Rick Scott

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I disagree with my colleague's objection, but I think this issue is too important not to try to get something done today. So, instead of enacting this point of order when the CPI reaches 3 percent, how about we raise it to 8 percent? Our current CPI level is at 8.3 percent. We see how bad things are right now. When the CPI gets close to where we currently are--inflation levels that we haven't seen since the 1980s--that is when this point of order would take effect. At 8 percent inflation, we have reached a crisis point. It only stands to reason for Congress to start looking closely at every bill that increases the deficit. Such deficit-increasing bills should only be passed by Congress when absolutely needed. Again, this point of order could be waived in the Senate with a two- thirds majority. I think this is reasonable and that we owe it to American families to start holding Congress accountable for the reckless spending that we know fuels inflation. Hopefully, my colleagues can agree to pinning this point of order to inflation at 8 percent. As in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4250, which is at the desk. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. I call up my motion, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, this government is $30 trillion in debt, and Congress is working every day to spend money like it is burning a hole in our pocket. This bill has billions of spending, billions of taxpayer dollars, and zero mandates for return on investment. That is crazy. It is crazy and illogical. No American would make a deal like this for their business or their family. Congress shouldn't do it with your tax dollars either. The conferees must ensure this bill makes all taxpayer funds subject to a comprehensive return-on-investment analysis with clawback provisions and mandate a report on how every dollar is spent. We used taxpayer dollars to incentivize private sector growth when I was Governor of Florida. It helped bring businesses to my State and create jobs. But we always had return-on-investment metrics and clawbacks for when those metrics weren't met. We should be demanding the same here, and I urge my colleagues to join me and support accountability to the taxpayer.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, if there had been a recorded roll call vote on the Menendez motion to instruct conferees in relation to H.R. 4521, USICA, I would have voted no. If there had been a recorded roll call vote on the Kelly motion to instruct conferees in relation to H.R. 4521, USICA, I would have voted no.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, the Senate is considering several of President Biden's picks to sit on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. I have already voted against two of these nominees. I believe they all should be voted down by the Senate. Under its current leadership, the Fed has lost the trust of the American people and failed to uphold its role as an independent body. I have been clear about my disapproval of the Fed's policies, especially its massive and its still-growing balance sheet. Both now and throughout recent history, the Federal Reserve has been behind the curve and far too late in taking action to keep America's economy stable. Its policies to sustain and grow such a massive disproportionate growing balance sheet are a perfect example of its failure to properly manage the economic needs of our Nation. For years, I have asked--I have urged--Chair Powell and members of the Federal Open Market Committee to reduce the Fed's unprecedented balance sheet. Nothing has changed. Month after month, we have watched the Fed continue to purchase billions in treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. There is still no plan to wind down and right size the Fed's balance sheet, which today, sits at nearly 40 percent of GDP. Before the pandemic in 2019, the Fed's balance sheet assets totaled just under $4 trillion. Today, it is more than double to nearly $9 trillion dollars. That is more than 10 times the assets the Fed held in 2007, when the balance sheet was under $1 trillion. The Federal Reserve's massive balance sheet is becoming a massive problem. When the Fed buys up treasuries and mortgage-backed securities and holds them like this, it is distorting the credit markets and allocation of capital, ultimately hurting our poorest families and Americans on fixed incomes. And look at how the Fed's policies have made homeownership unattainable for young people. These policies have helped drive up home prices, putting the purchase of a home further out of reach for young families across our Nation. Now, I will admit that the COVID-19 pandemic presented our Nation with historic challenges, but the Federal Reserve's overreaction and then refusal to react to changing economic circumstances over the last year is unacceptable. The Fed's mismanagement and their management failures have been especially disastrous during the Biden administration. Instead of fighting for the interests of American families, he has chosen to appease the administration hellbent on reckless, inflation-fueling spending. It is clear to me that the raging inflation crisis we are seeing across America is the fault of Joe Biden and Joe Biden alone. But the Fed's weak appeasement has helped grease the wheels in advancing Biden's reckless spending agenda. This isn't just my opinion. The Fed knows this is true. Just weeks ago, the San Francisco Fed wrote that the spending packages Biden pushed to allegedly counteract the effects of the pandemic actually fueled inflation. I have written letters, held meetings, and had phone calls with Chair Powell and members of the Federal Open Market Committee to express my concerns and demand action to shrink the balance sheet. Again, Chair Powell and the Federal Reserve have chosen to do nothing. Not one member of the Board of Governors has been able to explain to me why the balance sheet is so big and what size it should be. At every turn, when the Fed could have been fighting for American families by mitigating the long-term risks of its massive balance sheet and telling the truth about the terrible consequences of reckless government spending, it, instead, chose to appease Joe Biden, Wall Street, and the Democrats running Washington, all at the expense of American families. How does Biden reward the Fed for playing nice with him? By turning Chair Powell into his inflation scapegoat. Earlier today, in the Senate Commerce Committee, after I asked the administration when inflation would come back down, Secretary Raimondo deflected and blamed Chair Powell and the Fed. But here is my question: If the Biden administration really believes the Fed bears responsibility for inflation, why are they renominating these officials? Why aren't they putting people in who actually can solve the problem? It makes no sense, but that is the endless blame game the Biden administration likes to play. Americans are sick of weak policy in Washington. It is time for the Federal Reserve to start fighting for real Americans, not Washington politicians. It is clear that the Fed needs new independent and courageous leadership to truly address our Nation's economic problems. Weakness in Fed leadership has produced unsustainable monetary policy that threatens the long-term economic health of our country. It is the very thing I have been warning about for months. It is clear that the current leadership of the Fed just doesn't care. They don't deserve to hold these seats. They have lost the trust of the American people, and they should be replaced with individuals who will actually stand up for American families and protect the American economy. