Rick Scott

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 189, S. 1151. I further ask that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. (English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:) I stand with the people of Venezuela and will always fight for freedom and democracy in Latin America. Mr. President, what I have proposed is a simple action we can take as Americans to help end Maduro's genocide. I am completely disappointed with my Democratic colleague's objection to my request today. This bipartisan proposal cleared the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee with unanimous consent. I am eager to resolve my colleague's concerns quickly, and I hope that he and the other Senator who objected before will work with me to get this done. Unfortunately, they have not been willing to meet with me to fix this and to get this done. I am not giving up and plan to bring this up again and again. We don't have time to delay. We cannot lose sight of the fact that Nicolas Maduro is killing his citizens. We need to take every action we can to say to Maduro that the United States will not stand and let this continue. Even though my bill was blocked today, I will never stop fighting until Venezuela and all of Latin America can begin a new day of freedom. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I rise to speak again today about the crisis in Venezuela, a defining human rights issue of our time. Nicolas Maduro is starving his own people, and innocent children are dying. It is a genocide right here in our hemisphere. Every day that passes, the situation in Venezuela grows more dire. This weekend, the world watched as Maduro orchestrated a sham election. No one was fooled by this pathetic attempt. The appearance of democracy is not democracy. Maduro is a murderous dictator who doesn't respect human rights or the will of his people. He must be stopped. The Trump administration has taken decisive action to hold Maduro accountable, sanction the Venezuelan regime, and cut off the funds Maduro uses to hold on to power. But the United States and all freedom- loving countries around the world must do more. As Governor, I strictly prohibited the State of Florida, including all State agencies, from investing in any company that did business with Maduro's repressive regime. It is simple. Why would we ever use taxpayer money to support a regime that is killing its own people? My bill, the Venezuelan Contracting Restriction Act, does the same thing on the Federal level by prohibiting Federal agencies from doing business with anyone who supports Maduro. Last year, we included a targeted version of this measure in the NDAA that prohibited the Department of Defense from doing business with anyone supporting Maduro's regime. Now it is time for us to be clear and united in our support for the Venezuelan people and prohibit every agency in the Federal Government from doing anything that would support Maduro and his genocide. Mr. President, I ask consent to address the Senate in Spanish.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

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

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I rise today to support the confirmation of Aileen Mercedes Cannon to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Ms. Cannon has a distinguished record of public service, during which she has demonstrated a firm commitment to upholding the United States Constitution and respecting the rule of law. She began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Steven Colloton on the Eighth Circuit United States Court of Appeals and has served with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida since 2013. I am confident that she will continue to serve the Southern District of Florida well once she is confirmed to the bench, and I am proud to support her confirmation today.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, General Secretary Xi is a dictator and human rights violator. He is yet another Communist leader trying to be the dominant world power. The Chinese Communist Party is stripping the people of Hong Kong of their freedoms, cracking down on dissidents, militarizing the South China Sea, supporting Maduro's genocide in Venezuela, surveilling its citizens, and imprisoning more than 1 million Uighurs in internment camps simply because of their religion. Communist China is committing genocide against the Uighurs. It doesn't end there. Recent reports indicate that the Communist Party of China is attempting the same thing in Tibet, forcing hundreds of thousands of people in Tibet into mass labor camps. We know the Chinese Communist Party and their puppets continue to silence and intimidate those standing up for democracy and human rights. They detain and harass journalists to try and prevent the truth from getting out. Foreigners and journalists working and traveling in Communist China do so at their own risk. Just last week, Communist China began threatening to take Americans as hostages. The national security threat of Communist China cannot be taken lightly. The censorship of these human rights abuses cannot be ignored. General Secretary Xi doesn't want us to know about the oppression occurring under his regime. For years, the Communist Government in China has tried to push its propaganda in America through state-owned media outlets while refusing to treat American journalists in China fairly. We saw this firsthand earlier this year. Chinese-backed propaganda outlets peddled China's lies about the coronavirus and endangered the lives of Americans. In March, the Chinese Communist Party expelled more than a dozen U.S. journalists and required other outlets to submit written reports of their staff, finances, operations, and real estate in China. We cannot allow this mistreatment to continue, and we have to take action. I am proud to sponsor the Chinese-Backed Media Accountability Act to create accountability for Communist China's censorship of free speech and failure to treat American journalists fairly. My bill prevents new visas to Chinese-backed journalists until we know exactly how many Chinese propaganda journalists are operating in the United States, and it creates reciprocity by making sure the number of Chinese-backed journalists in the United States is equal to the amount of independent American journalists allowed in China. We have to stand up and say that this behavior by Communist China is unacceptable, and I look forward to all of my colleagues' supporting this proposal. Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 4797 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I am disappointed my Democratic colleague doesn't want to focus on the global impact of General Secretary Xi's censorship. I clearly don't understand why my Democratic colleagues refuse to stand up to Communist China. They have stopped every attempt to protect Americans from this threat. Again and again, the Democrats block efforts to hold Communist China accountable and never try to work with us to come up with solutions. They blocked my resolution to move the 2022 Olympics out of Communist China. They blocked my bill to prevent Communist China from stealing or sabotaging American COVID-19 vaccine research, even as American lives depend on the rapid development of this vaccine. Now they are turning a blind eye to the censorship of American journalists in China. Chinese state-backed journalists in America push the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party. It is time to wake up and understand that the oppression at the hand of General Secretary Xi and the Chinese Government Party will not stop. This is about the safety of Americans and about freedom around the world. This is about standing up for human rights. We must act, and passing the Chinese-Backed Media Accountability Act takes real steps to hold Communist China accountable for their failure to treat American journalists fairly. I am not going to stop working to make sure there is reciprocity between our nations and that we understand how many Chinese propaganda journalists are operating in the United States. We must, together, do everything in our power to fight for freedom and hold Communist China and General Secretary Xi accountable, and I hope, at some point, my Democratic colleagues will join me in this fight. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I yield back.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I am one of the few Senators who have appointed people to the bench, and I take this very seriously. I believe in selecting judges who respect the separation of powers and the proper role of the judiciary in our democratic system. Their job isn't to make policy; it is to uphold the rule of law. We can't have judicial activism--something my colleagues on the other side of the aisle refuse to accept. The Democrats have made it clear they care more about the election than performing their constitutional duty to confirm judges. Because the Democrats only want judicial activists, they can't understand a judge who has no plan to change the law and the Constitution to align with their personal beliefs about how Americans should be governed. The Democrats won't engage in this process even though they know Judge Barrett is highly qualified. When I was appointing judges as Governor, I would ask each candidate one question: Do you understand your role and the distinct branches of government? Do you want to make policy, or do you want to uphold the law as written? That is exactly what I asked Judge Amy Coney Barrett when we met. She could not have been more clear in our meeting and throughout the Judiciary Committee hearings last week. Judge Barrett is a nominee of indisputable credentials and qualifications and will fulfill the proper role of a judge envisioned by the Framers when they designed the three- branch system of government in our Constitution. The Democratic attempts to attack Judge Barrett for her faith fell flat. Quite the opposite, her faith and her commitment to family have earned her the utmost respect. The Democrats were left grasping at straws during last week's hearing because they clearly can't question her qualifications. Her record is irrefutable. Judge Barrett's academic, professional, and judicial records clearly demonstrate her devotion to following the rule of law. She strictly adheres to the original meaning of the Constitution's provisions, setting forth the fundamental rights, liberties, and protections on which this great country was founded. As Professor Prakash eloquently stated in Judge Barrett's nomination hearing, the ABA's rating of Judge Barrett as ``well qualified'' is an understatement. I am proud to support Judge Barrett's nomination, and I look forward to voting to confirm her to serve as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, first, as you would expect, I am disappointed in two ways. No. 1, I am disappointed that we couldn't get a resolution done that dealt with what is going on in China. I would love the process to work perfectly so that everybody would do things in proper order, but the resolution is pretty simple. We know all the bad things that are happening in China, and we need to stand up. We have a chance now, not in 6 months, not in--I don't know what time it would take to go through the Foreign Relations Committee, but we ought to be standing up now to say that the IOC needs to move the Olympics. So I am very disappointed that my colleague is not willing to just go along with a simple resolution to do that. No. 2, what my colleague knows is that the bill he is proposing would never get done. I have colleagues who want to reform and fix the TPS program. I worked with my colleagues--all 53 Republican colleagues--and they said that as long as we do a commonsense reform of the TPS program, we would go ahead and do TPS for Venezuelans. So that is a bill we could do today. We could have done it a couple of times, but my colleague on the other side of the aisle--another--blocked it. It doesn't make any sense to me why we are not getting this done. We can both talk about all of the problems and issues the Venezuelans are dealing with. It is very disappointing to me. I don't know what the reason is. I have been trying to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to ask: What is the problem? And nobody will say: This is exactly what it is, and this is what you need to change to get it done. I don't know how we get things done here if people are not willing to sit down and talk to each other to figure out how to get it done. I have also proposed other things that my colleague has blocked, like trying to make sure that Maduro couldn't--there were no revenues that could get to the Maduro regime, and that was blocked. This just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know what the issue is. I don't know if it is because it was proposed by Republicans rather than Democrats, but we have to figure out how to stand up together against human rights violations around the world. It should be simple to say that the International Olympic Committee should not be hosting the Olympic Games in 2022. It is pretty simple. It is disgusting what Xi is doing. It should be pretty simple to say: If we want to get TPS taken care of, whether it is for Venezuelans or whether it is for El Salvadorans or anybody else, we need to have a commonsense reform of the TPS system. That is why I proposed this resolution, and all 53 Republican Senators agreed with me. I hope my colleague will commit to work with me to try to help the Venezuelans and also help others by fixing this TPS program. I hope he will work hard either to get a resolution that he agrees with me on or work through the Foreign Relations Committee to do something. But we have to do everything we can to stop the genocide of the Uighurs in Communist China and also do everything we can to help the Venezuelans who are here and need TPS.