John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Whitehouse.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 15; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 6938.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 14; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 6938.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of my colleagues.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. THUNE. I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, recent reports suggest that widespread fraud has taken root in the State of Minnesota. Prosecutors say that industrial-scale fraud has affected at least 14 federally funded programs in the State and that, since 2018, $9 billion or more may have been stolen from these programs--stolen from taxpayers and from the people in need that these programs are meant to help. There have been nearly eight indictments related to just one organization that received $250 million by claiming to have served meals to needy people during the pandemic. In another case, prosecutors say that a program designed to help people at risk of homelessness was subject to widespread fraud, with its costs ballooning to more than $100 million in just 4 years. In yet another case, prosecutors state that a fraudulent provider stole $14 million from a program to provide therapy to children with autism, and I could go on. One has to wonder how this could happen, and I hope we will soon find out. Last week, every Republican Senator joined Senator Cassidy's letter to the Governor of Minnesota, demanding answers about the large-scale fraud that appears to have happened on his watch. The Department of Justice has surged resources to Minnesota to assist in prosecuting these crimes, and the Trump administration recently announced it is creating a new position in the Department of Justice focused on investigating instances of fraud across the country because, unfortunately, cases of waste, fraud, and abuse are not confined to one State. The Government Accountability Office estimates that as much as $500 billion in Federal funds is lost each year to fraud--not an inconsequential sum--and every one of those dollars is a dollar that isn't going to an American in need. Republicans have been working to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs--the same type of abuses now coming to light in Minnesota. Our landmark legislation, the Working Families Tax Cuts, included a number of reforms to focus Federal dollars on those most in need, guard against abuses of taxpayer funds, and hold States accountable for the Federal funding that they receive. New measures in the law prevent noncitizens from receiving Federal healthcare and nutrition benefits and refocus those programs to serving American citizens. The law also strengthens work requirements for able- bodied, working-age adults without young children, and it increases accountability. The new law requires States to check eligibility for certain Medicaid enrollees twice per year and to remove ineligible people from their Medicaid rolls more quickly. It takes aim at duplicative enrollment in Federal healthcare programs, which CMS estimates is costing taxpayers as much as $14 billion per year; and it ensures deceased individuals don't continue receiving payments, as happened in Colorado a few years ago, costing taxpayers more than $7 million. We also took steps to hold States accountable for being good stewards of Federal funding. We are incentivizing States to reduce their error rates when making SNAP payments. Significantly, we took aim at rampant abuse of the provider tax loophole. Use of this loophole, which sees States inflate the price of healthcare services provided through Medicaid in order to garner larger reimbursement from the Federal Government, has been a problem for quite a while now. And thanks to waivers that the Biden administration issued to California and other blue States that allows them to further exploit a similar loophole, taxpayers were on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in new spending. So Republicans took action to rein in this abuse and reduce the bills that States are running up for taxpayers. Ensuring that Federal taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly and effectively on the people they are supposed to help ought to be a no-brainer, and it should not--not--be a partisan issue, but apparently it is. While Republicans were working to restore integrity to Federal programs, Democrats were panning our commonsense measures as ``cruel'' and then voted again and again to repeal them. We have heard little from Democrats condemning the fraud scandal currently engulfing the State of Minnesota, and Democrats have shown that they are perfectly willing to allow waste, fraud, and abuse to continue in the Affordable Care Act exchanges. That is right. Despite evidence of fraud in the ACA exchanges, Democrats have voted time and again to do nothing about it and have actually tried to repeal Republican-led reforms. There is waste, fraud, and abuse in ObamaCare, and it seems that the Biden COVID subsidies were especially susceptible to fraud. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office revealed that the ACA exchanges continue to enroll fake individuals, improperly pay out taxpayer-subsidized health insurance, and fail to ensure payment accuracy. The GAO tested 24 fake accounts on the ACA exchanges, and 23 of them were enrolled with false or no documentation to verify Social Security numbers, citizenship, or reported income. Then there is the growing number of enrollees in the exchanges who filed zero claims. In 2024, 40 percent of people who got fully subsidized insurance coverage through the exchanges never filed a claim--40 percent. Now, there might be some good reasons for that, but it might also be because insurance companies are incentivized to sign people up, and these individuals may be signed up and not even know they have coverage. But Democrats have shown they are perfectly fine with the status quo. They voted numerous times to extend the enhanced subsidies without a single reform. They even shut down the government to try and extend them. These are just the beginning of the issues with ObamaCare. Work continues to investigate and prosecute criminals engaged in fraud and to, hopefully, recover the tax dollars that have been stolen. I certainly hope the individuals of Minnesota and other criminals around the country are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But we can't just hope to prosecute fraud; we need to prevent it. We need to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and place guardrails on Federal programs to protect against nefarious schemes and bad actors. We need to ensure, when we commit taxpayer dollars to a particular program, that the money actually goes to the people that program is designed to help. Republicans have made progress on restoring integrity to Federal programs this past year, but we have more work to do, and we will continue our efforts to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and ensure that Federal programs are serving the American people as intended. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

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

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the motion to proceed.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 4208 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask that the reading be dispensed with.

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

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask that the reading be dispensed with.

Mr. THUNE. I move to commit the bill to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask that the reading be dispensed with.

Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to commit with instructions.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the instructions.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask consent the reading be waived.

Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask consent the reading be waived.

Mr. THUNE. I send a cloture motion to the desk with respect to Calendar No. 299, H.R. 6938.