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, in my 8 years as Governor, I had the opportunity to appoint more than 400 Floridians to the bench. I interviewed thousands of applicants for these seats, and my standards in each of those interviews were the same. I asked them if they understood that they intended to be part of the judiciary and not part of the legislature. And I asked them if they intended to interpret the law and enforce the law but not make new laws. If they couldn't convince me that they believed that was their duty as a member of the judicial branch, then I wouldn't appoint them. We need qualified jurists committed to fairly and accurately interpreting our Constitution and our laws as they are written, not activist judges who will rewrite the laws according to their own policy preferences. Now, I have had the chance to meet with Judge Jackson. We had a nice conversation, and she seems like a nice person. But I have very serious concerns about her record as a Federal judge, which includes numerous instances of the type of judicial activism that we cannot and should not tolerate from the Federal judiciary. The fact is that Judge Jackson has written only two appellate opinions in her current position. So we have no evidence of how she will approach serious constitutional issues as an appellate judge. And she has refused to disclose how she would interpret the Constitution as a Supreme Court Justice, despite being repeatedly and directly asked by Senators on the Judiciary Committee. And while serving as a district court judge, she had a high rate of being reversed on appeal for applying the wrong legal standards, exceeding her authority, or simply ignoring clear law in her decisions. And a peek into her history shows an alarming pattern of being weak on sex offenders, including easier sentences in child pornography cases. Judge Jackson imposed sentences that were 47 percent shorter than the national average in cases of child pornography distribution, and 57 percent shorter than the national average in cases of child pornography possession. She has even apologized from the bench when issuing such sentences--not to the victims of those heinous crimes. Of course, they never got an apology. She apologized to the offenders for the ``anguish'' the sentences for their horrific crimes would cause them. What about the anguish of their victims--innocent children? These are individuals who harm children. They don't deserve easy sentences or our sympathies. And this sympathy for child predators has consequences. We recently learned that a child rapist, someone to whom Judge Jackson gave a very lenient sentence, sexually abused another victim after his light sentence. Had Judge Jackson given him the sentence he deserved and the one that the prosecution recommended, he would have been in prison, not out in the streets. These are crimes that Judge Jackson has the power to prevent, but she has chosen every time to give these gross criminals easier sentences. That is why I have joined Senator Hawley to introduce the Protect Act, which protects children from sexual exploitation by enhancing the penalties for possessing child pornography and preventing judges from sentencing offenders below Federal guidelines. Our communities must be protected from sick individuals who exploit and victimize children, and also from liberal activist judges who abuse their sentencing guidelines to let offenders off the hook. Federal sentencing guidelines for these heinous crimes are critical, and we must ensure guidelines are strictly enforced. I hope the Senate quickly passes this good bill. We can't have a soft-on-crime Justice on the Supreme Court, and we can't have activist judges in the highest Court in the land. I also don't think it is too much for the nominee to the highest Court in the land to be able to say what a woman is or to take a stand against partisan Court packing, which even liberal Justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer have done. We have the right to be concerned and demand answers on behalf of the American people. I think our country deserves better. That is why I can't support the nomination of Judge Jackson to the Supreme Court. I am committed to giving the American people qualified judges who understand their role in government and who apply the law as it is written, not as they want it to be. It is a simple standard, and it is one that Floridians expect. Unfortunately, based on my best assessment of her record on the bench, that is unfortunately not the case with Judge Jackson. The Democratic Party needs to understand that the Supreme Court is not just another institution to infiltrate with their leftist ideology. I have no hope that they will, but, until they do, I will continue fighting to uphold the Constitution and ensure that there remains a separation of powers between branches of Government, and that judges who are appointed to the bench understand that they are there to interpret the law, not to make the law. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I guess this is a crazy idea, but I believe that Americans should not be judged by the color of their skin but, rather, by the content of their character. I believe that every person is made in the image of God, and that to judge a person simply based on the color of their skin is wrong. Unfortunately, across the country, politicians and universities are trying to divide people by race, skin color, ethnicity, or country of origin. It is immoral and a corrosive habit of the woke crowd. Unfortunately, the professional career of this nominee is entirely wrapped up in promoting critical race theory and dividing people along color lines. His focus at the university where he works is to teach kids about how to divide one another into what Karl Marx referred to as the oppressed and the oppressors. I am sick of this disgusting ideology, and Americans are sick of it too. Just look at all the Americans who are rejecting it through local elections and protests at school boards. We shouldn't be elevating people who divide Americans. We should be working with those who want to unite us around our founding principles that made our Nation the greatest country on Earth. Therefore, I object.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, reserving the right to object, the Biden administration has failed to properly oversee the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO. President Biden and Secretary Blinken know that PAHO has cooperated with the communist regime in Cuba to traffic doctors overseas, and they know there are Cuban doctors who are trying to sue PAHO and hold traffickers accountable. Here are the facts. In July 2013, the Cuban Ministry of Health signed an agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to formalize an arrangement for Cuban doctors to provide medical services in Brazil. That agreement required the administration of former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to transmit a monthly payment through PAHO to the Cuban Ministry of Health for the medical services provided by each Cuban doctor serving in Brazil. It also prevented Cuban doctors from seeking employment in Brazil outside of the formal structure of the arrangement. More than 20,000 Cuban medical professionals serving in Brazil under the Mais Medicos Program had their wages stolen by the Cuban Government and received only a small fraction of what they earned, and that was with the support of PAHO. Their family members were prohibited from accompanying them, and many had their passports confiscated. Cuban doctors were the only medical professionals participating in the program who had their salaries directly garnished by their government. Meanwhile, doctors from other countries, serving in Brazil, received their full wages for their medical services. Other Cuban doctors have suffered similar abuses in Angola, Guatemala, Mexico, Qatar, and Venezuela. For example, in 2019, a group of Cuban doctors reported they had been directed and often coerced to use their medical services to influence votes in favor of the Maduro regime, including by denying medical treatment to opposition supporters and by giving precise voting instructions to elderly patients. This gross program is a huge moneymaker for the communist thugs ruling Cuba. In 2018 alone, they pocketed more than $6.3 billion from exporting Cuban professionals to work overseas. This is clearly human trafficking, and medical missions by Cuban doctors represent a majority of those profits. Since I have been in the Senate, since 2019, I have been fighting for these Cuban doctors and against human trafficking. But actually nothing has been done to hold PAHO accountable. PAHO is hiding behind legal immunity. President Biden has the power to lift their immunity, and I have requested his administration do so multiple times, but they have shamefully declined. It is wrong. Victims of human trafficking deserve to see their alleged abusers in court, and PAHO should never be able to hide behind claims of immunity to avoid accountability for their role in facilitating those abuses. I have informed Secretary Blinken that until substantial steps toward fulfilling this request are made, I will be blocking all relevant State Department nominees. Americans deserve qualified and competent people in positions of power who put American interests first. If this administration wants to appease dictators like the Castro and Diaz-Canel regimes and go to Venezuela and try to buy oil, I am going to hold them accountable. Therefore, Madam President, I object.