Eric Schmitt

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the late Arthur Fillmore II, one of Missouri's true champions. Throughout his entire life, Art's spirit was focused on those around him, as he continually searched for opportunities to protect and serve others. After graduating from the University of Missouri, he would receive a commission and join the U.S. Army, deploying first with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam, and later earning the rank of captain, serving in the Strategic Ammunition Support Command in Europe as a nuclear weapons adviser to American and Belgian forces. During his service, he earned multiple decorations for his outstanding work, receiving several Bronze Stars, several Air Medals, and an Army Commendation Medal and was awarded two Purple Hearts. Upon retiring from Active military service, Art graduated from the University of Missouri School of Law, beginning a remarkable career as an attorney. While practicing law, he also served on the Veteran Administration's Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of War Veterans and the National Security Advisory panel for the Central Intelligence Agency. In his free time, Art became a fierce community advocate, devoting himself to helping other brave veterans transition back into civilian life, founding the Heart of America Stand Down Foundation, and St. Michael Center for Homeless Veterans, cofounding the Kansas City Vietnam War Memorial, and serving on the board of directors for the Kansas City chapter of the Association of the United States Army. Art's charitable work was not limited to veteran advocacy. He spent several years in leadership roles with the University of Missouri- Kansas City Athletic Association, the Kansas City Art Institute Board of Trustees, and the Kansas City Ballet, later working alongside former Senator Kit Bond as chairman of Heart to Heart International Airlift, which provides vital medical supplies and aid to those in need overseas. For his outstanding volunteer work, Art was honored with multiple awards, including the Harry S. Truman Silver Veterans Medal, Daughters of the American Revolution Lifetime Achievement Award, Vietnam Veterans Community Service Award, and was admitted to several Halls of Fame. Art was a devoted family man, a cherished father to three children, and a proud grandfather to six grandchildren. He was also a committed grill master and lifelong fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. Art Fillmore was a deeply selfless man and lived a life defined by compassion and service to others. His remarkable drive to volunteer and dedicate his time to charitable causes will be sorely missed in the Show-Me State.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Zyan Knollmeyer of Jefferson City, MO, a 2026 graduate whose wrestling career showcases American resilience. Born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Zyan faced hardship at an early age with the tragic loss of his mother and spent time in Hawaii's foster care system. However, God had greater plans for him. Through several dedicated case managers, Zyan found his closest relatives in Missouri, who showed incredible compassion and quickly adopted him. Not long after arriving in the Show-Me State, Zyan had his first encounter with wrestling--and wasn't impressed. But with the guidance of a phenomenal coach who helped him discover his own exceptional strength and determination, Zyan quickly fell in love with the sport and committed himself to mastering his skills. That commitment led him to become the varsity heavyweight for Helias Catholic High School in his sophomore year. Over the years, Zyan has proven to be one of Missouri's most promising young athletes, finishing a remarkable season undefeated at 40-0 and claiming both the 2026 Missouri State Championship and NFHSC National Championship in his class. His dedication to honing his craft is truly remarkable. Zyan has not become complacent, instead taking every opportunity to practice new techniques to ensure he is always at the top of his game. He is the kind of young man who earns respect, leads by example, represents his community with pride, and takes time to encourage younger athletes who look up to him. Zyan has a bright future ahead, and as he looks forward to graduating, any university would be lucky to have him represent their wrestling program. His journey is a powerful ``only in America'' story, and I am proud to call him a fellow Missourian.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Holy Redeemer Catholic Grade School of Webster Groves, MO, for 125 years of academic excellence. Holy Redeemer has graduated more than 5,000 students since its founding in 1901. To put this in perspective, Holy Redeemer has continually provided quality, faith-based education to Missourians since Theodore Roosevelt served in the White House. Over the years, the school has adapted to student needs and modern challenges remarkably well, transforming from a school primarily staffed by nuns of the Dominican Sisters to a contemporary academy operated by dedicated lay teachers, ensuring that all students who attend are equipped to thrive after graduation. Holy Redeemer Grade School is one of thousands of Christian schools who have gone above and beyond to ensure our Nation's children are provided with the proper academic knowledge and spiritual formation to face life's challenges. In recognition of this impressive milestone, my office is proud to provide Holy Redeemer Parish an American flag that has flown over our Nation's Capital. I am proud that Missouri hosts such high-quality, faith-based schools, such as Holy Redeemer Grade School. I am deeply appreciative of Holy Redeemer's dedicated staff and religious leaders and wish them the very best as they continue providing children of the Show-Me State with a Christ-centered education.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the incredible and courageous career of Charles Jeffrey Beaton, who has for the last 15 years served as chief of the Glendale Police Department. Throughout his remarkable 33 years in law enforcement, Chief Beaton has continuously striven not only to protect and serve his fellow Missourians as a police officer, but also to serve as an effective leader in countless organizations. He has volunteered his time to serve on executive and advisory boards for the Regional Justice Information Sharing Law Enforcement Advisory Committee and the Law Enforcement Officials of Greater St. Louis. He also served as chairman of the St. Louis Area Police Chiefs Association's Memorial Prayer Breakfast Committee, where he and his colleagues honor the memory of first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. Outside of his law enforcement responsibilities, Chief Benton has continued to demonstrate his spirit of service as a dedicated volunteer at his church. Through his work with the Law Enforcement Torch Run Committee, he helped raise nearly $3 million for Special Olympics programs across the State. He also stepped forward to serve a short term as interim city administrator for Glendale, MO. Without a doubt, Chief Charles Jeffrey Beaton is among our State's finest uniformed officers and public servants, and he has more than earned his upcoming retirement later this year. I am honored to recognize him as a Champion of Missouri and proud to call him a close friend. I wish him all the best as he begins this next phase of his life.