John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, before I begin, I just want to mention Thursday's appropriations vote in the House. Thanks to Speaker Johnson, House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, and others, the House passed a three-bill appropriations package--Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment--by an overwhelming bipartisan margin. Now it is our turn, and I hope that we will be able to get these bills passed here in the Senate in the next couple of days. We have a lot of appropriations work left to do before the January 30 deadline, and we should not waste any time in getting this bipartisan package over the finish line. Southern Border Mr. President, it is difficult to overstate just how dramatically the situation at the southern border has changed over the past year. In November, the latest month for which we have border numbers, there were just 11,000 total encounters at the southern border--11,000. Now, to put that number into perspective, the previous November, under President Biden, saw 94,000 encounters. The November before that saw a staggering 242,000 encounters, and the November before that, 235,000. This November, there were 11,000, and not one individual who tried to cross the border illegally was released into our country--not a single one. In fact, it has been months since an illegal immigrant was released into the interior of our country. Contrast this with the Biden years, which saw literally millions of illegal immigrants released into the interior. I was down at the border recently, and the situation could not be more different from my 2021 and 2023 visits. Back then, I was meeting with overwhelmed border agents and was visiting overwhelmed border facilities. I remember, during my 2021 trip, we visited a facility that was at 16 times its allotted capacity--16 times. During one of my trips, I remember actually seeing with my own eyes individuals attempting to cross the border illegally, and I remember talking to Border Patrol agents--Border Patrol, who, by the time of my 2023 trip, had spent 2 years dealing with recordbreaking numbers of illegal immigrants; Border Patrol agents who were in desperate need of resources and support from the Biden administration--resources and support that never came. I talked to Border Patrol agents on my most recent trip, and what I heard cannot be more different. Border Patrol agents are telling me that the flood that they once dealt with has shrunk now to a trickle; that they are being supported in their work and are allowed to do the job that they were hired to do, which is to protect our southern border. I still can't get over the difference. In 2021 and 2023, I visited the southern border, and I saw chaos. In 2026, I visited, and I saw calm and order, and our country is so much safer because of it. I am grateful for all that President Trump and his administration have done to make and keep our southern border secure. I am proud of the work that we have done here in Congress to help ensure that border security is here to stay. Our Working Families Tax Cuts legislation made a generational investment in the resources that law enforcement needs to secure the border and deter illegal immigration. We funded the completion of the border wall, new technology and border surveillance equipment, and additional Border Patrol agents. We expanded detention capacity and expanded partnerships with local law enforcement to enforce immigration law. And these resources are already having an effect. On my recent trip to the border, agents repeatedly emphasized how they are seeing effects from our Working Families Tax Cuts legislation and in particular with the addition of needed new personnel and counterdrone technology. Thanks to that counterdrone technology, Border Patrol personnel can take over or destroy cartel drones at the border, limiting cartels' surveillance abilities and ability to transport dangerous items. I am proud that after 4 long years of strain thanks to President Biden's border crisis, Border Patrol agents are finally receiving the resources they need to do their jobs, prevent illegal immigration, and keep us safe. Mr. President, January 9 was National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, and my conversations with Border Patrol agents on my recent trip reminded me of just how blessed we are to have men and women who step up and answer the call to serve as law enforcement officers. From the Border Patrol to the Capitol Police and other Federal agents, to our local sheriff and police departments, our safety is secured for us by men and women who willingly choose to place themselves between us and danger. Too often, the sacrifices these men and women make are not appreciated. In fact, we have seen a reprehensible amount of hostility toward law enforcement in recent months and years. I hope that today and every day, we will take a moment to remember what our law enforcement officers do for us and how very lucky we are to have them. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, at the start of this week, I said that the Senate would be focusing on government funding this month. We have a January 30 deadline to get the job done and avoid another government shutdown. We have already passed one package of three appropriations bills that was signed into law in November. Now we need to finish our work. Later today, the House is expected to consider another package of three bills: Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environmental appropriations. These three bills were crafted with bipartisan input from both the House and the Senate. The Trump administration supports this package. I expect we will see robust bipartisan support for these bills in today's House vote. This three-bill package advances some important priorities. It funds programs that support law enforcement, promotes public safety in communities across America, invests in critical infrastructure projects, and it supports efforts to unleash American energy to provide affordable energy supply to the American people. There is one more thing about this package that is significant. It spends less money than a continuing resolution. That is right. This bill spends less taxpayer money than if we passed another CR or continuing resolution to fund these Agencies. That is not an accident. That is what we can accomplish when we make appropriations a priority, when we put in the work, make tough choices, and put it up for a vote. Appropriations is one of our core responsibilities, but it hasn't always been treated like the priority that it is. In too many cases in the past, massive omnibus bills were being written behind closed doors. That is not how I want to do things. When I became majority leader, I made it clear that I wanted appropriations