Raphael Warnock

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Madam President, it is my honor to rise today and give somebody gratitude for my first and, so far, only chief of staff, Mark Libell. Mark was with me from my first days in the Senate. I have spent my entire adult life in ministry. This was my first public office. So as I made my way to the Senate, I knew that I needed someone who knew his way around here--you can relate--someone who knew where the bathrooms were and who knew how to get things done around here. Mark was a Senate veteran and well respected by everyone who knew him, and it didn't take me long to understand why. He came to DC as an intern in 2003, and he decided he would intern until he found a job or ran out of money. He clearly was hooked. And if he ran out of money, he planned to pack up his car and return home to Alabama. Well, luckily for all of us, Mark did not stay an intern for long. He went on to work for my friend Senator Debbie Stabenow, Representatives Bart Gordon and Linda Sanchez, and Senator Jay Rockefeller. After 10 years working on Capitol Hill, Mark took his talents to the Federal Reserve Board but returned to the Senate a few years later to serve his beloved home State of Alabama as deputy chief of staff and legislative director for my friend Senator Doug Jones. So when I say Mark knows the Senate, I mean he really knows the Senate. Although he hails from Alabama and everybody knows how serious that rivalry is between Georgia and Alabama football, we have never held that against him. He has seen this place from every angle, he has done just about every job there is to do in a Senator's office, and he has been a major asset to my mission and my work. That is part of what makes Mark so special, because he saw so many roles. He sees himself in every staffer. He has a deep respect in every role that a person plays in a Senate office no matter their title. Staff assistants and senior staff alike know that Mark's door is always open. He will make time to offer career advice or to solve a problem. And when staffers walk out of his office, they feel respected, and they feel heard. Most importantly, they feel like someone is in their corner rooting for them to succeed. And on more than one occasion, he has been a confidante and trusted counsel to me. Mark has the heart of a public servant. He wrote his thesis on Bobby Kennedy. Even in a place as cynical as Washington, DC, Mark is leaving the Senate as much of an idealist as when he arrived over two decades ago. He has always believed in this institution's ability to make a difference in people's lives, and that is why Mark fought for me to keep on the entire casework team from my Republican predecessor and friend, the late Senator Johnny Isakson. That casework team that Mark advocated for has gone on to help nearly 68,000 constituents and is nationally recognized as one of the best casework teams in Congress. They get great things done for Georgians all the time. Because my name is on the door, I get the credit, but they do the work under Mark's leadership. Mark believed that we could cut child poverty in half, and he helped me to do that when we passed the expanded child tax credit. He believed we could ban private equity from mass-purchasing homes, and we did just that. He believed that we could come together and lower the cost of insulin, and we did just that. But what I most appreciate about Mark is that he always believes in this country's ability to do better, to be better. That idealism he saw in Bobby Kennedy is very much alive in him. Mark believed in a country where a State in the old Confederacy could elect its first African-American Senator and first Jewish Senator in one fell swoop and where a kid from Florence, AL, could go on to become one of the most influential staffers serving today in the U.S. Senate. Because no one achieves anything alone, I would also like to thank Mark's wonderful wife Carrie for the support she has shown to Mark and my entire operation through early mornings and late nights. I would also like to thank his mother Lynn and his brother Adam. I know his father, who about a year ago passed into the light, smiles from someplace in eternity. While Mark may be leaving the Senate tomorrow, he leaves behind dozens of staffers whom he has inspired with his patriotic idealism that a career in public service is worth it, is worth the sacrifice, that the small wins add up, that they make the difference in the lives of ordinary people, and that our future is brighter when we choose to have faith in one another. So, Mark, from me, from my staff, and from the people of Georgia, thank you so very much. God bless you and your future endeavors. Keep the faith, and keep looking up. (Applause.)

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, this letter restricts the President's tariff authority under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. This is a small but meaningful victory for all Americans who continue to suffer under this President's reckless tariffs. Let's be clear: Putin is a war criminal, and his war machine must be stopped. But we should not have to choose between putting a check on Putin's aggression and putting a check on this President's tariff regime. That is a false choice, and it is one that I am not willing to accept. And so I hope, in the coming hours, that we go further during the amendment process. I hope my colleagues will join me in stripping out any new Presidential tariff authorities. These are not normal times. This is not a normal President. If you give him an inch, he will take a mile. We don't have to imagine. We are seeing it in real time. And everyday people, as a result of that, are struggling--struggling to buy groceries, struggling to buy gas, struggling to buy their kids back-to- school supplies. They are the ones who are suffering the consequences of his reckless tariff regime. But this commitment that we were able to get from Ambassador Greer is meaningful because if the President ignores the law, if he oversteps his power, we will see him in court. I hope this weeklong process was the first step in Congress reasserting its role and placing guardrails on this President's tariff regime. I urge my colleagues to go back home and talk to ordinary folks outside of the beltway. They will tell you that while they support any efforts to protect our national security--and that is what this is about. This isn't just about Ukraine. It is about our own national security. But we must do everything to protect our national security, while at the same time bolstering the economic security of everyday Americans. So as we go back home, ask any parent you meet how much back-to- school shopping cost them this year. I can tell you as the father of two small children, that it is much more than they wanted to spend. When we come back to Washington, we can fight for those parents and build on this work to check the power of this reckless President. But I am glad that we have gotten as far as we have on this issue. I would like to thank my friend and brother Senator Cassidy for your partnership in this amendment process, and I would like to thank Senators Shaheen and Blumenthal for their efforts to find a solution and way forward to support Ukraine, to protect our national security and our economic security at the same time. I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record this letter from U.S. Trade Representative Greer.