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I have nine 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 again on this pressing matter of funding law enforcement, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Just weeks ago, I stood on this floor and warned that we would be back. Democrats blocked full funding for border security and deportations. They chose a radical ideology over the safety of the American people, yet again. Now, we return with reconciliation as our vehicle, and we will not fail. This time, we will finish what the American people elected us to do--enforce our immigration laws and deport those who defy them, because this is not just another spending debate. This is a test of whether or not we are still a sovereign nation. For decades, Washington has operated under a dangerous lie that America is an economic zone, not a nation; merely an economy, not a people; merely a labor market, and not a home. Under that lie, borders became suggestions, citizenship became paperwork, and enforcement became optional. Then came the 4-year invasion, 15 million illegal immigrants flooding across our border--criminals, rapists, murderers. And the American people were told to accept the consequences in their wages, their schools, their hospitals, their neighborhoods, and sometimes at the grave sites of their children. The American people were told to accept the affordability crisis caused by the massive influx of millions of aliens who suppressed Americans' wages, and Democrats nodded along as Joe Biden let it happen. The American people were told to accept higher rent. They were told to accept higher housing prices as millions of new neighbors flooded their communities, driving up costs. We saw that surge account for up to 100 percent of rental price growth in our most populous States--in two-thirds nationwide. That is the root cause of today's affordability crisis. And on national security, the threat is very real. We have seen individuals from over 100 countries cross our borders--cartels, traffickers, and foreign adversaries ready to exploit weakness. Without enforcement, our southern border becomes a superhighway for cartels, crime, drugs, and terror. But beyond economics and security, there is something deeper at stake. Our Nation isn't a marketplace. It is a people, a shared history, a culture, a way of life. Our Nation is woven together by our faith, our families, our freedoms. Our Nation has language, a memory, a border, and a people with the sovereign right to decide who gets to join them. American citizenship is not a property interest to be conferred upon anyone who flies under the radar long enough. American citizenship is a covenant. It confers extraordinary rights but also demands obligations, loyalty, gratitude, humility, and the fidelity to the Nation and its people. And when millions enter illegally--without assimilation, without limits, without enforcement--you don't get unity. You get division. You get a country that no longer knows who it is, and that is what we are here to stop. This package funds the machinery of enforcement Democrats spent years trying to dismantle. It funds ICE. It funds CBP. It funds detention capacity, transportation, officers, agents, removal operations, and the hard infrastructure required to carry out deportations at scale. The point is simple: A deportation order means nothing without a detention bed. A detention bed means nothing without agents. Agents mean nothing without transportation. And immigration law means nothing if Congress refuses to fund the men and women charged with enforcing it. We have seen the costs of that failure. We have seen what this chaos looks like up close. It runs like a river of sin cutting through our land--murder, rape, arson, torture. Innocent Americans--daughters, sons, families--lost because the law was not enforced before the crime; lost because the Democrats have chosen illegal aliens over their fellow citizens, a choice made time and time again by the Democrats. When given the choice between funding deportations and protecting sanctuary jurisdictions, Democrats chose sanctuary jurisdictions. When given the choice between detention beds and catch-and-release, Democrats chose release. When given the choice between American citizens and illegal aliens, Democrats chose illegal aliens, and the human cost of that decision is staggering. The destiny of the American Nation is not to manifest death and destruction upon its own people through lawlessness and subversion of law enforcement. The destiny of this Nation--our Nation--is to be great, to be sovereign, and to be free. We will not accept a system where action only comes after an American's blood is spilled on American soil. We will not defund law enforcement as Democrats argue for. We will not force our agents to do more with less while anarchy spreads like a plague. And we will not accept the lie that enforcement must always be delayed, diluted, or denied. We are going to restore order. That means ending sanctuary policies that shield criminal illegal aliens. It means cutting off the incentives that fuel illegal immigration. It means giving our agents every tool they need to do their jobs. To my Democrat colleagues, the American people rejected your open borders agenda. They voted for law and order. They voted for sovereignty. They voted for the deportations law enforcement will deliver. And we are going to deliver. To my Republican colleagues, this is our moment. For too long, we talked about these problems without solving them. That era is over. We have a real opportunity right now to change the trajectory of this country; to restore the rule of law; to restore sovereignty; to restore our trajectory, our destiny; to restore the American Nation. And we cannot afford to fail because this is more than just about policy. It is about whether or not our kids inherit a country that has the guts to enforce its laws and protect its own citizens. We will not let America become a place where citizenship means nothing, where borders mean nothing, where the good and the heroic people who built this country are treated as enemies, while politicians refuse to notify law enforcement when a criminal illegal alien is being released from prison and into our communities. I reject that future and so do the American people. Citizenship is not merely paperwork. It is a covenant among our people. The first duty of the Federal Government is not to the world, not to an NGO, not to foreign nations or nationalists. It is not to the cheap labor lobby either. Its first duty is to its citizens. The American people are watching. They will remember who stood with them and who stood in the way. The safety of our citizens isn't optional. The rule of law isn't optional. And our duty to defend both is not optional. We will fund ICE. We will fund CBP. We will fund law enforcement. We will enforce our laws, and we will protect the American people, no matter how many times and for how long we have to return to this floor. We will finish the job. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Bella Baker of Atlanta, MO. Her commitment to academic and personal excellence is nothing short of remarkable, as she has balanced roles as State president of Missouri FCCLA, served as a State officer with Missouri 4- H and as an area officer of Missouri FFA, while maintaining a remarkable 3.7 GPA. Over the last 9 months, she has served as a member of the inaugural class of my youth council, a program developed to connect promising Missouri high schoolers with unique opportunities to gain hands-on experience with government, work on engaging civics projects, and meet with various local and State leaders across Missouri. Recently, each member of the council was asked to prepare an essay exploring the foundations of American law and government and detail a current issue on the national stage. While each councilor's work showed an understanding of our Constitution, Ms. Baker's essay demonstrated a clear passion and keen insight into American law as she analyzed disability programs under the lens of the Equal Protection Clause. I have no doubt that she has a bright future ahead of her and shows great promise of being among the next generation of the Show-Me State's leaders. Ms. Bella Baker has been an outstanding member of my office's youth council, and I am proud to call her a fellow Missourian. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Spiro Georges of Chesterfield, MO. While only a junior in high school, Mr. Georges has already proven to be an exceptional community servant and student-leader, having volunteered with various youth camps, mentoring younger students and helping them learn to make responsible choices, and serving with his school's student government. For the last 9 months, Spiro has served with 11 other Missouri high schoolers as part of the inaugural class of my office's youth council, a program launched to connect promising Missouri high schoolers with unique opportunities to gain hands-on experience with government, work on engaging civics projects, and foster a deeper interest in the Show- Me State's history. Each member of the council was asked to create an essay exploring our Constitution and representative government in the context of a modern-day issue. While each essay showed insight, Mr. Georges' work demonstrated that he had a clear passion for the project and had done careful research, outlining how social media algorithms have influenced democracy and voter education. With his clear passion for civics and service, it is already clear that he has a bright future ahead of him and has the potential to shine as one of the next generation of Missouri leaders. I am proud to call Mr. Spiro Georges a fellow Missourian and represent him in the U.S. Senate. He has been an exceptional member of my office's youth council, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Gannon Seyer of Ashland, MO. Despite still being enrolled in high school, he has already pursued multiple opportunities to develop his leadership and civic skills, serving as FFA chapter treasurer and as president of his high school's Beta Club, and has shown an impressive dedication to helping others, receiving the President's Volunteer Service Award in 2025 for his volunteer work. Over the past 9 months, Gannon has served with the inaugural class of my youth council, a program launched to connect promising Missouri high schoolers with unique opportunities to gain hands-on experience with government, work on engaging civics projects, develop interest in State history, and meet with various leaders across Missouri. Recently, each member of the council was invited to create an essay exploring the foundations of the American Constitution in the context of a modern-day issue. While each councilor's work showed understanding of our Nation's laws, Mr. Seyer's essay demonstrated that he had put careful thought and research into this project, discussing the Great Compromise and potential avenues to ensuring all Americans are properly represented in Congress. With his passion for service and dedication to personal growth, he has a bright future ahead of him, and I am proud to call him a fellow Missourian. Gannon Seyer has been an outstanding member of my office's youth council, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Katerina Pruitt of Webb City, MO. While still a junior in high school, Ms. Pruitt is already an accomplished young woman, having earned a bronze medal in a statewide speech and debate tournament, serving as captain on her school's swim team, and earning the prestigious magna cum laude honor in completing the National Latin Exam, all while maintaining an impressive 4.0 GPA. Over the last 9 months, Katerina has served with 11 other outstanding Missourians as part of the inaugural class of my youth council, a program launched to connect promising Missouri high schoolers with unique hands-on opportunities to learn about our representative form of government, work on engaging civics projects, and develop a deeper interest in Missouri history. Recently, each youth councilor was asked to draft an essay exploring the foundations of American society and government in the context of a modern-day issue facing our great Republic. Ms. Pruitt's writing showed exceptional insight into the unique privilege and challenges we face as we serve our fellow Americans, putting the good of the Nation before all else. Ms. Katerina Pruitt doubtless has a bright future ahead of her and already demonstrates great promise of becoming one of the Show-Me State's future leaders. She has been an outstanding member of my office's youth council, and I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, the bill in the Chamber well right now does one simple thing: It gives U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stable, long-term funding so it can do the job the Congress assigned it to do--enforce the immigration laws on the books and protect the American people. It provides $100.36 billion for operations and support and provides $5 billion for procurement, construction, and improvements, all available through September 30, 2036. This bill is necessary because Democrats are trying to do through appropriations what they could not do in public debate. They could not persuade the American people to support amnesty for millions of illegal aliens who poured into this country under the Biden Presidency. They could not stop President Trump from closing the border. So now they are trying to cripple interior enforcement by defunding and hamstringing ICE. But either today or through reconciliation, we will fully fund ICE. That is what this fight is about. The border is closing. The next task is deportation, and deportation requires officers, detention space, transportation, technology, and operational support. It requires an ICE that is funded to do the job it is charged to do, not be starved out by politicians who want enforcement to fail. My bill says plainly we are not going to let that happen. Democrats' own rhetoric gives away the game. They say they only want to deport the worst of the worst, but if that were true, they would not be trying to weaken the very Agency responsible for finding, detaining, and removing criminal illegal aliens. You cannot claim to support deporting dangerous offenders while working to cut the legs out from underneath ICE. We are not going to abolish ICE by a budgetary gimmick. We are not going to force the Agency to do more with less while the left expands sanctuary policies, wages lawfare against deportation, and turns enforcement into a political target. We are not going to accept the lie that immigration enforcement should begin only when an illegal alien has already committed a violent crime in this country because by then, for some American families, it is already too late. And we know what that looks like. It looks like Laken Riley; it looks like Stephanie Minter; it looks like Sheridan Gorman; it looks like Katie Abraham--Americans whose lives cannot be restored after the fact because Washington refused to enforce the law before the next crime was committed. That is why this bill matters. This bill funds deportation operations. It funds the officers who carry them out. It funds the actual enforcement of our laws Congress has passed, Republicans and Democrats alike. It says that the answer to a border invasion is not performative outrage followed by bureaucratic surrender; the answer is enforcement. So the question before the Senate is simple: Are we going to fund immigration enforcement or not? We will be back in reconciliation, where 50-plus-1 votes are enough and the filibuster cannot save you. We will be back to deliver the funding for ICE needs, and we will be back to deliver the policy changes the American people are demanding. By the way, if we are going to do another reconciliation bill, I may want to do something more than budgetary measures to help ICE do its job, like defunding sanctuary cities or removing the financial incentives for illegal immigration. So be careful what you wish for. All of it--all of it--will be paid for, all of it targeted, all of it designed to give ICE the tools and funding it actually needs. To my Democratic colleagues: This bill is the moderate option. What is coming next is going to supercharge deportations. To my Republican colleagues: Let this be a rallying cry. Every time the Democrats obstruct the safety of American families, the wall gets 10 feet higher and ICE gets another $100 billion. Because the American people are watching. They see exactly who is standing in the way of law enforcement and public safety, and they are not going to forget it. The safety of American citizens is not optional, and neither is our resolve to defend it. With that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4277, 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. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, the horrific murder in Chicago last week has reminded this Nation that the battle to defend the American people, strengthen our Republic, and yield constitutional authority for the common good is not confined to the southern border. It is being fought and lost right here in our own cities, in the heartland, in the streets where our sons and daughters walk to class or watch the Northern Lights. Sanctuary cities are not a polite exercise of State sovereignty or some virtue of federalism. Sanctuary cities are a declaration that illegal aliens' lives matter but American citizens' lives do not. Sheridan Gorman was an 18-year-old college student at Loyola University in Chicago. Her family described her as a daughter, a sister, and the heart of their family. She was full of life, full of kindness, and full of love that she gave freely to everyone around her. She made people feel seen. She made people feel valued. She was the kind of kid, the kind of daughter American families hope to raise; raised polite, hard-working, and the first in her family to go away to college, carrying the hopes of parents who still believe in the American dream. Sheridan Gorman was not some statistic. She was somebody's everything. Whether it was her friends, her family, or someone she had just met, Sheridan had a way of leaving people better than she found them. She was only 18 years old and just beginning her journey as a college freshman, embracing new experiences, building friendships, and living the life every parent hopes their child will get to live. But last week she was murdered in cold blood by an illegal alien from Venezuela. She was killed, her life taken from her and a daughter stolen from her family by a criminal illegal alien who would not have been in this country but for the Democrats' open border and sanctuary city policies. Border Patrol caught him in May of 2023. The Biden administration's open border policies let him go. That was the Democrats' first chance to prevent Sheridan's murder. Democrat-run Chicago then had another chance to prevent Sheridan's murder. It arrested the same illegal alien Jose Medina-Medina for shoplifting. But Illinois and Chicago's sanctuary policies ordered the police to say nothing to ICE. So instead of handing him over to Federal custody, they turned this monster loose on the streets of Chicago, the safety of American citizens be damned. And then last week, the same illegal alien shot Sheridan in the back as she went on a walk with her friends. Pause for a moment and really sit with the facts of Sheridan Gorman's murder. That illegal alien was previously in law enforcement's custody twice, and both times radical Democrat policies released him back onto the streets to prey on the American citizenry. It is uncomfortable for Democrats to confront the reality that their policies and radical ideology are causing preventable murders of American sons and daughters at the hands of illegal aliens. So they try to deflect. A Democrat Chicago alderwoman had the audacity to say that Sheridan was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What a disgusting lie. Sheridan Gorman was in exactly the right place at the right time. She was exactly where an American college freshman should be: near the campus, with her friends, chasing the Northern Lights on a beautiful spring night. No, the only person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time was the illegal alien murderer whose very presence in the country was the direct result of Democrat open border policies and sanctuary jurisdiction policies. He should have never been there. And if those policies had not existed, he would have been back in Venezuela years ago. Rather than admit this sanctuary city policy caused the preventable murder, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker released a statement saying that ``Republicans need to stop politicizing heinous tragedies.'' What an ugly, revealing statement. We are not politicizing the tragedy. We are exposing the truth. Sanctuary policies are getting American citizens killed. I know it; the American people know it; and deep down the Democrats know it too. The truth is, sanctuary cities force us to confront a test, the most fundamental test of any government: Does it still understand its first and only real obligation is to protect its own citizens? The duty is older than the Republic, older than modern politics itself. It is the reason government exists. Yet through these policies, Democrats made a deliberate choice: They sided with Jose Medina-Medina, a criminal illegal alien, over Sheridan Gorman, an American citizen and a college freshman. They have chosen an open border's ideology over the American Nation. At root, the scourge of sanctuary cities forces us to answer the same question as the SAVE America Act: Who or what comes first? Is it the American people, American sons and daughters, or is it illegal aliens and this radical open borders ideology? Or, dare I say, a theology? Not in theory, not in slogans, but in practice--when the handcuffs go on, when the phone call to federal law enforcement is made or not made, when lives hang in the balance. If the answer is not the American citizen, if the answer is not Sheridan Gorman or Laken Riley or Stephanie Minter or Katie Abraham, then we are no longer arguing about immigration policy. We are confronting something far more fundamental: whether our government still understands the basic purpose for which it exists. The American people know the answer. Democrats' conduct--their conduct betrays their answer. Democrats value illegal aliens more than Americans. This is a sick ideology. I actually can't believe--in a State where I come from, Harry Truman would be rolling in his grave. John F. Kennedy would be rolling in his grave. This idea, this toxic empathy, this suicidal empathy to placate the left is driving this debate we are having right now where they don't want to fund Federal law enforcement. They would rather a sanctuary jurisdiction not tell ICE that a murderer or a rapist is being released from prison to be deported. They don't want to do that. They hold onto this altar of this crazy ideology. So all this discussion we are having about this negotiation, I have been skeptical from the beginning. I litigated with Democrats on title 42 and ``Remain in Mexico.'' Deep down in the DNA now is something that has been lost. I don't understand it. Democrats admitted as much last night in an interview. By failing to give illegal aliens a pathway to citizenship, this Democrat noted that ``we failed to deliver for the people we care about the most, undocumented migrants.'' The people Democrats care about most are not you or your family. Instead, it is Jose Medina-Medina and the 15 million other illegal immigrants that the Biden administration let into this country. Once you understand this reality--that this is the driving, operating principle of the modern Democrat Party, this is not an outlier--the other actions are predictable, including this negotiation, this supposed negotiation that is happening, that is supposedly taking place. Once you see this hierarchy of needs and wants and preferences, everything makes sense. Democrats right now value illegal aliens more than traveling Americans. That is why they have defunded DHS and TSA. They value illegal aliens more than the American families hit by a disaster. That is why they are defunding DHS and FEMA. They value illegal aliens more than Sheridan Gorman, Laken Riley, Stephanie Minter, or Katie Abraham. That is why they have built sanctuary cities in Chicago, in New Orleans, in Los Angeles, in Minneapolis. As a Senator from Missouri, where we still believe the first job of government is to keep Missouri families safe, I say this plainly: Prioritizing illegal aliens to American citizens is unacceptable, and it is downright un-American. The alternative, putting Americans first, which used to be something maybe we could agree on, is not complicated and is consistent with both the Constitution and common sense. Enforce Federal immigration laws. These laws were