John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), and the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Schmitt).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), and the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Schmitt).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Marshall), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Tuberville). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley) would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. THUNE

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this week is Police Week--a week to honor our Nation's law enforcement officers. These men and women have had a challenging few years. Unsurprisingly, calls to defund the police and attacks on the vital work that they do left a lot of officers discouraged and demoralized--even as they were asked to shoulder the same burdens with less support. Fortunately, I think time has started to provide a corrective. As we have watched crime take a toll on American cities, I think governments and individuals are more and more remembering just how much we need the men and women who bring order and safety to America's streets. And I hope and pray that we are coming to this week with a greater appreciation for the essential work that these men and women perform. I said ``essential,'' and they are. But let's remember something else as well. Police officers aren't just necessary, they are noble. They sign up for a heroic line of work, for a job that asks them to get up in the morning and go out and put themselves in danger to keep the rest of us out of it and that asks them to do that day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year. And they do it willingly, gladly. When they aren't doing the big things--the hard, heroic work of confronting dangerous situations and individuals--you can frequently find police officers doing the little things as well: speaking to a school class, helping out a stranded motorist, buying shoes for a child in need. Police officers don't just defend our communities; they play a vital role in building them up. I am particularly grateful for our law enforcement officers in South Dakota who work so hard in communities across our State. They have shared challenges faced by other police departments across the country over the past few years, including dealing with deadly drugs like fentanyl coming over the border and making their way around the United States. And they face some specific South Dakota challenges. I am also deeply grateful for the Capitol Police here in Washington, DC, who spend their days ensuring Members of Congress, their staffs, and the many visitors to the U.S. Capitol Building can go about their days in safety. And I am grateful to their families. Having a husband or a wife, a dad or a mom who is a police officer is not always an easy thing. Knowing that your parent or spouse may not come home from work one day is a difficult burden to carry. In this Police Week, as we contemplate the service and sacrifice of our Nation's police officers, it is important to remember the service and sacrifice of their families as well. Before I close, I want to mention the heroic service of Moody County's Chief Deputy Ken Prorok of South Dakota, who was killed in the line of duty in February of this year. I just want to read a couple of lines from the Officer Down Memorial Page on Chief Deputy Prorok's actions: Chief Deputy Sheriff Ken Prorok was struck and killed by the driver of a vehicle being pursued by the Madison Police Department at 4:12 p.m. Chief Deputy Prorok responded to the call for assistance and was deploying spike strips at South Dakota Highway 34 and 472nd Avenue in Colman. The driver intentionally swerved toward Chief Deputy Prorok, killing him. The line that stands out for me the most in that memorial is this: Chief Deputy Prorok responded to the call for assistance. He heard a call for help, and he went to answer it, knowing full well that he could be placing himself in danger, up to and including the loss of his life, but he went anyway. That is the heroism of Chief Deputy Prorok, and it is the heroism of all the men and women across our country who serve in our Nation's police forces and who, when they hear a call for help, go out to answer it. May God richly bless all the men and women who serve our Nation as police officers, and may He protect them as they stand on guard for us. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I rise today, along with Senator Rounds, in support of the nomination of a distinguished South Dakotan, Judge Camela Theeler, who has been nominated to fill a vacancy at the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. Judge Theeler is a South Dakota native and graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law. She has been a judge for the South Dakota Second Judicial Circuit since 2018. Prior to her current role, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Dakota from 2012 to 2018; and before that, she spent time at two South Dakota law firms. When she is not trying cases, she often welcomes students to the courthouse, where she gives tours and conducts mock trials to help teach them about the legal system. I believe that Judge Theeler's experience and record will make her an excellent district judge. And, most importantly, I believe that she has the character and impartiality to serve a lifetime appointment on the Federal bench. I am proud to support her nomination, and I encourage my colleagues to confirm her as a judge for the U.S. district court of South Dakota. I yield the floor.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Kennedy).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Kennedy), and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Marshall). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Marshall) would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Ricketts), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).

