills after the end of the fiscal year. Instead, what were we forced to do? We were forced to pass continuing resolutions. Those continuing resolutions are terrible. They are basically just taking the budget and continuing to spend money at the recklessly high levels we saw under the Biden administration. But it also undermined our national defense because when you pass continuing resolutions, the military cannot do long-term planning. And we are in a very dangerous world right now. We know that communist China wants to supplant us as the world leader. We see a war of aggression by Russia. We see Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism, funding groups like Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and we see North Korea continuing to launch missiles. National defense is very important to deterring our adversaries. Yet we passed 13 continuing resolutions under the Biden administration. Now, under the Trump administration, with Republicans in charge of the Senate, we are bringing these bills to the floor. We are passing and getting them done. We still have to get to Homeland Security. I encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work quickly with what they want to see in that bill to negotiate and get that bill done. This is important, too, because Homeland Security is what we fund our FEMA out of, right? So there are going to be disruptions to FEMA if we don't get this done. We just had a deadly snowstorm on the east coast, and that will disrupt those FEMA payments if the Democrats can't come to some sort of solution on what they want so we can pass Homeland Security. Homeland Security is also how our TSA folks get paid, people who help us make sure we can fly safely around this country. It is how our Coast Guard gets paid. Again, it is important for our national defense. So all these things are wrapped up in Homeland Security, which is why it is important to get that 12th and final bill done. I, again, want to compliment the House for passing these bills, compliment the Appropriations Committee here in the Senate, compliment our Majority Leader Thune for getting this done. We have 11 out of 12 done. That is 96 percent of the funding of our discretionary Agencies. Getting that done is an important step forward and getting back on track to fiscal sanity in this Nation. It is sorely needed. Republicans are delivering on that here in the Senate. I yield the floor.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, earlier today, we heard about an offer from the minority leader. It shows just how unserious he and the Democrats are. That offer is full of horse hockey. It has things in it that Republicans cannot accept, and he knows it. My colleague from Michigan, the Democrat from Michigan, was just talking about power because that is what it is about. He mentioned power. A number of other folks have talked about leverage. They need to have this shutdown for leverage. A number of Democrats have said this. But what I am here today to talk about are people; not leverage, not power--people--air traffic controllers. These are letters that I have received from air traffic controllers-- handwritten letters--that are talking about what they are going through right now because of the minority leader's shutdown. Let me just read you some of these. My wife suffers from a chronic autoimmune disease that without her medication would cripple her. Our monthly copay for her specialty medication is $2,800 a month. We have less than 2 weeks before her next round of medication is due. Our situation is not sustainable even with pulling money from our savings. That was from one of our air traffic controllers in Nebraska. Here is another one: Each shutdown gets harder than the last. The mental stress of the unknown gets harder each time. With my growing family and medical bills for my family, it gets harder every time. Both of my children have neurobiological disorders that require constant monitoring and medical care. I take pride in my job and the service we provide here at Omaha Approach control. As a patriot and veteran, I take my Federal oath . . . seriously. I will always continue to do my job [and] keep the skies safe and expeditious. Here is another one: Myself and my family, to include my 3-year-old daughter, are struggling to make ends meet. I now have to decide between putting food on the table, paying my mortgage, paying [my] car note, and many other things . . . I need to survive. Are the Democrats deaf? Do they not hear from the people who are put in these situations? This is their shutdown. This is their Biden budget they are not voting for. They voted for this 14 times over the last 19 months, and now they won't because their far-left wing tells them not to. We have patriots here who are suffering. Why don't they show some of the courage that these people are and stand up to the far-left wing and vote for this bill so at least the people who are working can get paid? Is that so much to ask--that we pay the people who are actually trying to keep the skies safe? A Democrat staffer was earlier quoted as saying we are going to do this ``until planes start falling from the sky.'' Well, folks, we already heard that the FAA is going to cut back 10 percent this week on the number of flights because of safety concerns. But it is the people--the air traffic controllers and our law enforcement and everybody else who is working in a Federal job who is not getting paid--who are paying the price for the minority leader's shutdown. I yield to my colleague from Wisconsin.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 467, S. Res. 468, and S. Res. 469.