passed by Republicans and Democrats alike, enforced by Republican and Democrat Presidents alike until recently. So enforce the laws. Deport the illegal aliens. Prioritize the safety of American citizens over ideology and illegal aliens because at the end of the day, this is not about ideology or politics. It is about whether or not we remain a country in which the government fulfills its most basic and fundamental obligation, a country where the law is enforced, a country where the responsibilities of governing for the common good is taken seriously, a country where the safety of its people is not treated as negotiable. If we cannot agree to affirm all those principles, then we are drifting, slowly but unmistakably, away from the principles that sustain a free and ordered society. And that is a drift we cannot afford to ignore any longer. I want to close by reading part of a statement from the Gorman family: We will not allow this to be dismissed as wrong place, wrong time. This was not random misfortune. This was a violent and preventable act. We are gravely disappointed by the policy and failures that allowed this individual to remain in a position to commit this crime. When systems fail, whether through release decisions, lack of coordination, or unwillingness to act, the consequences are not abstract. They are real. And in our case, they are permanent. This case must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of both State and Federal law. There can be no gaps, no shortcuts, and no second chances that put others at risk. Accountability must be complete. To the Gorman family: I am so sorry for your loss. As a dad who has my first daughter headed off to college next fall, I cannot imagine the grief and the pain that you feel when you send your little girl off to college and she is murdered in cold blood by somebody who should have never been here and there were two opportunities to get him the hell out of here. I pray for you. I pray for Sheridan and all those who loved her. I pray for every parent who now lives with the fear that the next knock on the door will be one that destroys their world. We will not let this be memory-holed as ``wrong place, wrong time.'' This was a violent, preventable act, enabled by radical policies that put illegal aliens ahead of American citizens. This case must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of State and Federal laws. Accountability must be complete, and it will be. It is time--long past time--for this Senate to answer the question the American people have already answered: Whose country is this? Enforce the laws. Deport the illegal aliens. End sanctuary cities once and for all. We must reclaim the foundational promise of this Republic that a nation of the people and by the people must be for the people. The American Government is for the American people. The American people have made their choice clear. American citizens come first. That is the fight I came to Washington to wage, and with the help of the American people, that is the fight we are going to win. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I am going to address two issues. The first is the funding of DHS, and the second will be on the SAVE America Act. I actually agree with the Senator from Hawaii. I don't think we are close, and here is why. The Democrats have made it very clear they are hell-bent on defunding ICE. They have demonized these husbands, wives, cousins, sisters, brothers, to the point where they have painted themselves into a corner where there is nothing that they will accept, short of eliminating immigration enforcement in this country. The White House has acted in good faith with the Democrats on this, with some reasonable measures, like more training, body cams, you know, things like that. But here is what they really want. What they really want is--they don't want people deported. They don't actually believe in the sovereignty of the United States of America. They don't think that as a country we should decide who is here and who has to go. It is a fundamental disagreement that didn't exist before. If you listen to a Bill Clinton speech from not that long ago, he talked about strong borders and deporting people. Barack Obama deported millions of people. What they want is a dynamic. And if you listen closely, the reason why they want masked agents--or ICE agents not to wear masks is they want them identified. They want the ICE agents' families to be terrorized. They want the facial recognition software that exists on Facebook and others, when people are doxed, to be very clear and usable so that nobody wants to join ICE anymore. This is the exact same phenomena that happened with the ``defund the police'' movement. What happened was because the police officers were demonized by the left, people retired early. People stopped joining police departments. Recruitment dived. That is what they want with ICE. They want to muck up the process with this whole idea of judicial warrants, knowing full well that warrants currently exist right now. There is a full disposition for deportation through the process that both Republicans and Democrats have agreed to over the years, including Republican and Democrat Presidents. That is not good enough because they want to make it harder to deport people. So this fundamental question about whether or not we are going to get funding for DHS is going to be very hard to solve when the Democrats on the other side don't actually want to solve the problem. And Chuck Schumer, he wants the chaos. I have talked to rank-and-file Democrats who have no idea about the reasonable nature of what the White House has offered because the minority leader doesn't want them to know because this is what he wants. He wants the chaos. He wants people stranded on spring break at airports because he creates a bigger problem and he thinks that all goes back to Trump. This is not like rocket science, but it is--it is dirty. And what the Republicans have said is: The White House is dealing in good faith. These people deserve to be paid. We shouldn't be holding all these people hostage, these TSA agents who are now going to miss their third paycheck here pretty soon. Listen, I fly back and forth every week. People can't afford that. Real people can't do that. So this is where we are at. I think they want to create a dynamic like they did with the ``defund the police'' movement that they were so supportive of a decade ago with the defund ICE movement so that they can't do their jobs and their jobs become so difficult and their families are terrorized that nobody wants to be an ICE agent anymore. And then what do you have? You have amnesty for the 15 million people who are here illegally, de facto amnesty because they are not going to be deported. That is the truth. Now, they are not going to say it on the Senate floor, but that is really what is going on. And so as far as I am concerned, we are not going to do anything that kneecaps ICE's ability to do their jobs. The American people--this was on the ballot--they support deportations. They don't think that rapists and murderers who are here in this country illegally are more important than American wives and daughters. So that is the dynamic.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the lifesaving work of Deanna Chatman, who serves as a postal carrier in St. Louis. Following the late November snow in 2025, the U.S. Postal Service determined that St. Louis carriers did not have to drive if road conditions were unsafe. Despite this, Ms. Chatman felt drawn to go to work as normal. Partway through her shift, Ms. Chatman encountered a senior citizen who had fallen and was trapped outside in the snow for 3 hours. Upon discovering the urgency of her situation, Ms. Chatman quickly called 911 and waited with the lady until first responders arrived, then completed the remainder of her delivery route as normal. Thanks to Ms. Chatman's choice to trust her instincts and act with purpose, the senior citizen was rescued and was released from the hospital in just a few days, and her family credits Deanna for her survival. Ms. Deanna Chatman is truly a Champion of Missouri. She is a perfect example of what a civil servant can and should be, going above and beyond to help others. While she delivered mail on her usual route, she also delivered hope to a Missouri family. I am sincerely grateful for her dedication, not only to her work, but her extraordinary devotion to our fellow Missourians.