Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I thank my colleague from Delaware. Before I ask my question, I just want to thank the great Senator from Oregon for his strength, his fortitude, his integrity, and just shining a spotlight on this erosion of democracy under Trump in so many different ways. I have been to the floor earlier, and we talked about it. But now I would like to ask a question about one of the most serious threats that our American people face, which is the healthcare crisis, a dramatic--a horrible--crisis that is going to leave millions without any health insurance at all, that is going to raise premiums to people from $500 to $1,000 a month--not a year--that will close rural hospitals, that will kick people out of nursing homes, where they will have nowhere to go. And I remind my colleagues that this President, instead of negotiating a way out that addresses the crisis with Leader Jeffries and me, is going away for 6 days. It is outrageous for him to leave on a foreign trip while the American people are suffering and we get closer and closer and closer to the time, starting November 1, when people are going to have to make that awful decision: Do I leave my family with no healthcare at all because I can't afford it? It is a horrible, horrible decision. And yet, this President--Leader Jeffries and I asked the President to meet with us before he left. He refused. The reporting is that Johnson and Thune and he were on the phone and agreed they wouldn't even talk to us. And, instead, he is going away while people are suffering. He ought not to do that. And what is he spending his time on instead? Eroding our democracy, doing these faux ads, screwing up, forcing networks and TV stations and media to bow to his whim, using the Justice Department as an attack dog against his enemies, arresting people, as my good friend from Oregon has pointed out repeatedly, on the streets arresting people, whoever the hell they are. They have no identification, and the people are arrested without even being told why they are being arrested and who knows what the heck is going on. He is spending all his time on eroding democracy, taking away our rights. The people expect him not to go on a foreign trip--this President who fancies himself a King--but, instead, to do the people's business and help us, sit down with us, negotiate a way out of this healthcare crisis. We all know--I think, and I would ask my colleague, he knows, I believe--that before Donald Trump leaves the country, he should at the very least sit down and negotiate in a serious way and address the healthcare crisis that affects the American people. Shouldn't we be working to lower people's premiums, to keep rural hospitals open, to prevent people from being kicked out of nursing homes, to ensure that research that saves lives continues? Shouldn't the President listen to the cares of the American people and their desperate need on healthcare rather than taking a foreign trip? Jeffries and I asked him yesterday--we demanded, really--that he sit down and talk to us and negotiate, not just talk to us but negotiate a serious approach to avoid all the devastating things that will occur. And he said 4 hours later, after conferring with Thune and Johnson, no, he wouldn't. Well, that is a disgrace. So I would ask my colleague--I would ask him: Shouldn't the President be spending time addressing the healthcare crisis rather than spending all this time eroding our democracy? If he negotiated a fair treatment of people with their healthcare, he would be doing some good. And when he erodes our democracy, he is doing something evil. So his priorities are wacky and misplaced and awful and so detrimental to what the American people want. So my question to my colleague is this--and one more thing, doesn't my colleague--and there are a bunch of questions here--agree that Trump is the focal point of this healthcare crisis, that Johnson is paralyzed because of the divisions in his caucus, that Thune just goes along, that the President--this Trump, this President Trump--is the person who could get the Republicans to pass a decent proposal, a fair proposal, a proposal that helps the American people out of this crisis, and the President is the focal point because he can get Jeffries and Thune to act, and there is probably no one else? And yet, he is flying away, ignoring this issue facing the American people after he has eroded our democracy as the Senator from Oregon has pointed out? He is flying away and abandoning the American people. Isn't it correct--does my friend from Oregon agree--that the President's priorities are so detrimental to the American people, are really perverse in that he seems to enjoy eroding democracy and doesn't even give a damn when the American people are suffering? So I would ask my colleague to answer that series of questions.

Mr. SCHUMER. Right.

Mr. SCHUMER. So to renew my question succinctly: Does my friend from Oregon believe, as I believe, that before the President jets away on this foreign trip, shouldn't he sit down with Leader Jeffries and me, as we wanted him very much to do--demanded he do--and negotiate a solution that addresses this horrible crisis, which my colleague from Oregon has addressed in so many ways, whether it is ACA premiums or Medicaid or nursing homes or community health centers or scientific research? All of those need to be addressed, and this President is flying away. Isn't that appalling?

Mr. SCHUMER. Let me thank my friend from Oregon for his amazing, strong, persistent efforts. I yield back to the Senator from Oregon.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, let me express the profound gratitude of all of us for his amazing tour de force over these many hours. Jeff Merkley has been the Paul Revere of 21st century America, literally, figuratively, riding from one corner of this country to the other, alerting people to the danger our democracy is in with the would-be King as President. No one has done it better. No one has done it with more persistence. No one has done it with more passion. No one has done it with more effectiveness than Jeff Merkley, not only the Senate, but much more importantly, all of America owes you a tremendous, tremendous debt. Thank you. (Applause.)