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, today, I rise to pay tribute to the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs on its landmark 25th anniversary. I also want to recognize its leadership, including founding dean Thomas P. Lauth, who served from 2001 to 2013; dean Stefanie Lindquist, from 2013 to 2016; interim dean Robert Grafstein, from 2016 to 2017; and current dean Matthew Auer, who has led the school since 2017. For a quarter-century, the School of Public and International Affairs has stood as a beacon of academic excellence, fostering rigorous scholarship and cultivating the next generation of leaders dedicated to public service. The school has advanced the University of Georgia's core mission of teaching, research, and service by preparing students to shape policy and strengthen communities both locally and globally. Founded in 2001, the school has distinguished itself through an unwavering commitment to academic rigor, public impact, and global engagement. By offering highly regarded programs in political science, international affairs, public administration and policy, and criminal justice, it equips students with the critical skills needed to address complex challenges at every level of government and within the private sector. The University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs faculty comprises nationally and internationally recognized scholars whose research directly informs public policy and strengthens democratic institutions. Since its inception, the school has grown from 32 full-time faculty members and 1,000 students to more than 75 full- time faculty and over 2,000 students today. Demonstrating this profound commitment to academic excellence, alumni include 8 Truman Scholars, 7 Rhodes Scholars, 3 Schwarzman Scholars, 3 Pickering Fellows, and 36 Boren Scholars. Furthermore, the school's global impact continues to earn well- deserved recognition. The Academic Ranking of World Universities placed it among the top 10 graduate schools worldwide for the public administration category. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report ranks the school fifth for Best Public Affairs Programs, third in Public Finance and Budgeting, third in Public Management and Leadership, fourth in Local Government Management, and 12th in Nonprofit Management. On this 25th anniversary of the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs, I want to congratulate and thank its faculty, staff, students, and alumni for their enduring contributions to public service, scholarship, and leadership.

Mr. WARNOCK

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

Mr. WARNOCK. I know of no further debate. Vote on Motion to Discharge

Mr. WARNOCK. Madam President, I rise today to ask a simple question. After 109 days of a failed war and now a fragile, temporary--but welcome--truce, will my Republican colleagues choose today to finally stand up to this President? Will my colleagues say ``enough is enough'' to the President who ran as a candidate promising no new wars? After 109 days of contradictory messaging, rampant and rank corruption, with people literally cashing in on news about this war and devastating news stories from the Middle East, will this be the vote when my colleagues finally stand up for their constituents, rather than simply standing up for Donald Trump? Here we are: Tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions, of American taxpayer dollars spent; gas prices are well over $4 a gallon; hard-working American families crushed under tens of billions of dollars in soaring energy prices and inflation driven by this unnecessary war; and the ultimate price--the ultimate price--13 servicemembers tragically killed. The question is, Where did all of that land us? What did it accomplish? And it appears that we are basically back at the status quo, at best. Let me start by saying that I am very proud of our military. That is not the question here. We have the most powerful, the most effective military force in human history. The problem is that the President has decided to use that military force and significantly deplete our defense arsenal for his own pet projects. He decided to launch an attack on Iran to decapitate the brutal leadership of an awful regime, but he had no plans for what he would do the next day--the next day. And so, today, the regime is still in place, with younger and potentially more hard-lined and radical leadership. So even now, with the war hopefully coming to an end, I still don't understand why we were in this war in the first place. It appears that the only thing this war has done is put servicemembers' lives at risk, Americans in the region at risk. It has undermined our global standing and put millions of civilians in harm's way. And so we pray for the families of the brave Americans who have already paid the ultimate sacrifice, our servicemembers who are the best among us and who go no matter who the President is or what their politics are. They were simply following orders. Our servicemembers embody courage and patriotism. They put it on the line for us, and I submit that they deserve better than this. We have learned, due in part to recent history, that it is easier to get into a war than it is to get out. The President said on multiple occasions: ``It will all work out well in the end. It always does.'' Maybe it always does for him, but we are sending brave American servicemembers into battle, and they return with visible and invisible wounds of war. This is something not to be handled in a cavalier manner. It is the most sacred responsibility of an American President. And so I promised my people of Georgia that I would walk with them even as I worked for them. I have listened to agonizing stories of war from veterans whose lives will never be the same. I have stood at Dover Air Force Base to receive the bodies of Georgia's heroes. I have looked into the grief-stricken eyes of their family members as they greeted a flag-draped coffin wrapped in unbearable grief. It is gut-wrenching, and it is something that I think about whenever we consider the consequences of sending our servicemembers into harm's way. The question is, Did the President think about it? Did he think about those families, even as he said, ``It will all just work out. . . . It always does''? I am hopeful that this war may come to an end beginning this week. But let's be clear: This temporary truce agreement with Iran brings us back to the status quo, at best. Let's not forget that the President of the United States, in deciding to launch this war, created a situation in which we lost our servicemembers. We continue to grieve the dozens of fathers in Iran who will be without their school-aged daughters on Father's Day, as an elementary school in Minab was attacked on the first day--or a bomb was dropped on that school the first day--a horrific mistake with huge human consequences. And this was on day one of the war--young children who didn't get a chance to grow up, hundreds of dreams that will never be realized. Those Iranian babies are human beings. They too are children of God. And so this kind of consequential action requires much more thought, a much more serious-minded administration than what we have seen over the last year and a half. And so I hope that we are seeing the beginning of the end of this war. But we paid a huge cost, and I am not so sure what we are getting for that. But the question before this body is, Will this President do this again? I think the answer is yes. He will continue to choose bombs over diplomacy because he is a failed warmonger, and that is why I am urging my colleagues to speak up in this moral moment and send a message that the President should not feel that he can easily and so cavalierly use American might while Congress stands idly by. The time is always right to do what is right. I urge my colleagues to do what your constituents are begging you to do and join me in putting a check on this President's lawless warmongering--warmongering that has upended the global economy and sent gas prices soaring. The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Iran perhaps seems even more emboldened to try it again. And what is the plan to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon with Iran going into this truce with all of its enriched uranium? We had a deal. Donald Trump chose war over diplomacy. Hopefully, this Congress will stand up and do its job. The time is always right to do what is right. That time is now. Pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1546a and in accordance with section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from further consideration of S.J. Res. 172.