to get the attention that it deserves, and we made some solid progress on this front in this Congress. We considered appropriations bills through regular order and passed three Senate appropriations bills before the August work period, something that hadn't been done going back to 2018. We should be considering bills through regular order, a process that allows all Senators an opportunity to make their voice and the voices of their constituents heard. It is not just a better process; it creates a better product too. When we receive this next package from the House, there is no reason that we can't take it up and pass it quickly here in the Senate. As I said, this bill was written with input from both parties in both the House and the Senate. It has the backing of the Trump administration. It advances a number of important priorities, and it actually spends less than if we just expended Biden-era spending levels for these same Agencies. Once we finish this package, we have more work to do. Appropriators are working to finish the remaining bills for fiscal year 2026. One of those is the Defense appropriations bill--which is an especially important priority--to ensure that our military has the funding and certainty it needs to maintain and modernize its capability, support Americans serving in uniform, and protect our national security. We don't have time to waste. It will require cooperation to ensure we can keep making progress as the end of the month approaches. I want to be clear that January 30 means January 30. We can't afford another extension. As soon as we finish, work will begin on the next appropriations cycle, starting with the President's budget request for fiscal year 2027. We have done a lot of good work on appropriations this past year. I want to thank our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, especially Chair Collins, for their hard work throughout the year. This work isn't easy, but it is important, and it is a responsibility we need to take seriously. I know they all do. Let's get fiscal year 2026 funding done and keep up the progress as we begin the process for fiscal year 2027. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, as someone who grew up in rural South Dakota, in the town of Murdo, which has a population of roughly 500-- and that would be rounding up--I know firsthand the joys of living in a rural community. I also know some of the challenges. Everything from package delivery to internet reliability can be more difficult when you live far outside a major city, and access to healthcare can sometimes be a real challenge. More than 100 rural hospitals have closed over the past two decades, and doctors can be few and far between in rural areas. But thanks to the working families tax cut legislation, however, help is on the way. Republicans' legislation created a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program to address the rural healthcare crisis. Instead of a top-down, Washington-dictated approach, we are giving States the resources and the freedom to find solutions for the particular challenges in their State and to find sustainable ways of ensuring rural healthcare access in their communities going forward. The response has been robust. Every State in the Union--red and blue, alike--has applied for and been approved for funding from this program. States have big plans. The Texas Tribune reports: The state's health care agency said it will use the funds to strengthen rural health care clinics in a variety of ways, including: creating wellness and nutrition programs to rural providers; educating and attracting health care professionals to work in rural areas; and modernizing resources and technology in rural centers. More specifically, it plans to ``add more than a thousand rural health care'' positions with the additional funds. Another news article reports on Ohio, noting that ``the state's proposal focuses on addressing barriers to healthcare by building on existing state investments to expand access to care, strengthen the rural health workforce and modernize facilities and technology.'' Georgia will be using Rural Health Transformation funding to upgrade technology and invest in its rural workforce. North Carolina will use the fund to, among other things, support more than 400 rural health facilities. The list goes on. My own State of South Dakota will be using its funding to invest in a number of priorities, including a major investment in telehealth, which can be a key way to access healthcare for those in rural areas. South Dakota will also be using its funding to create regional hubs for emergency services and to improve access to maternal and infant health, to ensure delivery of essential medical care. Back in June, a few months before Democrats tried to repeal the Rural Health Transformation fund, the Democrat leader said: This little fund to help reimburse rural hospitals is just a fraud. He should tell that to his State, which applied for the program and received a $212 million grant. And that is for 2026 alone. When the State announced its application, the Office of New York State Mental Health Commissioner, Dr. Ann Sullivan, stated: Expanding access to services in underserved communities is an important part of our effort to strengthen mental health care statewide. The Rural Health Transformation Grant will help New York State explore new partnerships, build our health care workforce, and pursue innovative opportunities to expand care in these areas. Let me repeat that. The Rural Health Transformation Grant will help New York State explore new partnerships, build our health care workforce, and pursue innovative opportunities to expand care in these areas. That doesn't sound like fraud to me. Perhaps the Democratic leader would have preferred his State to miss out on these resources. Perhaps he would disagree with the Democrat Governor of Hawaii, who said: As a relatively small State, this will help us a lot to keep our hospitals open, to make sure there are providers available to have telehealth available. Mr. President, the Democrat leader can spread all the disinformation he wants. The Rural Health Transformation Program is in effect, and every State in the Union is benefiting. Republicans will continue to work to make healthcare more comfortable and accessible for American families. I want to thank Dr. Oz and his team at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for their tireless work to get this program up and running on an expedited timeline. I look forward to seeing all the ways this program will help transform healthcare in rural America. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the applicable committees be discharged and the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions: S. Res. 288, S. Res. 503, and S. Res. 543.

Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc. The resolutions were agreed to en bloc, as follows:

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until 10 a.m., Thursday, January 8; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that Senator Kaine or his designee be recognized to make a motion to discharge S.J. Res. 98, and if made, the Senate vote on the motion to discharge at 11 a.m.; finally, following the vote on the motion to discharge, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of Calendar No. 574, Van Hook, and the Senate execute the order of December 18 in relation to the nomination at 1:45 p.m.

Mr. THUNE

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, last year, Republicans followed through on our promises to the American people. The cornerstone of that was the Working Families Tax Cuts and the rest of that landmark legislation--a bill that helps deliver safer streets; that puts more money in Americans' pockets; and that creates new opportunities to get ahead. I have said that we did 10 years of legislating in this bill. There is a lot in it. It is generational in terms of its content and its impact, and this year, hard-working Americans will start to see the benefits of what Republicans delivered. At the top of that list is the permanent tax relief in this bill. For too many Americans, affordability remains a challenge, and affordability begins with how much money you have in your budget and your pocket. Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts, hard-working Americans will see bigger paychecks this year, and that is breathing room that families can count on this year and in the years to come because Republicans' tax reform is permanent. As the W2s go out this month and Americans prepare to file their taxes, they can also expect to see benefits from the Working Families Tax Cuts in their tax returns. They will be able to take a larger standard deduction, and seniors will be able to take a new bonus deduction on top of that. The child tax credit is now worth $2,200 per child, and it is linked to inflation so it will never lose its value. Workers who earn tips and overtime won't have to pay Federal taxes on that income either. All of that adds up to bigger refunds come April. The Working Families Tax Cuts provide much needed relief after a yearslong inflation crisis that is still--still--straining families' budgets; so passing this bill--and delivering an average $3,700 tax cut to hard-working Americans--was a priority for Republicans. But that is not the only thing this bill did--far from it. We also made generational investments in healthcare, national security, and public safety. Since 2005, more than 100 hospitals in rural parts of this country have closed their doors. It is important that we support and strengthen critical healthcare access points for Americans who live in rural areas. So, in our legislation, Republicans created the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund to bolster rural healthcare; to expand access; to modernize care; and to strengthen the rural healthcare workforce. Our landmark legislation also addresses pressing security needs. In the months since this bill passed, not a single--single--illegal immigrant has been released into the United States. That is thanks, in part, to the generational investment we made to sustain the Trump administration's border security policies. Our bill invests in hiring more border agents, increasing detention capacity, and providing the technology and resources needed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs across our borders. Then there is national security. After 4 years of the Biden administration and Democrats putting defense spending on the back burner, Republicans made a historic investment to help rebuild our military so we can deter and defeat today's threats and tomorrow's. Our legislation boosts shipbuilding and defense production capacity. It grows our Air Force fleet, protects the homeland with the Golden Dome missile defense system and modernization of our nuclear deterrent and more. We are continuing our efforts with the kind of sustained investment that is needed to keep America's military strong for the long term. Our landmark legislation also makes a serious investment in public safety here at home. That starts by supporting the police. There is funding for State and local law enforcement agencies in this bill, including boots-on-the-ground efforts to combat violent crime. Our legislation supports efforts to combat drug trafficking and target precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl, and it provides resources for State and local law enforcement to assist Federal officers in enforcing immigration laws. I am also proud of the investment this bill makes in modernizing America's air traffic control system. The systems being used in air traffic control towers today are in desperate need of an update, and our legislation provides the support needed to deploy state-of-the-art technology across America. I am glad that the modernization efforts this bill supports are now underway. There is a lot more I can talk about when it comes to our once-in-a- generation legislation: its support for small businesses, farmers, and ranchers; its provisions addressing waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs to save taxpayer money; or its support for the next generation through more educational choice and investment accounts for a secure future. But I will leave it here. Republicans delivered a big win for the American people last year with our bill. And in 2026, the American people are going to feel its impact. I look forward to that story unfolding, literally, in every corner of America. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 224 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 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. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 575, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. THUNE. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; that the preamble be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Executive Session to consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 503; that the nomination be confirmed; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nomination; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, January 7; 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, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that Senator Whitehouse or his designee be recognized to make a motion to proceed to Calendar No. 290, S.J. Res. 86 and, if made, the Senate vote on the motion to proceed at 2 p.m.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, if there is no further to 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 have two 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. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Barrasso), the Senator from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Daines), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Lee), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from Montana (Mr. Sheehy). Further, if present and voting: the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) would have voted ``yea'' and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, 2025 was a historically busy year here in the U.S. Senate: the longest session period in more than 15 years; the greatest number of votes in half a century; many, many, many hours in session, substantially exceeding the average of the past 78 years. What do we have to show for all of that? More than 400 Presidential nominees confirmed, far exceeding the totals of the first year of President Trump's first term and of President Biden's; repeal of a number of burdensome Biden rules and regulations, including multiple rules that would have driven up prices for American families and businesses; legislation to combat the fentanyl epidemic; to keep criminal illegal immigrants off our streets; to create the first U.S. Federal framework for stablecoins and ensure U.S. leadership in financial innovation; and first and foremost, of course, we passed the Working Families Tax Cut and the rest of our landmark legislation. January 1 was this past Thursday. If Democrats had their way, Americans would have been facing a big tax hike at the start of this year. Instead, thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut, Americans will continue to pay the lower tax rates Republicans passed in 2017. And that is not all. In addition to making permanent the tax relief we passed in 2017, Republicans have added a number of new tax relief measures to ensure that Americans can keep more of their hard-earned money. We further increased the standard deduction. We further increased the child tax credit and indexed it to inflation so that its value will never go down. We added a new bonus deduction for seniors, no tax on tips and overtime, and the list goes on. Thanks to our legislation, Americans will be able to keep more of their hard-earned money permanently, and that is not all our legislation did. Our once-in-a-generation legislation also invested in our national security, in a more secure border, and safer streets. We repealed Democrats' natural gas tax and took steps to unleash American energy production to ensure Americans have a stable and affordable energy supply and more. Our goal for 2025 was more money in Americans' pockets, new opportunities, and safer streets. We are accomplishing that with the Working Families Tax Cuts and the rest of our landmark legislation, and we will continue to expand on that work in 2026. There are a number of bills that I would like the Senate to take up, including ROAD to Housing--legislation that addresses housing affordability and availability--and market structure legislation that builds on the success of the GENIUS Act and provides long-overdue clarity on digital asset regulation. Our first item of business, though, is appropriations. We still have work to do to get as many full-year appropriations bills as possible across the finish line for fiscal year 2026. I made it very clear when I became majority leader that I wanted to get the Senate back to regular-order appropriations, and we made a strong start last year, passing three appropriations bills with robust bipartisan margins before the August work period--the first time that we have passed an appropriations bill that early since 2018. Unfortunately, Democrats then chose to shut down the government, which seriously delayed our appropriations work. But we got right back to it after Democrats finally agreed to reopen the government, and we were able to get those three appropriations bills signed into law by the President this fall. Now we have another bipartisan, bicameral package of three bills that was released today and is ready to move through the House and the Senate. That will be the priority as soon as this package comes over from the House, and Senators can expect continued work on appropriations for the remainder of January. We have a January 30 deadline to fund the government, and nobody should want a repeat of the recent Democrat shutdown at the end of this month. So let's get the rest of this year's appropriations bills done so we can turn our attention to our other responsibilities and to getting the next fiscal year's appropriations bills done in a timely fashion. 