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we enter another week of Donald Trump's government shutdown, and Republicans seem happy not to work, happy not to negotiate, happy to let healthcare premiums spike for over 20 million working and middle-class Americans. Our country is staring down the barrel of a healthcare catastrophe, and Republicans will spend this week either vacationing or holding pep rallies at the White House. It has been over a month since the House of Representatives even took a single rollcall vote. That is shameful. That is derelict. Government workers must work without getting paid; House Republicans get paid without working. What about the Democrats? Our position remains the same: We want to end the shutdown as soon as we can and fix the ACA premium crisis that looms over 20 million hard-working Americans and many tens of millions more whose premiums will also go up. Look, the ACA premium crisis is not a fix-it-later issue like Republicans keep pretending it is. It is a fix-it-now issue because, very soon, Americans are going to have to make some really difficult choices about which healthcare plan they choose for next year. When they see the increase in the number of dollars that these premiums will cost them because the tax credits expired--$500 a month; $600 a month; $1,000 a month; for older couples, over $20,000 a year--they are going to have to make an awful choice: Do I cut out healthcare altogether and be left alone or do I cut back on everything else to afford a healthcare plan? Do I have to look for a new plan with different doctors, different hospitals, higher copays, higher premiums? Every American, just about every American--so many Americans, tens of millions--are going to have to start making that choice in the next month. Health insurance prices under the ACA are now available in about a dozen States, and Americans in those States are already seeing with their own eyes the horrifying truth, what we have been warning about for months; that multiple millions of people are going to pay tens of thousands of dollars more for healthcare so vital to Americans. When you are in a family and you know you can't provide healthcare for them or a much reduced healthcare and you look at your spouse, you look at your kids, and you say: What am I going to do if they get sick, what a frightening experience for people that Republicans are putting America through, all because they want to cut all of this healthcare, cut Medicaid, cut so much else in healthcare to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. It is just perverse. It is inside out. It is upside down. And let's be clear about who will get hurt if these tax credits expire. Republicans have been lying about that too. If the ACA premium tax credits expire, the majority of people who will pay more out of pocket are working and middle-class families. In fact, the majority of people who benefit from the expiring tax credits live in Republican districts. The State of Louisiana, home of Speaker Johnson, is one of the States about to suffer most. I read an article last week from CNBC that said: ACA enhanced subsidy lapse could hit early retirees hardest. Middle-class couples in their fifties and early sixties who are too young to qualify for Medicare face the largest dollar increase in premium payments. One Idaho couple interviewed by CNBC will see their premiums spike not by 50 percent, not by 100 percent, but 300 percent-- $15,000 more a year just to have health insurance. That is what financial ruin looks like. In fact, if these tax credits expire, older Americans could end up spending 30 percent of their income just on healthcare premiums. Can you imagine? What kind of country do we live in? What kind of party is this Republican Party that is unwilling to solve this problem which is staring Americans in the face, frightening Americans from one end of the country to the other? Yet what are Republicans doing about it? Nothing. They are on vacation. It is unacceptable and morally repugnant. Democrats are demanding nothing more or less than what the overwhelming majority of Americans already want. Even a majority of MAGA voters want it. Fifty-eight percent of those who voted for Trump say renew the tax credits into next year. Americans want to keep their healthcare costs low and avoid financial ruin. Americans want to see the government reopen as soon as possible. Democrats agree. We are at the ready. We want to get past this crisis. But Republicans need to wake up from whatever dream they are in because fixing the ACA will require them to take action. Economy Mr. President, on the economy, Republicans like to talk about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Well, they can start by looking at Secretary Kristi Noem's expense report. This weekend, the New York Times reported that the Department of Homeland Security has purchased not one but two private jets--luxury jets--for Kristi Noem to the tune of $172 million in taxpayer dollars. The administration says these are G700 aircraft. That is one of the biggest private planes there is. And they say they were purchased for safety reasons. Kristi Noem and the administration say these G700 aircraft were purchased for safety reasons. That is like saying they bought a Rolls Royce to get good seatbelts. This just shows you how much contempt this administration has for people struggling to make ends meet. Let's be very clear. At a time when Americans are paying more for groceries, falling behind on car payments, seeing their electricity rates go up and up and up, Secretary Noem thinks it is a good use of taxpayer dollars to buy two jets known for having ``the most spacious cabin in the industry.'' What ever happened to the Kristi Noem who said that any expense at DHS over $100,000 needed her personal approval? Apparently, she wanted more legroom for flying. This would all be perhaps a little more amusing if it wasn't so insulting to the American people, because while Donald Trump's Cabinet Secretaries get their private jets, the American people are getting higher healthcare premiums, higher grocery costs, and a worsening job market. Let me just show this chart with a list of awful headlines about the economy just from the last week or so. From NBC: U.S. consumers bearing more than half the cost of tariffs so far, Goldman Sachs says. In the Wall Street Journal: Grocery Prices Keep Rising. Frustrated Consumers are Trying to Adapt. MarketWatch: High inflation and lack of jobs leave Americans frustrated with the economy. Those are headlines from last week. Let me get this straight. Americans pay 90 percent of the cost of Donald Trump's tariffs for more groceries, they see fewer jobs, and now the American people have to pay for two top-tier, private, luxury jets for Kristi Noem. If you want to know how much contempt Donald Trump has and how much contempt his MAGA administration has for working people, look no further than Noem's luxury jets. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, another week has passed, and the Trump shutdown drags on because Republicans refuse to work with or even negotiate with Democrats in a serious way to fix the healthcare crisis in America. Let's be clear. Republicans are demanding something that hasn't happened in previous negotiations. They are saying: Our way or the highway. No negotiation. No Democratic input. This is a highly partisan bill, and they want us to pass this partisan CR that has zero bipartisan input, zero conversation, and, frankly, zero relief for so many Americans who are afflicted by the healthcare crisis, which grows deeper and deeper, that crisis, each day. For the last month, the Republican leader's favorite number has been 13. He keeps citing 13 CRs that we passed when I was majority leader. Of course we did. What he fails to mention--I am not sure if he forgets or he is deliberately trying to ignore it--is that those 13 CRs were the product of bipartisan negotiation, of serious conversation. We had to make changes in those bills when our Republican colleagues suggested it. They were in the minority, but they had a right to be heard--a right that has been completely shut out for Democrats under this new Republican majority. It is a new way of doing things, and it has led to the Trump shutdown, aided and abetted by Senate Republicans. Leader Thune talks about hostages. Yeah. The truth is that the hostages are the American people that the Republican majority and Trump are holding hostage because they won't help them with healthcare. Americans are demanding that we do something, that we address this healthcare crisis. In terms of extending the ACA tax credits, 90 percent of Americans want them extended, 58 percent of Trump voters want them extended, and that is who is being held hostage by the Republican majority. Those are