Eric Schmitt

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the founding of First Baptist Church--FBC-- of Lafayette County, MO. Since its founding as ``Little Sni-a-Bar Church'' in 1825, First Baptist has been a cornerstone of Lafayette County and has helped spread the message of Jesus Christ to countless individuals over its two centuries of service. To this day, it remains the longest serving active church in the county. I am proud to recognize the legacy forged by Pastor John Warder 200 years ago, as well as his 41 successors, and wish to express my appreciation for the ongoing steady leadership of Pastor Russell Pierce over the last decade. To the elders and church body of FBC, thank you for your devoted service to building stronger the community in Christ. I appreciate your devotion to the Word, and I wish your entire community the best as First Baptist Church enters its third century.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 17; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of Calendar No. 260, Joshua Divine; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Thursday's session of the Senate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. SCHMITT. For the information of the Senate, the first vote will be at noon today on the Divine nomination.

Mr. SCHMITT

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

Mr. SCHMITT

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

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of President Trump's rescission package. In a time of extraordinary debt, this bill is a first step in a long but necessary fight to put our Nation's fiscal house in order. But it is about much more than just that. This package isn't just about how much we spend but about what we spend it on. It is about whether or not we are still a sovereign nation of people in command of our own destiny. It is about whether elected representatives can act on behalf of the people they serve or whether or not they just yield to a vast bureaucratic apparatus of permanent Washington. We cannot accept a system that forces us to fund our own decline. Let me begin with something simple: We are $37 trillion in debt. We are borrowing money from our grandchildren to fund bloated bureaucracies and radical leftwing activists. While the actual American people are working long hours to afford groceries and gas, their government has been writing checks to leftwing propaganda outlets and spending billions overseas on countries that hate us. Enough is enough. This rescissions package is our opportunity to drain the swamp, not just in theory but in practice. It claws back nearly $10 billion in spending--9 billion--including billions for radical NGOs, hundreds of millions for foreign interests, and, yes, the taxpayer funding that props up corrupt and ideologically captured institutions like NPR and PBS. And let's talk about that for just a minute because no part of this debate has sparked more hysteria and more outrage from the left than defunding the so-called public broadcasting. Why? Because they know exactly what is at stake. NPR and PBS are not neutral media outlets. They are the closest thing we have ever had in this country to Pravda. They are the arms of the leftwing activist class, taxpayer- funded platforms for political propaganda masquerading as journalism. Don't take my word for it; take it from Uri Berliner, a veteran NPR editor who recently blew the whistle on what is actually happening behind the scenes there. In a stunning expose, Berliner described how from COVID to Hunter Biden's laptop, to the Russia hoax, NPR simply refused to consider any facts or perspectives that didn't align with the progressive party line. Even asking questions about the company's editorial bias was ``treated as evidence of disloyalty.'' Berliner took a survey of the ideological makeup of NPR's editorial staff in Washington, DC. The final tally was 87 Democrats and 0 Republicans--0 Republicans, not a one. Then there is the new CEO of NPR, Katherine Maher. Before she took the job, she spent years denouncing America, praising censorship, and advocating for the most extreme and grotesque forms of far-left politics. She described the First Amendment as the ``number one challenge'' to combating disinformation, called President Trump a ``deranged racist sociopath'' and celebrated when he was banned from Twitter saying, it was ``satisfying to deplatform fascists.'' Now she is running America's National Public Radio, funded, in part, by your hard-earned tax dollars. That is nothing short of obscene. Why are Americans being forced to subsidize institutions that hate them? Why are truckdrivers in Missouri paying for Ivy League grads in DC to tell them they are bigots? Why are we, as conservatives, spending billions of dollars to leftwing radicals that want to run us out of the public square? There is no good answer to these questions. The fact is, we shouldn't be. And President Trump's rescission package is a huge first step toward ensuring that we never do it again; that NPR and PBS are just the beginning. This package also takes aim at the insanity of our foreign aid budget. We are sending billions--billions--to every interest under the Sun, except for that of our own country. Here is a taste of what this package defunds: $18 million for gender diversity in the Mexican street-lighting industry; $2.4 million to make international disaster aid more considerate of sexual orientation and gender identity; $2.2 million to reduce xenophobia toward Venezuelan migrants; $3 million for Iraqi ``Sesame Street''; $4 million for sedentary migrants in Colombia; $6.2 million to address the needs of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia; $33 million for the U.N. Population Fund, including funding for transgender tampons in Bangladesh, LGBTQ campaigns in Rio, and third-gender community centers in Southeast Asia. And that is not even to mention the $800 million that this package cuts from the Migration and Refugee Assistance Account, which funds the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, a program that has been at the center of the gigantic NGO industrial complex that has been driving the mass migration crisis in this country on taxpayer dime. Americans never voted for any of this. They were never even asked. But the entire system is bankrolled by their money. Our own citizens are being pushed out of jobs, swamped by Third-World immigration, and told they are racist for complaining about it when people like Katherine Maher say something and criticize them. We send billions overseas to promote transgenderism and DEI and spend billions here at home to help import millions of illegal immigrants and pay the salaries of people who hate us, all while our own people are told there is no money for safe streets, decent roads, or a secure border. The people who run these programs see the Federal budget not as a means to serve the American people but as a piggybank for a global leftwing revolution. The administrative state in Washington, DC, is the beating heart of this revolution. It redistributes hundreds of billions of dollars a year from Middle America to a radical