Mr. THUNE

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this morning's inflation report shows just how stubborn President Biden's inflation crisis is. For the 37th month in a row, prices have risen by more than 3 percent, and there is still no end in sight. Overall, prices are up 19.9 percent since President Biden took office. Grocery prices are up 21.3 percent. Car repairs are up 30.2 percent. Rent is up 20.8 percent. And the list literally goes on and on. As Americans turn on their air conditioners this summer, they can contemplate a grim report from the Wall Street Journal, which notes that electricity prices have gone up 13 times faster under President Biden than they did in the previous 7 years. All told, it costs a typical family more than $1,000 a month just to maintain the standard of living it had when President Biden first took office--more than $1,000 a month just to tread water. So it is shocking to hear President Biden say things like he did last week when he suggested that people ``have the money'' to pay higher prices. But that is the kind of disconnect we have come to expect from the President, who claimed inflation would be ``temporary'' and who has persistently downplayed and denied the painful economic reality Americans are experiencing thanks to Democrats' reckless spending. That pain is real. As one working parent in Connecticut said: Every time I look at my bank account, it's always going down. Luis, a truckdriver in Pennsylvania said: I can do my living, but compared to what I used to have, I need to work extra to get what I used to have before. And a family farmer in Missouri described his input costs as ``ridiculous.'' They are not alone; 48 percent of voters say their personal financial situation is getting worse. Half of voters say they are worse off since President Biden took office. And 80 percent of voters say high prices are one of their biggest financial challenges. Meanwhile, the cost of dealing with inflation is adding to Americans' financial pain. Many Americans have had to turn to their credit cards to cope with higher prices. And with the Federal Reserve having to keep interest rates elevated to fight inflation, paying off that debt has gotten harder. High interest rates have also helped put the American dream of owning your own home increasingly out of reach. Prospective home buyers need to earn nearly twice as much to afford a typical home today as they would have 4 years ago. Half of renters under age 50 don't think they will be able to afford to buy their own home. For Americans pursuing their dream of owning their own business or running the family farm or ranch, inflation has created serious challenges. More than a third of small business owners identify inflation as the biggest single threat to their business. Higher input costs and higher borrowing costs have forced small business owners to grapple with unwelcome prospects like raising prices and pulling back from investing in their businesses. As bad as things have been over the past 3 years, it could get worse. The budget President Biden proposed in March contained a staggering-- staggering--$5 trillion in job-killing tax hikes. And just recently, the President said that if he is reelected, he would let the 2017 tax cuts expire. Democrats may not like to acknowledge this, but the 2017 Republican- led tax reform legislation cut taxes for the majority of Americans. And if those rate cuts are allowed to expire, a typical family is looking at a $1,600 tax hike in 2026. That money may not matter to someone like the President, but I am sure working families have better uses for $1,600 than sending it to the IRS, especially when you consider how much President Biden's inflation crisis is already costing them. On top of that, the President wants to allow other tax reform measures in the 2017 bill--measures that brought benefits to hard- working Americans--to expire. So Americans could be looking at a future of higher taxes plus fewer jobs and opportunities. The American people can't afford any more of the President's misguided economic policies; but, unfortunately, the President never seems to learn. Let's hope the American people don't have to endure a second term of Bidenomics. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virgina (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Ricketts), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Ricketts), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I rise today in support of the nomination of an outstanding South Dakotan, Eric Schulte, who has been nominated to fill a vacancy at the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. Eric Schulte is a lifetime resident of South Dakota who received his J.D. from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1999. From 1999 to 2000, he served as a law clerk to the South Dakota Second Judicial Circuit in Sioux Falls, and he has been a partner at the Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz, and Smith law firm since 2005. He was also president of the South Dakota state bar association from 2015 to 2016. And in his spare time, he is a member of the Academy of American Poets and a frequent contributor to ``Pasque Petals,'' the South Dakota State Poetry Society magazine. Mr. Schulte has the experience and knowledge to be a district judge; and, crucially, I believe that he has the character and impartiality for a lifetime appointment on the Federal bench. I strongly support his nomination, and I encourage my colleagues to confirm him as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the State of South Dakota. I yield the floor.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Ricketts), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott) would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Braun) and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Scott).