the unfortunate hostages--the American people and the crisis they face with healthcare. The ACA crisis is looming over everyone's head. Yet Republicans seem ready to let people's premiums spike by tens of thousands. That is who the hostages are--the American people who need healthcare relief, who are demanding healthcare relief. I will remind my Republican colleagues that open enrollment is in 2 weeks. That means that in 2 weeks, tens of millions of Americans are going to have to make life-changing decisions. Imagine getting a notice that your insurance is going to go up $15,000 each year, as so many of my constituents and people across America are getting, and having to make the awful, awful decision whether to have healthcare or not and then think: What if my kid gets sick, and I won't have healthcare? Well, what do I do? I can't afford $5- or $10,000 more a year. That is the position Republicans are putting the American people in. That is the position Donald Trump is putting the American people in. And I don't know if Republicans don't comprehend it. I think they do. Even when we went to the Oval Office, it seemed, when Leader Jeffries and I told President Trump about it, he was just beginning to understand the depth of the crisis. But they either don't understand it or they are brutally callous--so interested in tax cuts for the very wealthy that they are willing to just savage healthcare for the American people. Then a few Republicans, if they want to act on healthcare at all-- many of them don't want to do anything, particularly in the House, where they seem to hold Speaker Johnson in a frightened situation. He is so afraid to do anything about healthcare because his rightwing will attack him. But for those who want to act on healthcare, they think we can wait until the very, very last minute, but the reality is, it will be far too late for the American people, and many of them will be stuck paying outrageous amounts of money. The vast majority of Americans who have healthcare, who have ACA healthcare and other healthcare, are going to have to make their decisions by November 1, not January 1. Yet, despite this crisis, despite the enormity of the increase in costs that Americans will have to pay for their healthcare, Republicans continue to dig in. They continue to say: We don't want to help on healthcare. We don't want to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare. They say there is nothing to negotiate. That has to change soon. It has to for the sake of the American people. Democrats want to reopen the government as soon as possible so people can get back to work, so government services are not interrupted, but we need to fix the ACA premiums right now. If Republicans fail to act now to lower premiums, the American people will, correctly--wish it didn't have to happen, wish we could solve this--the American people will have to hold the Republicans responsible when they face financial ruin. No Kings Rallies Mr. President, now on the No Kings rallies, in a few days, millions of Americans in cities and towns, villages, rural areas across the country will exercise one of the most fundamental rights under the Constitution, one of the greatest things about America: exercising the right to peacefully protest, exercising the right to free speech. This weekend's No Kings rallies will be an affirmation about what America is all about. We are a democracy in America. We have no Kings despite the fact that Trump has even said he wants to become one and is acting in ways that are a threat to our democracy. In America, we do not have dictators, and we cannot allow Presidents to transform the Presidency into some form of dictatorship. Now more than ever, for that reason, it is vital Americans from one end of the country to the other stand up for our basic freedoms because Donald Trump is eroding our democracy day by day by day. So this weekend, I encourage Americans everywhere--Americans who love this country, who care about a democracy--I don't care if you are a Democrat or a Republican or Independent, a liberal or a moderate or a conservative--the vast majority of Americans want to preserve this democracy, and the No Kings rally says that in a very strong way, where millions of Americans--millions--will come together to say just that-- that we don't want Kings in America. I will join the marchers to celebrate what makes this country so great. I say to my fellow citizens: Do not let Donald Trump or Republicans intimidate you into silence. That is what they want to do. They are afraid of the truth. Republicans are going apoplectic because Americans are exercising their right to free speech even though some of them--too many of them-- know that Donald Trump is threatening our democracy, and the American people are seeing just that. That is the theme--the very appropriate theme--of this weekend's rallies: No Kings. No Kings. So I urge Americans: Speak out. Use your voice. Exercise your rights to free speech. And, of course, there should be no violence from either side. I say to Americans: Show the world how much we love this country, how much we love our values, how much we love our democracy and want to preserve it, and don't be afraid. Trump and the Republicans want you to be afraid. They don't like free speech when it is free speech they don't want to hear. But we are not going to let them intimidate us. For weeks, Republicans have tried to vilify these rallies. They call them the most ridiculous of terms--``Hate America'' rallies. These are love-America rallies. They call them ``terrorist'' rallies. That is just despicable. They are trying to scare people away from their basic right to free speech, but we will not be intimidated. These are not hate rallies, as some of the right wingers try to say; these are save- America rallies, love-America rallies, care-about-America rallies. Not only is this a right to protest--which we all treasure or have treasured until recently, with this new administration seeming to not want rights to protest or even free speech when they don't agree with it--this is the right thing to do, a necessity when Donald Trump weaponizes the Justice Department to become his attack dog and go after his political enemies; when he attacks the courts; when he intimidates the free press and tries to tell networks they are going to lose their licenses if they say things he doesn't agree with; when people are arrested and put in jail--American citizens--with no real cause and not even identification of who is making the arrest. I am so proud of Americans who will stand up peacefully. There is nothing--nothing--more American than exercising the right to free speech, especially the right to dissent, especially when our democracy is at risk because of what Trump and his Republican cronies are trying to do. Remember the last No Kings rally. We saw millions of people--all backgrounds, all corners of the country--gathering peacefully. We saw American flags as far as the eye can see, and that is natural. The American flag stands for free speech. The American flag stands for the right to peacefully protest even if Trump and his cronies don't even understand that or don't want to understand that. At these rallies, we saw people who love this country; we saw people who want to stand up for American values; we saw people who want to preserve our precious democracy. That, sadly, is what many Republicans want to silence. We will not be silenced. Donald Trump and many Republicans in Congress are using intimidation, lies, and bully tactics to prevent people from standing up, speaking out, exercising our precious constitutional rights. But I say again to every American out there who wants to participate in these weekend rallies: Do not let Donald Trump or Republicans intimidate you into silence. That is what they want. That is how dictators evolve--when good people of all different beliefs and backgrounds stay silent. No Kings day says: We will not stay silent. I say to the American people: Do not be afraid to exercise your right to free speech. Be proud that you are doing it. Do not be afraid to peacefully protest against Donald Trump's eroding of our democracy, and do not be afraid to show how much you love this beautiful democracy--as the Founding Fathers called it, ``God's noble experiment.'' We have to keep this precious democracy. Young Republicans Mr. President, now on the Young Republicans--another sad chapter in how the Republican Party has devolved over the last few years. It has been 2 days since POLITICO published a horrifying story revealing thousands--thousands--of private messages containing racist, sexist, and violent comments from prominent members of the Young Republicans organization. Yet President Trump and the Republican leadership have remained silent. There is nothing but radio silence from Republican