ecosystem of NGOs and activists working to undermine our civilization. For too long, the Federal Government has been hijacked by people with no loyalty to the country they are supposed to serve. Today, we have a chance to change that. This isn't just about saving money; it is about taking back control. Every single dollar we claw back from the NGOs and the foreign aid swamp is a dollar we take away from the people who are waging war on our country. It is a dollar we can use to secure our border, rebuild our Nation, and restore the promise of America for the next generation. The left is alarmed by this bill. They should be. Unlike generations of many who came before us who would talk a big game and then get to DC and do nothing, President Trump is actually serious about ending their taxpayer-dollar gravy train, and this rescissions package is a major part of delivering on that promise. This is just a first step, but it is a big one. For a long time, Washington has only ever moved in one direction: More spending, more control, and more power for the bureaucrats. And as permanent Washington grows, the citizen shrinks. This rescissions package reflects President Trump's promise that the American Government will, once again, serve the American people, not the other way around. It is a time to remind the bureaucrats, the NGOs and the foreign lobbyists and their friends in the media that the American taxpayer does not exist to subsidize their ideological pet projects. We are not a tax farm for global leftism. We are not the world's piggy bank. We are a sovereign nation, and it is time we started acting like one once again. The American people didn't send us here to protect the status quo. They sent us here because they know the status quo is broken. They sent us here to fight and deliver for them, and that is exactly what this bill does. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes on this package. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I am proud that this breakthrough provision has been included in the Big Beautiful Bill. This will provide much needed relief for individuals with disabilities who have waited far too long to be on the waiting list to receive services. There has been a backlog, and this will help clear it up, to the tune of billions of dollars. My colleague's amendment would completely undermine this very important effort. Ripping out important transparency and accountability provisions will divert intended resources for those who need it most in order to pay off public sector unions along the way. That is all it is. Medicaid exists to serve our patients. I have heard a lot from my Democratic colleagues about cutting benefits. It is all a lie. They are about to vote to cut off important benefits for the most vulnerable among us. I am tired of the lectures. This is actually a provision that does it. They are about to vote no. I encourage my colleagues to vote no on this amendment, which, again, is nothing more than a political payoff for public sector unions and takes money away from the most vulnerable among us. Vote on Amendment No. 2817

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Mr. George Garrison of Joplin, MO, for his storied career of public service and for his 95th birthday. Born on April 15, 1930, in Joplin, MO, George attended Joplin High School, where he played baseball and football. His passion and talent led him to play class D professional baseball, and while he had signed a contract to play Triple-A professional baseball--fulfilling a dream-- he was actually drafted by the U.S. Army in January 1952. Shortly after being drafted, George married his high school sweetheart Barbara on February 1, 1952. Like many young men his age, George was deployed to Korea. He served with the U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Division, 47th Field Artillery Battalion, where he drove the battalion commander to and from the frontlines. After 20 months of brave service to our country, including his deployment, George retired as a corporal in the U.S. Army and returned home to his beloved wife in Missouri. After his military career, George went back to school and finished his degree in education. He became a public school teacher and coach in Raymore, MO; where he taught industrial arts, history, physical education, and coached basketball and track. Having played sports himself, he was dedicated to the betterment of his students and the character building that comes through sports. Following his tenure in Raymore, George and Barbara moved back to Joplin where Geroge taught at Webb City High School. Both the ninth grade basketball and football teams he coached in 1957 led undefeated seasons. George then went on to become an assistant principal at Webb City Junior High School, and the couple moved to Webb City. Given his years of teaching and coaching for the Webb City School District and his proven leadership skills, in 1967, George was tapped as assistant superintendent. After 27 years of service in public education, George retired in 1984. In addition to his decades of work with students and parents, George served as chairman of the Webb City Park Board, where he led the city in purchasing the land for the city's well-known King Jack Park, where he has since watched his grandkids play baseball and softball. Whether in Joplin or Webb City, George has faithfully served his church--first as a charter member at Fellowship Bible Church in Joplin, where he helped in the youth group, and then as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, member of the choir, and of course, the softball coach, at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Webb City. George has been happily married for 73 years and enjoys spending time with his three daughters, who all reside in Webb City, MO; his seven grandchildren; and his three great-grandchildren, with two more on the way. I thank George for his military service, his work in the Missouri public school system, and I wish George all the best upon reaching this impressive milestone of 95 years.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today for National Police Week to honor the courageous men and women of law enforcement in Missouri and across our great country. Over the past decade, our police officers have weathered a flood of propaganda and lies, repeated and pushed by many of the most powerful voices in America. They have been villainized and smeared by the press, undermined and attacked by politicians, and targeted by a great wave of violent anarchy that has terrorized towns and cities across the country. They carry this burden with the same quiet courage and resolve as the generations of American police officers that came before them. They put on their uniforms every morning and run toward the danger. It has been my honor to back the blue every step of the way. I did it as attorney general of Missouri. I backed tougher sentencing rules, fought anti-police policies pushed by city officials, led the charge to secure more boots on the ground for our police in St. Louis, and launched the Safer Streets Initiative, partnering with Federal prosecutors to go after violent