Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Mr. President, for months, the American people have demanded House Republicans stop their hostage-taking and show us a plan to avoid default. Last week, House Republicans failed in their assignment yet again. Speaker McCarthy rolled out a wish list straight out of the Freedom Caucus playbook. It might as well be called the ``Default on America Act'' because that is exactly what it is: DOA. Instead of doing what both sides have done many times before-- avoiding default without preconditions--Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans want to force working Americans to accept either a punch to the gut or a blow to the head. Either the United States defaults on national debt for the first time in American history or MAGA Republicans get their way and America defaults on everything else--on our future and our security, on our promise to care for veterans and law enforcement and the American middle class. Either way, Republicans are promising real pain for American families when they bring their Default on America Act to the House floor this week. According to one study by Moody's Analytics, the DOA could send us into a damaging recession. So let me say it one more time. What Republicans released last week was not so much a plan as it was a threat to default on America. Either we default on the national debt or we default on everything else through extreme cuts that will harm millions of people. That is so unpopular with the American people that the Republican House has had to hide it. For all of the GOP's lipservice about public safety, the House DOA Act defaults on America's law enforcement and first responders. Nearly 30,000 law enforcement jobs across the country would be cut under the Republicans' DOA Act. Over $8 billion in funding for the DOJ would be eliminated. Donald Trump called for Republicans to defund law enforcement, and now it looks like House Republicans are following through. But that is just the start. The House Default on America Act would also spell disaster for American families and American healthcare. Parents who struggle affording childcare would see over 100,000 childcare slots eliminated under the GOP proposal, preventing moms and dads from getting a job or finishing their education since they can't afford to pick up their kids in daycare. Over 21 million Americans would be at risk of losing their health coverage--21 million Americans losing health coverage--while hospitals would see billions in funding disappear. Hospitals, patient groups, doctors--you name it, they are all coming out in droves to oppose this measure. We just endured a global pandemic that claimed the lives of over 1 million Americans, and House Republicans want to cut funding for healthcare and hospitals? Utterly revolting. But the damage isn't just limited to American families. The Republican DOA Act would cripple America's ability to stay ahead of the Chinese Communist Party. After all the work we did last year on CHIPS and Science, the Republican bill would slash billions--billions--from cutting-edge research and prevent us from fully implementing CHIPS and Science. The damage would be measured in countless jobs lost and billions in squandered private investment. That is the last thing we can afford as President Xi and the CCP work to outcompete America on the world stage--squandering all that great private investment that is now coming to America. Let's not forget, should this Republican DOA bill go into effect, taxes will go up for small businesses that no longer benefit from the green energy tax credits Democrats passed last year. Many of these green tax credits support job creation in Republican districts--jobs that Republicans are happy to take credit for while working behind the scenes to destroy them. It is the dictionary definition of ``hypocrisy.'' Finally, the House Default on America Act would break America's promise to our veterans, gutting funding for new VA facilities, funding for housing and food security and addiction treatment, and even endangering 81,000 jobs across the Veterans' Administration. How could House Republicans possibly think it is OK to cut funding for our veterans in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling? What kind of message does that send to our military families, our servicemembers? If MAGA Republicans want to sell their cuts to the American people, they should not do so in the middle of discussions to avoid default. That discussion properly belongs in conversations about the budget, not here. And we will be happy to discuss those cuts with them, oppose them, as we might, in the budget--not as a prelude to default. In the meantime, I urge Speaker McCarthy to stop wasting any more time on this DOA--dead on arrival--bill. Time is running out for Congress to work together to avoid catastrophe.