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I appreciate the comments of my colleague from New Jersey. No. 1, I still have not heard what the issue is with a resolution that sounds like 99 other Senators are OK with, with regard to holding General Secretary Xi accountable. I haven't heard my colleague say what the concern is with it. It seems to me that we have the opportunity right now, between the two of us, if we need to make a change, maybe we can make a change. But I would like to get something done today. No. 2, as we know, the TPS program is a temporary program. It is not operated as a temporary program, and it has to be reformed. I agree with my colleague from New Jersey. I would like the President to say that the Venezuelans would get TPS right now, but I think the White House's position is that we have to fix the program because the program doesn't work. It is not a temporary program. That is why my fix--because what a lot of Senators keep saying--they want to say that we have to take back power we have given to the President. My resolution does that. The President can still do TPS, but after he does, if he wants to extend it, it has to come back to Congress, and we need to make a decision. It is pretty common sense. If we did that right now, we could get TPS for Venezuelans. The Senator from New Jersey has blocked my bill. It is a bill with Senator Rubio to hold Maduro accountable by prohibiting Federal agencies from doing business with anyone who supports the oppressive Maduro regime. I don't understand why he would do that. He has blocked a bill that is going to prevent money from going there. We have to stand up, whether it is against the Castro regime or Maduro. We have to support democracy and freedom in Latin America. I hope my colleague will stop blocking that bill also.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, the Communist Party of China is committing a genocide against the Uighur people. Let me say that again. The Communist Party of China is committing a genocide against the Uighur people. Under General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi, 1 million Uighurs have been placed in concentration camps simply because of their religion. The Xi regime is reportedly performing forced abortions and forced sterilization of Uighur women. The Communist Party of China is harvesting organs from Uighurs and members of the Falun Gong. The Communist Party assigns male Han Chinese to regularly sleep in the same beds as the wives of Uighur men detained in the camps. In addition to these disgusting human rights abuses, the Communist Party of China is stripping away the freedom and autonomy that the people of Hong Kong were guaranteed. They are threatening Taiwan, building up their military to compete with us, arresting and detaining foreign journalists, and punishing anyone who disagrees with them. General Secretary Xi has established a surveillance system in Beijing that tracks every movement you make online and in person. The actions of Xi and the Chinese Communist Party fly in the face of the fundamental values that unite freedom-loving countries around the world--values that the Olympic Games are meant to foster and promote. Yet, in just 2 years, Communist China is slated to host the 2022 Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee's Charter states: ``The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.'' The host city contract the IOC adopted in 2017 requires that hosts protect and respect human rights. Unfortunately, but not by accident, the contract does not take effect until after the 2022 Beijing games. Think about that. It was 56 years ago that the International Olympic Committee took a historic step and stood up to the Government of South Africa and its racist apartheid system and banned the country from participation in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. South Africa was also excluded for the 1968 Mexico City games, and in 1970, the IOC indefinitely expelled South Africa from Olympic competition. Germany and Japan were banned from participating in the 1948 Olympic Games for their roles in World War II. Afghanistan was banned in 2000 because of the Taliban's discrimination against women, and South Korea was pressured by the IOC to enact democratic reforms before it hosted the 1988 games. Should Communist China, which places no value on human life or freedom, be allowed to host the 2022 games? Absolutely not. Doing so will threaten the safety of athletes and attendees and financially reward the dictatorship responsible for its genocide against its Muslim population. My colleague from Massachusetts, Senator Markey, and I introduced a bipartisan resolution calling on the International Olympic Committee to rebid the 2022 games to a country that recognizes and respects human rights. This isn't about a boycott. I am absolutely opposed to a boycott, and it is not about politics. This is a fight about human rights, which transcends politics. Moving the Olympic Games out of Communist China doesn't hurt athletes. It keeps them safe from Communist China's oppression. Last year, the world watched while Communist China pressured the NBA to sensor themselves over one tweet supporting Hong Kong citizens who were fighting for their freedom. We saw the NBA cower to Communist China's wishes. They even prohibited athletes who were in China at the time from speaking with reporters. If Communist China has the ability to sensor the NBA, an American organization, from speaking anything about anything that may offend General Secretary Xi, what will they do to athletes around the world? Will this regime start censoring or restricting participating athletes? What about the press? Will their broadcasts be censored to appease General Secretary Xi? We have to open our eyes to this threat, and we have to stand against the genocide of the Uighurs and the political oppression of Hongkongers. We also have to consider the safety of athletes and spectators from all over the world. For the hundreds of millions who will watch the games, we must again lead by example and refuse to give Communist China a platform to whitewash its crimes. I stand with the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong, the historically persecuted people of Tibet, the peaceful community of Chinese Muslims, including