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. THUNE. Mr. President, as we wrap up--or are about to wrap up, I should say--our legislative work for 2025, I would say it has been quite a busy year here in the U.S. Senate: the longest session period in 15 years to kick off the year; a historic number of votes--the most, literally, in half a century. In fact, you can see on this chart the number of votes. You go back, the first date on there is 1989. Obviously, this is pretty small and difficult to see, perhaps, unless you are standing right over it, but if you look at the red line here, that is this year. So 653 votes have been cast so far this year, which dwarfs any year going back to 1989, which is what we have data going back to. We have since researched further back. Turns out there was one year-- 1976. We went back eight decades. There was one year, in 1976, where the Senate cast more votes than we did this year. But if you go back to 1989, the closest one is right here--1995, which, for those of us who were actually following it back then, that was the Contract with America year, and so that was a record number of votes cast in both I think the House and the Senate. But we have eclipsed that with 613 votes cast in 1995. This year, in the U.S. Senate, we have already cast 653, and we are not quite done yet. It is historic just in terms of the number of votes cast, the number of hours in session, and the number of days in session; also historic just in terms of the amount of time that we have been around here. So we have put in a lot of time here this year. I have always said that you can't equate volume of activity or busyness with productivity. Those are sometimes separate metrics. But I would argue that what really matters here is not the number of votes or the number of hours that we worked; it is what we accomplished with those hours. This has been an incredibly productive Senate, and I am proud to say that we have accomplished a lot this year in the U.S. Senate. Our flagship bill for the year, of course, was the One Big Beautiful Bill--the working families tax cut act--and the largest part of that was, in fact, the tax cuts that were enacted that are going to benefit American families. Back in 2017, the Republicans delivered substantial tax relief for hard-working Americans, but that tax relief was scheduled to expire at the end of this month. So one of our main priorities for this year was extending that tax relief. And extend it, we did. But we didn't just extend it. We made it permanent, and we added to it additional tax relief on top. So, now, hard-working Americans can enjoy permanently lower rates, plus an increased standard deduction, a further increase in the child tax credit, a new bonus deduction for seniors, no tax on tips, and no tax on overtime. And that list goes on and on. In addition to the new and permanent tax relief for individuals and families, we also made permanent important tax relief for businesses of all sizes to help our growth and expand jobs and opportunities for American workers. I would just say, again, if you look at that map, this measures-- again, it is too far away for people to see. But the color coding represents the amount of tax relief that people in these individual States, or even within a State, will receive based upon filings and what we expect they will be filing for next year. But you can see, at the top of that, the U.S. average is $3,752 in savings, as a result of what we did to prevent what would have been the largest tax increase in American history. So American families, this next year, and American businesses are going to have more money in their pockets as a result of what we did. Had we not taken those actions, the average family across this country would have seen a $3,752 increase in their taxes. So that is sort of representative of the chart across the country, and the darker ones mean you are probably getting more tax relief relative to the lighter colors. Nevertheless, everyone in this country who files a tax return is going to see a much lower tax bill--tax liability--this next year, as a result of what we did. That is a lot right there, in and of itself. The One Big Beautiful Bill didn't end with the working families tax cuts. We also invested in a more secure border and safer streets. We made a historic investment in our national security, and we repealed the Democrats' natural gas tax and took steps to unleash American energy production to ensure Americans have stable, plentiful, and affordable supply of energy. We took measures to modernize the farm safety net, something very important in my State of South Dakota; to address housing costs; and to repair and upgrade our air traffic control system. I could keep going. The working families tax cuts and the rest of the One Big Beautiful Bill accomplished a lot for hard-working Americans, but that is not all that we have done in the Senate this year. The American people elected President Trump last November. One of our priorities this year has been ensuring that the President has his team in place so he can do the job the American people elected him to do. I am proud to report that by the end of this week, we will have confirmed 417 nominees, far more than were confirmed by this point in either President Trump's first term or in President Biden's term. It is even more remarkable--again, you can see this in real form here. This was President Trump's first term in office, at the end of his first year, which, again, ended 2017. There were 323 of his nominees that had been confirmed. Under President Biden, at the end of the first year, 2021, there were 365 of his nominees who had been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. And, as of today, that number here in 2025, in President Trump's second term, will be 417 nominees. That is important because every President needs to have his team in place to do the job the American people elected him to