leaders who seem to claim they worry about combating politically violent rhetoric. The silence from Republican leaders in the face of Hitler jokes and gas chamber jokes is deafening. Where are they? When they don't like somebody who says something on the left, they are the first to criticize. Well, this is one of the nastiest, most vicious things that we have ever seen written--by Young Republicans, no less--and the Republican leadership, including President Trump, is silent. As I said, Republicans never miss a chance to preach about violent rhetoric when it comes from the other side, and, of course, that should be condemned, but now that it is coming from their own ranks, they are silent. Some Republicans seem to even excuse this vile behavior. This is amazing. The Vice President of the United States, no less, JD Vance, dismissed the messages as just a college group chat. Can you imagine if it was a group of people on the left saying some things, if he would say the same thing? A college group chat? Does JD Vance really think glorifying Hitler and gas chambers is just a silly joke? Imagine-- imagine--if it came from the other side. We all know that Vance would be losing his mind right now. He would be all over FOX News decrying it. But now, since it is coming from his own ranks, he is just excusing. Despicable. Disgraceful. Shameful. No matter if you are a Republican or Democrat or in the middle, we all must condemn this nasty behavior and make it clear that this type of vicious rhetoric is unacceptable in America. Gateway Mr. President, on Gateway, yesterday, President Trump and his administration ``terminated'' funding for Gateway. Gateway is the most important infrastructure project in America, period. It will keep our economy moving, our region connected, tens of thousands of union workers on the job. Donald Trump is trying to kill it again in pure spite and with sheer stupidity. It is petty revenge politics. Who gets hurt? It is going to screw over hundreds of thousands of New York and New Jersey commuters, choke off our economy, and kill good- paying jobs. It affects New Jersey. More people use it to commute from New Jersey than from New York. What Trump has done on Gateway is vindictive, reckless, and foolish. And if Donald Trump thinks he can use New Yorkers, use New Jerseyans, commuters, small businesses, union construction workers, and the first responders as political pawns, it will backfire on him spectacularly. We will fight the President on this in every way to preserve this crucial, vital infrastructure project--crucial and vital to New York, New Jersey, the northeast economy, and the whole American economy. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it has now been over 2 weeks since Republicans shut the government down because they refuse to work with Democrats in a serious way to fix the healthcare crisis looming over the American people. Open enrollment starts in just 2 weeks, and Americans will be forced to choose healthcare plans that will send costs skyrocketing. As we speak, families are receiving letters for their new health insurance rates, and more States--more States--are opening their window-shopping period for what health insurance will look like next year. With open enrollment around the corner, Republicans cannot continue to kick this can down the road. It is happening now. The healthcare crisis is now. The public agrees. Democrats agree. The White House privately admits it. Even some Republicans in Congress know it is the truth, and yet Republican leaders, especially Speaker Johnson, continue to dig in. The Speaker has now kept the House Republicans on vacation for 3 weeks, as if they can make the issue go away by letting House Republicans hide. Well, the American people don't have time for Republican inaction. This morning, let me show my Republican colleagues precisely what will happen if they continue to insist on ``no negotiation.'' Let's take a look at this chart. These are real numbers. These are the actual numbers for New York's healthcare exchange for the average couple in Plattsburgh, NY. This is in the heart of New York's rural North Country, and it is Congresswoman Elise Stefanik's district. Right now, with the ACA tax credits, this healthcare plan, a bronze plan, is $282 a month. That is still a lot for a family, a working family. It is a lot of money. It ends up, you know, coming close to $4,000--$3,500 a year. But that is nothing compared to what will happen if these credits expire. If the tax credits expire, the same healthcare plan will go up to nearly $1,700 a month next year--$1,700. Mr. President, $1,400 extra every single month--a 495-percent increase. For the average family or small business owner or farmer in upstate rural New York, an extra $1,400 a month on healthcare is financial ruin. That is $15,000 a year. How are people--even people making decent money--going to afford that? And this is not just true of New York. This is similar to what is happening in all the States around the country. Every day now, people are getting notices, and we are getting close to November 1, where people are going to have to decide: Do they give up health insurance altogether and watch their people, their children, their spouses suffer? So I say to my Republican colleagues, especially in the House: You can't hide from your constituents forever. The American people expect Congress to fix this healthcare crisis, because otherwise people will go bankrupt; people will get sick; people will lose insurance; people will fail to get the care they need; and more people--more people--will needlessly die. Republicans know this, and yet neither the Trump administration nor Republicans in Congress are even pretending to try and solve the healthcare crisis. Democrats are ready and willing to negotiate with Republicans. We want to work in a serious way to reopen the government and spare tens of millions of Americans the threat of financial ruin--financial ruin-- $15,000 more or even more a year. Trump Administration Mr. President, last week, the Trump administration vindictively fired thousands of Federal workers in a mistaken attempt to try to hurt the Democrats in this shutdown. Let's be very clear: Nobody forced the administration to do these firings. They did it because they wanted to, period. They did it on their own. This decision, which they made--Trump made and his administration made, Vought--was so callous, so unnecessary, so deeply hurtful to hard-working Americans, and yesterday we learned it is even worse than they thought. Yesterday, we learned that the administration admitted in court that nearly 800 employees in HHS were laid off in error. Not only are they mean and vicious and uncaring, they are incompetent. It is despicable. How careless, how incompetent is this administration? How cruel are they that they will throw away people's livelihoods like this with the flick of a pen without even examining what is happening? These accidental firings show you how stupid it is for Russell Vought to treat Federal workers as political pawns. It is destructive; it is cruel; it is vicious, and it will backfire in the eyes of the public. That is why even Republicans in Congress have urged the administration not to take vengeance out on Federal workers. The administration should reverse every single firing from last week and should stop playing politics with people's livelihoods and their lives. They should instead get serious about negotiation with Congress to end this shutdown at once. Young Republicans Chat Group Mr. President, and finally on the Young Republicans, it is a frightening time in America as we witness the rise of political violence and violent rhetoric. Yesterday, as most people now know, Politico published a story about thousands upon thousands of text exchanges reported from prominent members of the Young Republican organization across the country, showing racist, sexist, outright violent language. This wasn't a casual mention. This happened thousands and thousands and thousands of times from a group called the Young Republican organization. They made jokes about Hitler, about gas chambers. They talked about torture. They made jokes about sexual assault. They used almost every racist obscenity, including the N-word. Now no matter who it comes from, right or left, all of us have an obligation to denounce vile rhetoric like this. But a full day after these texts have leaked, most Republican leaders haven't said a peep about these gas chamber and Hitler jokes coming from the Young Republicans. Too many Republicans seem willing to call out violent rhetoric only when it comes from the other side. But these same Republicans never seem willing to denounce it when it comes from their own ranks, and that is dangerous. Violent political rhetoric is an attack on everyone. And Vice