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, as the Federal Government rightfully continues to levy devastating sanctions on Russia and punish Putin and his thugs for their horrific and unlawful invasion of Ukraine, we cannot, as the Biden administration has signaled it will, choose to empower one dictator so we can punish another. Nicoles Maduro is the illegitimate, ruthless dictator in Venezuela. I traveled to the Colombia-Venezuela border and saw the suffering of the Venezuelan people at the hand of Maduro's regime. I met with Venezuelan refugees and got updates from Colombian officials on just how bad Venezuelans were being treated by Maduro's tyranny. Venezuelan children walk for hours through dense forests, across rivers, and over terrorist-controlled territory just to get to a school in Colombia for an education and a meal. Mothers with young children came to Cucuta to get the only meal they would eat for 3 days. I met a pregnant woman who was forced to sleep on the streets of Venezuela because she was homeless. Think about that. I am a father and a grandfather. Imagine having to look at your 3-year-old child or grandchild in the eyes and tell them that they are not going to eat today because there is no food. The pain, the hunger, the devastation--I cannot believe any human being would do this to young children. It was heartbreaking, and it was evil. And there is one man responsible for it: Nicoles Maduro. Since my visit, things have only gotten worse. In what is one of the worst humanitarian crises in Latin American history, more than 6 million Venezuelans have fled Maduro's oppression in Venezuela since 2014. In 2020, a factfinding mission for the United Nations determined that Maduro's regime has engaged in crimes against humanity, including unlawful executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and torture. The regime has imprisoned hundreds of its political opponents and forced countless more into exile. They have used the guise of the COVID-19 pandemic to further crack down on journalists and dissenters. We know that what has been happening at the direction of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela is horrific. That is why, in 2019, the previous administration signed an Executive order issuing a complete economic embargo on Venezuela. We can all agree that the United States should not be bolstering such a disgusting socialist regime, and we cannot forget that any lifting of sanctions or show of appeasement toward Maduro's Venezuela will only further the suffering there and help its evil allies, like Russia, Cuba, communist China, and Iran, which actively support Maduro's abuses. So I and many others were deeply disturbed last week when we learned that President Biden secretly sent a team to Venezuela-- secretly sent a team to Venezuela--and began negotiations on the potential purchase of Venezuelan oil and the easing of sanctions. High gas prices caused by President Biden's war on American energy and Putin's invasion of Ukraine doesn't mean we can turn a blind eye to Maduro's genocide and oppression. We know that funds going to Maduro are used for terrorism in our hemisphere, and we know that Venezuela and Russia are aligned. If we support one, we support the other. That is why, just days after the American team left, the Russian Foreign Minister traveled to meet with the Venezuelan Vice President. Now, I am glad the administration finally made the decision to stop buying Russian oil--I think it came too late--but I am glad the Biden administration reluctantly agreed not to purchase oil from Venezuela. We shouldn't be supporting Maduro or Putin. It would be foolish if we made the mistake of supporting one dictator so we could punish another dictator. Maduro has decided to be our enemy, and so is Putin. Neither of them deserves our money. The Biden administration needs to realize that our enemies are not the world's only source of oil and natural gas. America has huge supplies of oil and natural gas, and we would have access to those resources right now if the Biden administration hadn't spent the past year relentlessly trying to destroy the U.S. oil industry. On day 1, Biden killed the Keystone Pipeline, and 10,000--10,000-- jobs alongside it were lost. Then he cut off new drilling contracts on public lands. The Biden EPA has added one ridiculous regulation after another to make it more expensive and harder for American oil manufacturers to do business. We went from being nearly energy independent and a net exporter in 2019 to begging cartels and ruthless dictators for oil. This is not American leadership, and it is not American independence. It is long past time for the administration to admit that its ridiculous Green New Deal policies put our security at risk and hurt American families. Prices at the pump are at an alltime high across the Nation. We should be solving this problem with our own resources and with our own workers, not with Maduro and his thugs. That is why I have introduced the Banning Operations and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime Act, or the BOLIVAR Act. This bill would prohibit Federal Agencies from doing business with the oppressive Maduro regime. We can't stand by and let Maduro continue to commit genocide against his people, and we have to do everything possible to restrict the money Maduro uses to hold on to power and destabilize the region. When I was Governor of Florida, I signed a bill that prevented State agencies from investing in companies doing business with the Government of Venezuela. In 2019, my amendment to cut off funds to the Maduro regime was included in the National Defense Authorization Act. In March of last year, my colleagues on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee agreed with me, and we unanimously passed the BOLIVAR Act through our committee. I am thankful for Senators Jacky Rosen, Marco Rubio, and Thom Tillis, who have cosponsored this legislation and helped bring this legislation this far. I also want to thank Congressman Michael Waltz for introducing the companion bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives. But we didn't introduce the bill only to have the Biden administration begin working with Maduro's thugs and bolstering the corrupt Venezuelan oil industry. We are trying to stop that, and no one should want to be on the side of Maduro's genocide. I am grateful for the bipartisan support this bill has received, and I hope that the entire Senate will take a stand to support the fight for freedom and the people of Venezuela. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the Biden administration has failed to properly oversee the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO. President Biden and Secretary Blinken know that PAHO has cooperated with the communist regime in Cuba to traffic doctors overseas, and they know that there are Cuban doctors who are trying to sue PAHO and hold their traffickers accountable. Here are the facts: In July 2013, the Cuban Ministry of Health signed an agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to formalize an arrangement for Cuban doctors to provide medical services in Brazil. That agreement required the administration of former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to transmit a monthly payment through PAHO to the Cuban Ministry of Health for the medical services provided by each Cuban doctor serving in Brazil. It also prevented Cuban doctors from seeking employment in Brazil outside of the formal structure of the agreement. More than 20,000 Cuban medical professionals serving in Brazil under the Mais Medicos Program had their wages stolen by the Cuban Government and received only a small fraction of what they earned. Their family members were prohibited from accompanying them, and many had their passports confiscated. Cuban doctors were the only medical professionals participating in the Mais Medicos Program who had their salaries directly garnished by their government. Meanwhile, doctors from other countries serving in Brazil received the full wages for their medical services. Other Cuban doctors suffered similar abuses in Angola, Guatemala, Mexico, Qatar, and Venezuela. For example, in 2019, a group of Cuban doctors reported that they had been directed and often coerced to use their medical services to influence votes in favor