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is a great moment--or a few moments ago it was a great moment, but it continues to be. Our dear friend Senator Patty Murray reached an amazing milestone--10,000 votes over the course of her career in the Senate, the first woman Senator in American history to do so. (Applause.) We are not supposed to clap, but every once in a while, breaking protocol is appropriate, as it is now. It is a remarkable accomplishment for a truly remarkable public servant. Her accomplishments--if she had just cast 10,000 votes, that would be pretty good, but her accomplishments go way beyond that and often dwarf it. She was also the first woman to serve in several Senate leadership positions: chair of the Veterans' Affairs Committee; chair of the Budget Committee; and, of course, at the beginning of this Congress, she made history as the first woman ever to serve as President pro tempore of the Senate. She is a voice the Senate and the country rely on, on some of the biggest issues we face. When she speaks, everyone listens--Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, Independents--because they know that she has studied it carefully and it comes right from the heart; it is not political calculation in any way. In issues like healthcare, environment, labor rights, pension, childcare, there is Patty Murray as a beacon--not just a speaker, not just a legislator, but a beacon--to all of us. And, let me tell you, she has been such a valued member of my leadership team through the years, where she did so, so much, and I relied on her for advice. I know her phone number by heart because I call her so much. Let's take a moment to recognize and congratulate this great person, this great woman, this great Senator, this great friend, this great Member of the U.S. Senate, Senator Patty Murray. (Applause.)

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to speak for 2 minutes following Senator Peters, who will speak up to 3 minutes, prior to the scheduled rollcall vote.

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I would like to make two points. The first is on this great legislation. I thank Senator Peters and the entire HSGAC Committee--Democrats and Republicans--for moving forward. Our firefighters are the people who protect us. We need to protect them. Equipment has gotten more and more expensive to save their lives and save the lives of the people they are protecting. Yet for many smaller communities--rural, smalltown, even suburban--there is not the money to afford this equipment. So we have stepped up to the plate. I helped author this legislation with Senator Dodd back in 2002 to help them. We desperately need this legislation. We need it for firefighters--both paid and volunteer--around the country. But, particularly, as I said, in the smaller areas and the smaller communities where they desperately need the equipment, we have to get it done. The second point is this: This is the second bill we have done in a very strong bipartisan way. Our colleagues came to us with a list of amendments. It wasn't dilatory. Some of them were difficult for us, but we agreed to the amendments, and in turn, our colleagues voted to move forward. This, again, is how we can run the Senate in a very good and productive way. I hope to do that in every opportunity, where we can come to agreement on amendments, move forward, and pass good legislation. This is good and needed legislation. I hope we get an overwhelming vote for it. Vote on S. 870 The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read the third time.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the issue of avoiding default, yesterday, Speaker McCarthy made it clear how unprepared Republicans in the House are to resolve our Nation's default crisis. With a default approaching, Speaker McCarthy yesterday capitulated to the MAGA right and rolled out a partisan wish list masquerading as legislation. This MAGA wish list has no chance of moving forward in the Senate, and it doesn't move us any closer than we were yesterday to avoiding default. To quote one hard-right conservative House Republican: The leadership just picked up the House Freedom Caucus plan and helped us convert it into the legislative text. That shows you how hard right this wish list truly is. Again, let me quote one of the most well-known hard-right conservatives in the House: The leadership just picked up the House Freedom Caucus plan and helped us convert it into the legislative text. Wow. That is what Leader McCarthy is doing--maybe not as a surprise after what happened with the many votes he needed to get elected. Americans who look at this package will overwhelmingly agree: The biggest losers in Speaker McCarthy's agenda are parents, kids, law enforcement, small businesses, and countless others who work hard every single day to make ends meet. Do you want to talk about reducing debt? Wall Street billionaires are not asked to pay even a nickel under McCarthy's bill. Hurt the parents. Hurt the kids. Hurt law enforcement. Hurt small businesses, but leave the billionaires alone. That is what McCarthy is doing over there in the House. Let me say that again. The biggest losers in Speaker McCarthy's blueprint are parents, kids, law enforcement, small businesses, and countless others who work hard every single day to make ends meet. Wall Street billionaires are not being asked to pay a nickel. Americans will not accept this transparently unfair and draconian package. If these MAGA cuts become law, it will decimate everything ranging from food nutrition programs to funding for mental health, opioid addiction, and childcare. Parents who need help buying groceries and baby formulas will see their out-of-pocket costs go up. It is so cruel and heartless that parents who get $6 a person a day to feed their families would see it disappear. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? If this MAGA wish list becomes law, untold thousands of clean energy and advanced manufacturing jobs could leave our shores and go to China. This MAGA wish list will also make Americans less safe by slashing funding for the Department of Justice by billions of dollars and eliminating tens of thousands of law enforcement positions nationwide. We hear a lot of talk from the other side about helping the police. This helps defund them, this legislation. Donald Trump called for Republicans to defund law enforcement, and now Republicans seem to be following through. The wish list will further punish middle-class taxpayers and reward tax cheats by slashing funding necessary to go after ultrarich tax cheats while raising taxes on the middle class by depriving them of many of the new tax credits aimed at the middle class that we passed--we Democrats passed--during the last Congress. You heard me right. This MAGA wish list punishes middle-class taxpayers while rewarding ultrarich tax cheats. It is clear what is going on here: Speaker McCarthy cobbled together all sorts of extraneous measures in order to try and pass something, anything, no matter how extreme. But these extraneous measures--and they are truly extreme--have no place in a debate about avoiding default. If Republicans truly wish to sell their extreme agenda to the American people, they should not do so in the middle of discussions to avoid default. There is a time and place to debate that, not during this debate, because what they are doing is dangerous to the country. In the meantime, the solution to resolving the debt limit crisis has not changed. If Republicans want to avoid causing a first-ever default, they should do what we did three times under Donald Trump and twice under President Biden: work with Democrats to avoid default without brinksmanship, without blackmail, without hostage-taking, and without extraneous demands that nobody in America would want to accept, hardly anybody at all. Speaker McCarthy's wish list is an extreme step in the wrong direction. It heads us in the direction of default, and time is running out.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, next on the FBI, a few weeks ago, former President Donald Trump called on Republicans in Congress to defund the Department of Justice and FBI because of personal grievances. Instead of standing up to President Trump, Speaker McCarthy and Republican leaders have been silent, and some Members of their party even echo the former President's call. That is why today I am introducing a resolution denouncing President Trump's call to defund the DOJ and the FBI. The Senate will act on this measure as soon as next week. The resolution is simple. It expresses our support for Federal law enforcement, and it condemns Donald Trump's call to defund the DOJ and FBI and any other partisan attempts to undermine their authority. When the resolution comes to the floor, every Member of this Chamber will have a chance to do the right thing: stand up for the brave law enforcement who keep us safe and reject the former President's dangerous call to strip away their funding. I hope the resolution passes unanimously. It certainly should. The DOJ and FBI do critical work to protect our communities from threats at home and abroad, including drug trafficking, gun violence, terrorism, and so much more. Do Republicans really want to cut their funding, the funding of these Agencies, making it harder for them to do their jobs? Again, where will Republicans stand? Will they stand with the Federal law enforcement who keep us safe or stand with the former President and his dangerous call to defund Federal law enforcement? The American people deserve to know how radical the hard right has become, and this resolution will give them answers.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the Fire Grants and Safety Act, later today, the Senate will pass a much needed lifeline for our firefighters, the Fire Grants and Safety Act. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work on this overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation. Passing the Fire Grants and Safety Act will extend two important Federal grant programs that support our paid and volunteer firefighters--SAFER and AFG. As we approach the fire season, extending SAFER and AFG is crucial to ensuring that firefighters have lifesaving equipment and personnel necessary to do their jobs. This is particularly true in smaller, more rural, more suburban areas where volunteer firefighters staff the firehouses, but the equipment is hard to purchase for smaller and less wealthy communities. Our firefighters are brave. They risk their lives for us. They run toward danger, not away from it. They work tirelessly around the clock, often in dangerous and unpredictable conditions, putting their lives on the line to keep us safe. Firefighters have had our backs, and passing the Fire Grants and Safety Act today will show we have their backs too. I was proud, in my early days in the Senate, to work with Senator Dodd to pass this legislation. Again, I thank my colleagues. This has been an example, again, just like we did a few weeks back on the AUMF, of how the Senate should work--bipartisan. We worked with our Republican colleagues and the ranking member of the relevant committees to allow Republican amendments, and, in turn, our Republican colleagues are supporting us moving forward on this important legislation. It is a good thing, and I hope this model continues. As leader, that is one of the things that I am trying to do. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, next on women's rights and veterans' rights, for weeks, the senior Senator from Alabama has threatened American security by blocking over 180 routine military promotions because he objects to women in the military accessing reproductive care. Yesterday, the Senator from Alabama's objections came before the Senate for consideration through a resolution that would have eliminated reproductive care for our veterans and their families. Senator Tuberville lost the vote. Senator Tuberville lost, while our women veterans won. Yesterday's vote made two things very clear: First, MAGA Republicans are so hellbent on eliminating reproductive choice that not even veterans and our generals are safe. Americans have made abundantly clear that they reject the hard right's anti-choice agenda, but MAGA Republicans still double down. Second, the Senate has now spoken on Senator Tuberville's anti-choice proposal and said no--one of the few instances where a CRA has been voted down in the Senate and, in this case, with bipartisan votes against it. The Senate has spoken. Senator Tuberville has zero excuse for blocking 180 military promotions. His objection has been presented, considered, and rejected on a bipartisan basis. He should drop his holds against our military personnel and move on. I urge my Republican colleagues who care about our national defense and about our veterans to talk some sense into our colleague from Alabama so he can drop his dangerous holds.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 64.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to consider Calendar No. 32, S. 326.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, April 20, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to recognize the 30th anniversary of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and then I will say a few words about it.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consideration of S. Res. 167, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER. 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. SCHUMER. First, I want to thank Senators Cardin, Rubio, and many others for introducing this legislation, this recognition. The Holocaust Museum is an amazing place. I hope every American and every citizen in the world gets to visit it. It reminds us of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, harms ever inflicted on man, the horrible Shoah, the Holocaust, where 6 million people, 1 million children, died, were exterminated, were murdered. Every time I go to the Holocaust Museum, something new strikes me. There is so much, so many people lost. You see the faces and the families and why they were killed--just because they were Jews. It reminds us of two things--one, to always remember. The Hebrew word is ``zakar,'' remember. If we remember those who died, we keep their flame alive, and by remembering, we will also prevent future holocausts from occurring because if we realize the horror that can occur, it will importune men and women throughout the world and throughout this country to prevent any occurrence like this and make sure it is stopped. Second, there is an increase in anti-Semitism in America and in the world today. We must do everything we can to fight that, as we must fight all forms of bigotry. This memorial will remind us that we can never sweep things like this under the rug, that we must remember and we must fight as hard as we can to snuff out anti-Semitism and all other forms of bigotry and prevent the kind of evilness that occurred in the Holocaust from ever occurring again. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, let me begin with a quote: I can't imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge. These words are not mine. They are not even the words of a Democrat. They come from former President Donald Trump. For all of his terrible flaws--in this case, I would say a broken clock is right twice a day--even Donald Trump understood what House Republicans today do not: The full faith and credit of the United States must never be taken hostage. Again, to quote former President Trump: I can't imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge. Time is ticking before the United States enters into a first-ever default on the national debt if things don't change. Yesterday, Speaker McCarthy met with House Republicans in the hopes of uniting his party around a single framework of cuts, albeit one that will never become law. Speaker McCarthy's meeting, from all reports, did not go well, to put it lightly. One GOP Member said yesterday: I am still a no. Another from Florida: I think that they should go further. . . . I am in favor of very aggressive cuts. Another from South Carolina: I'm not there yet. We could go on and on with these quotes. Even now, Speaker McCarthy--this