President Vance yesterday, amazingly, seemed to excuse these vile texts as just a college group chat and ``refuse[d] to join the pearl clutching.'' That is outrageous. Leave it to JD Vance to preach about violent political rhetoric only when it serves his interests and then ignore or excuse it when it comes from his own side. The hypocrisy is disgusting and shameful coming from supposed national leaders. If you don't like hate speech, you don't like all hate speech, not just hate speech from political groups you don't like. The real test is to denounce it from groups that might be on your side of the aisle, the Young Republican organization. And let's be clear: These aren't random college kids. These are individuals who work in government, who have held positions of leadership at the State level, and one person in the chat is actually an elected official. Of course, some Republicans at the lower level have spoken out, and good for them; they should do so. But where is everyone else? Where are all our Republican colleagues? Where is President Trump? Here is what needs to happen: Every single Republican leader from the President on down has to condemn these attacks immediately or all their cries about hate speech seem to be one-sided or bogus. The people who made these vile comments should be out of a job and never allowed to work in politics again. And both sides must make it clear to the entire country that vile rhetoric like this is unacceptable. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I would like to begin today by underscoring some really wonderful news. Yesterday, the last living hostages, brutally held by the vicious Hamas organization, were released. Now they are back home finally with their loved ones. This is an immense, overwhelming sigh of relief for everyone. I commend the enormous advocacy of the tireless hostage families and all who helped make this moment happen. Over the last 2 years, I have gotten to know many of these hostage families well. I have been inspired by their strength and their courage and their persistence--they never gave up; they were here all the time--in bringing their loved ones home. Now, after so long, so much pain, so many sleepless nights, it warms my heart to see the joyous images of those families and many others reuniting with their loved ones. But, as we all know, there is still a whole lot of work to be done. I remain fully committed to bringing home the remains of all the hostages who died in captivity--essential in Jewish law and Jewish burial-- including the remains of my two constituents Omer Neutra and Itay Chen. Hersh Goldberg Polin's mother Rachel reminded us of the beautiful Jewish teaching during Sukkot that sums up this moment so fiercely. She said: There is a time to sob, and there is a time to dance, and we have to do both right now. Of course, they lost their loved one; they lost their child. This cease-fire represents a real opportunity to finally ensure a lasting end to this painful war, to surge humanitarian assistance and relief to the suffering Palestinians in Gaza, to make progress on negotiations for stability and governance in Gaza to ensure this is more than just a temporary cease-fire, and finally--finally--to build a lasting peace ultimately through a two-state solution. For the last year on this floor, I have told the Trump administration, the Netanyahu administration, and everybody else that the best and only long-term solution to ultimate, long-term peace in the Middle East is a two-state solution. Well, now there is a potential opening to get that, and everyone involved must move in that direction, even if we have to move mountains. It ensures security, prosperity, and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Only then will a true peace be realized. Argentina On Argentina, if Americans want to know just how little Donald Trump seems to care about their healthcare, look at what he is doing today in the Oval Office. As we speak, the administration is approving $20 billion in taxpayer dollars to bail out Argentina in the middle of a shutdown. I have just one question: If this administration has $20 billion to spare for a MAGA-friendly foreign government, how can they say we don't have the money to lower healthcare costs here at home? The overwhelming majority of Americans say ``We need help with our healthcare,'' and they are busy spending $20 billion because Trump seems to really like the leader of Argentina. They are both sort of MAGA types. The administration is giving this money away to help Argentina's hard-right President in his election, where his party is in serious trouble. It is a bailout. It is nonsensical. And at the same time, the American people are frightened, scared, and worried about losing their healthcare. It makes no sense to give money to Argentina and then say we don't have enough money to help Americans with healthcare. It is so against what Americans want. I am sure if we had a vote here in this country, it would be 99 to 1 almost that the money belongs here, and that is what we should be focused on. Meanwhile, farmers across America are looking at this Argentina bailout and wondering whose side the administration is on. It has been a devastating year for our soybean farmers because this administration has bungled trade talks with Beijing, and as a consequence, they have killed our soybean exports to that country. Now China is looking precisely to Argentina to cut new soybean deals while our farmers at home suffer backbreaking losses. On top of all that, you mean to tell me the administration is fine with sending $20 billion of taxpayer dollars to help foreign farmers compete against American farmers here at home in the middle of a shutdown? It is insane--utterly insane. This Argentina bailout is a slap in the face to both American farmers and to working families worried about keeping their healthcare. I will say it again. If this administration has $20 billion to spare for a MAGA-friendly foreign government, they cannot turn around and say we don't have the money to lower healthcare costs here at home. Those costs are going through the roof. Government Funding Mr. President, on day 14 of the Trump shutdown, I want to remind everybody why we are here in the first place. Democrats made it very clear day in and day out: We want to open the government and have a serious negotiation to fix the healthcare premium crisis that is set to wallop the American people. Nearly everyone agrees that looming ACA premium hikes are a devastating problem. The public knows it, we Democrats know it, the White House privately knows it, and even Republicans here in Congress know it. They admit it. Yet Republicans remain dug in and insist that there is nothing to negotiate when it comes to healthcare, that they won't even sit down and talk with Democrats about it. That makes no sense. That is not the way we always get our CRs done. The Republican leader has now scheduled seven votes on the Republican partisan CR, and it has failed to secure enough votes to pass this Chamber each time. That means, like it or not, the Republican leader needs to work with Democrats in a bipartisan way to reopen the government, just as we did when we passed 13 CRs when I was majority leader. Last week, we saw what happens when Republicans choose to work with Democrats in a serious way. We passed the NDAA--it was a strong national defense bill--with a strong bipartisan vote. We need the same enthusiasm from Republicans that we saw on the NDAA here on the healthcare issue. Of course, the biggest roadblock right now to reopening the government is the Speaker of the House. The Speaker has kept Congress on vacation for 3 weeks. It is just incredible. Government workers must work without getting paid; House Republicans get paid without working. Johnson continues to insist there is nothing to negotiate, but I want to make one point very clear: Republican leaders can say all they want that there is nothing to negotiate, but if Republicans don't change course, then very soon 20 million Americans are going to face financial catastrophe when their healthcare premiums go through the roof. And many more Americans will face it than 20 million, but 20 million are right on the frontlines here because of the ACA. That is a reality Republicans can't make disappear by just digging in. The ACA premium crisis is not a fix-it-later issue but, rather, a fix-it-now issue because open enrollment starts in less than a month, and window-shopping has already begun in several States, where people have the awful choice: Should I go without healthcare altogether with my family? What if my kid or my spouse or I get sick? Or should I cut back on almost everything else because I need to pay huge increases in my healthcare insurance? So Republicans may think they can dig in until the next