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, regulations have been coming thick and fast from the Biden administration lately as the administration races to squeeze in regulations before the deadline, after which they could be overturned by a new Congress. In fact, a recent spate of regulations brought the total regulatory costs imposed by the Biden administration in 2024 to over $1 trillion-- $1 trillion--in just one year. All told, the Biden administration has imposed a staggering $1.47 trillion in regulatory costs since the President took office--$1.47 trillion. Compare that to President Trump, who had actually reduced regulatory costs by this point in his administration. But, perhaps, I am not being fair. Perhaps, it is not surprising that a Republican President didn't impose a staggering regulatory burden. Let's compare President Biden to his Democratic predecessor, President Obama. By this point in his first term, President Obama had imposed regulations costing $303.5 billion-- certainly, of course, more than President Trump, but, I am afraid to say, still a long way away from President Biden. The total cost of President Obama's regulations at this point in his first term doesn't come anywhere close to President Biden's total. In fact, the total cost of President Obama's regulations to this point was roughly 20 percent of the cost of President Biden's--20 percent. The Biden administration has imposed regulations costing almost five times as much as President Obama's. President Biden is bringing new meaning to the phrase ``the heavy hand of government.'' What do we mean when we refer to regulatory costs? What do those look like in practice? They can look like forcing electric generation facilities to spend millions of dollars to install costly carbon capture systems, as the Biden administration is doing with its new powerplant rule. They can look like an additional $7,000 in construction costs for new homes. See President Biden's energy efficiency requirements for affordable housing. They can look like imposing new vehicle emission standards, effectively forcing car companies to spend enormous amounts of money to rejigger their supply chains and factories to produce a lot of new electric cars, even though Americans are not exactly clamoring for electric vehicles. They can look like forcing farmers and ranchers and other private landowners to spend tens of thousands of dollars for permits or penalties concerning water features on their private land. And for that, I would have you see the Biden administration's waters of the United States, or what we call the WOTUS, rule. I could go on. All of these regulatory costs have consequences. It just stands to reason, if your family is facing a major, unexpected medical bill, for example, there is a good chance you are going to have to account for it somehow--either by cutting back spending, dipping into savings, or picking up extra hours at work, or perhaps a second job to increase your income. Similarly, if you are a South Dakota nursing home facing a Federal requirement to hire additional staff--and for that, I would have you see the Biden administration's new nursing home staffing regulation-- you are likely going to have to do something like reduce the number of patients that you care for or close your doors altogether, which is becoming already way too common in my State of South Dakota. Or if you are a small business facing the new overtime rule the Biden administration recently put in place--which imposes a massive 65- percent increase in the overtime exemption threshold--you may be faced with the unappealing prospect of either increasing prices on the goods or services that you provide, reducing the number of positions you have available, or lowering the base pay you offer to create room to be able to pay overtime wages. Or take President Biden's powerplant regulations. His so-called good neighbor rule and his new carbon capture and emissions regulations will not only drive up energy prices for American families and businesses, they are also likely to result in a less reliable energy supply. Our current assumption that we will automatically have the energy we need to power our businesses, operate our heating and air conditioning systems, run our appliances, and light our homes may not survive the long-term imposition of President Biden's powerplant rules. Then there are still other costs. American taxpayers are now being forced to pay for abortion services at the VA--in defiance of Federal law--thanks to a Biden administration regulation. This is far from the only attempt by the Biden administration to impose its far-left social agenda through Federal regulation and endanger conscience rights in the process. We are facing serious consequences from the Biden regulatory regime, from threats to conscience rights to questions about the future stability of our energy supply to immense financial costs for families and businesses--$1.47 trillion in regulatory costs in less than 4 years. I shudder to think what that number will look like should we see another 4. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Braun), the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), and the Senator from Utah (Mr. Romney). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt) would have voted ``yea'' and the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) would have voted ``yea.''.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.