is months and months after he proposed making deep cuts as a condition, as brinksmanship, as hostage- taking, to just simply make sure that we avoid default--even now, he is still very short of the support he needs to pass a debt ceiling bill because the chasm is too big between moderates and the hard-right extremists who are glad to see the economy taken hostage in exchange for their priorities. As the Washington Post wrote this weekend: Many GOP lawmakers and aides admit it is not even clear whether their emerging plan can actually attract 218 votes. And now the clock is ticking. We are getting closer and closer to when we have to act to avoid default. So for all the speeches, for all the letters, for all the wish lists and meetings with this family or that family, the underlying facts haven't changed: At this point, Speaker McCarthy does not have a plan for avoiding a catastrophic default on the debt. I quoted one former Republican President, let me quote another, Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan said: [Debt ceiling] brinksmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. And: The United States has a special responsibility to itself and to the world to meet its obligations. When Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump say that the Republican strategy led by Speaker McCarthy is folly, you know how far right the whole MAGA Republican House has gone. Things that were accepted a few years ago, by very conservative Republican Presidents--Reagan, Trump--now seem to be discarded in a headlong rush to make the kind of deep cuts that Americans will never support and to tie it to the debt ceiling, which could head us crashing into default. The solution to this entire mess is staring Republicans right in the face: Do what we did three times under Donald Trump and twice under President Biden and work with Democrats to avoid default without brinksmanship, without blackmail, and without hostage-taking. If Republicans drop their hostage-taking and approach Democrats in good faith, the default crisis could be resolved. But if Speaker McCarthy does not change course, he--he--will be leading America into default of not paying our debts for the first time. FOX News Mr. President, on FOX News, yesterday, FOX News agreed to pay nearly $800 million to end a defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems after FOX spent months lying about the 2020 election. It is one of the largest settlements ever in a defamation case. Trial or no trial, the world sees that FOX News knowingly and intentionally lied to the country about the 2020 election. The amazing thing is that FOX knew that these were lies, and they still put that propaganda on the air. And it is not just trivial lies; it is lies that go to the essence of our democracy. To think that the leaders of FOX News, Rupert Murdoch, don't give a hoot about democracy and still would put these lies on for political or mercenary purposes is just galling, appalling, and, frankly, downright against what America stands for and has stood for for hundreds of years. FOX commentators spread conspiracy theories and passed them off as news. They spread distrust in our democracy and claimed it was a legitimate concern. So FOX News's legacy and Rupert Murdoch's legacy is forever sealed as the network that sought to undermine American democracy one prime-time segment at a time. FOX News's legacy is sealed as the network that has minuscule reward for the truth and would knowingly lie to achieve political and mercenary goals. Even without a single witness taking the stand, what we do know about this case is shocking. Under oath, Rupert Murdoch the owners of FOX News, admitted his hosts were spreading the narrative of the Big Lie. We are not just throwing rhetoric around here; these are facts. Here is what Murdoch said: ``Maybe Sean [Hannity] and Laura [Ingraham] went too far,'' he admitted in one email. That is certainly a way to put it. Asked if he could have stopped the lies, Mr. Murdoch admitted: I could have . . . but I didn't. Amazing. Amazing. So settlement or not, there is no question that FOX News lied. Sadly, too much damage has already been done. A significant segment of voters--by some measures as much as 30 percent of the electorate--still do not believe the 2020 election was legitimate. And when people start doubting that elections are legitimate, that is the beginning of the end of a democracy. It is just galling. Again, this is not lying about some trivial thing; this is lying that undermines the essence of what America has been all about. And 2 years after the Presidential election, FOX News still lies about what happened in 2020. Not 2 months ago, Tucker Carlson claimed January 6 was not an insurrection, using manipulated security footage provided to him exclusively by Speaker McCarthy. FOX News has not shown any remorse--any remorse--for undermining our democracy and blatantly lying. Again, Rupert Murdoch's legacy and FOX News's legacy is sealed. They will forever be remembered as the ones who sought to break American democracy from within by lying about it. For their own sake--even more importantly, for the sake of our great country--Mr. Murdoch and FOX News leadership should put a halt to the spread of the Big Lie on their network because