Uighurs, Falun Gong, and the journalists and political dissidents in China. I hope that all of my colleagues will join me in demanding that the IOC rebid the 2022 Olympic Games should China fail to abandon its indefensible course Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 526. I further ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. First of all, I thank my colleague, my friend from Indiana, for his absolute commitment of trying to make an impact on what is going on in Washington. We both came up here at the same time, and I have enjoyed working with him every day. I had the opportunity to pursue the American dream. I got involved in politics because I saw that dream slipping away for far too many. All Americans should have their shots at living their versions of the American dream. For me, I grew up poor. I never met my biological father. My adopted father was a busdriver, with only a sixth grade education, who did all four combat jumps with the 82nd Airborne in World War II. We lived in public housing. Even though my mom had no money, she was optimistic and hopeful. She told us we were blessed because God and our Founders created the greatest country ever, where anything was possible. Unfortunately, the left has worked hard over the last 50 years to discredit the values of the America I was raised with and the values of the America I want my grandchildren to grow up with. Central to those values is faith and family. The Pledge of Allegiance explicitly acknowledges that our Creator is central to this American experiment. Unfortunately, the left is trying to undo the foundational principles of this country. The left railed against our soldiers during the Vietnam war and is calling to defund our law enforcement. The left discredits those who believe in a supreme being or the commitment of marriage, and it doesn't place value in family. The left doesn't care about our enormous debt and pushes for socialism. The left thinks it is OK that our schools don't teach about the Founding Fathers or free markets and wants you to think America was never great. We all acknowledge that Americans, our country, and our institutions have flaws, but the left has worked to discredit our Founders, our institutions, our churches, our law enforcement, our morals, and almost everything my mom taught me. Yet we join today to honor the Pledge of Allegiance, the very spirit of our Nation--``one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'' That is the America I, along with my colleagues here, are fighting for. The values that I grew up with--the ones my ``tough love'' mom taught me--are becoming a way of the past, but I believe these values, these virtues, can and should be part of our country's future. I love it when my grandchildren pray before eating, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, ask to visit military museums, thank police officers and soldiers for their service, and place their hands over their hearts when they hear the national anthem. I hope they memorize the Declaration of Independence and the 23rd Psalm. We will not give up on the American dream and a nation where anything is possible. We will not let the radical left take away our freedom and opportunity. Again, I thank Senator Braun for leading this effort today. Freedom is fleeting and worth fighting for, and we will not stop fighting for the country I was raised in because that is the country our children and our grandchildren deserve I yield to Senator Braun.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, when I was growing up, I was raised to believe in the American dream. My mom taught me that we were blessed because God and our Founders created the greatest country ever, where anything was possible. We weren't allowed to complain. Debt, Big Government, socialism, and communism were bad. College was for a better paying job. Church on Sundays was absolutely not optional. While I didn't always appreciate my tough-love, my-way-or-the-highway mom growing up, I now thank God every day for my mom and this country. She gave me the opportunity to experience every lesson this country had to offer before I was 20. Sadly, the values that I grew up with are becoming a way of the past, but I believe these values, these virtues, can and should be part of our country's future. The left has worked hard over the last 50 years to discredit the values of the America I was raised with and the values of the America I want my grandkids to grow up with. In recent weeks, we have seen the Democrats try hard to paint our President and the entire Republican Party as ``darkness,'' but let me tell you what darkness would actually look like in America. What if our country turned the keys over to the far left and turned away from capitalism in favor of socialism? The data is already in on that. The result would be the same as it has been throughout history: Socialism would destroy our economy and cause widespread poverty and oppression. Darkness. What if our country just gave up on the battle to protect innocent human life and agreed with the political party that proudly embraces the killing of the unborn at any time, for any reason? Darkness. What if we decide to change our First Amendment, editing out our freedom of speech and freedom of religion, forcing Christians and Jews to retreat from the public square and silencing any who dare to speak up? Darkness. What if America did what every authoritarian government in history has done and must eventually do--disarm the American people? Darkness. What if we defunded our police forces across the country, even just partially? What would happen to public safety? How would life in our cities be affected? Turn on your TV for the answer. Darkness. What if we allowed people to throw homemade bombs at police and burn down police stations and then pretended that these violent demonstrations are peaceful? Darkness. What if we enacted the Green New Deal? Literal darkness. What if we let China--a Communist country that systematically imprisons and murders its own citizens--take advantage of American workers and put them out of work? Darkness. What if we teach our kids that America is a bad country with an evil history that must be erased and that America is fundamentally a morally bankrupt country? Darkness. Republicans are fighting for issues that the American public care about. People want good jobs, a good education for their kids, and they want to live in safe communities. Republicans are working to defend our law enforcement, invest in our military, secure the border, and stop illegal immigration. Republicans are standing up to dictators in Latin America and to Communist China, after the Democrats have appeased them for decades. Here is the fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans: Democrats want to control your life; Republicans want to give you a life. Republicans want to give every American the opportunity to live their version of the American dream. Governments don't do that. Politicians don't do that. The American people are dreamers, and if we get government out of their way, the innovation, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit of the American people and American business will shine bright. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I appreciate my colleague's interest in expressing support for the brave men and women of law enforcement. That is exactly what my resolution does. Why, then, would my colleague object to my resolution and propose his own to accomplish the same thing? At first, his resolution appears to resemble my own. I note, however, that my resolution condemns not only the cowardly attacks of this past week on the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies but also condemns the rhetoric and policies that have incited this recent spike in targeted violence against law enforcement. My colleague's resolution makes no such condemnation. My resolution calls out the radical politicians, reckless media figures, and organized protest movements that have sought to vilify law enforcement officers as a whole and incite, encourage, or celebrate widespread criminal activity and violence against law enforcement officers. My colleague's resolution is silent about this. My resolution calls out the radical politicians for pursuing a dangerous campaign to defund the police and starving law enforcement agencies of much needed resources to combat the crime wave sweeping through our communities. My colleague's resolution makes no such condemnation. We have to be honest about what is happening here and across our great country. We have rioters chanting ``Let them die'' outside a hospital caring for two police officers who were violently attacked. ``Let them die''? Americans have the right to peacefully protest, and I support that right. But that is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about acts of violence against law enforcement, families, and businesses. My colleague's proposal takes out all references to this bad behavior. Expressing support for law enforcement without condemning the people and groups who are perpetrating, instigating, and celebrating the violent acts committed against law enforcement officers is not enough. We can't be afraid to condemn violence against law enforcement and the defund police movement. I have no such fear. Those radical politicians, reckless media figures, and organized protest movements deserve to be condemned for inciting, committing, and celebrating acts of violence against law enforcement. I stand firmly behind my resolution and behind our Nation's law enforcement. If my colleague would be willing to work with me, we may be able to find common ground to ensure any resolution includes language that firmly denounces the violence and the causes of that violence in our communities, but my colleague's resolution does not go far enough, so I therefore respectfully object.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, first, I want to thank my colleague from Montana for his unwavering support for law enforcement. It is hard to believe that in a State like Montana, which is so supportive of law enforcement, there would be any city that would be thinking about reducing their police budget. It shouldn't be happening around the country. I am honored to stand here today to support our brave law enforcement and say enough is enough. We are not going to tolerate violence, attacks, and vilification of our law enforcement. I am proud to introduce the Back the Blue resolution today. I am asking all of my colleagues to join me in support As in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 697, submitted earlier today. Further, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; that 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. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, the brave men and women of our law enforcement are facing an onslaught of violence, harassment, and abuse. They deserve better. These selfless individuals are true heroes who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities. Right now, as Hurricane Sally moves across Florida's panhandle and Alabama, causing massive flooding and storm surge, law enforcement officials are working tirelessly to keep people safe. They are going out in these extremely dangerous conditions to rescue those in need. We can never truly repay them for their service and their sacrifice. Throughout my 8 years as Governor, we lost 51 members of law enforcement in the line of duty, and you wouldn't believe the bravery of these individuals and the strength of the families and communities who support them. As Governor and now Senator, supporting and investing in our law enforcement has always been a top priority. Because of our efforts, Florida has a 49-year low in our crime rate. Americans are moving to Florida in droves, not just for low taxes and great weather but because we have safe communities, and that is thanks to our hard-working law enforcement. That is why it is so disturbing to see the harassment, the insults, and the abuse from the liberal mob. I remember what it was like for American soldiers coming back from Vietnam. Whether you agreed or disagreed with that war, the abuse and insults directed at our military men and women were disgusting and disgraceful. We are seeing the same thing today directed at our men and women in blue. It is just as disgraceful. The radical left wants to defund the police--the most dangerous policy idea of my lifetime. Think about that for a minute. If you defund the police, who do you call when your house gets broken into? Who is going to patrol the streets to prevent drug trafficking and violence? Who is going to investigate murders and rapes and assaults and robberies? Who is going to protect our schools? We only have to turn on our TVs for the answer. Over the past several months, rioters and thugs, filled with hate inspired by this goal of defunding the police, have turned their words into violent action in cities across this great country--throwing homemade bombs at officers and setting fire to police stations. We have watched Democratic mayors and Governors turn their backs on law-and-order and try to pretend that these violent demonstrations are somehow peaceful, and their partners in the media have helped. This past weekend, we saw another horrific act of senseless violence as two sheriff's deputies in Los Angeles were ambushed by a deranged gunman. In the evening, rioters surrounded the hospital where the deputies were fighting for their