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Ms. Darci Curtis, a heroic pharmacy technician with the 509th Medical Group. After leaving work one day in July of 2025, Ms. Curtis witnessed a hit-and-run auto accident resulting in one of the vehicles going airborne and quickly pulled over to check on those in the damaged car. She called for an ambulance, but before first responders arrived, the vehicle's engine began smoking and threatened to catch fire. Suspecting a gas leak due to previous experience, Darci and one of her coworkers helped the injured passenger escape from the damaged car and communicated with the passenger's family until the paramedics arrived. Thanks to her quick thinking and ability to act with purpose, the victim was able to make it to the hospital and survive a terrible accident. Ms. Darci Curtis is truly a Champion of Missouri, as much for her heroic actions last July as for her dedicated service to the troops and military families at Whiteman Air Force Base. Her devotion to protecting our fellow Missourians is nothing short of remarkable. She truly embodies the spirit of service that makes our nation truly special.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the work of Kurt Jordan, who has found a unique way to volunteer his time and serve the great State of Missouri. After retiring as vice president of sales for Sherwin-Williams, Mr. Jordan and his father learned of the dilapidated conditions at Greenwick Cemetery north of St. Joseph and felt called to act. Over the last 7 years, Mr. Jordan has restored hundreds of gravestones across the Show-Me State, contributing both his personal time and money to restore multiple rundown cemeteries, with projects ranging from cleaning and restoring fractured headstones to developing a modern QR code system to help interested visitors learn more about those buried at Greenwick Cemetery free of charge. Outside of the graveyard, Kurt has proven himself to be an outstanding community leader, helping educate others on historic preservation, volunteering his experience with multiple boards over the years, including the Missouri Board of Preservation and Elmwood Cemetery Society. He currently serves on the Missouri Western State University Board of Directors. Mr. Jordan has truly found a unique way to serve families in our great State and help preserve the legacies of our ancestors, and his dedication is truly inspiring. I am deeply grateful for his meaningful work and am happy to recognize him as a Champion of Missouri.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the remarkable life and legacy of the late Alverta G. Harvey Hargis. Beginning her life in 1908, she had the opportunity to come of age during the closing days of the American pioneer era. Born in a covered wagon in Nebraska and spending the first few years of her life growing up in the type of iconic sod house that defined that era of our Nation's history, the challenges of growing up on the frontier provided her with valuable life lessons and helped equip her with a resilience that would guide her and her family through the hardships of the 20th century. During the Second World War, Mrs. Hargis played a key role in protecting America's freedom by serving at defense plants in Detroit, MI, ensuring that our selfless servicemen were equipped to defend our great republic and liberate our brothers and sisters in Europe. In 2020, she was among the great American women awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for supporting our nation as Rosie the Riveters by Congress and President Trump. At this year's Cherry Blossom Festival, Representative Alford will be posthumously presenting her with this honor. After the war, her extraordinary talent for quilting and baking became so iconic in southwest Missouri that, to this day, the Grand Champion Apple Pie Prize at the annual Apple Festival in Seymour, MO, is named in her honor, and each year, a fundraiser honoring her legacy is held during the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival. Throughout her life, Mrs. Hargis remained a committed woman of God and devoted herself to her family, raising 6 children and becoming the proud grandmother to over 80 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As the United States reaches its 250th anniversary, Mrs. Alverta Hargis' remarkable life serves as a perfect example of the spirit of committed service, sacrifice, and faith that have made our country great. I am proud to join her family and Representative Alford in recognizing her remarkable life and legacy and am happy that she called the Show-Me State home.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize SrA Jada McMillan, an outstanding medic with the 509th Medical Group at Whiteman Air Force Base. After leaving work one day in July of 2025, Senior Airman McMillan witnessed a hit-and-run auto accident resulting in one of the vehicles becoming airborne. After quickly pulling over to check on the passengers alongside one of her coworkers, Jada drew upon her experience in the medical field to remain calm and help the injured passenger escape from the soon-burning vehicle, choosing to stay with the passenger until first responders could arrive. Thanks to her ability to remain calm and focused, the victim survived and was able to receive the necessary medical care. SrA Jada McMillan has truly proven herself a Champion of Missouri, both in her dedicated service to our Nation in the U.S. Air Force and for her decisive action last July. Her outstanding devotion to protecting others is truly remarkable, and she has more than shown that she embodies the spirit of service that makes our Nation truly special. I am proud to represent such an outstanding individual in the U.S. Senate and wish her all the best as she continues serving in our Armed Forces.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the remarkable career of Deputy Mike Rankin. For over 50 years, Deputy Rankin has gone above and beyond in serving the people of Missouri as a member of the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office. As a volunteer and commander in the reserve division, he has more than proven his dedication to protecting our fellow Missourians over his impressive career and continues to serve his community admirably. His selfless choice to dedicate countless hours shielding others from danger is nothing short of remarkable and exemplifies the very best of Missouri law enforcement. Deputy Mike Rankin's dedication is truly inspiring and demonstrates an unparalleled and enduring commitment to the spirit of service. I am sincerely grateful for his decades of volunteering as a first responder and am proud to recognize him today as a Champion of Missouri.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the selfless work of Aniston Kennedy of Excelsior Springs, MO. Over the last few years, Ms. Kennedy has shown herself to be one of the Show-Me State's animal rescue champions. Since 2023, her volunteer efforts have helped spay and neuter over 40 animals and helped at least 35 find their forever homes. Her passion for helping animals goes beyond common pets, as she has helped rehome and rehabilitate creatures as diverse as bearded dragons and even roosters. Her impact goes beyond the animals she directly cares for. Her work to humanely manage stray animal colonies has already inspired additional community efforts across Excelsior Springs and has the potential to be modeled across the State as a humane way to effectively manage the State's animal populations. I wish Ms. Kennedy the best as she pursues her career in animal welfare. Her commitment to caring for our furry and feathered friends is nothing short of remarkable, and she has more than proven herself to be a Champion of Missouri.