of the Maduro regime, including by denying medical treatment to opposition supporters and by giving precise voting instructions to elderly patients. This gross program is a huge moneymaker for the communist ruling thugs in Cuba. In 2018 alone, they deposited more than $6.3 billion from exporting Cuban professionals to work overseas, and medical missions by Cuban doctors represent a majority of those profits. Since I came to the Senate in 2019, I have been fighting for these Cuban doctors and against human trafficking. I know my colleague from New Jersey has also voiced concerns about this issue in the past, but nothing has been done to hold PAHO accountable. PAHO is hiding behind legal immunity. President Biden has the power to lift their immunity, and I have requested this administration to do so multiple times, but they have shamefully declined. It is wrong. Victims of trafficking deserve to see their alleged abusers in court, and PAHO should never be able to hide behind claims of immunity to avoid accountability for their role in facilitating those abuses. I have informed Secretary Blinken that until substantial steps toward fulfilling this request are made, I will be blocking all relevant State Department nominees. Americans deserve qualified and competent people in positions of power who put American interests first. If this administration wants to appease dictators, like they have with the Castro and Diaz-Canal regimes, I am going to hold them accountable. Therefore, Madam President, I object.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Wyoming. I want to thank my colleagues from Kansas and from Tennessee for their interest in making sure that we get Ukraine aid to the citizens of Ukraine today. I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, following consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 3811, which is at the desk; that there be 2 hours for debate, equally divided in the usual form; and that upon the use or yielding back of time, the bill be read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the bill without intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, it is hard to express my anger and frustration. What in the hell are we doing here? I asked for the Senate to do a very simple thing: vote today on desperately needed aid for Ukraine, and Senate Democrats have blocked it. This is the exact text--the exact text--that both Democrats and Republicans have already agreed to. People need to know exactly why Democrats have blocked this commonsense bill. I know. It is because they are following orders from Senator Schumer to block passage of aid to Ukraine so we can continue to hold it hostage in the omnibus. That is what we are dealing with here. We could send this to the President's desk today, but Senate Democrats have said no because they are insisting that it be passed with the omnibus. The omnibus is $1.5 trillion, 2,700 pages; as my colleague from Wyoming said, 4,000 earmarks. Senator Schumer alone has 150 earmarks, $600,000 for a greenhouse in New York, $3 million for museum galleries in Brooklyn. I mean, to him, the omnibus is just a joke. It is a way to send some money home. Today, inflation just hit 7.9 percent--another 40-year high. And contrary to what President Biden just said this morning, that is just for February. That massive spike in inflation doesn't reflect the big price hikes we have seen in March. The truth is, we have no idea how the omnibus will impact inflation, and we haven't anywhere near the time we need to actually read it. This whole process is broken, and it reminds me of a truth here in Washington: In Washington, compromise means that both sides get everything they want, and no one has to make a tough choice. Put simply, when Washington settles, taxpayers all across this country lose. Americans should be furious with Congress. Ukrainians should be absolutely furious with us. While Russian bombs are being dropped on their homes, cities, and hospitals, Democrats in the Senate are blocking the approval of American aid so that they can play politics. Every day that Senator Schumer refuses to allow a vote is a big gift from Senate Democrats to Putin. I am actually disgusted by what happened here today. To see aid for Ukraine used as a political tool is heartless. It is a stain on the integrity of the Senate and the United States. A fight for freedom and democracy rages in Europe, and Senate Democrats should be ashamed by what Senator Schumer has forced each of you to do today. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, a few days ago, the Senate heard directly from President Zelenskyy. The bravery and leadership we have seen from President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people is incredible. And during this call, he was very clear about what the Ukrainian people need to defend themselves against Russia's unjustified invasion. What is unbelievable is that even after seeing horrifying images on the news and hearing from the Ukrainian President himself, the Senate has done nothing to get the aid they so desperately need approved and on its way. Why? Because Senator Chuck Schumer is holding it hostage. Senator Schumer is keeping this body from voting on and passing the Ukrainian aid package because he is holding it hostage to include it in the $1.5 trillion omnibus. People are dying. Yesterday while the Senate floor was closed at Senator Schumer's direction, Putin's evil forces bombed a children's hospital. What in the world are we doing here? It is heartless. It is shameful. It is a stain on the integrity of the Senate and the United States that aid for Ukrainians is being used as a political tool. We could have voted on the weekend. We could have voted on Monday or Tuesday or yesterday. But Senator Schumer closed the floor and made it impossible to vote. Ukrainians are dying. It is time to end these games. These are stupid games. That is why I am asking that we immediately take a vote to pass the aid to Ukraine. And I am thankful that many of my colleagues have joined me to make this request. Senators Marsha Blackburn, John Boozman, Tom Cotton, Steve Daines, Joni Ernst, Chuck Grassley, Cynthia Lummis, and Roger Marshall have all cosponsored my proposal. What I am asking is to pass the exact text--the exact text--that both the Democrats and Republicans, they have already agreed to this. We can send this to the President's desk today. By holding this hostage in the omnibus, Senator Schumer is forcing even further delays. The omnibus won't go to President Biden's desk until next week. The people of Ukraine are in the fight for their lives and their freedom. Every day the Senate waits to send American aid, weapons, and resources to help them is another day that their fighting against this Russian invasion is even made more difficult. There is no reason we can't vote on this aid package now and pass it today. Waiting even 1 more day puts more lives at risk. Let's act now to protect global freedom from Putin's tyranny. Now, I will turn it over to Senator Roger Marshall.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, first, I want to thank my colleague Senator Lee from Utah for his leadership on these issues, trying to make sure that the legislation we pass is legislation that we all have the opportunity to participate in. I have been disappointed that I am on the committee that deals with the Postal Service and we didn't even have a vote on this. I didn't have any opportunity in the committee to propose an amendment. It doesn't look like I am going to have an opportunity here to have my colleagues vote on an amendment, and I don't think that is right. The amendment I am going to talk about today is cosponsored by Senators Johnson, Grassley, Braun, and Lankford, and I want to thank them for their support. I absolutely support getting something done to reform the Postal Service and ensure more accountability to taxpayers. Unfortunately, the bill before us doesn't do that. This legislation would add at least $6 billion in new costs to Medicare without any plan to pay for it--$6 billion and no plan to pay for it--and at least $5 billion to our Federal debt, a debt that is already surging above $30 trillion. I think we all should say that is unacceptable. This bill doesn't reduce costs; it just shifts them from one unfunded government program to another unfunded government program. Let's remember, Medicare costs are already skyrocketing. Further jeopardizing Medicare is a disservice to the 60 million Americans, including 4.5 million Floridians, who rely on it. My amendment would fix this. It would just require the Postal Service to pay for any new costs to Medicare that this bill will bring. This would ensure that Medicare isn't used like a piggy bank and that the taxpayer and future nonpostal retirees aren't forced to bear the burden of this postal bailout. And the Postal Service should pay their fair share. I want to make this next point very clear. My amendment is germane. It deserves a simple majority vote. It deserves a vote. I am thankful I have the support of groups like 60 Plus and the Association of Mature American Citizens that represent the interests of America's seniors. I urge my colleagues to support this. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up amendment No. 4933; further, that the amendment be reported by number, that there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided on the amendment, and that the Senate vote on adoption of the amendment with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, reserving the right to object, here is what I believe: We need to do everything possible to protect Medicare recipients and stop bankrupting our essential programs. Senator Johnson has told me repeatedly that he has been asking for years. The Postal Service says they are putting all this money into Medicare, and he has had a simple request: How much money is the Postal Service paying for Medicare, and what are the recipients at the Postal Service receiving in benefits? No one can ever give an answer. I asked for a CBO score. They said this is going to cost at least $6 billion, and it is going to increase our deficit by at least $5 billion. So we have an unfunded program in the Postal Service, and we are going to move it and hurt our Medicare recipients. My amendment--and I was told that this would not cost Medicare anything, so my amendment is pretty simple: whatever the incremental costs to Medicare are should be paid by the Postal Service. I mean, it is the Postal Service retirees; they are the ones who ought to pay for it. So I don't understand why we wouldn't want to do this. I was told it was not going to cost anything. By the way, the CBO score that is out there already says it is going to increase our deficit, and it is going to put our Medicare Program in worse shape. They can only give us numbers for the first 10 years. After 10 years, the numbers are going to be worse than the numbers I told you about. So what I don't get is, one, why didn't we vote on this in the committee? Why didn't we have an opportunity to do an amendment there? Why don't we have an amendment vote on this on the floor? It is common sense. I would think all of us would want to make sure we are not going to bankrupt Medicare, and all of us want to make sure that if it is going to cost Medicare anything, the Postal Service should pay for it. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, the pending measure, H.R. 3076, Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, would increase on-budget deficits by $5 billion or more in at least one of the four 10-year periods beginning in 2032. This increase violates section 3101 of the 2016 budget resolution, which prohibits consideration of legislation that would cause a net increase in on-budget deficits in any of the four 10-year periods beyond the current budget window. I raise a point of order under section 3101(b) of S. Con. Res. 11, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, as I have said repeatedly, I absolutely support getting something done to reform the Postal Service, but it cannot come at the expense to American taxpayers. The Federal debt has already surged above $30 trillion, and it just keeps growing and growing. I wrote to the Congressional Budget Office, asking what the future cost of this bill would be to Medicare and how it would impact the debt. While they could tell me there would be at least $5 billion in new deficits, they couldn't provide data past 2031, when Medicare will be most affected by this proposal. Here is what we know for certain: This bill doesn't reduce costs; it just shifts them from one unfunded government program to another. This bill adds at least $6 billion in new costs to Medicare, with no way to pay for it, and adds at least $5 billion to long-term Federal deficits. That is unacceptable. It is why I am raising a point of order today. We have to stop driving America deeper into debt and finally be accountable to the American taxpayers. I urge my colleague to vote no on the budget point of order.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, imagine this. You are a CEO of a company, and one day your CFO comes into your office with bad news. The company's costs are rapidly growing, and you aren't bringing in enough money to keep pace with the rising costs. The solution here is simple: come up with a plan to reduce costs and continue serving your customers and honoring your agreements while ensuring that the company can stay afloat. If you don't adapt and evolve, you fail and go out of business. Most Americans understand that. Unfortunately, Congress is not like most Americans. We are in charge of running Medicare, and for decades, the cost of Medicare has risen dramatically, but Congress has no plan to address future costs. And now we have Medicare's Board of Trustees reporting that the hospital insurance trust fund, the fund which supports Medicare Part A, will be insolvent in 2026. You can see here is where we are. In just 4 short years--in just 4 short years--we are going to run out of money to keep paying for services for Americans most in need. We are talking about things like emergency surgery, in-home healthcare, and hospice care. By 2030, 4 years after insolvency, the trust fund will be $335 billion in debt. Medicare Part A cannot pay when it lacks funds. What makes matters worse, the Medicare trustees have been warning about this for years. They have told us that Medicare Part A hasn't met even the most basic short-term goals for fiscal health since 2003. Let's go back to the imaginary company I mentioned earlier. If you were an employee of that company and your salary depended on the company's success, how would you feel if, for 18 years, the company's leadership knew that the company would go under unless they fixed the problem, but it never happened? Instead of fixing the problem, no one did anything. They just kept using up the company's savings. That is basically what has happened and continues to happen with Medicare. Here is what is shocking. Absolutely nothing has been done. Washington has completely ignored the warnings about the rising costs and declining revenues for Medicare, and there is no plan to repair the system. Career politicians in the Washington establishment have acted recklessly and immorally. They are plunging Medicare into billions of dollars of debt, debt that our grandchildren will have to pay off for the benefit of those in the present. To make matters worse, Washington politicians think they can continue to treat Medicare like a piggy bank and draw as much money as they want from it to pay for another unsustainable and unfunded program. We saw them use Medicare savings to help fund road construction in an infrastructure bill. Make no mistake, I want to have better ports and better highways, but robbing Peter to pay Paul with money Peter doesn't have? That is wrong. Kicking the can down the road and letting our debt balloon is a disservice to the 60 million--60 million--Americans, including the 4.5 million Floridians, who rely on Medicare. Now, Senator Schumer is trying to pass a bill that will stick Congress's greedy hand into the Medicare trust fund--this time to pay for the U.S. Postal Service. In 2020, Part B spending was $418 billion. By 2030, the cost will double to $871 billion. Look at this. I mean, this is unbelievable. The Part B and Part D trust fund is funded through a combination of premiums paid by beneficiaries and direct transfer from the U.S. Treasury of collected tax revenue. That means the future costs of Medicare Parts B and D are going to be paid for by higher premiums for retirees and higher taxes for all Americans. Today, someone who retires at the Postal Service can keep their health plan into retirement, with the option of adding Medicare, but the Postal Service needs to pay the full cost of the health plan if the retiree doesn't choose Medicare. Now, this is costly to the post office, so the proposed solution in Senator Schumer's postal reform bill is to force all future retirees into Medicare as a means of saving money for the post