when enough people believe elections are not on the level, that is the beginning death knell of a democracy. Abortion Mr. President, now on the abortion issue and military holds, for the last 10 months, the American people have made clear they reject the hard right's war on women. After many ballot initiatives, special elections, and one disastrous midterm for the GOP, there is no denying that the MAGA obsession with attacking women's freedom of choice has been a disaster. And yet, the more Americans reject MAGA extremism, particularly on the issue of choice, the more MAGA Republicans double down. Now, through the actions of one Senator, even military families have been taken hostage by the hard right. We are talking about women veterans. We are talking about women who volunteer and risk their lives oftentimes for us. And now this hard- right group is telling them they don't have the right to decide what to do when it comes to their bodies and their healthcare--it is outrageous. The same people on the other side who praise our military and our soldiers are treating women as second-class citizens. That is outrageous. It is outrageous when they do it to all women, but particularly outrageous when they do it to women veterans, women who serve because they, again, are our heroes and risk their lives for us. And now, through the actions of one Senator, even military families have been taken hostage by the hard right. Today, the Senator from Alabama will push legislation that would take away reproductive care for hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families. It is the extreme kind of proposal millions of Americans strongly oppose and one which, if passed, would gravely harm the health of women, particularly our veterans. Senator Tuberville's legislation is bad on its own, but he has made it even worse because he continues threatening our national security by blocking over 180 military promotions. The Secretary of Defense himself and so many of our leading military figures, past and present, have warned us that this delay is dangerous to the security of America. What is equally disappointing as the Senator from Alabama's reckless action, it is disappointing to see that more of my colleagues on the other side have not yet called out the Senator's reckless stunts. I thank those who, indeed, have raised their voice, but we need more. Republicans who claim to be such supporters of our military all of a sudden have gone mum, silent, when the Senator from Alabama risks military security because he believes passionately in something. Every one of us could do this. No one has chosen to do it the way the Senator has. It is a new chapter, a sad chapter. We hope it will end soon, that, whether publicly or privately, our Republican colleagues go to him and say this is just dead wrong, no matter how passionately he feels. And why is Senator Tuberville doing this? Because he wants to make the healthcare decisions for the women of our military. He wants to decide that. The military shouldn't decide it. The country shouldn't decide it. The women shouldn't decide it. He wants to make that decision. What arrogance. He is threatening to permanently inject politics into the confirmation of routine military promotions so he can push the MAGA hardline on blocking women's choice. This is the MAGA hard right in a nutshell: Eliminate women's choice at all costs, even at the cost of our national defense. I urge my colleagues sincerely, passionately, as passionately as he is, maybe even more so, to drop his hold, and I will certainly oppose this measure later today. I yield the floor. Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, when the health and safety of our country is at risk, it is up to veterans to step up to protect us. They risk their lives for us. They are always there for us. But today Senator Tuberville from Alabama is pushing legislation that would take away reproductive care for hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families. That is right. The hard right is telling our veterans they should be treated as second-class citizens, our women veterans. It is the kind of extreme proposal millions of Americans strongly oppose and one which, if it is passed, would gravely harm women's health. There are over 150,000 women veterans. They risk their lives for us. Now we must protect them. The more Americans reject MAGA extremism, the more MAGA Republicans seem to double down, and this bill is a perfect example. That is the MAGA right in a nutshell: Eliminate women's choice at all costs, even at the cost of our national defense. Again, the MAGA right says: Eliminate women's choice at all costs, even at the cost of national defense. Here is the bottom line: Our veterans dedicated their lives to our freedom so we should protect their freedom of choice, plain and simple. Order of Procedure Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote in relation to the Scott of Florida amendment No. 81 occur following the vote on the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 10; further, I ask that the Senate vote at 11:15 a.m. tomorrow in relation to amendment Nos. 85 and 83; and the Senate vote on passage of S. 870, as amended, if amended, at 1:45 p.m., with all provisions under the previous order remaining in effect.