criminals in Missouri's most dangerous neighborhoods. When I ran for the Senate, I was proud to be endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, and I have worked every day to make good on the trust our law enforcement officers have placed in me. Last month, I introduced the Public Safety Free Speech Act to defend the First Amendment rights of our police and our firefighters and our first responders who had been disciplined, suspended, or even fired for their political speech. In many parts of our country, first responders have little to no legal protections for constitutionally protected speech, even when they are off duty, leaving them at the mercy of activist supervisors and city officials. Police and other first responders have been fired or suspended for criticizing Black Lives Matter, voicing support for President Trump, or even donating $25 to Kyle Rittenhouse's defense fund. That is wrong, and our bill would make it right. If you want to know the kind of danger our first responders face every day, look at what happened just a few weeks ago. On April 27, a Kansas City first responder was brutally murdered by a known criminal who had been released from custody shortly before the attack. His name is Graham Hoffman. He was just 29 years old. He was stabbed to death while trying to save someone's life. In the wake of that tragedy, I announced that I will be working with our brave firefighters here in Washington, DC, and around the country and other first responder groups to introduce a bill to increase Federal penalties for killing or assaulting first responders. Those who would assault or kill police officers and first responders should know that they will face swift and devastating justice. It is no coincidence that the radicals who seek to dismantle our civilization have our law enforcement officers in their crosshairs. They know that our policemen are the guardians of law and order, the thin blue line between peace and chaos, order and lawlessness, society and anarchy. Without them, there is no rule of law, and without the rule of law, there is no civilization. This is the sacred responsibility of the men and women who risk their lives so that others may live in peace. I will never apologize for standing with those who wear the badge. I always have, and I always will. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I would like to address that. If this were a blanket hold, if these weren't indiscriminate, maybe that would be productive, but these are indiscriminate holds. I would offer to this body that not only is the Senate broken through this process and this ruse, the Democrats are broken. By the way, you don't need to filibuster everything. You don't need 60 votes for everything. For goodness' sake, Clarence Thomas--Clarence Thomas--was confirmed to be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice with 52 votes. That was a different era. But I will also point to another era. We have not seen an effort like this by the minority party to be obstructionists in 50 years. Not since the Ford administration has it taken this kind of effort for every single nominee. That is brokenness, underlain by the brokenness of their party. I will use a bit of a baseball analogy here. They are swinging at every pitch, every single pitch, and they look ridiculous. This week, it is this. Next week, somebody will be down in El Salvador at an MS-13 prison--a prison down there--dining with an MS-13 gang member who beats his wife. This is who they are. They are also the people now standing up objecting to the confirmation of the Ambassador to the Vatican. Yes, you heard that right--the Ambassador of the Vatican, who could be there for the installation of the Pope. So I don't want to hear anything about how anybody is being reasonable. This is totally unreasonable. By the way, my friend from Hawaii is defending USAID. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about some of the reforms real quickly, a bit of a breakdown. Heaven forbid we stop $20 million on a ``Sesame Street'' show in Baghdad promoting LGBTQ ideals; $11 million to instruct Vietnam to stop trash burning; $56 million to boost Egyptian and Tunisian tourism; $100 million to build schools in Jordan; $11 million to instruct Vietnam to stop burning trash--I already mentioned that--DEI programs in Burma, and money for Guatemalan sex changes. Maybe, just maybe, this isn't the hill to die on. But maybe, just maybe, defending people who are deported, who are MS-13 gang members who are terrorizing our communities, that is not the hill to die on. But next week, it will be something else. But the truth is, this is really about Trump derangement syndrome. The truth is, this is about the Democrats not coming to grips about, you know, getting smoked in November because they don't have a message. So what are they grasping at? All of these ridiculous things so somebody can say they are the chief resister. I just never thought I would see a day that the resistance would mean holding up the Ambassador to the Holy See to be there for the installation of the Pope, but here is where we are; total brokenness from the other side. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I would just like to respond by saying it is not personal. The Senator from Hawaii, who is my friend, is--by defending USAID--is defending these positions. That is the only remark I made. But also acting like--and we did have a conversation on the floor about what it would take--acting like there would be some kind of accommodation that would allow this to move forward in what would normally be a normal process here, but where we are at is the Democrats are objecting to everything. That has not happened in 50 years. That is not normal. So the accommodation for this instance, I think, is reasonable. Evidently, he doesn't. It is not personal, and here we are. But the idea that the Democratic Party is grasping at straws every single day to make headlines and make themselves look ridiculous isn't personal necessarily, but it is the truth. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise for two things. First, I wanted to make the Chamber aware of the passing of legendary Missouri Senator Kit Bond. Former Senator Bond served as Missouri's Governor. He was I think at the time Missouri's youngest Governor and still is historically. He served in this Chamber for 24 years--one of the longest serving Senators from my State. I have the honor of standing behind, I suppose, the desk that he once had, that Harry Truman had, that Tom Eagleton had, Jack Danforth had, Roy Blunt had, and Senator Bond. He had a flare, a sense of humor, and an intense dedication for delivering for his home State. He will be missed. I am praying for him, his wife Linda, his son Sam, and all those who knew and loved Senator Bond, during this difficult time.