Mr. SCHMITT

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

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I would also--before I talk about the SAVE Act, I just want to point out how the Democrats at this point, time and time again, have refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security at a time where we have conflict, at a time where we have seen terrorist attacks on the homeland--whether it is in Austin, Old Dominion, in Michigan--through the disastrous immigration policy overseen by the Biden administration with the Democrats where 15 million people came in here illegally, many of which we have no idea who they are. Most of them, we have no idea who they are. We do know that there are tens of thousands of murderers, hundreds of thousands of violent criminals. And the Democrats hate ICE and want to defund ICE so much they are willing to endanger the lives of the American people for this showboating and grandstanding. So anything they do out here to act like--it is just covering their rear ends because they know they are the ones responsible for defunding the Department of Homeland Security--that means TSA agents, that means the travel of the American people, that means the Coast Guard, that means the Secret Service, that means investigating people who are trafficking children here. This is a wildly bizarre, out-of-step ideology at this point where open borders is now in their DNA, and their refusal to want to get rid of people who shouldn't be here in the first place and prioritizing people who are here illegally over American citizens is nuts.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, there are moments when the Senate is asked whether it will merely manage decline or whether it will still govern. This is one of those moments. What is before us today is a test, a test of whether the Senate still understands what it is for, a test of whether article I of the Constitution still means what it says, that Congress possesses the power to write the rules of the road, a test of whether this body still exists to defend the American people, strengthen the Republic, and use constitutional authority for the common good. That is why I rise in support of my substitute amendment to the SAVE America Act, and it comes before us at a fitting hour in our Nation's life. America is approaching her 250th birthday. We were taught in schools to think of the American founding as though it were unimaginably far away, sealed off behind glass, but 250 years is smaller than it seems. President John Tyler was born during the First Congress in 1790. He was born in the very infancy of this Republic. President Tyler's last living grandson died only last year. That is how near the founding it still is and how recent this great experiment in self-government remains. And if the founding is that near, then our duty is that much clearer. We are not the curators of a dead tradition. We are the stewards of a living Republic. Our Republic was founded on a daring claim: that free people could govern itself--not that a free people could drift forever; not that a free people could live off inherited greatness while its leaders refuse every hard question; not that a free people could dissolve every boundary, mock every limit, and still expect to remain free. No. The American founding rested on a harder truth: Liberty is fragile, and so it requires structure. Man has fallen, and so self- government requires virtue. A republic requires citizens, truth, and the courage to defend both. That is why this bill matters. Some will say that this bill and all of its titles don't belong together; that five-pronged, three-titled amendment is just a package or a wish list or a collection of unrelated priorities. But that only proves they do not understand what time it is, and they don't understand what our Republic is. The five prongs and three titles of this amendment are united by one central question: Will American law still defend the basic conditions of self-government? Title I, Save American Voter, says the franchise belongs to its citizens and voting should be secure. Title II, Save American Sports, says that women's sports exist for women and girls, acknowledging biological reality over a legal fiction imposed by elite ideology. Title III, Save American Children, says that children should be protected from irreversible harm, not handed over to the appetites, fashions, and confusions of the age. Citizenship, reality, responsibility--those are the basic truths a nation must defend if it intends to remain a nation. Let me begin with title I. A republic has the right to distinguish citizens from noncitizens. That should not be controversial. That should not even be difficult. The vote is not a global entitlement. The vote is not a participation trophy for anyone who happens to cross our borders. It is one of the central privileges and duties of political membership. If citizenship means anything, it must mean something here first. That is why requiring proof of citizenship to vote in Federal elections is foundational. It is a minimum requirement. It is so common sense in a self-governing nation because a people who cannot say who belongs to the polity cannot remain a polity at all. The same is true for voter identification. We are told endlessly that asking a voter to identify himself before casting a ballot is somehow oppressive, somehow unreasonable, somehow outside the bounds of democratic decency. The American people know better. That is why over 80 percent of American voters support voter ID. Identity verification is ordinary in every serious sphere of life. We require it for small things, for lesser things, for trivial things. There is nothing wrong with requiring lawful voters to identify themselves before participating in the elections of those who will govern the United States of America. Honest elections require lawful voters, lawful ballots, and lawful verification. And then there is the question of mail voting. For too long, this country has been told to accept a system of mass mail-in voting as though it were the settled inheritance of the American Republic. It is not. In its current form, mass mail-in voting is a modern phenomenon, and in many places it is a direct holdover from the COVID era. COVID is over. The emergency has passed. The extraordinary accommodations of that period should not become the permanent architecture of American elections. For most of our history, the presumption was simple: If you could vote in person, you voted in person. You appeared before lawful election officials. Your identity could be verified. Your ballot could be secured. The chain of custody could be protected. The people could trust what they were seeing. That is not cruelty. That is not oppression. That is what republican government looks like. Now, of course, there are those who are unable to vote in person, and they should be helped. Military voters should be helped. Individuals with disabilities should be helped. Those who are sick should be helped. Caregivers with real burdens should be helped. Those with genuine, qualifying hardships should be helped. But accommodation should remain the exception, not the organizing principle of the whole system because voting is not a consumer transaction. The highest values in election administrations should be on legitimacy, public confidence, and trust. Not so long ago, even Democrats shared these values. The Carter-Baker Commission, formed by former Democrat President Jimmy Carter and former Republican Secretary of State James Baker III, made many of the recommendations that my amendment promotes: voter ID, proof of citizenship, and limiting mail- in balloting. Democrat Senators may not support these provisions, but their voters do. Seventy-one percent of self-identified Democrats support voter ID. A free people should want its elections to be visible, accountable, and resistant to bad actors. That is what title I is trying to restore--not the denial of lawful voting but the integrity of lawful voting; not confusion but confidence; not looseness but legitimacy. I know this issue because I have experienced these fights myself. When I served as Missouri's attorney general, I fought in court and defended our State's election integrity laws against a coordinated assault from the left in 2020. The left's dark money-funded election superlawyers did not merely challenge one rule here or there; they challenged the very idea that we can get serious rules to protect the ballot, deter fraud, preserve order, and sustain public confidence in the vote. They came for the safeguards that made elections credible. They came for the principle that absentee and mail voting must be governed by rules. They came for the simple proposition that the people are entitled not only to cast a ballot but to trust the system by which ballots are cast, handled, counted, and certified. And Missouri won. We defended the truth that election law is the framework by which free people govern itself. Election law isn't the arcane inconvenience to be brushed aside whenever the left sees a tactical advantage. We defended the proposition that deadlines matter because finality