ice age, but a fork in the road is coming their way whether they like it or not: Either work with Democrats to fix ACA premiums or sit by as 20 million Americans pay thousands of dollars more out of pocket. If Republicans remain dug in, the American people will hold them responsible for rising healthcare costs. If Republicans do nothing, they will be the ones triggering a massive healthcare panic that will be felt from coast to coast. This is a nonnegotiable fact. Democrats want to avoid reaching that point. We want to work in a serious way with our Republican colleagues and with President Trump to defuse this healthcare crisis before it starts, but we are running out of time. POLITICO Report Mr. President, I want to close by speaking briefly on an extremely disturbing report I just read in POLITICO. Earlier today, POLITICO published a story purporting to show thousands of private messages containing racist, sexist, and violent comments by young Republican leaders across the country. The leaked conversations are revolting. They make you want to throw up. They include comments supposedly from young Republican leaders saying things like ``I love Hitler.'' Can you believe it? They include gas chamber jokes--how sick. They include racist obscenities, including the N-word. They include jokes with sexual assault. Many of these individuals who allegedly made these comments have positions of leadership in the Young Republican organization. It is hard to believe. You can't make this up. It is awful. It is revolting. It is disgusting. It is obnoxious. It is the kind of garbage the worst kinds of people say when they think no one is watching. If this report is accurate, every single Republican leader from President Trump on down, including every Republican Senator, including the Republic National Committee, ought to condemn these comments swiftly and unequivocally, and the people should no longer have any position of power in any Republican organization--the people who said it. At this delicate political moment, party leaders of all sides have an obligation to speak out against this kind of violent and vile rhetoric. Republican leaders cannot be silent if these sickening reports are true. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, last night, nearly 2 years to the day of Hamas's vicious attack on October 7, after nearly 2 long years of devastating war in Gaza, it appears that a cease-fire and hostage agreement has been reached. If this agreement is implemented, then, finally, after 2 years of immense suffering, the hostages could soon be free, there could be a cease-fire, and the victims of this painful conflict can start to rebuild their lives. This brings a huge sigh of relief to the hostage families, to all of Israel, and to Palestinians who have suffered for so long in this horrific humanitarian catastrophe. Now, we await details and final acceptance and implementation from all parties of the first phase, and we must begin the even harder work of closing negotiations to end the war, to start building the day after in Gaza without Hamas, to surge humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, and to build a lasting peace--a lasting peace--that ensures security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. This morning, I hope and pray that all of the hostages are released, including the deceased hostages. I will never give up until all of the hostages are home, including the remains of my constituents Omer Neutra and Itay Chen. I have gotten to know their families well over the last 2 years, and I share their desperation to bring them home for proper burial and closure. The work is not over, but any step to end this nightmare is one that should be celebrated and carefully implemented. Government Funding Mr. President, now, on the shutdown and the Trump administration, the Federal Government has now been shut down for more than a week, but Donald Trump, Speaker Johnson, and Republicans in Congress are nowhere to be found. Instead of playing with people's lives, Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress need to sit down with Democrats and have a serious negotiation to fix healthcare and reopen the government at once. Workers are starting to miss out on paychecks. Seniors are worried about delays at the Social Security Administration. Small businesses with government contracts are in the dark. We need to end this shutdown as soon as possible. Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans, and the clearer it becomes who is fighting for them. Each day, our case to fix healthcare and end the shutdown gets better and better, stronger and stronger, because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will climb if Republicans get their way. They are seeing why this fight matters. It is about protecting their healthcare, their bank accounts, their futures. But Republicans are absent. The House is literally on vacation. And Donald Trump, meanwhile, continues to play with people's lives and threaten mass layoffs for Federal workers. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Republican leaders in Congress have been urging the administration not to follow through with their threats of mass layoffs and no back pay for furloughed Federal workers. The Journal wrote that ``far-reaching government cuts and firings could backfire with the public.'' And aides have been ``warning that such moves could cause voters to blame Republicans for the shutdown.'' That is the Wall Street Journal. Well, this is spot-on. If Donald Trump thinks that punishing Federal workers and treating the American public as pawns is going to help him politically, he is making a terrible mistake, because the American people are smart. They see what Trump and the Republicans are doing. They know Republicans are the ones in charge. They have the Presidency, the House, and the Senate--not Democrats. We Democrats want to end this shutdown as quickly as we can, but Donald Trump and Republicans need to negotiate with us in a serious way to fix the healthcare premiums crisis. We can and should do both. It is not either-or, like Republicans think. President Trump, meanwhile, is simply not taking this shutdown seriously, because, as we speak, the Trump administration continues to negotiate a $20 billion bailout for Argentina to prop up a MAGA ally. Apparently, Donald Trump thinks that $20 billion for a MAGA-friendly government in Argentina is fine, but fixing healthcare premiums here at home is not. Meanwhile, thanks to Trump's bungled trade war with China, American soybean farmers have been shut out of foreign markets and are facing mass bankruptcies. With American farmers cut out, farmers in countries like Argentina are taking advantage, selling a record number of soybeans to China. But instead of helping American farms now in the middle of a shutdown, Donald Trump wants to send $20 billion to Argentina to help them compete against American farmers, all while hungry Americans face higher grocery prices and the largest cuts ever to nutrition aid, thanks to Donald Trump and the Republicans' ``Big Ugly Bill.'' It is utter lunacy. Whose side is Donald Trump on? And the situation is no better here in Congress. In the middle of a shutdown crisis, Speaker Johnson has shut the lights off to the Halls of Congress. We Democrats have made clear that Republicans need to engage with us in serious negotiation to end this destructive shutdown and fix healthcare premiums as soon as we can, but Speaker Johnson has sent the House on vacation. He has sent Members home now for 3 weeks, and it sounds like he will keep them away for at least another week more. The House of Representatives has not held a vote--a single vote-- since September 19, 20 days ago. In fact, would you care to guess how many days the House has been in town since the end of July? Twelve days. That is it. Since the summer, the House of Representatives has held votes for only 12 days. If you are someone who works two jobs or works weekends or overtime to make ends meet, what on Earth are you supposed to think when House Republicans can't even be bothered to show up to reopen the government? House Republicans are getting paid and not working, and they are asking Federal workers to work and not get paid. If your electricity prices are skyrocketing, if your premiums are going up by thousands of dollars, if you are getting charged more for a cup of coffee or your groceries, and you see Republicans on vacation for 3 weeks straight, that is basically a middle finger to hard-working Americans. And let's be clear. The Speaker's dig-in-at-all-costs approach is not sitting well with some Members of his own party. Yesterday, Marjorie Taylor Greene said the following: The House has so much work to do, why aren't we coming back in session? We could be doing appropriations, passing