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, when the Senate considers the reconciliation bill, S. 2, it is my intention to make the following motions to the bill: A motion to recommit S. 2 to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with amendments that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would increase homeownership and lower housing costs by providing $20,000 in downpayment assistance for more than 3,500,000 first-time homebuyers. A motion to commit the bill S. 2 to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would fund assistance for farmers that have been hurt by tariffs imposed by the current Administration. A motion to commit the bill S. to the Committee on Finance of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) provide assistance to lower Medicare Part B premiums. A motion to commit S. 2 to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with amendments that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would lower costs for Americans by paying all rental costs for a year for 4,250,000 households. A motion to commit the bill S. 2 to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would increase housing supply by constructing or preserving more than 840,000 homes. A motion to commit the bill S. 2 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would provide funding for universal pre-kindergarten in the United States for all children ages 3 and 4, including through Head Start programs. A motion to commit the bill S. 2 to the Committee on Finance of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate in 3 days, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session, with changes that-- (1) are within the jurisdiction of such committee; and (2) would repeal the funding and eligibility cuts to the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) made by title VII of the Act titled ``An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14'' (Public Law 119-21).

Mr. WARNOCK

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

Mr. WARNOCK. Madam President, my friends on the other side of the aisle continue to falsely argue that their last reconciliation bill did not cut Medicaid. But now, nearly 1 year after this monstrosity passed--I call it the ``One Big Ugly Bill''--millions of Americans, including children, are losing health insurance as they ram through another partisan bill that does nothing to make healthcare more affordable. Just a few weeks ago, a report found that 1.75 million fewer kids were enrolled in Medicaid this year compared to last year. And earlier this week, the Trump administration released cruel guidance to States on how to implement the new Medicaid redtape requirements. In a word, they are making it harder for sick and disabled Americans to access healthcare. Since Republicans refuse to reverse these harmful cuts, my amendment simply asks for transparency; that is it--the release of basic information on how this new redtape will restrict access to healthcare. If my colleagues have nothing to hide, they should have no problem with transparency to reveal the scale of coverage lost. We have disagreements on this issue, but at least we ought to have the facts. So I urge my colleagues to vote yes.

Mr. WARNOCK. Madam President, I have a motion to commit at the desk.

Mr. WARNOCK. I ask that further reading of the motion be dispensed with.

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 393, S.J. Res. 141.

Mr. WARNOCK. I rise today in support of my resolution to restore the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule restricting medical debt collections. This rule protected Americans from paying for medical services they did not receive or paying debt they already paid off. Medical debt leaves Americans in serious financial jams. It wrecks lives. Folks go to the doctor one day for a bandage or some minor injury and end up leaving with a financial burden the size of a mortgage. It could happen to any one of us. Georgia ranks among the top 10 States with the highest rates of medical debt, to the tune of $855 per Georgian, in large part because of the State's refusal to expand Medicaid. In fact, more than a quarter of rural Georgians have medical collections on their credit report--one in four--and that is 10 percentage points higher than the national average. Americans face more barriers as a result. Their mortgage costs increase. Their access to car loans can be restricted just because they got sick and went into debt for care. That is why I led 30 of my colleagues in a letter to the Trump administration defending the CFPB's work on protecting families from the consequences of medical debt. But the Trump administration's actions will make it easier for debt collectors to aggressively go after sick or struggling Americans and prey on families already saddled with medical debt. That is just cruel and unnecessary. I encourage my colleagues to vote yes on this resolution. I yield the floor. Vote on Motion to Proceed

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

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. I move to proceed to Calendar No. 392, S.J. Res. 140.