office. This actually just shifts costs away from the Postal Service onto the Medicare Program--from one government program to another--and it is a cost borne by hard-working taxpayers and nonpostal retirees. This is a gift to the post office balance sheet, but it is a cost to everybody else. In other words, the solution is as bad as the problem. On top of that, the CBO doesn't even have an accurate estimate of how much this bill will actually cost. I sent a letter to the CBO asking what the future cost of the bill would be to Medicare. While they could tell me there would be $5 billion in new deficits, they couldn't provide data past 2031, when Medicare will be most affected by this proposal. Yet Congress wants to pass this bill and pretend like it is solving a problem when it only makes matters worse. If you look at the limited CBO score we have and think about what it says, it shows that it increases costs to Medicare and reduces costs to the Postal Service. Advocates are quick to say that it saves the government money, but that is wrong. The post office keeps all the savings and just moves the costs to Medicare. It doesn't actually save the taxpayer any money. We have got to stop doing business like this. How can anybody in this body explain to their constituents that this is the right way to pass bills? How can anyone really say with a straight face that kicking the can down the road is the right thing to do? Do you know why the American people don't trust us? It is stuff like this. When Congress passes a bill like this, with zero committee process, zero amendments so far considered in the Senate, and the bill ends up being terrible, well, it is not hard to see why the American people don't have a ton of faith in Congress to solve problems. In 2020, Medicare spending was almost $1 trillion. That is $1 trillion in mandatory spending without any review by Congress. I want real reform. I want to make sure retirees have the healthcare they have paid into and that the Postal Service is actually sustainable. That is why I have introduced an amendment to require the Postal Service to pay for any new costs to Medicare that this bill will bring. This will ensure that Medicare isn't used like a piggy bank. This will ensure that the taxpayer and future nonpostal retirees aren't forced to bear the burden of this Postal Service bailout. It would ensure that the Postal Service pays their fair share. I am thankful to have the support of groups like 60 Plus that represent the interests of America's seniors. Unlike many career politicians who are running Washington off a fiscal cliff with over $30 trillion worth of debt, I have actually been a CEO. I have run companies and have had to help solve financial problems. I have listened to CFOs and have worked with budgets to turn things around. I didn't come to Washington to fit in and maintain the status quo. I came to make real change that benefits American families, and this bill, as written right now, doesn't do anything to help anyone. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment and join me in demanding that Senator Schumer slow down and put this bill through the proper process. American taxpayers and voters who sent us here deserve better than this. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I thank my colleagues Senators Risch and Toomey for their leadership on these efforts. Americans are watching Russia's invasion into Ukraine, and they are looking to us for leadership. As an evil tyrant wages war, they are asking how our government will respond. So here we are. Congress is in session, and Senator Schumer has placed the world's most pressing issue on the back burner. What could be more important than supporting a fellow democracy under attack against a thug whose goal is to control as much of Europe as he can? A postal reform bill and a radical abortion bill. The freedom, wealth, and resources of Europe are under attack. Senator Schumer wants to use our time to ensure more unborn babies can be killed and pass a postal reform bill that doesn't actually provide any long-term reform for America's postal workers. And for what? So that President Biden has some progressive talking points he can use during his speech? This is wrong. Even Switzerland, which has spent decades with a strong sense of neutrality, took decisive action this week and froze the assets of Putin and his thugs. The Ukrainian people are being pushed out of their country and are losing their lives as they bravely defend their homes. We are hearing stories of Ukrainian grandfathers taking up arms to defend their families. Why can the Senate not come to work ready to take on the gross attacks by Putin? He is threatening to use nuclear weapons, and he is threatening NATO members with cyber attacks and subversion. Yet Senator Schumer wants to put the Senate's focus elsewhere. And we all know that the Postal Service is not in dire straits. It will continue delivering the mail this week, next week, and the week after. But the same cannot be said about the continued self-rule of Ukraine or peace and stability in Europe as Putin threatens to expand this war. That is why Senator Risch and I sent a letter to Senator Schumer asking he delay bringing up the postal reform bill and prioritize our support for the people of Ukraine. When Putin is threatening to undo our global order and seize further control of wealth and power across Europe, Congress must act swiftly and severely. Placing any other legislation, especially a bill which does not address any urgent issues, ahead of addressing the turmoil in Europe is dereliction of our duty to the American people and a betrayal of our responsibility to stand for freedom and support the world's democracies. At a time like this, we need to be clear about our priorities. First, the United States must continue to work with our allies and partners to destroy the Russian economy and levy devastating sanctions against the Russian oligarchy and Putin's thugs and cronies, both in and outside of the Kremlin. Second, the United States must supply Ukraine with every weapon needed and continue to work with our allies and partners to deliver resources to Ukraine's military and the Ukrainian people. Third, we must prioritize and increase our own defense spending to ensure maximum military readiness as we face both communist China and Putin's aggression. Now is not the time for weakness or any compromise of America's national defense capabilities. Fourth, we must also immediately ban Russian aircraft from using American airspace. Fifth, the Biden administration must immediately roll back its failed Green New Deal policies and take action to boost U.S. energy production and independence. They should restart the Keystone XL Pipeline and stop purchasing oil from Russia. Sixth, all lobbyists currently working with the Russian Government, Russian oligarchs, and other Russian interests should immediately cancel their contracts. The same goes for those representing countries that refuse to condemn Russia's invasion or are aiding Russia's attempts to evade sanctions. It is inexcusable for any American to be lobbying on behalf of Putin's evil regime or those supporting it. Seventh, all State and local governments should take every action possible to end their relationship with Russian Federal and local governments and with Russian-owned businesses. A number of States and local governments have already taken this step, and we applaud their leadership. Finally, every American should take care to not purchase Russian-made products. Just like with communist China, buying products made in Russia will only fuel Putin's war. One of the best tools America has at its disposal is our ability to destroy the Russian economy and inflict maximum pain on Putin and his oligarch thugs. Now is a time for all Americans to come together in defense of freedom and democracy, and the Senate must lead by example. That is why I am proud to work with my colleague from Idaho on the Never Yielding Europe's Territory Act, or the NYET Act, to provide the critical support Ukraine needs to defend itself and deter Russian aggression, while imposing real costs on the Kremlin for its ongoing aggression against Ukraine. The Senate should act immediately on this bill. American leadership is needed now more than ever, and taking these steps now is how we as a nation stand up against evil. Until this conflict is over, supporting Ukraine and making the horrific war as painful as possible for Putin and his evil regime must be our top focus. I yield the floor to Senator Risch.