Mr. RICKETTS. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m., Tuesday, October 28; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, and notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture motions filed on October 23 ripen at 11:35 a.m. I further ask that the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Pratt nomination, until 2:15 p.m., to allow for the weekly conference meetings; and that at 2:20 p.m., if cloture is invoked, the Senate vote on confirmation of the Pratt nomination; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session of the Senate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. RICKETTS

Mr. RICKETTS. The government is shut down today, and the responsibility lies squarely on the minority leader and the Democrats. In fact, you can call it his shutdown. Republicans have offered a clean continuing resolution that would keep government open to allow us to continue working on the appropriations process, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have called foul. Somehow this is unfair that we ought to have a negotiation. In fact, they are demanding more than a trillion dollars in new spending to be able to keep the government open for just 7 weeks. They want money for illegal immigrants to get healthcare. They want more subsidies for the pandemic-era insurance. They want to end the rural healthcare fund that Republicans put in place for our rural hospitals. They demand all of this, saying the clean continuing resolution that we have offered is not sufficient. Hypocrisy. This is hypocrisy. Thirteen times in the Biden administration Democrats voted for a continuing resolution. Four times they have voted for this exact level of spending; this budget, four times in the last 18 months. In fact, I have got a chart here that shows the percentage of Democrat Senators who supported these continuing resolutions, and you can see the numbers are almost 100 percent all the way across. And when it is not 100 percent, it is 98 percent. The minority leader himself voted for this very continuing resolution four times in a row before this case. Hypocrisy. They are putting these unreasonable, radical-left demands in front of us instead of keeping government open. Let me share with you a quote from our minority leader. In 2013, he said: What if I persuaded my caucus to say, I'm not going to pay our bills unless I get my way? It is a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis. Further, the minority leader said on January 24, 2024: Passing the CR, of course, will prevent a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown. No reasonable Member on either side--Democrat or Republican--wants a government shutdown. Both sides recognize that a government shutdown would mean crushing delays to veterans programs; delays to nutrition programs for women, infants, and children; delayed benefits for our military; and so much more. Now, as I mentioned, the Democrats have said this is about healthcare, but let me read you a quote from the junior Senator from Connecticut. He said, when talking about healthcare, that ``there is a time and a place to debate healthcare . . . but not when the funding of the Federal Government, and all the lives that are impacted by it, hang in the balance.'' The hypocrisy of the minority leader of the Democrats is breathtaking. It is stunning. During the Biden administration, they were happy to pass continuing resolutions--happy to. And, in fact, when given the very same continuing resolution, they voted yes on it four times in a row. Now they say no for partisan political reasons, driven by their radical leftwing. And, again, they say they want to make this about healthcare. How disingenuous. First of all, let's examine the COVID subsidies that they want. First of all, they are the COVID subsidies. These are pandemic subsidies meant for a pandemic. Folks, news flash: The pandemic has been over for 4 years. The Democrats were the ones who set the expiration date on it. And the Democrats, if they were so concerned about this, had all of last year to bring it up and address it and extend it, once again, if they had chosen to. They chose not to. All of a sudden, crying about these subsidies now, just smacks of hypocrisy. And as I just read you, the junior Senator from Connecticut's remark, when it suited them before, they didn't want to talk about healthcare when they were talking about continuing resolutions and government shutdowns. Folks, this shutdown does mean that folks in my home State of Nebraska could see services diminish. It could mean that, for example, Social Security offices may be understaffed--Social Security checks are going to go out, but services may be diminished. Women and children will not be able to enroll in the WIC Program. The person who is supposed to help with IRS questions is not available. National parks may be closed. All these services may be degraded and all because the Democrats are holding the American public and Nebraskans in my State hostage for their radical-left demands. The Democrats should do what they have done 13 times in the Biden administration, vote for a continuing resolution. Help us continue our work on appropriations because that is the way the system is supposed to work. We have already passed three bipartisan appropriations bills. The Appropriations Committee has more bipartisan bills ready to work on. This can all be over if the Democrats will simply vote for a continuing resolution that they have already voted yes on four times over the last 18 months and 13 times during the Biden administration. If the American public is looking for answers, they have to look no further than the Democrats to find out who is responsible for this. Republicans have offered this continuing resolution and have voted for it. And, in fact, three Democrats have voted for the continuing resolution, including an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats. So we will continue to do our part by voting for this continuing resolution and by continuing to put it up to give the Democrats a chance to get government back open so we can continue the people's business and work on these appropriations bills, which is what we are supposed to be doing. I yield the floor.