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I rise today in support of my resolution to restore CFPB guidance that prevented mistaken identity on credit reports, which can destroy someone's credit through no fault of their own. Credit and background reports are incredibly important to the lives of Americans. The difference between good credit and bad credit can decide whether someone gets a house, an apartment, or a job. It determines how much money they will spend in order to afford a house. These reports may include criminal records or eviction records, so they need to be accurate. If they are inaccurate because of lazy name-matching practices, they can result in you being denied a job or apartment based on the wrong person's criminal or eviction record--a case of mistaken identity. And by the time you figure out what went wrong and jump through all the hoops to fix the problem, it is often too late for that job or apartment. The CFPB, under the previous administration, tried to fix this problem by saying companies need more than just someone's name to identify someone, but the Trump administration has torn up this guidance and made the lives of ordinary folks harder--harder to get a job, harder to find an apartment. I don't get it. I encourage my colleagues to vote yes on my resolution to restore this simple guidance to stop credit report mistaken identity by companies and debt collectors. I yield the floor. Vote on Motion to Proceed

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, today I would like to recognize Andrea Young, a daughter of Georgia, upon her retirement as a transformational executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. As the daughter of civil rights icon Andrew Young and international children's advocate and civil rights activist Jean Childs Young, Andrea Young continues their legacy by living a life dedicated to public service. During her nearly 10-year tenure leading the ACLU of Georgia, her quest for a more perfect union produced a record of achievement and fighting the good and necessary fights, even when success was not always possible. Early in her career, Ms. Young was a legislative staffer for Senator Edward Kennedy. She served as floor manager and successfully fought the filibuster intended to derail the passage of legislation establishing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. She also accompanied Senator Kennedy to South Africa during apartheid and played a key role in legislation that established economic sanctions against the apartheid regime. She later served as chief of staff to the first African- American woman elected to U.S. Congress from the State of Georgia. As chief of staff for a newly created congressional district, she developed a staff and legislative priorities, district offices, and constituent services. Before joining the ACLU of Georgia, she also created the operational structure of the Andrew Young Foundation, including initial staff and policy directives. Later, she served as adjunct professor teaching leadership courses at Morehouse College, the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Georgia State University. She has also authored and contributed to several books, including ``Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me,'' ``An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America,'' and ``Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta.'' Andrea Young became executive director of the ACLU of Georgia in 2017, at a time when it had a full-time staff of two. Under her leadership, the organization was transformed into a fully staffed, statewide civil liberties organization that has not only improved communities across all of Georgia but also Americans across the country. She brought a steady, disciplined approach to the work, aligning litigation, policy, communications, and community engagement strategies so the organization could respond clearly and consistently to challenges facing the State and country. During her tenure, Georgia was at the center of some of the most consequential civil liberties fights in the country. For example, she led the organization through major legal battles, including the successful challenge to Georgia's abortion ban, and stood firm in defending the right to protest and opposing efforts to criminalize peaceful assembly. Her greatest priority was protecting voting rights, the cornerstone of our democracy. While serving as executive director, the ACLU of Georgia secured a Federal injunction protecting voters from having their absentee ballots rejected without due process, successfully challenged the attempted removal of nearly 160,000 voters from the rolls, and expanded access to voting across the State. Her leadership and vision for a stronger democracy reached communities across Georgia through initiatives such as the Poll Worker Program and the Local Election Advocates and Defenders Program, which strengthened election operations and increased accountability at the local level. Her efforts to keep voters on the rolls as well as to prevent voting station closings or relocations made a difference in countless local and Federal elections across Georgia. We continue that work in this body as Federal lawmakers, and I am honored to count Andrea as an ally in our fight to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Her lifetime of service has directly affected many provisions in this critical legislation, and her work has strengthened not only communities in Georgia but the rights of all Americans. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Andrea Young's service to the State of Georgia and to the country.

