Tim Sheehy

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, Montana's proud mining history has defined our State and powered America's growth and industrial strength. The copper mined in Butte electrified the Nation, fueled American industry, and helped our country win two World Wars. But by the 1980s, major mining operations had gone dormant, and the future of large-scale mining in Butte was uncertain. Dennis Washington made the decision to restart operations at the dormant Continental Pit. What began as a potential salvage effort became a long-term commitment: investing in Montana miners, modernizing equipment, and restoring confidence in one of the world's most historic mining districts. On July 16, 1986, the first blast at the reopened Continental Pit marked the return of large-scale mining in Butte under the leadership of his Montana-based, American-owned company. Since resuming operations, the mine has produced more than 2.5 billion pounds of copper and over 300 million pounds of molybdenum, minerals essential to American infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, energy systems, and national defense. Today, Montana miners and engineers working in Butte continue to supply the materials that strengthen our Nation and support good-paying jobs here at home. As we honor the industry that helped build Montana and America, we recognize that responsible mining remains central to our State's future. Because of leaders like Dennis Washington--and the hard-working men and women of Butte--Montana mining continues to power opportunity for the next generation. Montana mining helped build America, and it continues to build Montana's future.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. I want to thank Senator Risch for helping to lead this legislation in the Senate. Most Americans probably find it somewhat surprising, as they struggle with affordability, as they are struggling to fill their gas tank or pay their rent or afford their mortgage, that many of their tax dollars--in fact, upward of $10 billion of their tax dollars--are sent directly into the pockets of foreign terrorist organizations--terrorist organizations that we spent thousands of lives and decades fighting, to protect our shores, to include the lives of some of my friends. I spent years of my life, as did my wife spend years of her life, fighting these terrorist organizations, trying to keep this country safe, and now we are told that our tax dollars have an obligation to go into the pocket of those organizations to buy bullets, to build bombs, to coordinate attacks that don't just kill Americans. They kill those who share our values worldwide. It is not just westerners and Americans who are killed by this. The Taliban systemically hunts down those in Afghanistan with whom they disagree, those who want to be free, those women and girls who saw a brief period of freedom under our occupation there, and now they are once again placed in the yolk of terrible sexism, of not even fascism but outright terror. It isn't just Afghanistan. This extends across the globe. This terrorist financing network is not just guys in mountain caves collecting dollar bills. This is a sophisticated global finance network that spans the entire world. The Iranian regime, although not directly connected in many ways to this, is absolutely directly connected to the international flow of terrorist funds through sophisticated real estate transactions, cryptocurrency, oil smuggling, piracy, kidnapping, and terrorism. It is unthinkable that we would intentionally and knowingly hand our taxpayer dollars to organizations that actively kill Americans and attempt to destroy our values every single day. I think it should be a bipartisan American issue for us to finally put an end to this ridiculous practice that is actively costing us lives and precious freedom capital around the world. I hope we pass this act. I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I urge it quickly.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Jada Berry for her hard work as an intern in my Bozeman, MT, office this fall. Jada is a native of Sheridan, WY. She currently attends Montana State University, where she is studying to obtain a degree in political science. Jada has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Jada for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this fall, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Kenadi McCulloch for her hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this fall. Kenadi is a native of Missoula, MT. She recently finished her studies at The George Washington University, where she obtained a degree in art history. Kenadi has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Kenadi for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this fall, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Ella Owen for her hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this fall. Ella is a native of Hammond, MT. She attends The George Washington University, where she is studying to obtain a master's degree in political science. Ella has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Ella for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this fall, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Raphi Rebucas for his hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this fall. Raphi is a native of Torrance, CA. He attends The George Washington University, where he is studying to obtain degrees in political science and peace studies. Raphi has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and his efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Raphi for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having him as part of our team this fall, and I wish him all the best as he continues to build a bright future for himself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Hailey Story for her hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this fall. Hailey is a native of Franklin, TN. She recently finished her studies at East Tennessee State University, where she obtained a degree in political science. Hailey has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Hailey for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this fall, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, first, I want to congratulate the Presiding Officer on the momentous occasion of becoming a golden gavel recipient. That is the achievement of a lifetime. Unanimous Consent Agreement--Executive Calendar Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if any nominations are confirmed during today's session of the Senate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about a historic occasion where we are passing a CRA for the Miles City Resource Management Plan. In the last 5 years, in the previous administration, we have seen historic attacks upon American industry, primarily our resource industry, which is so critical to Montana's economy and, most importantly, is