lives and chanted ``We hope they die.'' We hope they die? We should all be denouncing this heinous act-- all of us--and praying for the speedy and full recovery of the deputies. We should all be denouncing the cruel, heartless, and frankly pathetic disregard for human life that was clearly evident from these protesters. This anti-police mentality is raging in American cities and threatening the future of America as we know it. Our law enforcement officers dedicate their lives to protecting our communities, and we can't let these acts of violence continue. We can all agree that reforms need to be made. That is why it is so unbelievable that my Democratic colleagues refuse to even debate the police reform bill led by Senator Scott of South Carolina. Instead of actually doing something and having a chance at providing healing to our Nation, Senate Democrats turned their backs on our law enforcement. But we can't let the radical left use the crimes of a few bad actors to demonize good, hard-working police officers--officers like Sergeant Adrian Rodriguez and Sergeant James Henry of the Lakeland Police Department. They began the department's Neighborhood Program over 6 years ago and lead two outstanding teams of officers who do everything from reading at the local kindergarten classes to assisting a SWAT team with the service of high-risk drug warrants. No matter the assignment, their teams work nonstop to build community pride in the citizens' police department. Officer Jimmie Bizzle of the Tampa International Airport Police Department is dedicated to bettering his community and supporting individuals who experience homelessness. He trains his colleagues on how to connect homeless individuals with the resources and services they need. Corporal Margo Fergusson of the Tampa Police Department spent years of her career defending and protecting children by investigating crimes in the department's Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit, working tirelessly to hold offenders accountable. During the pandemic, she has been working with her fellow officers and local schools to disbursing food to families who might need a helping hand. Detective Michelle Mahoney of the Clearwater Police Department is part of the department's Refuse to Lose Program, which engages the faith-based community with youth offenders to help them succeed and stay on a good path, offering services like tutoring, employment, and mental health help. She is known for her empathy, understanding, and compassion for her community. Instead of attacking and defunding the police and starving these hard-working men and women of the resources they need to do their job, we need to do the opposite. We need to fund the police. We need to recognize and support the individuals who have worked so hard to make our Nation the safe America we know and love. We need to reject dangerous proposals that threaten our communities and strip the safety we hold dear. It is time to stand up and say ``enough.' Defunding the police is un-American and the antithesis of the values that make America great. Police officers across the country risk their lives every day to keep people safe, and they deserve our appreciation. They uphold their oath to serve and protect. Today, I am introducing a Senate resolution to condemn the widespread violence, the hatred and vilification of law enforcement, and express our unwavering support for the brave men and women in uniform who protect us. I am proud to have Senator Daines here today and thank him for his unwavering commitment to law enforcement and for joining us today. We ask that all of our colleagues join us in support. To the sheriffs, police chiefs, sheriff's deputies, police officers, highway patrol, State troopers, Federal marshals, and many other law enforcement officials who serve in Florida and across the country, thank you. It is time that you get the respect you deserve, and I won't accept anything less. Mr. President, at this time I would like to yield to my colleague from Montana.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

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

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, first I want to thank my colleague from Missouri. We got here at the same time, and both of us saw the dangers of Communist China, the dangers of the Communist Party of China, and the dangers of the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Xi. We have watched a million Uighurs get put into prison just for their religion. We have watched American companies have their technology stolen. We have watched as American jobs have been stolen. One of the goals that both of us had when we came up here was to stop this. We had the opportunity last year to visit the protesters in Hong Kong, and we got to hear from them firsthand their concern about what Communist China would be doing to take away their basic rights, rights granted to them in the turnover from Great Britain to China, on paper. But, as we know, the Communist Party and the General Secretary of the Communist Party don't care about any of these things. We have watched the Communist Party use drones for surveillance. We have watched, as my colleague has said, TikTok become a worldwide phenomenon. It is an opportunity for the Communist Party of China to surveil all of our citizens, whatever of our citizens are using it. So I want to thank my colleague for his effort in this regard--not just this but all of his efforts to hold Communist China accountable. There is a lot of work to do. As we know, this pandemic was much worse because of the actions of the Communist Party of China. So this is a commonsense thing to do. We should not have TikTok on Federal Government phones. This is a good first step, but there is a lot more to do to continue to hold Communist China accountable and to make sure we all, as Americans, understand that we are now in a cold war. This is not a cold war that America started. This is a cold war that the Communist Party of China started, led by the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Xi, and we are going to have to continue every day to focus on how we prevent them from surveilling us. Another thing Americans can do besides making sure you are not using TikTok is making sure you are buying American products and don't buy products from Communist China. You will do more to hold them accountable. The more we can do things like that, it will change the dynamics, and, hopefully, maybe eventually Communist China will come to their senses and stop being an adversary and eventually be merely a competitor. I yield back to my colleague from Missouri.