Mr. WARNOCK

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

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I could not help but respond in realtime to my very able colleague from the great State of Oklahoma. I really wish things were as simple as my Republican friends would have us believe. They want us to believe that this is simply a basic voter ID bill. Let me say the same thing I said several days ago. I believe that you should have to prove that you are who you say you are before you vote. But this is not a voter ID bill; this is a voter suppression bill. They really ought to call it what it actually is. They ought to rename this bill: ``Your Driver's License is Not Enough to Register Bill.'' Not only is your driver's license not good enough in most States, except those States where your citizenship is a part of your driver identification--and that is literally a handful of States--you will not be able to register to vote using your driver's license. You will not be able to register to vote using your student ID. You will not be able to register to vote using your military ID. Let's be very clear: The Republicans know that their policies are failing; that they have kicked 15 million Americans off of their healthcare; that they have doubled healthcare premiums for some 22 million Americans. They have dragged us or they have enabled this President to drag us into a war--and he can't even explain why we are there--and they want to make it difficult for everyday Americans to hold them accountable. This will not stand. It will not succeed. This bill especially disenfranchises women. There are many people right now who are listening to me at home who are registered to vote right now, and you say: Well, I have never had to prove my citizenship in order to vote. If this bill is passed, you will. If you move, you will have to reregister. If you change your name if you get married, you will have to register to vote as we do, and all of a sudden your driver's license will not be good enough. Even though you have been voting for years--decades--that will not be good enough. Imagine being a woman and your birth certificate does not match your current name, so you have got to go drag out documents you haven't seen for years in order to certify that you are a citizen. And the question you ought to ask is, Why would they go through all of this? Why is this necessary when there is no evidence at all that we have some major problem of voter fraud through voter identification. It is already illegal to vote if you are not a citizen. It is illegal. They will deport you. You will be prosecuted under law if you register to vote, and you are not a citizen. If you try to vote, and you are not a citizen, it is a crime. You can be deported. And they are trying to convince us that there are droves of people in this country who are willing to risk deportation, risk being arrested, risk the abuse that we are seeing visited upon American citizens by ICE agents in realtime--that they are willing to risk all of that in droves in order to change the outcome of an election. It defies credulity, and it is simply not true. Donald Trump wants to meddle with the outcome of the midterm elections because he knows that he is losing. And citizens who are watching this right now, not only ought you to reject this, as we are doing on your behalf, you ought to register in droves and put this nonsense to an end. Democracy is the very house we live in. It is the place in which we get to fight for the things we say matter. And little by little, they are chipping away at the democracy itself. Let the people speak. Let people cast their votes without having to jump over all kinds of unnecessary barriers. Why would you disenfranchise hundreds of thousands, millions of Americans, while chasing a problem that does not exist? Why are you so afraid of the voices of the people, I ask my friends on the other side of the aisle. The most powerful words in a democracy are ``the people have spoken.'' And we must ensure that no voter suppression bill prevents them from speaking. I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I am so grateful for the remarks of my colleague and friend from the great State of Massachusetts and for his voice on this very important issue. I rise today as a child of the Civil Rights Movement, as the blessed beneficiary of its bold moral witness in America, and as a member of only the second generation of our Nation to have full and fair access to the right to vote. Some have argued that in a real sense, our country did not really become a democracy until 1965 when there were those who stood up with courage and challenged the Nation to live up to its ideals. I stand here today, and I am able to work in this building on behalf of the people of Georgia--what an honor--to represent 11 million people, to carry on this grand experiment called democracy. But it is never far from our memory that, at the time of my birth, Georgia's two Senators were Richard B. Russell and Herman E. Talmadge. In many ways, they were effective. They brought great things back to the State of Georgia, but we would not be honest, we would not be telling the full story if we did not remember that they were both archsegregationists and unabashed adversaries of the Civil Rights Movement, which sought to expand the electorate to ensure that this is a House where every American--the citizen--has a voice. Senator Talmadge once said: We love the Negro in his place, and his place is at the backdoor. Well, it is a testament to the greatness of this country that I sit in his seat because there were those who stood up to fight for the highest ideals of our country. I reference that history because it is relevant in this moment. Nearly 62 years ago to the day, those two Georgia Senators, along with other southern Senators, began a weekslong effort to prevent people who look like me and my parents and my children from fully participating in our democracy. They were trying to narrow the electorate. So I find it interesting and ironic that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have been leading this effort in recent days have referenced this very history which is the cause for my being here in the first place. One of them pointed out the fact that when we entered the debate about the civil rights legislation and tried to push it into law, that there were those who stood up day after day, week after week, and he dared to enlist that history as if, somehow, that was some inspiration for what they are trying to do in this moment. Let me be very clear: You are on the other side of that history. You are on the side of those who are trying to narrow the electorate. So, if you want to pass the SAVE Act, that is your prerogative. If you want to argue that folks have to have a birth certificate or a passport just to be able to register to vote in a country where most Americans do not have a passport, if you want to effectively disenfranchise women, disenfranchise poor people, and working-class people who have to struggle for the right to vote, that is your prerogative. But be very clear: You are not on the side of the movement. You are on the other side of that history. Fight for this, if you will, but you ought to leave the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, name out of your mouth. This country goes through moments where the electorate expands, and then it goes through moments where it contracts. We are in a contraction moment. We are in a moment wherein the words of the administration itself--it was a Cabinet official in the White House herself who said that we just want to make sure ``the right people are voting''--the right people--``the right people are voting.'' That was the argument in the 1960s. Of those who wanted to make sure that the right people were voting, had they prevailed, I would not be standing here today. I don't believe in the right people. I believe in ``we the people,'' ``we the people,'' ``we the people.'' That is not just the first three words of our charter document. It is a creed--``we the people.'' Every American citizen must have access to the franchise, and it must not be treated as a privilege. It is a right. When you put up unnecessary barriers, you undermine that basic understanding that the franchise is not a privilege; it is a right. I often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children, and our prayers are stronger when we pray together. There are no right or wrong people. There are only the American people. They put up the SAVE Act, arguing that they want to make sure that it is only Americans who are voting, but they have not demonstrated, and they have provided no evidence that voter fraud is a real thing through voter identification. We know that this will disenfranchise thousands, if not millions, of Americans. We have no evidence that this is a problem that actually needs to be solved. Yet they have shut down much of the business of the Senate in order to do this. They are hell-bent on getting this done. Donald Trump said that this is his No. 1 priority. So it begs the question, Why is this his No. 1 priority? With all of the things wrong in our country, why is this the main thing that he feels he must get done? Why is he afraid? I will tell you why. It is because he knows that he has broken every promise he made. He said that he was going to lower your costs. Instead, he has doubled healthcare premiums for 22 million Americans. His tariffs have cost the average family over $1,000 a year. Gas prices are spiking and show no sign of coming down anytime soon, but this is his No. 1 priority. He said he was going to be the President of peace, but he has attacked 17 countries and counting. Yet again, we find ourselves entangled in another endless war with no endgame and no idea of what victory even looks like. All the while, we have more important problems right here at home. Donald Trump promised to support our farmers. Instead, he has raised the cost of fertilizer and has hamstrung their exports, and farmers all across Georgia are suffering as a result. So that is really what this is all about. Donald Trump is a failed President, and his support is collapsing. I hear it all across Georgia--in rural towns bearing the brunt of the President's immigration policies and farmers dealing with the realities of a trade war. This President claims to be ``America First,'' but in the name of protecting U.S. citizens, his deportation machine has seized over 170 citizens. They have shot and killed two American citizens on a quiet street. I went to stand where they lost their lives. In a real sense, I felt like I was standing on holy ground, made sacred by the blood of patriots who stood up against abusive authority, under the color of law, to remind us that, at the end of the day, this is our country-- ``we the people,'' ``we the people.'' It is not the powerful interests who can write big checks to keep politicians in office--``we the people.'' Not the lobbyists--``we the people.'' Not the American oligarchs--``we the people.'' Now they want to prevent even more citizens from voting, from making our voices heard. They want to block our ability to stand up in November and say: Enough is enough. So the President is panicking. He is doing what he always does. He is attacking our elections so that you cannot fire his foot soldiers in Congress. It is pathetic. He looks to me like a scared human being who knows that behind the curtain is a tiny man. We will not be intimidated. Our voices will not be silenced. The President continues to push the lies that he spread, after he lost in 2020, to create a pretext to interfere in the midterm elections. That is why we saw an FBI raid in Fulton County, GA. As I watched that FBI raid, I saw the Director of National Intelligence crouched in a corner, talking on a mobile phone, and I wondered, Why was she there? There were bomb threats in polling stations in poor and Black neighborhoods during the 2024 election, which were later traced back to Russian interference. I am still waiting on an answer from her on that. There she was, engaged in this effort to count the ballots again in the 2020 election, even after the President's own Justice Department found no evidence of meaningful voter fraud. These claims about voter fraud--that is the fraud. That is the fraud. And I think Americans are growing tired of it. You know, the wonderful thing about our country is that we get to have the argument. The Presiding Officer and I don't agree on a whole range of things, but I just want us to be able to have the argument. It gets rambunctious in the American public square in order to avoid violence, but at the end of the day, everybody gets to go to the polls, and the most powerful words in the democracy are: ``The people have spoken.'' So I will always cast my lot on the side of democracy. I am hopeful in this regard. I believe in the people. I want to make sure my constituents' voices are heard--all of my constituents--even when they don't agree with me, even