critical to the 21st-century economy of the United States. We are facing an energy crisis where we are not going to have enough power, literally, in our grid to power our homes, turn the lights on in our homes, and, most importantly, fuel the 21st-century economic revolution that is coming. From AI, to digital currency, to quantum computing, the needs for energy will be insatiable here in America and around the world. For us to lead in these technologies, to lead in artificial intelligence, to beat China in the digital currency game, to beat the rest of the world in quantum computing--if we want those technologies to exist in a free and flourishing market, in a free republic like the United States of America, we have to lead in those industries. That means we have to literally have enough electrons, we have to have enough electricity, we have to have enough power--baseload, reliable, cheap power--in our grid to power those industries, and right now, we do not. Not only do we not have it today, we won't have it tomorrow if we do not expand our resource economy yet again. That means things like coal have to be unleashed. China is building coal plants every single day. We haven't built one in decades here in America. Right now, there is enough coal under the ground in Montana to fuel our economy for another thousand years. It is about time we start extracting it yet again. Not only will it mean thousands of jobs in Montana--rural Montana--where economic development has stalled for decades, but most importantly, it means economic dominance for the greatest Nation in the history of mankind. Many other nations depend upon the economic leadership that America provides, and in the 21st century, that leadership will depend on a strong, 21st-century economy based on cryptographic currency, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. All those industries revolve around cheap, reliable baseload power. We need that out of the coal mines in Montana; we need it all across the Nation. We need to bring commonsense policies back to our resource economy. We don't want to be pouring cyanide in our rivers, blowing tops off mountains, and clear-cutting forests. We do not want to go back to those days. We have learned our lesson, and nowhere more have we learned that than in Montana, the site of America's largest Superfund site based on disastrous copper and coal mining from decades ago. We have learned our lessons from those. If we don't mine these resources in America, all we are doing is pushing that mining somewhere else--places like Africa, South America, and Asia--where there are no environmental regulations, there are no labor laws. Eight-year-old kids are hauling these materials out of mines on the backs of their heads--child labor, slave labor, cyanide being poured into lakes without any environmental regulation whatsoever. We do it cleaner, safer, and better here in America than anywhere else in the world, and Montana is the perfect place to start reviving our resource economy. So I am proud to support this CRA. I am proud to see the resource economy of Montana once again be supported by our government. It is so important for these projects that they have a predictable regulatory environment to operate in. When these companies have to raise billions of dollars in capital to fund these projects, they have to have comfort that the projects will not simply be canceled the next time the political winds shift. Four years is not a long time when you are making tens of billions of dollars in investments--pipelines, mining, powerplants, and huge resource projects. Our investors--American investors and foreign investors--need to have confidence that if they put dollars into the American economy, those dollars are going to be respected, encouraged, and, quite frankly, rewarded. Nowhere is it better to mine coal than right here in the U.S. of A. and nowhere better than Montana. We have hard-working people with a great work ethic who take pride in their work and want to fuel the 21st-century economic explosion that will happen right here in this country. The time is now to build our electrical grid. The time is now to revitalize our resource economy, from timber, to coal, to copper mining, to oil and gas. The Miles City CRA brings back common sense and gives certainty to a resource economy and, most importantly, our private sector partners, who will make the investment so that is possible. I vote in favor of this and hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle also support the Miles City CRA.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Garrett Dahlke for his hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this summer. Garrett is a native of Bozeman, MT. He attends the University of Montana, where he is studying to obtain a degree in political science. Garrett has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and his efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Garrett for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having him as part of our team this summer, and I wish him all the best as he continues to build a bright future for himself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Ava Kotsen for her hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this summer. Ava is a native of Warran Township, NJ. She attends Texas A&M University, where she is studying to obtain a degree in international studies. Ava has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Ava for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this summer, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Emma Ventimiglia for her hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this summer. Emma is a native of Chevy Chase, MD. She attends Boston College, where she is studying to obtain degrees in economics and psychology. Emma has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Emma for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this summer, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Maxwell Leray for his hard work as an intern in my office this summer. Maxwell is a native of Great Falls, MT. He attends Grand Canyon University, where he is studying to obtain a degree in government with an emphasis in legal studies. Maxwell has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and his efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Maxwell for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having him as part of our team this summer, and I wish him all the best as he continues to build a bright future for himself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Kaden Leverenz for her hard work as an intern in my office this summer. Kaden is a native of Mt. Vernon, IN. She attends the University of Montana, where she is studying to obtain a degree in wildlife biology. Kaden has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Kaden for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this summer, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to