do. So as we think about it--and we looked and discussed on the floor yesterday--and you look at the President's first term, what makes it more remarkable was the fact that there was a historic level of obstruction by the Democrats to getting the President's nominees in place. I am talking about something unlike anything we have ever seen in American history for any President of any political party. If you look at his first term, President Trump remains the only President on record not to have had a single civilian nomination confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote--the only President on record. Democrats have dragged out the process on almost every single one of the President's nominations, not out of principle but out of petty partisanship. Any President, going back in history, when they get elected, they get a mandate from the American people, generally in both political parties. I have been here through multiple administrations, both Republican and Democrat, and I have been here in multiple Congresses and Senates, both Republican and Democrat. In every case, particularly when you get past the Cabinet, which we all take very seriously, obviously, there is a process in place, and some of the changes we made to expedite nominations didn't affect Cabinet-level nominees. When you get to the sub-Cabinet level, in many cases, particularly noncontroversial nominees have been approved by unanimous consent or voice vote. It is a way of recognizing that a President needs to get his team in place in order to accomplish the work and the agenda that the American people elected, in this case, President Trump to do. So what happened this year was historic and unprecedented because most of those lower level Cabinet nominees are done by unanimous consent. That has just been the practice. That has been the precedent. That has been the tradition. That has been the history of the U.S. Senate. And for President Trump, the first President in American history--but as I said, we, as Republicans, haven't let that stop us. So when we close out this year with a total of 417 nominees, we will have the backlog of nominees essentially cleared. Considering nominations is one responsibility of the government. Funding the government, together with the House of Representatives, is another. One thing that I was determined on when I became leader was to make sure the Senate went about considering the yearly appropriations bills through regular order, a process that gives Senators from both parties the greatest chance to make their voices and the voices of their constituents, I might add, heard. We have done a lot to return the Senate to the regular order process this year. Appropriations work was unnecessarily delayed by the Democrats' decision to shut down the government for 6 weeks. But despite that, we have had multiple individual appropriations bills signed into law, and the Senate is well on its way to passing five additional bills. There is a lot more I could talk about when it comes to Senate accomplishments in 2025. We have taken action to repeal a number of burdensome rules and regulations, including the Biden electric vehicle mandate, appliance rules that would have driven up prices for hard- working Americans and businesses, and energy mandates that would have driven up energy prices for American families. We passed the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently schedule fentanyl analogs as the most deadly type of drugs. We passed the Laken Riley Act to keep criminal illegal aliens off of our streets. We passed the GENIUS Act, a landmark bill to create the first U.S. Federal framework for stablecoins and ensure U.S. leadership in financial innovation. We passed the TAKE IT DOWN Act to combat nonconsensual explicit images being shared online. There is so much more that I could talk about. We tried to do things that, ultimately, were blocked by Democrats, like legislation that would prevent biological males from hijacking opportunities for women and girls in sports. I guess my point is that it has been a long and challenging year here in the U.S. Senate. I thank all of my colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, and all the staffs, including folks here on the floor, who put in long days and long hours in this last year. I think, as I said, there is a lot to show for it. If I put up this last chart, you will have a hard time--nobody will be able to read this, for sure. I do this simply to illustrate. This is the list of things that we have accomplished in this last year. It runs the gamut of all the things--some of which I just mentioned and a lot I didn't mention--that were included in the working families tax cuts, the One Big Beautiful Bill that passed last summer. But then there are so many other things on this list that were accomplished as a result of the good work we have done on behalf of the American people here last year. It is an example of what we all came here to do. Thanks to our work this year, Americans are going to be looking at, one, safer streets; two, more money in their pockets; and, three, new opportunities to get ahead and new opportunities on the way for American people and American families. Mr. President, we are going to keep advancing those priorities here in the U.S. Senate, in 2026, and build on the record accomplishments and successes that we have had here in 2025. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 321.

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Merkley- Daines substitute amendment at the desk to the resolution be agreed to; that the resolution, as amended, be agreed to; that the Merkley-Daines substitute amendment at the desk to the preamble be agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of S. Res. 572, which is at the desk.