important bills, and more. Representative Massie of Kentucky tweeted something similar: The government is shut down, but the House refuses to go back in session. Why are we in recess? Said Republican Massie. Because the day we go back into session, I have 218 votes for the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Representative Kevin Kiley of California, Republican, meanwhile, posted this: The Speaker shouldn't even think about cancelling session for a third straight week. So the cracks are showing on the Republican side because they know Speaker Johnson's position of not budging on healthcare fixes is untenable. And in Louisiana, in fact, I would have thought that of all people interested in fixing ACA premiums, it would have been a Representative from the State of Louisiana. Yesterday, I read a sobering report from the Times-Picayune saying that ``Louisiana stands to lose the most'' if the ACA premium tax credits expire. According to that report, 85,000 Louisiana residents will lose health insurance. Many will see their premiums skyrocket. The average 60-year- old Louisiana couple making $85,000 a year would see insurance costs rise from $600 a month to $2,000 a month. Hear that, Mr. Speaker? That is your constituents. Good Americans in your own State will suffer the most if the ACA premiums expire. People will go bankrupt, people will get sick, people will die--all because the Speaker chose to keep the House on vacation, rather than come to work, negotiate with Democrats to fix this healthcare crisis, and end their Trump shutdown. Shameful. We urge the Republicans to back away from their corner and have serious negotiations that the American people deserve and expect before people get sick and go bankrupt. Remembering Kevin McDonald Mr. President, now, finally, on a different, more somber but grateful note, last month, the Senate lost a beloved member of our family: Kevin McDonald. Kevin served as the scheduler for our former colleague Senator Patrick Leahy for over 30 years, and I know Patrick would be the first to admit that he wouldn't have had the great career he did without Kevin by his side. I am sure there were many days when I called Patrick 10 or 20 times-- I still remember his phone number--or asked him to rush to my office in the middle of something else, and made Kevin's life hell trying to keep his schedule. But Kevin, the consummate professional he was, always found a way to make it work. He made the hardest days feel easier. He made the busiest days feel smoother. And everyone who knew him, whether you were a Senator, a staffer, a parking attendant, or a police officer--everyone--just loved to be around him. He was the life of every party. He lit up every room he walked into and had an innate ability to turn friends into family. We will all miss Kevin. We thank him for his service to the Senate, the State of Vermont, and the country. Our prayers are with his family, his friends, and his loved ones. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the failed cloture vote on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 167, S. 2882.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I call up my amendment No. 3109 to amendment No. 3748 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, back in May, President Trump accepted the largest foreign gift to an American President in modern history--a $400 million luxury Boeing 747 for use as Air Force One. It is outrageous that President Trump wants to fly around the world like a King while Americans are getting hammered by tariffs and paying more for healthcare, groceries, rent, and electricity. Some say that this plane was gifted and that it didn't cost the United States anything, but make no mistake about it, merely retrofitting this foreign-owned luxury jet to make it fully operational will cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. That is money that shouldn't be wasted, so, today, I have an amendment that will make sure not a penny of taxpayer dollars provided in this NDAA will go to any remodeling or maintenance of the President's foreign-owned Air Force One. It would prohibit funds authorized by this bill from being diverted for procurement, modification, restoration, or maintenance of an aircraft previously owned by a foreign government for the purpose of providing a Presidential airlift, and it would ensure the security and continued reliability of the Air Force One fleet. Republicans like to talk about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Spending even a penny of taxpayer dollars on retrofitting this luxury is about as wasteful--as wasteful--as it gets. I urge my Republican colleagues who care about spending taxpayer dollars responsibly to support this amendment. I yield the floor.

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it has now been a full week--a whole week--of Donald Trump's government shutdown, and the country is feeling the sting of Republican intransigence. Over 700,000 Federal employees have been furloughed. Services are being disrupted. The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that businesses nationwide with government contracts are in peril. The Republican-manufactured disaster did not need to happen. The government is shut down for one reason and one reason only: Donald Trump and the Republicans would rather kick 15 million people off health insurance, would rather raise premiums by thousands and thousands of dollars a year on tens of millions of Americans, rather than sit down and work with Democrats on fixing healthcare. That is the reason. They would rather kick tens of millions off healthcare than sit down with us and work with us in addressing this so important issue--so important to the American people. Now, Americans are frustrated. The cost of living continues to go up. Donald Trump's tariffs have sent grocery prices spiking. It is even more expensive now to buy a cup of coffee, the first thing many people drink in the morning. They are going to see Trump's tariffs hurting them. People are worried about paying more on their electricity bill. Forty-one States have seen increased prices. Why? Because in their mania of hating clean energy, they cut out so much of wind and solar, solar being the cheapest form of new energy to go on the grid. Americans are pessimistic that any of this is going to get any better, and they blame President Trump and the Republicans. A CBS poll from a few days ago found that 75 percent of Americans don't think the administration--the Trump administration--is focusing enough on lowering costs. Fixing healthcare would be at the top of the list for lowering costs for people. Now, Democrats want to reopen the government right away. We want to have a serious negotiation to fix healthcare so that people can see their costs go down. And we can do both: fix healthcare and reopen the government. This is not an either-or thing, which Republicans are making it, and the American people don't like it. Democrats have been consistent. Our position remains the same. We have been saying it for months: Republicans are shutting down the government because they refuse to address the crisis in American healthcare. One sentence sums it all up: Republicans are shutting down the government because they refuse to fix and address the crisis in American healthcare. Now, our Republican colleagues, being against public sentiment, are flailing. On the one hand, it is starting to sink in for Republicans that their position of not fixing healthcare is untenable in the eyes of the American people. As President Lincoln said, ``Public sentiment is everything.'' Well, public sentiment is building on fixing healthcare. It is high already. It is getting higher every day, and it is not going to recede. It is getting even stronger. Republicans refuse to acknowledge that public sentiment is not on the side of Trump and Johnson. And Johnson has become the No. 1 roadblock to ending a shutdown. He sent everyone home for 3 weeks now. If you care about fixing the crisis, if you care about reopening the government, how the hell do you keep your House not in session for 3 weeks? And now their buddy Johnson himself is feeling the heat. At first, he and his caucus were telling Republicans in the House: Don't talk about healthcare. They knew the American people were against what they thought. Johnson's leadership team explicitly told Members in a memo not to mention healthcare when talking about the shutdown. Of course, that didn't work because the public knows, overwhelmingly, that we need lower healthcare premiums and that is what Democrats are fighting for and that is what is preventing the Republicans from coming to the table. They don't want to fix it. That is why they are causing the shutdown. So feeling the heat, Speaker Johnson held a press conference yesterday and said