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to engage in this great debate that is raging across our country. Turn on the TV, read the newspapers, or open your phone, and you will be overwhelmed by the back-and-forths over tariffs, trade deficits, prices, and markets. We hear the talking heads say that America simply can't afford President Trump's insistence on more favorable trade policies. We hear much less about whether America can afford to continue down the road we have traveled these past 30 years. That is not a question that people in this city are asking. For many, it is not a question that appears to have occurred to them at all. The debates right now are about the future and how President Trump's policies will shape it. That is good. These are important debates that we should have. But, today, I rise because I want to speak about the past. I am speaking as an American but, in particular, as a proud Missourian, a boy from Bridgeton. My folks--they weren't wealthy. My grandfather was an infantryman in World War II and returned from the war with an eighth grade education and some money he won playing craps on the Queen Elizabeth on his way home. All of his children worked in his butcher shop growing up. Later, I remember seeing my dad work 7 days a week on the midnight shift to put food on the table and a roof over our heads. He worked hard and lived honestly. And, just one generation later, look where we are. What a remarkable story about my life--I suppose it is a remarkable story--but the truth is, it is just how unremarkable it really is in this country. That was the everyday magic of America--a country where lives like ours were not just possible but common. It was who we were. America built the modern world. Our country was forged by pilgrims, pioneers, settlers, and explorers--men whose dreams were too big for the low horizons of the Old World. Our ancestors settled a new continent, tamed a frontier, raised up a great civilization from the wilderness, and planted our flag on the Moon. It was American genius that connected the world, first through the great steam engine, spanning this continent from coast to coast, then through the miracle of flight. We gave humanity the telephone, the internet, the skyscraper, modern technology, electricity, and the industrial assembly lines that built modern civilization. Even the things we didn't invent, we perfected. Everything that mattered happened here. But, over the last few decades, the people in power squandered that inheritance. They sent our children and our wealth overseas to defend the borders of distant nations while throwing open our own borders to a tidal wave of mass migration here at home. They shipped the good- paying, middle-class American jobs that once were the backbone of our economy to places like Mexico and China, transforming once prosperous towns and cities into hollow shells of their former selves, often defined by addiction and death. All the while, in the forgotten corners of this land, the men and women who built this country have suffered in silence. They watch in quiet despair as their towns crumble into disrepair, their way of life disappears, and the country they love slips away from them. The political ideal of a republic is self-reliance. As our Founding Fathers understood, the art of self-government is about people's ability to rely on themselves. There was always trade, of course--this is a natural and good privilege of productive surplus economies--but in a republic, there was also trade between sovereign, self-sufficient communities. The citizen of the classical republic had no need for cheap trinkets, fashion, and sweatshops halfway across the globe. He and his neighbors were the ones building their homes, growing their own food, and when necessary, taking up arms to provide for their own defense. People who depend on others for essential things cannot rule themselves, and if they cannot rule themselves, they cannot keep a republic. Yes, times have changed. The economy of today is altogether different than the economy our ancestors knew, but that is no excuse for standing by as our home becomes a dumping ground for cheap Chinese goods. Are we really still a sovereign people today? Our independence and our sovereignty are not commodities to be sold on the global market. We can't and won't make everything here, but we must recover the will and the ability to make the vital necessities of our national life. Our country now depends on foreign imports for most of those necessities. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, more Americans now work in government than in manufacturing. Nearly half of our cars, more than 60 percent of our machine tools, 80 percent of our pharmaceuticals, and nearly 90 percent of the semiconductor chips we need for everything from phones to fighter jets are foreign made. That is why the crisis that confronts us today is not merely economic. It is about communism and slave labor versus freedom. It is about who will win the 21st century. The stakes are high. It is about the survival of our civilization. It is about the kind of Nation and people we are and will be: one that creates and builds or one that simply consumes. In this city, we tend to speak of big, sweeping abstractions--jobs, wages, deficits, growth. We talk as if these things are numbers and graphs. We forget that every job lost to China and every factory moved to Mexico belongs to a real, flesh-and-blood American, with a life and a family and a home. Each and every data point is a fellow citizen, a neighbor, a son or daughter of this great Republic. Since NAFTA, 90,000--90,000--factories in our country have closed. Think about that and what it means to those families. For the people who benefited, this was just an abstract externality. For the workers, the heartland Americans, it was everything. I know these people. These are my people--these are our people--and for too long, they have walked alone. There is no memorial for their sacrifice, no national outpouring of grief for their loss, no powerful interest group to represent them in the halls of power. Let me tell you what 30 years of so-called free and fair trade has meant for the folks where I am from. In the 1990s, our political class embraced a new line of thinking: that America could become more prosperous by opening all trade barriers regardless of how other countries treated us. The result was swift and devastating. By 2004, according to some estimates, Missouri had lost well over 31,000 jobs to foreign trade. By 2010, our trade deficit with Mexico had cost us 12,600 Missouri jobs. By 2013, we had shipped 44,200 Missouri jobs off to China. By 2018, Missouri had lost more than 90,000 jobs in manufacturing alone--over 25 percent of our industrial base. Until a few decades ago, southeast Missouri was a national hub for garment and shoe manufacturing. In the 1970s, southeast Missouri was home to as many as 90--90--shoe plants. The last shoe factory from that era closed for good in 2005. It had begun as a five-story, 92,000-foot international shoe plant in Cape Girardeau, nicknamed ``the Pride of Southeast Missouri.'' At one point, it employed 1,200 workers, but cheaper imports from low-wage countries began to flood the market, and by 1990, the old factory was razed and replaced with a one-story plant of, roughly, 300 to 500 workers. By 2001, that had dwindled down to just 50. Here is what one former employee told a local paper after the plant closed for