when I don't get the outcome that I want. When I think about the nature of human power and human pride--forgive me, but I am a preacher after all--and human sin and our desire to make sure that we slant things so that we get the outcome we want--we see it not just in governments; you see it in your own family--the question becomes, How do you balance all of those things? I think democracy is the best we have got. Given who we are as human beings, I will cast my lot with the people's voice, even when I think they have gotten it wrong. I would rather put my trust there. Reinhold Niebuhr, perhaps, put it best. He said that human kind's capacity for justice makes democracy possible. Our capacity for injustice makes democracy necessary. At the end of the day the thing that can fix it, whatever issue we have, I believe, is the people's voice. And so I am disturbed about what I am witnessing. I am disturbed about an attack on Fulton County and in Maricopa County, AZ. It troubles me when ICE lands in Minneapolis, and then the administration says that we are there to deal with violent criminals, we are there to deal with this immigration issue. But then when it comes down to it, the administration says: Do you really want ICE out of your community? Hand over your voter rolls. Come on, man. I don't care whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, come on. You can see what this is about. What do voter rolls have to do with violent criminals? What kind of ransom note is that to send to the leaders of the people of Minneapolis? And so the Big Lie continues to live and we need to kill it once and for all and the only thing that can do that is the people's voice. The President continues to spread conspiracy theories and outright lies. Here is the reality: This bill will disenfranchise thousands, if not millions, of Americans, and that is why they want to pass it so desperately. They are using onerous citizenship verification as a pretext for voter suppression, requiring you to use a birth certificate or passport to register to vote. And under this bill, a driver's license wouldn't be enough to register to vote. They ought to call the bill what it is. They ought to call it ``A Driver's License is Not Good Enough Act.'' They call it the SAVE Act, but the question is: What are they trying to save? They are not trying to save our elections; they are trying to save their own power at any cost--at the cost of the voices of ordinary people. Let's think about this in practical terms. If you change addresses, even if you move down the street and you have been voting for years, do you want to have to track down your birth certificate--which you lost while you were moving--in order to register to vote? You get married and you change your name, you have to go find your marriage license and a birth certificate or a passport to prove that you are a citizen. More than half of Georgians, or 5.4 million people, lack a valid passport. And as many as 2.2 million women in Georgia may not have their birth certificate that matches their current legal name. And so women are disproportionately disenfranchised by this piece of legislation, which again is a solution in search of a problem that does not exist. Let me be really clear. Noncitizens should never vote in our elections. There is no argument about that. But this legislation will only make it harder for eligible American voters to make their voices heard. That is the actual work that this legislation will do. We know that about 760,000 voting-age Georgians who are U.S. citizens would have difficulty showing documentation proving their citizenship. We know that. By the way, we have voter ID in Georgia. And I will tell you, for the record, that I think you should have to prove that you are who you say you are before you vote. I support voter ID. We have voter ID laws in my State. You should have to prove that you are who you say you are before you vote. That is basic, but that is not what this is about. This is about onerous voter ID requirements used as a pretext and as a tool for voter suppression because there are those in the administration who want to make sure ``the right people vote.'' There are currently strong laws on the books that keep noncitizens from voting. They face criminal prosecution and deportation if they vote. So let's just think about the risk-reward analysis, the cost-benefit analysis. You will be criminally prosecuted if you try to vote and you are not a citizen. You are trying to tell me that folks will risk criminal prosecution in droves to change the potential outcome of an election? Are you trying to tell me that folks will try to vote twice? It is hard enough to get folks to vote once, let alone twice. And that is probably why Republican secretary of state Brad Raffensperger found only 20 instances of noncitizens registered out of 8.2 million in Georgia--8.2 million people registered to vote in Georgia. The Republican secretary of state found 20 instances of noncitizens who were registered and only 9 had ever attempted to vote and the majority did so before 2012. This is a solution in search of a problem that does not exist. And so this means that the SAVE America Act would burden or disenfranchise over 150,000 Georgians for every single instance of a noncitizen voting in the last decade. Does that make sense? You keep 1 noncitizen from voting and you disenfranchise 150,000 for every 1? You are trying to tell me that that makes the democracy stronger? more representative of our interests? And so if there is no meaningful voter fraud, and if this law is so disastrous for voting citizens, the question is: Why is the President so desperate to sign the SAVE America Act into law? And I mean, he is desperate, so desperate that he has threatened his own Republican caucus, said: If you all don't do this, we are not going to do anything. The President is trying to take away your right to vote so he can hold onto power, and Washington Republicans are trying to help him do it. They are using the SAVE America Act as a pretext for voter suppression. They know their policies are deeply unpopular with the American people, but instead of working to change their policies, instead of working to get more people access to the healthcare that they need, they are taking healthcare away from 15 million Americans. Instead of working to lower the cost of groceries, they are instituting reckless tariff taxes that make everything more expensive. Instead of actually working on behalf of the American people, they are working to change who can vote in the next election. And so we are going to stand up. I am certainly going to stand up for all of my constituents, and I mean that. I want the Georgians who are in red districts to know that I am fighting for you and your voice because this administration's so-called SAVE America Act will disenfranchise many of my constituents in red districts. That is because, increasingly, the people's voices are being squeezed out of their democracy. It is the folks with a lot of money, it is the corporate interests that they want to hear from. And you are living right now with what happens when your voice is diminished. I see it. I see it in rural red counties that I visit all the time where their rural hospital is either closed or it is almost near closing because they cut a trillion dollars out of Medicaid. I see it in the eyes of farmers who are burdened by these tariff taxes and how it is creating damage and wreckage for their businesses. I saw it the other day in Social Circle, GA, where the administration is determined to put a 10,000-bed ICE detention center in a town of 5,000 people--5,000 people--in Social Circle, GA. The administration went in, bought a warehouse for $128 million, and the mayor, the city manager, the leadership of Social Circle, GA, learned that there would be a detention center in their town that would triple the size of their town by reading about it in the Washington Post. So think about that. The mayor, elected to represent his people. The big, bad Federal Government comes in under cover of night and ambushes the duly-elected local officials because they didn't want to hear their voice. They were determined to bring this warehouse to their town whether they like it or not. I am fighting for those people, even though it is, by and large, a red district. I don't have a lot of votes in Social Circle, GA, but I am a pastor first. I told the people of Georgia that I would fight for them, that I would walk with them even as I work for them. This is about the voices of ordinary people. This is about saving our democracy. As I close--and nobody believes a Baptist preacher when he says ``as I close,'' but I am not trying to break any records today. Andrew Young tells me the story of when they passed the civil rights bill into law. Dr. King and his lieutenants went to see President Johnson. The President was feeling good--and he should. They had passed the civil rights bill into law after that long filibuster that I talked about at the beginning of this speech. They passed the civil rights bill into law, and Dr. King and his lieutenants went to see the President, and Dr. King said: I am glad we got that civil rights bill into law. Without skipping a beat, he said: Now we need a voting rights law. He wasn't going to let the President bask too long in the glory of that victory. He said: That is great, but my people can't vote in the South. I need a voter rights law, and I need it yesterday. The President said to Martin Luther King, Jr.: You are right. I get it. But I just can't get that done right now. I don't have the power. They left the meeting, and the staff was feeling all demoralized and dejected, and they said to Dr. King: What are we going to do? The President said he doesn't have the power. Dr. King just sort of shrugged his shoulders and said: Well, if the President doesn't have the power, I guess we are going to have to go and find him some. Think about that. He was just a Baptist preacher, wasn't elected to anything. He was not a U.S. Senator, certainly not the President of the United States. But he said: We are going to go and find the President some power. Dr. King understood and those who were around him understood that it is not about the people in power; it is about the power that is in the people. So the people are standing up in this moment, and I am standing with them. No to the so-called SAVE Act; yes to saving our democracy. I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I am so grateful for the leadership of Senator Schumer, and he speaks for all of us. The thing that we have in common on both sides of the aisle is that my colleagues and I travel back and forth from this city to our home States every week. Airplanes are our other office. So every week I fly here or fly back home. I pass by hard-working agents of the TSA. I get to see their dedication up close, their professionalism. They are public service in action, and they are working long hours around the clock every day of the year. Wherever we are trying to go, our TSA agents get us there safely; safely to work, safely back to our families, wherever the public is trying to go. And these public servants sacrifice their holidays, their special moments with their families so that we can get to our families. They work nights and weekends to make sure that we in this Chamber and the millions of Americans that travel from our Nation's airports can do that without fear. So this is basic. No one should be fooling around with the TSA agents. We have our differences, our debates in this Chamber, but for the second time of the year, our TSA workers are working without pay because of Washington dysfunction. Here is what I believe: I believe that if you are working-- particularly, during a government shutdown--then you should be fully paid. I believe this so much that I have broken with Members of my own party to vote to pay all Federal workers, which includes TSA officers, during government shutdowns. I think it is simply wrong for my Republican colleagues to use these hard-working Americans as leverage, as pawns, in what they are presenting as a false choice to the American people. Here is the choice that they are presenting to us. They are saying to us: Either shut down the government, denying working people the money that they have earned, or vote to continue to support the President's paramilitary force that is wreaking havoc in our streets and killing ordinary citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights. That is a false choice--one I simply cannot accept--and it confounds common sense. The time is always right, as Dr. King used to say, to do what is right. So I am calling on this Chamber to pay TSA workers right now before we, again, all head to the airports. Let's keep having this debate, but pay the TSA workers. So with that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4127, the Transportation Security Administration Pay Act, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. WARNOCK. I object.