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. President, since coming to the U.S. Senate over 3 years ago, I have regularly spoken about the dangers presented by communist China. Last month, outside the Kennedy Caucus Room, I was joined by a group of pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong and advocates speaking out against the genocide in the Uighur homeland. This month, as the Olympic Games have gone on in Beijing, we have seen the dangers that our athletes have faced. Athletes who have tested positive for COVID have been taken away by Chinese authorities, where they have been improperly fed. The FBI urged Team USA to leave their personal phones at home for fear of being surveilled by the Chinese Government and impacted by Chinese hackers. Of course, we saw the dangers athletes face in communist China several months ago in the case of tennis star Peng Shuai. Peng is one of the most recognizable Chinese athletes. She is a three-time Olympian and was ranked the No. 1 doubles player in 2014 by the World Women's Tennis Association. She has won championships at Wimbledon and the French Open and has represented her country at the highest levels of tennis competition. In November, when she shared her story of sexual abuse by a former Vice Premier of the Chinese Communist Party on social media, it rightfully caught the world's attention. Communist China's reaction to these disturbing allegations have shocked us all and completely verified all our fears. Instead of taking Peng Shuai's claims seriously and investigating these allegations, the communist Chinese Government followed its authoritarian playbook: silence, deflect, and cover up. General Secretary Xi and his communist thugs are so thin-skinned, weak, and intolerant of any questioning of their conduct that the government immediately silenced and disappeared Peng. People around the world asked on social media: ``Where is Peng?'' Chinese state media released what it said was an email from Peng to the Women's Tennis Association contradicting her previous allegations. It read like a hostage note and only raised more concerns as to her whereabouts and safety. Then Beijing shared a couple of videos of Peng at various structured public events and staged several video calls with the International Olympic Committee. The IOC didn't ask about her disappearance; they didn't ask about her allegations of abuse. And in the months since, the IOC has worked hand-in-hand with communist China to cover up Peng's allegations. In the days after the Olympic opening ceremony, the IOC worked with Chinese officials to publish a highly controlled interview of Peng in a French sports magazine. In answers that were translated by a Chinese official, Peng announced her retirement from professional tennis and denied the previous claim she was assaulted. It was disturbing. And the fact that the IOC helped coordinate the interview shows Thomas Bach is willing to prioritize his relationship with communist China over the safety of athletes. Compare their response to the World Tennis Association. At the beginning of December, the WTA announced it would be suspending all its tournaments in communist China until it was clear that Peng Shuai was safe and in good health and until there was a completely transparent investigation into her allegations of assault. It is a stark contrast between two organizations meant to protect the athletes--one aiding in the censorship and oppression of athletes, while the other does the right thing. And now, you have a well-known pundit representing the Chinese Communist Party spouting gross and demeaning comments about Peng. On ``60 Minutes Australia,'' Victor Gao, the vice president for the Center for China and Globalization and former translator for Deng Xiaoping, argued Peng could not have been assaulted because she is strong and athletic, so she should be able to defend herself. Can you imagine even saying that? The Chinese Communist Party is saying that there is no way Peng could have been assaulted, so you better stop talking about this issue. Well, I am not going to stop talking about this issue, and I am not going to let comments like that slide by. That is why I have introduced a bipartisan resolution with my colleague from Virginia rebuking the IOC for its failure to clearly and forcefully challenge the Party's claims about Peng Shuai's safety. The same resolution was unanimously adopted by the House of Representatives in December, and it is crucial that the Senate do the same. My colleague from Virginia, Senator Warner, is joining me to lead this resolution, along with 14 of our colleagues from both sides of the aisle. I am glad that my colleague from New Jersey, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has committed to mark up and favorably report this important resolution in the committee next month. I look forward to seeing its passage there and swiftly bringing it to the floor. The United States is the leading voice of freedom and democracy around the world. We cannot tolerate this kind of behavior. Today, my colleagues and I are standing together for human rights. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, reserving the right to object. Throughout his administration, President Biden has shown a shocking disregard for congressional authority and oversight. Following his botched and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration has refused to take accountability or provide answers to Congress or the American people. The President repeatedly shifts blame and hides from the truth. His administration demands to have closed, so-called classified hearings, even though none of the material being discussed is classified information. We still don't even know how many Americans are trapped in Afghanistan. We don't know how many Americans are trapped in Afghanistan. Biden abandoned them behind enemy lines. It is wrong. It left many Americans with no faith in President Biden's ability to lead or appoint qualified individuals to serve in these important roles. That is why I cannot and will not consent to allowing this nominee to move forward in an expedited manner. We should take a vote so every Senator can get on the record with their support or opposition to this nominee. Therefore, I object.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, reserving the right to object, let me first say that I care deeply about fixing the problems with the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Service provides an essential service and touches the lives of nearly every American. The Postal Service also consumes billions in taxpayer and consumer money every year, meaning that it has to be accountable to taxpayers and consumers not only in how effectively it delivers but in how it spends the dollars it receives. So I absolutely support getting something done to reform the Postal Service and ensure it is more accountable to taxpayers and consumers. I also support provisions of this bill, like its focus on enhanced services for rural communities, which will benefit many families across my great State, and I like the fact that it maintains the current 6-day mail delivery schedule. Unfortunately, there are also pieces of this bill that set us back and block the opportunity for us to achieve our shared goal of responsibly reforming the Postal Service. What I am asking for here is not unreasonable. I