good: Now I am working at the Lutheran Home, driving a van, and making a third of the amount of money I made before. My wife also has to work, and, together, we are making two-thirds of what I made alone at the shoe plant. It is very upsetting. You get mad, and then you get hurt, and you think about all the jobs leaving the country and all the people losing their jobs. Tri-Con Industries, which makes car seat parts, shuttered its factory in Cape Girardeau, too, and moved its production to Mexico. That was another 200 jobs gone. There are patriotic shoe companies that still want to build in America. Belleville Boots took over a factory in Carthage, MO, in 2020. There are businesses that still love America, and they want to build on the generations of skilled craftsman in places like southeast Missouri, but for decades, our political class has rigged the rules to punish rather than help companies that put America first. This pattern repeats again and again and in every industry. Up until the end of the 20th century, Missouri still had a major electronics assembly operation. Zenith Electronics--the last major American TV maker--had a large assembly plant in Springfield, MO. It had been in operation since just after World War II, and at one point, it employed 3,300 Missourians; but those jobs, too, had started moving to Mexico in the late 1990s. In October of 1991, Zenith shut down its plant and shipped its operation down to Mexico, taking out 1,500 Missouri jobs in one blow. In Springfield, the average worker made between 5 and 10 bucks an hour. Down in Mexico, it was just 83 cents. The high priests of the global economy tell us that this is merely creative destruction and that other, better industries will arise to take their place of the ones that were lost. It is true that some of the workers in Springfield went on to find new jobs, but they were often much worse than the ones that they had before. Five years after Zenith shut down, laid-off workers saw an average pay cut of more than 10 percent. More than half of them had held multiple jobs since being laid off, two-thirds of them with worse benefits. Even the workers who enrolled in job retraining programs fared no better than the ones who didn't. ``Those people had worked there for 20 or 25 years,'' one laid-off worker recalled. ``They were at the top end of the pay scales, and there weren't any more TV repairman jobs out there.'' Toastmaster is a household name. Well, they were headquartered in Missouri, and they made their stuff in Missouri, too, with factories in small towns all across our State; but as we welcomed China into the world economy, Toastmaster began to feel the squeeze of cheap Asian imports. By 2001, every Toastmaster plant in our State was gone, shipping hundreds of jobs from rural mid-Missouri to China. The last one to go, in the town of Macon--near where I went to school--had been in operation since the 1950s. All that remained was a toxic waste cleanup site for the 5,500 people in the town it left behind. Although Toastmaster continued production in certain areas of the United States, Missouri wasn't so fortunate. Boonville, a town where my grandmother went to high school, was another place that lost a Toastmaster factory. In 2011, the town of about 8,000 people lost its modular home manufacturing factory to the housing crisis too. In 2012, its bread factory filed for bankruptcy. In 2013, Nordyne, which manufactured air and heating products, announced it would be moving production from Boonville to--guess where--Mexico, taking out another 250 jobs. ``From a moral standpoint, it was kicking somebody while they were already down,'' the head of the local chamber of commerce said as he talked to a local newspaper. This is not the distant past, folks. This is the reality that millions and millions of our fellow Americans in Missouri and across the country live this very day. Haldex, a brake manufacturer, packed up and left for Mexico in 2020, eliminating the last 154 jobs left at the facility in the suburbs of Kansas City. Layoffs began 2 weeks before Christmas. They will save millions of dollars a year paying Mexican workers a fraction of what they paid back home. I will tell you one more story from the Bootheel in Missouri. For decades, the Noranda Aluminum smelter there was a lifeline employer for the folks in New Madrid, Marston, and surrounding communities. These were good, decent, hard-working, salt-of-the-Earth folks. I visited with them. The smelter was the engine for their way of life, but in 2016, Noranda filed for bankruptcy and shut down. Why? Because China's cheap, state-subsidized aluminum had flooded the market, causing global aluminum prices to plunge. In New Madrid--a town of less than 3,000 people--about 1,000 people had gone to find new jobs, usually at much lower pay. The county government went in the red. Local police and ambulance budgets were cut. The local school district lost a $3.1 million tax payment, which forced their own layoffs and saw a 10-percent drop in enrollment as families left the area. People lost homes, the mayor of New Madrid said. People got divorced. An American town, filled with American families, left for dead by their own country. What did we do to our own people? This is not to say that Missourians don't want fair exchange, one where they can trade and grow with the rest of the world, but the ``free trade'' that transpired was not free trade at all. The double-edged tragedy of the system is that not all these companies wanted to leave. Some--perhaps many--wanted desperately to stay. These people were their neighbors, their friends, their family. But over the past three decades, we punished the companies that were loyal to America while rewarding the ones that weren't. The businesses that were eager to offshore got big bonuses at the American workers' expense. The businesses that wanted to stay here found themselves struggling to stay alive in conditions where they couldn't compete. Now, some might argue that Americans don't want to make shoes anymore, but we did a generation ago. The American workers of that age knew that there was something meaningful in creating and producing. Today, we have been taken by the idea that our social status is not what we build or create but what we can afford to buy or consume. It is going to take generations to reverse this thinking. The post-war order has given birth to a shallow morality of materialism that measures values strictly in terms of consumption. This is a poisonous new idea, utterly alien to the traditional American way of life. Our trade policy, like our foreign policy, failed to adapt to the new reality of the world after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The consequences were nothing short of devastating. At the dawn of the 1990s, as America looked forward to the new millennium, the architects of globalism beamed about the promise of the open society--a world without barriers or borders where all nations and cultures and economies would meld into one global economic zone. Thirty years on, what do we have to show for it? At home, our factories and the towns that once sustained them lie in ruin, razed by