perhaps one of the most ridiculous things I have heard from Republicans in a long time. He said: ``Let me look right under the camera,'' said Johnson, ``and [I will] tell you very clearly: Republicans are the ones concerned about healthcare.'' As he did it, he couldn't look right into the camera. Deep in his subconscious, he knew he wasn't telling the truth. What he said was nonsense. He couldn't even look in the camera when he said this because he knows the American people don't buy what he is saying. Republicans are the ones who cut a trillion dollars from Medicaid, who tried to repeal the ACA. Three times we asked them to vote to sustain it after the new year. Three times they voted it down. So that is first. Second, Donald Trump is making all these terrible threats led by the evil Mr. Vought. Trump is saying, he is going to fire people en masse, saying that Federal workers don't even deserve backpay, even though he signed the law guaranteeing backpay in 2019. Again, they are threatening. They are bludgeoning. They are using the American people, government workers, as pawns. But these kinds of tactics from the administration are backfiring. Americans don't like being used as pawns. Even if they are not one subject to being held hostage, they don't like watching it happen. The American people know clearly that it is Republicans who are in charge. Republicans have the White House. They control the House and the Senate. So when people are laid off, when people are not paid, when people are not getting backpay, they know it is the Republicans trying to do it, even though they are using it to try and bully us. It is not Democrats who are threatening to fire people or threatening to withhold backpay. It is the Republican side, Donald Trump, saying all this, and the American people know it and will blame them for these mass firings and chaos. The data is very clear that trying to use the public as political pawns will backfire for Republicans, and plenty of Republicans in Congress know this. That is why, behind closed doors, some Republicans are praying the administration tones down its threats because these mean-spirited tactics by Russell Vought aren't going to win in the court of public opinion or the hearts and minds of Americans. Look, Republicans are tripping over themselves because they are divided on the core issue: fixing people's healthcare. When someone on the hard right--the hard, hard right--Marjorie Taylor Greene, openly says Republican leaders are wrong and that we need to fix the premiums, that is how you know how deeply Republicans are split. Let me read what she said. This is Marjorie Taylor Greene, not Chuck Schumer: I'm going to go against everyone on this issue-- Healthcare that is-- because when tax credits expire this year my own adult children's insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district. More Republicans should listen to her because on this issue, she is right on the money. Meanwhile, Democrats' position hasn't changed. We urge our Republican colleagues to join us in serious negotiation to reopen the government and extend ACA premiums. It is the right thing to do for the American people, and by doing it, we will be able to quickly reopen the government before any more serious damage is done by the Republicans to our country. Nomination of Jennifer Lee Mascott Mr. President, finally, on nominations, today, the Senate will vote to advance the nomination of Jennifer Mascott of Maryland to be a circuit court judge for the Third Circuit. I will oppose Mascott's nomination because she does not seem to have any other qualification for the job other than this: She is a career loyalist and sycophant to Donald Trump. She has no connections to the Third Circuit. She has never lived in Delaware. She is not even licensed to practice law in Delaware. In fact, her only link to the State is a beachside summer home. If you look at Mascott's resume, the only time she has ever really practiced law is the 2 years she worked in Trump's Department of Justice. That is it, and you are putting her on the circuit court, one of the most important courts in the country? Well, the only reason Donald Trump is putting Mascott on the bench is because he thinks she will do whatever he wants from the bench. She will be a total, total Trump sycophant--not look at the law, not look at the facts, just look at Donald Trump and see which way he is nodding and follow it. This nominee is another troubling example of the ``Trumpification'' of the Federal bench, where loyalists replace jurists and obeisance to Trump matters more than adherence to the law or precedent or even the Constitution. It is just like what we saw yesterday in the Judiciary Committee. Pam Bondi exposed herself as woefully unqualified to be Attorney General but a supremely obeisant Trump deputy is what she is instead. She spent her time dodging questions, hurling insults, and, most importantly for Donald Trump, defending the President's interests more than anything else, even if the law or the facts or the truth pointed strongly in the other direction. This troubling pattern of obeisance above all in our judiciary system is dangerous and troubling. So I will oppose today's nominee and urge my colleagues to do the same. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to the motion to reconsider the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 2882.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S. 2882.

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor. Cloture Motion

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, well, unfortunately, it is a sad day. Today marks 2 years since Hamas's horrific, brutal, terrorist attack on Israel--a day of inextinguishable grief, the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. No matter how much time passes, I will always remember October 7 as if it were yesterday. On October 7, I was in Beijing, leading a bipartisan delegation in China, meeting with President Xi about opening up Chinese markets to U.S. companies, when I first learned of the attack. I will never forget the story. The Israeli Ambassador to China came and told me what happened in Israel and talked about what happened at the Kibbutz Be'eri, where Hamas gathered children, grandparents, mothers, and babies into one community center and gunned them all down. It reminded me of the story of my grandmother in Chortkiv, in western Ukraine, in 1941, when the Nazis came to her home and asked her to gather her greater family on the porch. About 35 people gathered, from ages 80 to 3 months. The Nazis said: You are coming with us. She said: We are not moving. They gunned them all down--machine-gunned them all down. So the story of Be'eri was eerily reminiscent. After hearing of the attack, I cut my trip to China short, as important as it was, and got on a plane to Israel as soon as I could. I told the Israeli people, during these troubled times, that the American people were with them. What I saw in Israel, in the aftermath of the attack, shook me to my core. I met with families whose loved ones were killed, injured, and a woman telling us she was waving good-bye to her son, 12 years old, who was kidnapped and on a motorcycle with a Hamas thug. I will never forget those meetings. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. The world must never--never--forget the horrors that Hamas inflicted on them that day. The brutality and viciousness of Hamas's attacks-- indiscriminate violence against innocent infants, young people at a concert, women, the elderly; sexual violence--taking hundreds of hostages, will remain ever present in my mind and in the minds of the conscience of the world. Today, we remember the victims of the October 7 attacks--may their memories be a blessing--and we reaffirm our commitment to finally bring home all the hostages still held so cruelly by Hamas, vicious organization that it is. Two years later, 48 hostages remain in Hamas's captivity, including the remains of two New Yorkers, Omer Neutra and Itay Chen. Every day that these hostages remain in captivity, every day their families are denied full closure and burial of their loved ones is a day too long. We remain committed to bringing the hostages home as soon as possible. At this crucial moment in negotiations, the Trump administration and all those at the table and the international community must do everything--everything--to finally secure a cease-fire and hostage agreement to end the war in Gaza and to bring the hostages held by Hamas home, and to surge desperately needed humanitarian relief to innocent Palestinians facing heartbreaking levels of hunger and devastation in Gaza, and, finally, to build an enduring and lasting peace. It is imperative that all parties involved do everything possible to secure this desperately needed agreement.