simply want the Senate to have the opportunity to work on this, improve it, and deliver a bill that truly works. The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over the Postal Service. I am actually very proud to serve on this committee. Unfortunately, the committee has not held one hearing or member meeting on the bill, nor has the bill even been considered at a markup. We aren't here considering just a simple resolution. This is a massive, multibillion-dollar bill that has huge impacts on Medicare recipients, and the Democratic majority skipped the committee process and rushed the bill to the floor. Despite the rushed process throughout the bill, a few details need to be highlighted, and they are not pretty. First, as I said before, this bill does not fix the underlying issues with the Postal Service, nor does it make it profitable. I don't understand why the Postal Service loses money and cannot be profitable. I don't think many Americans understand why. America is more than $30 trillion in debt. We can't afford to add more stress on our already enormous national debt with poor financial planning, which I think this bill absolutely does. In fact, this bill simply shifts risk to Medicare recipients by adding billions in new costs to Medicare. I am not sure why the Democrats are so eager to threaten the viability of Medicare or the benefits for Medicare recipients. The Democrats triggered billions in Medicare funding cuts in 2021 in Florida and other States in their wasteful, partisan COVID spending bill. Now they are putting even more stress on Medicare and the benefits of Medicare recipients by shifting billions in new costs onto the program. According to the Congressional Budget Office, between just 2025 and 2031, this bill would increase costs to Medicare by more than $1.9 billion for Part B and $4.2 billion for Part D. This will hurt Medicare recipients. And even that score is based on the limited number of future budget years that were covered in the CBO's review. We must have a long-term CBO score on this bill so that Congress can clearly review the future impacts to Medicare recipients. That is why I sent the director of the CBO a letter earlier today asking for more information about this bill. Over 60 million seniors across our country, including more than 4.5 million seniors in Florida, rely on Medicare. It is unconscionable to add further expenses to them and place the future care of postal workers on the line when Medicare is already on the road to insolvency. The retiree health benefits for the Postal Service are partially unfunded. This bill provides no new funding for the retiree health benefits of postal workers. It doesn't solve the problem. Now, I heard that my Democrat colleagues say this bill will address the massive supply chain crisis that millions of American families have suffered from. I could not disagree with them more on this point. And, frankly, I am shocked that they are willing to unfairly stick our postal workers with the blame for the failures of the Biden administration that have created and worsened our supply chain problems. This bill does nothing to address this supply chain problem. I know that the hard-working men and women of the Postal Service are not the ones causing this crisis; but if my colleagues insist that they are, that is even more of a reason to make sure this bill is heard in committee so we can really dig into the problem and make sure we come with up a sustainable solution. There is no looming deadline that would necessitate rushed action by the Senate. This bill perfectly captures everything that is wrong with the way Washington solves problems. Instead of taking the time to craft a sustainable, affordable, and accountable solution that serves the interests of taxpayers, Medicare recipients, consumers, and postal workers and achieves our policy goals, Congress rushes bills into law so that politicians can send out a press release saying they did something, even if that something actually makes the problem worse. If any business operated like this, it would absolutely fail. We have to stop this insanity. Given the scope of the legislation, the potential negative impact to postal workers, taxpayers, consumers, Medicare recipients, and seniors, the Senate should carefully and thoughtfully consider this bill. We should take all appropriate steps to make sure that we get this right. The Senate has simply not been afforded the opportunity to do that; therefore, I object.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, reserving the right to object, I notice neither of my colleagues addressed the fact that, still, why didn't this go to committee? Why wouldn't we go through a process? This massive, billion-dollar bill, why wouldn't we go to a committee? They did not address that. And, by the way, they talk about a technical error. I was here when my colleague from Florida had a technical change where the number was wrong, and my Democratic colleagues blocked the amendment. So this is not unheard of. On top of that, they never addressed the fact that this puts our Medicare recipients and our Medicare Program at further risk because the program is not fully funded, and this is nothing to fix it. On top of that, with our retiree benefits in the Postal Service, their funding is underfunded. This doesn't do anything to improve their funding. So I am not going to object, but let's make sure we clear up the facts here.

Mr. SCOTT of Florida

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, almost 4 years ago, on February 14, 2018, the world witnessed a senseless attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. I am proud to join my colleague Senator Rubio to introduce this resolution which honors the 17 victims of the tragic shooting: Alyssa Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Duque Anguiano, Nicholas Dworet, Aaron Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup, and Peter Wang. I often think of these innocent lives who were lost way too early. They were sons, daughters, parents, and partners. Some were educators, athletes, musicians; many of them, just kids with a life full of promise ahead of them. My heart breaks knowing that they will never get to pursue their dreams and that their families will always have a piece of their heart missing. Since that horrific day, I have worked closely with many of the victims' families to ensure no family has to experience that again. While I was Governor, we passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act to make sure our State does everything possible to ensure this does not happen again. Now as a U.S. Senator, I am fighting for improvements on the Federal level, including the Luke and Alex School Safety Act, named after Luke Hoyer and Alex Schachter, which builds on our work to keep schools safe. I am also working with my colleagues to pass the bipartisan EAGLES Act, which improves school safety for our students and teachers and provides more resources to law enforcement to prevent future tragedies from happening. While, unfortunately, we cannot bring back the lives lost on that tragic day nearly 4 years ago, I will always work to honor them and do everything in my power to protect our students and educators and ensure they have a safe environment to learn and succeed. Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 508, which is at the desk.