Ava Williams for her hard work as an intern in my office this summer. Ava is a native of Billings, MT. She attends Montana State University in Billings, where she is studying to obtain a degree in political science with a minor in English. Ava has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and her efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank Ava for the dedication she has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having her as part of our team this summer, and I wish her all the best as she continues to build a bright future for herself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to David Cardenas for his hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office this summer. David is a native of Kalispell, MT. He attends the University of Alabama, where he is studying to obtain degrees in cybersecurity, finance, and a minor in Mandarin. David has demonstrated a strong work ethic, and his efforts have been key to our mission to serve the people of Montana here in our Nation's Capital. I want to thank David for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It has been a pleasure having him as part of our team this summer, and I wish him all the best as he continues to build a bright future for himself.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for his concern for our veterans. I feel compelled to note that this motion alone would stop the Big Beautiful Bill in its tracks. I have been asking for months, where was the Democrat outrage similarly when we laid off tens of thousands of veterans and contractors during the COVID vaccine hesitancy pandemic? There was no due process, and no consideration for their service was given. Democrats are trying to nitpick and derail this bill by disguising the fact that they are advocating for the largest tax increase in the history of mankind--a $4 trillion tax increase. That is what they are really advocating for. This is also completely unnecessary. Federal law requires the Office of Personnel Management to consider military preference in hiring within our Federal workforce. We have to stop using veterans as political pawns. The best thing we can do for veterans is have a strong, capable Federal Government that is fiscally sound. Mr. President, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Reserving the right to object, my colleague Senator Duckworth is a brave veteran of our Nation's War on Terror, and Senator Blumenthal as well served, as did many of us. And I don't think there is any disagreement that we want the absolute best for our veterans-- combat or otherwise--and we will always do everything we can in this body to make sure that our veterans not only have the care they need when they get home, but they can pursue great careers for the next phase of life. But truth also matters, and the truth is there was no outrage from our Democrat colleagues when the Biden administration summarily fired tens of thousands of veterans--Active-Duty servicemembers and reservists--from Federal contracting jobs and from Active-Duty military service without any due process, during the COVID pandemic, when they decided that these people, who had very legitimate reservations about their personal health, did not have a place in our government or military, and they were blowing out the side of the service. No due process, not even a thank-you letter--they were kicked out of the service--highly trained patriots who fought for this country, who were willing to fight for this country again. That is betrayal. They were betrayed, and nothing was ever said from our Democratic colleagues about that. The truth is, the VA--the VA, as an organization--is meant to serve our veterans. The purpose of the VA is to take care of veterans, not to grow its own bureaucracy. In the last 5 years since 2019, the VA employment has gone from 379,000 to 486,000 employees, over 5 years--a 28 percent increase--while the VA's budget grew by 77.7 percent during the same period. During that time, the amount of veterans in our country decreased by 9.2 percent. So as our veteran population decreased, our employment overhead at the VA increased tremendously, and that reflected the similar growth across the rest of our Federal Government. So what was going on for 5 years, especially during the COVID years, was artificial job creation by the government on a mass scale. And now, to recover our Nation from fiscal tragedy--from a $37 trillion debt and growing--we have to make hard choices, and those choices have to come down to what is working. And what veterans need most of all is a healthy government. They fought to protect this country. They have put their lives on the line and sometimes gave away limbs and family members so that this country could be strong. We owe it to them to make sure we make good decisions and that this country continues to be strong. And that means we have to get this government back in order, and that means returning our Agencies back to prepandemic size. And most veterans will support those tough decisions full-throatedly. The truth is, President Trump is very pro-veteran. His policies, right now, are putting our servicemembers first. He is showing strength on the world stage instead of weakness, which has brought untold tragedy not just on our military but also on our allies around the world. Growing the government with no end in sight, growing Agencies with no metric for success is not pro-veteran. That is not pro-American. It is just more government. And the truth is, whether it is the VA or any other Federal Agency, we are proud to have veterans working in this government across the board. They have preferred hiring rights, as they should, and we are going to protect their important jobs and, most importantly, protect their care when they get out. But the VA has to be a healthy, functioning organization for that to occur, as do other Agencies. Veteran employment is a core value that we have in our Federal workforce. President Trump knows that. This body knows that, and we will protect it. But we also owe those veterans a strong, efficient government. That is what we are going to deliver to them. That is what we are going to do today. Therefore, I object.

Mr. SHEEHY

Mr. SHEEHY. Mr. President, where was the Democrat outrage when 8,000 Active-Duty Reserve troops were unceremoniously and with no due process fired out of the military without benefits? Where was the outrage when thousands of first responders and police officers, firefighters, nurses, and doctors lost their employment because they had COVID vaccine hesitancy? There was no outrage, there was no call of betrayal under President Biden when all that happened. The truth is, this bill is pro-veteran. It adds $6 billion to our veteran spending. It adds the largest pay increase for our warfighters in a generation. This is a pro-veteran bill. Let's stop using veterans as political pawns and keep the government funded. Vote on Amendment No. 1274