the ruthless logic of the new global economy and cost-efficiency. The Americans who once worked there were replaced by foreign labor overseas. The Americans who once held on were now being replaced by foreign labor here at home. Their children will graduate into a workforce where nearly 1 in 10 workers doesn't even speak their own language. The twin horsemen of globalism--unprotected trade and unprotected borders--have been a catastrophe for our civilization. But, in many ways, I don't blame the illegal immigrant who wants to come here in search of work, but we do have a country of laws, and there are consequences. I don't blame the factory laborer in Vietnam who takes the job that once belonged to an American. Do you know who I blame? The people in power who allowed them to do it. I blame the corporate bosses, the special interests, and, yes, the politicians who sold our country out for a seat at the table of the globalist banquet. I blame the ideologues of the status quo, the international elites, the so-called citizens of the world who see our country as a global economic zone, a giant shopping mall with an airport attached. I blame the people in cities like this one, who seem to have forgotten the men and women in towns like Boonville and New Madrid or their brothers and sisters, because ``American'' is not just a box you check on a tax form but a sacred responsibility that binds us to one another, an unbroken chain between our past and our future. I do not know what the future holds, but I do know what the past has meant. I know that something has to change and that President Trump is the first politician in a generation to even care enough to try. The 77 million ``deplorables'' who cast their lot with Donald Trump last November were the forgotten Americans--the blue-collar patriots, the conservatives of the heart, miners, mechanics, tradesmen, and farmers; men and women who worked with their hands, grew our food, built our homes, and drilled our fuel, whose labor powered our country, whose taxes sustained our government, and whose children served and sacrificed in our wars. They stand with this President because he stood with them when no one else would. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President. I rise today to honor the remarkable spirit of service and tireless work demonstrated by first responders, utility lineworkers, emergency response personnel, and remarkable volunteers across Missouri in their heroic work responding to the devastating storms that have hit Missouri over the past month. Time and again, our first responders have put their lives on the line to guarantee that all Missourians receive the best possible service and have gone above and beyond to protect our fellow citizens in times of crisis. To our State's peace officers, firefighters, and medical response personnel, thank you. Similarly, Missouri's utility workers have more than risen to the occasion over the last few weeks. Regardless of outdoor conditions, the Show Me State's lineworkers have consistently demonstrated courage and a remarkable drive to serve our fellow Missourians. They have worked tirelessly to restore vital infrastructure and guarantee that all Missourians have access to the key services they need. To our State's utility workers, thank you. And to Missouri's selfless volunteers, community organizations, and support crews who have traveled from other States to aid in Missouri's disaster recovery, know that your work has not gone unnoticed. I am deeply grateful for your noble commitment to provide for impacted families and communities across the State. All of you exemplify the principle of citizen leadership that has made our republic great, and you are truly Heartland Heroes.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Rick Ziegenfuss of Hollister, MO, for his many years of public service for our country and the State of Missouri. Rick has always been committed to serving wherever he finds himself. That first led him to enlist in the U.S. Army and serve from 1970 to 1992, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. After his service, he transitioned to working as the president and owner of AmeriTrade Corp, an environmental company, until 1994 and then as the vice president of operations for Creative Printing & Design Co. until 2002. In 2002, Rick started working for the city of Hollister, MO, as the director of economic development and later as city administrator. During his tenure as city administrator, Rick has been pivotal to the implementation and success of various projects to grow the city and the Tri-Lakes Region. Over the past 23 years that Rick has served as city administrator, Hollister has developed into a thriving city with various scenic outlooks and growing businesses. The partnerships made between businesses, residents, and elected officials have multiplied the vibrancy of the region. Rick has been an integral part of that revitalization, and I am deeply grateful for his tireless efforts on behalf of Hollister, MO. During his tenure, Rick surrounded himself with other dedicated public servants who brought new ideas and energy to every project they undertook. Rick's example of servant leadership has paved the way for a smooth transition into the next chapter for Hollister. I wish Rick and his family all the best as he enjoys a well-earned retirement. After a rewarding career, he plans to enjoy the beautiful nature of Missouri with his family and embark on multiple fishing trips.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Mr. Zachary Northcutt of Florida for his promotion to lieutenant commander of the Navy after 12 years of dedicated service to our country in the U.S. Navy. Before coming on to serve as a legislative fellow in my office, Zach enlisted and served as a division officer in the U.S. Navy from 2013 to 2018, overseeing all aspects of missile systems onboard the USS Princeton and then as a training officer onboard the USS Curtis Wilbur, where he managed a command of 300 personnel. After his time at sea, Zach moved to Annapolis, MD, to start as a seamanship and navigation instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, conveying his lessons learned during his time onboard to midshipmen. Zach was involved in their instruction of navigation principles and helped develop new curriculum. Zach then moved to Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan in 2021, where he served as a department head, responsible for the weapons systems and all external and internal communications, computers network, and navigation equipment onboard USS Rafael Peralta. Since November 2024, Zach has served my legislative team as they review and formulate policy proposals, address constituent concerns, and support my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. I am grateful for Zach's service to our country and particularly the role he has played in protecting America's interest in the Indo-Pacific region. It is truly an honor to be part of commemorating his latest achievement, promotion to lieutenant commander in the Navy. I wish him all the best as he assumes the responsibilities of this new role. He shares this achievement with his loving wife Erika, daughter Peggy, and their growing family.