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, let me be very clear. Our differences here are differences in principle, and they have real consequences on the streets of America in realtime right now. This is not just some theoretical argument. This is not about politics. This is about the people. I disagree fundamentally that we ought to have an unaccountable paramilitary force wreaking havoc on the streets of our country. ICE, as Trump has remade it, is killing American citizens. And I can't pretend like that is not happening. I stood where Renee Good was shot and killed while her vehicle was driving away. I stood where Alex Pretti lost his life while just trying to defend and protect a woman who we all saw being abused by ICE agents in realtime. And so this idea that we either have to fund that or shut the government down is a false choice. Republicans have the majority in the Senate. They have the majority in the House. They have the White House. We can pay our workers right now. By the way, ICE already has more than enough money. They gave ICE $75 billion in the ``One Big Ugly Bill.'' Let me put that in perspective. In terms of funding, ICE is now bigger than the U.S. Marines, and my Republican friends are saying to me and saying to my colleagues that if you don't give this overgrown paramilitary force of masked agents jumping out of unmarked cars more money, we are going to leave TSA workers and others unpaid. I think that is patently unfair. I think we ought to fund the Federal workers; we ought to fund FEMA, the Coast Guard. We ought to fund Homeland Security while we have a principled argument about what is happening with ICE, because what is happening there gets to the very basic things that I learned in my ninth grade civics class about the engagement between law enforcement and ordinary citizens every single day. And what we are witnessing, in this moment, is unacceptable. Pay the TSA workers. That is my offer. That is my request. And, therefore, I object to the Senator's modification.