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, clearly, I am disappointed that my colleague is unwilling to accept my amendment. My goal is to be fair to the many wonderful and skilled people who want to build lives in our great country. I have also spoken to those at the White House about the bill, and they have agreed we need more time to review the proposal and to understand its impacts on our immigration system. I hope my colleagues want to continue to work together, and I hope we can find a path forward to address the current visa backlog. Therefore, I respectfully object.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, I fully appreciate the hard work my colleagues have put into this measure. Florida is an immigration State, and we value our diversity. We also need to fix our immigration system so it makes sense. That starts with securing our border. I have heard from many of my constituents about this bill because it impacts so many people in my State, including those who came to Florida from Latin America. We also have to help those who are escaping Communist China's crackdown on freedoms in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I offer an amendment today to make sure we are not creating an unfair system that favors certain nations or that would disadvantage immigrants who don't happen to be from the nations that are the largest drivers of the employment-based visa backlog that we see today. I know my colleagues share my desire to preserve the diversity of our Nation, and I look forward to their accepting my amendment today. Therefore, I ask that the Senator from Utah modify his request, include my amendment to the Lee amendment at the desk; that the amendment be considered and agreed to; that the Lee amendment, as amended, be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I rise today to address a topic that Washington has been ignoring for decades. For years, Republicans fought against wasteful spending under the Obama administration. My party argued that our debt and deficits were unsustainable, and they were leaving a burden that our children and grandchildren simply can't afford. Unfortunately, my party has shown an almost equal disregard for the dangers of a growing national debt and annual deficits, as have the Democrats. Congress spends taxpayer money with no accountability--something you would never do in business or in your personal life--and our Federal Government is borrowing an unprecedented amount of money. Congress borrows money with no plan to pay it back. Our families and our businesses cannot do that. Congress is leaving debt for the next generation. Parents and grandparents don't do that. This year, between mid-March and late June, the Treasury's total borrowing rose by about $2.9 trillion, and the Federal Reserve's holdings of U.S. Treasury debt rose by about $1.6 trillion. The Federal Reserve is creating an artificial market for treasuries to keep interest rates low. This is not sustainable and will have dire consequences. There will come a time when they can't purchase any more treasuries and rates will increase. When the Federal Reserve can no longer keep interest rates low, everything from car loans to student loans to mortgages become more expensive for the American people, and the interest on our debt, which is already the fourth largest expenditure in the Federal budget, will become our largest expenditure. For every 1 percent increase in our interest rate, we are going to spend almost $2 trillion over 10 years. That is more money the taxpayers get no return on. Even during the economic boom we were experiencing, our Federal Government could not live within its means. Our Federal Government was set to spend approximately $4.6 trillion while collecting only $3.6 trillion in taxes in one of our greatest economies ever. Now, as we continue to address the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government this year will spend more than $7 trillion and collect much less than $3 trillion. The market is telling us that lenders are not confident this pandemic is being handled in a fiscally responsible manner. We are seeing the price of gold at a record high and the dollar devaluing, and this is just the beginning. Now Congress wants to spend more, even though we still don't know how much has already been spent from previous relief packages. What is happening in Washington, DC, is wrong. It is unfair to Americans who work hard every day to take care of their families. For months, I made a weekly video called ``Washington Waste Wednesday'' to highlight all the ways Washington is currently wasting taxpayer dollars. It wasn't hard to find examples. Officials in Washington have failed to make the tough decisions that will put our Nation on a fiscally successful path. It is the most inefficient place you can imagine. These poor choices mean a day of reckoning is coming. If our financial system comes crashing down because of excessive government spending and borrowing, history suggests we will have runaway inflation, with the price of goods skyrocketing. That will hurt the poorest families and those living on a fixed income. With inflation, fixed incomes will stay the same while the prices for necessities go up month after month. For hourly workers, wages will not grow fast enough to cover the ever-increasing costs of goods and services. This happened in the United States in the 1970s. Let's not forget about the mandatory spending programs that Congress takes no accountability for. Medicare is running out of money. When Medicare runs out of money in 2026, either doctors and hospitals will be paid significantly less or Medicare recipients will receive less care. Medicaid costs are increasing by about 5 percent a year. Social Security will run out of cash reserves by 2035. At that time there will be an automatic 20-percent reduction of Social Security payments. Our country is like a failing business without a plan. We can't accept this fate. I ran for Governor of Florida in 2010 because I could not stand to watch the fiscal mismanagement by politicians anymore. Over my 8 years as Governor, we made the tough choices to turn the State around. We grew the economy by over 30 percent, added almost 1.7 million new jobs, paid down almost one-third of State debt, and cut taxes by more than $10 billion. I was the first Governor in 20 years to actually pay down State debt. I ran for the U.S. Senate to do the same thing at the Federal level. I was tired of watching career politicians in Washington spend other people's money without a care. Washington seems to have forgotten that trillions of dollars in new spending means trillions in tax increases somewhere down the road. They want short-term solutions regardless of consequences. Career politicians say they care about you. When they run huge deficits, do they care about you? When they raise your taxes, do