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Allie Bennett of Palmyra, MO, for her passionate leadership in providing housing for middle-income families in northeast Missouri. The housing landscape has changed; as more of the workforce is retiring, they are remaining in their homes, resulting in fewer options for the growing workforce to live. To address this shortage of affordable housing, Allie Bennett and the Housing Enhancement Northeast (HEN) Group decided to fill the void through an initial goal of building 12 homes each year throughout the Northeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission. The mission of this initiative is to contribute to the region's economic stability by ensuring that all levels of workers can live comfortably within their community. Thanks to her hard work and contribution to the community, HEN Group has completed its first three homes and has started on the fourth. Allie is a dedicated leader and community servant helping to make an impact within her community by providing affordable housing. As manager of economic development and member services for Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative, Allie is able to see areas of need in her community and help fill them. She also serves as director on the board of directors for the Community Foundation of West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri. Allie Bennett is truly a Champion of Missouri. I am grateful for her commitment to northeast Missouri and her passion to help improve the lives of so many Missourians. I wish her the best as her team continues to build better futures for hard-working Missourians.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Kim Fast of Wright City, MO, for her heroic act of bravery and saving a life. On the morning of October 12, 2024, Kim was helping her friend Wright City mayor Michelle Heiliger with work in her garage. Suddenly, they noticed thick black smoke coming from a neighbor's home. Recognizing immediately that their neighbor was likely in danger, Kim rushed toward the burning house without hesitation. Upon reaching the garage, Kim discovered that the neighbor's wheelchair had caught fire, leaving him trapped inside the intensifying blaze. Without regard for her own safety, Kim selflessly attempted to rescue him. The smoke was thick, the flames were spreading fast, and she was alone--but that didn't stop her. When she realized she needed help, she shouted for Mayor Heiliger, who immediately ran barefoot to her side, and together, they dragged the man out of the burning garage moments before flames fully engulfed it. Because of Kim's bravery, that neighbor is alive today. Her instinct to act made all the difference. While she would humbly say she was just in the right place at the right time, the truth is, not everyone would have run into a burning building. But Kim did. Kim Fast is truly a Champion of Missouri. She embodies selfless service. Her remarkable bravery, compassion, and dedication exemplify the highest standards of community spirit. I commend her and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Mayor Michelle Heiliger of Wright City, MO, for her heroic actions to save the life of an elderly neighbor. While working in her garage one morning, Michelle Heiliger realized something was wrong when she saw black smoke engulfing her neighbor's garage. A fire had set her neighbor's wheelchair on ablaze, making it difficult for him to escape. Michelle and her friend ran into the burning garage and dragged their neighbor out before calling 911. Mayor Heiliger didn't stop there. Recognizing the severity of the situation, Michelle went above and beyond by helping her neighbor's family secure a hotel room while they were displaced and waiting assistance from their insurance agency. Not only is Michelle Heiliger a hero, but she is also an active community member and public servant. On top of being mayor, she is also currently the director of the Wright City Fire Protection Board and the director of human resources with Sellenriek Construction, Sellenrick Energy, UtiliSource, and Selcon Construction. Her dedication to Wright City is a testament to her exceptional character. Mayor Heiliger is truly a Champion of Missouri. Her heroic actions and willingness to help saved someone's life are inspirational. I commend Mayor Heiliger for her service to her community and fellow Missourians, and I wish her immense success in all her endeavors.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Buck Smith of Saint Louis, MO, for being an advocate of Missourians with disabilities for more than 30 years. In 1994, Buck Smith and a group of friends hosted their first game of what would become St. Louis Challenger Baseball. While the effort began at a small scale, Challenger Baseball would eventually grow to include 60 teams and 600 players across Missouri and Illinois. The concept was simple: create an opportunity for those with developmental disabilities to enjoy America's pastime. Challenger Baseball pairs participants with ``buddies,'' who help the players hit, run the bases, and, most importantly, make friends. For the past three decades, the league has provided the invaluable combination of sport and companionship to the Greater Saint Louis region. In addition to his work with Challenger Baseball, Buck also served as senior vice president at Fleischman-Hillard, where he worked for more than 28 years. He is a former adjunct faculty member at Maryville University and remains an expert in branding and communications. Buck Smith is truly a Champion of Missouri. I am grateful for the work he has done to enrich the lives of disabled Missourians. I wish him the best in his continued efforts to bring together communities through baseball and friendship.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Mr. David T. Snider of Ozark, MO, for his lifetime of service, resolute commitment to honoring our Nation's veterans, and devoted dedication to his community. Mr. Snider's commitment to public service spans decades and professions. A proud veteran, he served our country with distinction in both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, including deployment as a sergeant with the 588th Engineer Battalion during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Following his military service, Mr. Snider continued protecting others as a law enforcement officer for 28 years serving in the Springfield Police Department and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana. Even in retirement, Mr. Snider remains a tireless servant-leader. As a former alderman myself, I particularly wish to recognize his time as alderman for the City of Ozark. Mr. Snider also works as a schoolbus driver and trainer for Ozark public schools, helping safeguard the next generation on their educational journey. He now serves as flight director for Honor Flight of the Ozarks, a role through which he helps ensure that our veterans have an opportunity to visit monuments here in Washington, DC. His commitment to honoring those who have served is an inspiration. David Snider is truly a Champion of Missouri and the very spirit of selfless service. I commend him for his stewardship among his community, his fellow veterans, and our country, and I extend my deepest appreciation and best wishes to him.