matters. We defended ballot security because legitimacy matters. We defended verification requirements because public trust matters. We defended the authority of the people acting through their laws to insist that elections be honest, orderly, and worthy of confidence. And Missouri won. That fight has taught me something I have never forgotten: The fight over election integrity is about more than mechanics or procedure; rather, it is about whether we still have the moral confidence to defend the elementary conditions of self-government--because once every safeguard is treated as suspect, once every verification measure is denounced as oppression, once every effort to secure the ballot is caricatured as hostility to democracy, what is really under attack is the public's faith that elections are fair, lawful, and real. So when I speak today about voter ID, proof of citizenship, and limits on mass mail voting, I do so from experience. I have fought these battles before. I have seen the pressure campaign to dissolve the rules that protect the vote. I have seen how quickly common sense is denounced when it stands in the way of ideological ambition. I have seen when the public officials are willing to stand firm and that, when you do that, you can win. That is what title I and Saving American Voters is all about. It is not extreme. It is not novel. It is the restoration of an old and necessary principle that, in a republic, the vote must be lawful, secure, and worthy of confidence of the American people. Now, let me turn to title II. If the law cannot defend women from men acting as women, it cannot defend reality. Women's sports exist because men and women are not the same. That is biological reality. It is moral reality. It is the plain reality on which fair competition depends. And when the law refuses to recognize that reality, the category of women's sports becomes fraudulent. Girls are told to surrender fairness. They are told to surrender privacy. They are told to surrender safety. They are told to surrender recognition. And they are told to do all of this so the ruling class can flatter itself for its own moral sophistication. The State has no right to impose that sacrifice. I have two daughters. They both love sports. But this is more than just about sports; it is about whether the law is still going to reflect reality or whether it will be conscripted into enforcing a falsehood. It is about whether a civilization still possesses enough moral competence to say: What is the truth? And that is not cruelty. It is about whether we still believe that girls deserve a realm of fair competition that is actually their own. A serious republic does not ask girls to bear the cost of elite confusion. A serious republic tells the truth about the world and builds laws on that truth. That is what title II does. Now, let me turn to title III. A decent nation protects children. Children are not ideological property. Children are not experimental material. Children are not raw material for the ambitions of activists, for the cowardice of institutions, or for the self-indulgence of adults who have forgotten the law exists first to defend those who need protection. There are lines that a humane society does not cross. Irreversible medical interventions on minors for ideological ends are one of those lines. A child in distress needs guidance, protection, patience, love, stability, truth. A child in distress does not need a civilization so morally exhausted that it answers confusion with scalpels, sterilization, and permanent medicalization. The burden of uncertainty should favor preserving the child, not fundamentally remaking the child. Too often, our ruling class has preferred euphemism to honesty here. We are told this is compassion. We are told this is care. We are told that the enlightened position is to ratify distress with irreducible harm. It is not compassion to mutilate what cannot be restored. It is not compassion to medicalize what may pass. It is not compassion to turn children into lifelong patients before they are old enough to understand what is being taken from them, permanently. That is not mercy; it is cruelty masked in liberation. A republic worthy of the name protects children from adult passions, from ideological capture, and from the fashionable madness of the age. That is what title II is trying to do. And that is why these three titles belong together--because this amendment is more than a list of 80-20 issues that the American people are demanding. The SAVE America Act is the defense of the elementary truths on which republican life--small ``r''--still depends: America belongs to its citizens. Men and women are real. Children should be protected from permanent harm. If a nation will not defend these truths, it will not defend truth for very long. If a nation will not defend these boundaries, it will not keep any boundary for long. And that brings me to this Chamber itself. Americans still love ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' for a reason. They love it because they still want to believe something about this institution. They want to believe that the Senate, a uniquely American invention, can be used for the common good. They still want to believe that conviction can defeat cynicism. They want to believe that a man can come here and fight for his country rather than merely manage its decline. Well, here is our chance to prove that hope is not foolish. The Senate is not a museum. It is not a Visiting Angels retirement village for proceduralism. It is not here merely to confirm nominees, pass omnibuses, and fund the legislative achievements of long dead men while the living Nation loses confidence in its own government. The U.S. Senate is here to legislate in defense of the American people. The Senate is here to draw lines. The Senate is here to make judgments. The Senate is here to govern. So the question for this Chamber is really simple: Are we here to govern or merely preside? Are we here to act for the people or simply explain why action is impossible? Are we here to use power rightly or merely to congratulate ourselves for the restraint while the country pays the price? Because the stakes here are plain. We see distrust in elections. We see the collapse of moral clarity. We are seeing girls told to accept injustices as progress. We are seeing children offered up to the altar of extreme ideology. We are seeing a governing class that refuses to draw any line into the line that has already been erased. And republics don't usually fall in one dramatic stroke. They weaken when truth is no longer defended. They weaken when citizenship is diluted. They weaken when institutions lose the will to govern. They weaken when elites ask ordinary people to live under conditions they themselves know are disordered. They weaken when men without chests hold positions requiring virtue and enterprise. That is what this debate is really about. It is about whether the country still defends first principles. It is about whether the Senate understands what time it is. It is about whether constitutional power can still be used for the common good. And as America approaches her 250th birthday, that question becomes even more urgent. A republic approaching its quarter millennium should not be content merely to remember greatness. It should show that it still knows how to govern itself. It should show that it still has the strength to defend citizenship. It should show that it still has the courage to defend women. It should show that it still has the decency to defend children. Article I is supposed to be the branch of action. This body exists to do more than simply fund legislative achievements of long-dead men. The legislative power exists to make judgments, draw lines, and defend our country. The Senate should prove that it still understands that duty. So pass this bill to restore integrity to Federal elections. Pass this bill to defend women and girls. Pass this bill to protect kids. Pass this bill to show the American people that we can still act in the defense of the American people. Pass this bill because these are commonsense reforms. Pass this bill because Americans are tired of being told that their most basic moral instincts are somehow beyond the pale. Pass this bill because a nation serious about the future doesn't apologize for governing itself. Pass this bill because America 250 should be more than some commemoration. It should be a renewal. The age of excuses should end. The era of drift should end. The Senate should act, and the SAVE America Act should pass. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the next 60 minutes be under control of the Democratic leader or his designee, followed by the next 60 minutes by the Republican leader or his designee, and, finally, the next 60 minutes be the Democratic leader or his designee, and following that, the majority leader or his designee be recognized.

Mr. SCHMITT

Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I ask for unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 156, H.R. 4553; I ask that the substitute amendment, No. 4353, be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.