they care about you? When they overpromise benefits for Social Security without a funding source, do they care about you? When they overpromise Medicare benefits without a funding source, do they care about you? Maybe the intentions are good. Who knows? But, unfortunately, you can't pay for Social Security with good intentions. You can't pay for Medicare with good intentions. You can't build a lethal military with good intentions. And you can't open a business with just good intentions. These good intentions have created $27 trillion of debt that our children and grandchildren will have to answer for. Now they want to spend another $3 trillion. It is time to wake up. We can fix this and put our Nation on a fiscally responsible path. We fix this by doing what I did in Florida. We need to focus on growing the economy, cutting taxes and burdensome regulations, and streamlining permitting. We fix this by helping every American get a good job. We fix this with a focus on buying American, with the understanding that buying products made by our adversaries, like Communist China, hurts American jobs and manufacturing and threatens our national security. We fix this by making good trade deals with other freedom-loving countries, and we fix this by getting a return on every taxpayer dollar we spend. Turning around a failing business is hard. I have done that. Turning around a failing State is also hard--even harder. I have done that. Turning around the future of a nation sounds impossible, but it is not. If elected leaders don't want to do the hard work--and it is going to be hard--then they should go home. They can no longer hide behind the cowardice of political expediency. Politicians in Washington are afraid to tell you the truth, so here it is: If we want our country to survive and thrive and continue to be a beacon for freedom, prosperity, and hope around the world, we will need to make tough choices. We will need to be more productive, and we cannot rely on government programs paid for through more borrowing. We will need to reassert the fundamental principle of conservatism that the private sector and individuals--not the government--should be the driving forces behind our economic stability and success. As long as I am a Member of the U.S. Senate, I will fight to rein in the out-of-control spending that is putting our children's and our grandchildren's futures at risk. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I thank the senior Senator from Wisconsin and the junior Senator from Indiana for their hard work in addressing the out-of-control spending of the Federal Government and for finding ways to assist Americans who need help in the midst of this pandemic. The coronavirus is a crisis that has demanded action to protect Americans, but if we are not careful, Congress is going to create another devastating crisis down the road, one of our own doing. Our national debt and deficits--already at unsustainable levels--have skyrocketed as Congress has spent almost $3 trillion to address this crisis. Even if you remove the Paycheck Protection Program that has kept workers on payrolls, the total amount spent by Congress to respond to the pandemic and help workers amounts to more than $50,000 per unemployed American. Do you think any unemployed American has received anything close to $50,000? Of course not. That is because every dollar spent by Congress seems to be spent in the least efficient way possible. Now Congress is negotiating a new spending bill of at least $1 trillion without even understanding if or how the $3 trillion already allocated has been spent. You would never operate a business like that. You would never operate your household like that. Government should not be able to get away with it. In June, I and Senators Johnson and Cruz asked all 50 States how they have allocated the trillions of dollars in taxpayer funding they have received from the Federal Government for the coronavirus response. So far, the majority of States has refused our request. Instead of telling us how they are being responsible with American taxpayer dollars, they want more money from the Federal Government. Where is the oversight and accountability? It doesn't exist in Washington right now. I am thankful that my friends Senators Johnson and Braun are focused on protecting our future and reining in Washington's excess. Instead of just throwing money at every problem, my colleagues are actually thinking about the impact this spending will have on the future of our children and grandchildren and how we are impacting our ability to fund our military and our safety nets like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Over my 8 years as the Governor of Florida, we completely turned our economy around by making hard budgetary decisions, by cutting taxes and regulations, and by making sure we got a return on every taxpayer dollar. Senators Johnson and Braun and I all come from business backgrounds, and we understand that you just can't spend without having accountability. You have to invest wisely. We have to start doing the exact same thing at the Federal level because, at some point, someone is going to have to pay for it. If we don't start acting in a more fiscally responsible manner, our children and our grandchildren are no longer going to have the same opportunities we all have had to live the American dream, and that is actually not fair. It is time we take this seriously. The best way to help people right now is to get our economy reopened, to support businesses by cutting taxes and regulations, and to ensure that we have ample testing and PPE across the country. That is how we get back on track. That needs to be our focus in going forward. I thank my colleagues for their hard work in trying to make sure we don't waste people's money and to make sure we take care of the people who actually need help right now I yield to Senator Johnson.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, in reserving the right to object, first of all, I thank my colleagues, and I hope to work with them to figure out how we can drive healthcare costs down because, as we know in all of our States, healthcare costs are too high, and as my colleagues have said, we have people who are being impacted because they can't afford the cost of healthcare. I am clearly disappointed. My colleagues don't want to protect those with preexisting conditions and ensure that young adults can stay on their parents' plans until age 26 if ObamaCare is actually ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Whether by figuring out how to bring drug prices down or just the whole cost of healthcare, I hope that we can figure out how to work together because the costs shouldn't be this high. Therefore, respectfully, I object.