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Derek Weber of Memphis, MO, for his dedication and leadership in providing affordable housing options to the working families of northeast Missouri. As the director of the Northeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission, Derek has led the charge to combat the shortage of affordable housing. His mission is to ensure working-class Missourians have affordable housing options available. Through his leadership, Derek has inspired several local companies to partner with them on this mission and oversees the coordination between all these companies. His goal for this organization is to build 12 homes every year, through Housing Enhancement Northeast (HEN). Currently, three homes have been completed, with a fourth under contract to begin construction soon. Beyond his work in housing, Derek is a committed leader in other areas of the community as well. He serves as the vice president of Scotland County R-1 School District, where he continues to contribute to the growth of his local educational system. He has consistently gone above and beyond for this local community. Derek Weber is truly a Champion of Missouri. I am grateful for his leadership in northeast Missouri and his dedication to improving the lives of Missourians. I wish him success as he continues to lead the charge for affordable housing in northeast Missouri.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Mike Scheib of Lancaster, MO, for his lifesaving decision-making and his leadership in addressing the need for an increase of middle-class housing for the growing workforce in northeast Missouri. As the CEO and general manager of Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Mike Scheib has fostered a strong partnership with the Housing Enhancement Northeast (HEN) Group to better serve his community. Together, they have worked tirelessly to tackle the shortage of affordable housing for working-class Missourians. As of today, three homes have been completed, with a fourth set to break ground in the near future. Both organizations remain committed to their initial goal of building 12 new homes a year. Mike is also a local hero in Lancaster, MO. During a company dinner, one of his fellow linemen started choking on a piece of steak. As other relief efforts failed and the lineman began to lose consciousness, Mike stood up and performed the Heimlich maneuver three times until it finally worked. He was later presented with the Lifesaving Award, which is awarded to individuals who go above and beyond in a life-or-death situation. Mike Scheib is truly a Champion of Missouri. I am grateful for his heroic quick thinking and his commitment to improving the community of northeast Missouri. I wish him the best as his team continues its work of building better, more affordable housing for northeast Missouri.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor PreventEd in St. Louis, MO, for 60 years of reducing and preventing the harms of alcohol and other drug use. As our country reels from the devastating effects of drug and alcohol abuse, our Nation's young people must be educated about the dangers of these addictive substances. Founded on March 16, 1965, PreventEd has been dedicated to education, intervention, and advocacy to reduce the abuse of alcohol and other drugs in eastern Missouri. Their key focus areas include school-based prevention education and early intervention efforts for K-12 programming, peer support provided by certified peer specialists to address substance abuse, assessment and referral services, community coalitions, and advocacy to provide a voice to Missourians who have been impacted by substance misuse with Federal, State, and local government and their agencies. PreventEd realizes that drug and alcohol abuse have affects on individuals and society, and both components must be addressed to substantially mitigate the devastating effects like overdose deaths, chronic health problems, family dysfunction, and involvement in crime. When I served as Attorney General of Missouri, I sued pharmaceutical giants over their role in the opioid crisis. Missouri received $458 million as part of that settlement which went to fund drug treatment and prevention programs. Organizations like PreventEd have stood in the gap to ensure that young people are fully aware of drug misuse and have the proper resources for recovery. In their 60 years, they have served over 55,000 young people and more than 200,000 community members in the eastern region of Missouri. I am proud of the work they do and wish them continued success as they persevere in the important work of curbing alcohol and drug abuse in eastern Missouri.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I spoke on this topic last week, but there is just so much more to talk about this week. This is about the important work that President Trump and Elon Musk and the other folks at DOGE are doing to save taxpayer dollars. Just this past week, DOGE canceled contracts within NIH, including $75,000 for researching and studying structural racism; $620,000 for an LGB+ teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys--let me repeat that because it is hard to follow: an LGB+ teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys--$699,000 for studying cannabis use among sexual minority, gender-diverse individuals; $740,000 for examining social networks among Black and Latino sexual minority men in New Jersey; $50,000 for assessing sexual health among LGBTQ+ Latinx youth in an agricultural community. The State Department, with Secretary of State Rubio, are canceling 83 percent of the programs under USAID. What is being cut: $4 million for engineering services in Liberia, $1.1 million for an online climate change tool, $4 million for assessing primary education in Kenya, and much, much more. And at the EPA, Secretary Zeldin canceled over 400 DEI and environmental justice grants across 9 grant programs that total $1.7 billion, bringing the EPA's total savings to over $2 billion. And wait until you hear this: According to reports from the Daily Wire, $2 billion in funding was directed toward a group called Power Forward Communities. Who runs Power Forward Communities? That would be Stacey Abrams. And let me just opine, just for a second, on why my Democratic colleagues on the other side are so nervous about all this DOGE stuff. It is because of this racket that has been used to launder taxpayer dollars to their buddies and their leftwing, radical groups. The gravy train is stopping, and it is terrifying to them. But to normal people, in real America, they think this stuff is crazy. And, finally, we have somebody in the Oval Office with a team that can root this stuff out. So keep going. We are just getting started with this stuff, and we will be back next week with more ridiculous things that the Democrats want funded with your taxpayer dollars. I yield the floor.