Mr. WARNOCK

Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I have listened very carefully to the President of the United States, to the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of Defense--or War, as he likes to call it. I have listened to other members of the administration, over the last several days, both in their public statements and in our private briefing. And what is clear to me is that they don't seem to know why they have dragged the United States into war. Furthermore, they have no plan how to get out--no clear rationale, no clear objectives, no plan for the day after decapitating the brutal leadership of an awful regime. Make no mistake, we have the most powerful military force on the planet and in human history. There is no question that we could go all around the globe and take out leaders we don't like. The day after, that is the hard part. That is what we are facing right now. We have no idea who will step into this power vacuum created over the last few days, no plan for getting Americans who are in the region to safety right now. They are being told in so many ways: You are on your own. No clear vision of what victory actually looks like, no exit plan. We pray for the families of the six brave Americans who have already paid the ultimate sacrifice, our servicemembers who are indeed the best among us, who go no matter who the President is. They follow orders, they are the embodiment of courage and patriotism, and that is why they deserve better than this. And so do the American people. After nearly 25 years of misadventures, Americans have grown weary of endless wars in the Middle East. And we know from recent history--not ancient history--that it is easy to get in, not so easy to get out. ``Mission accomplished.'' Remember that? And yet, years after that declaration, American soldiers were sent on deployment after deployment after deployment, carrying in their bodies the visible and invisible wounds of war; moreover, the body bags kept coming home. I promised the people of Georgia that I would walk with them even as I work for them. I have stood at Dover Air Force Base to receive the bodies of Georgia servicemembers. I have looked into the grief-stricken eyes of their family members as they gazed at a flag-draped coffin, dealing with unbearable grief. There is no worse pain, and there is no more solemn duty for a Commander in Chief than to send our servicemembers into battle. Yet I sat and I watched and I listened to the President the other day, and I was struck by the cavalier way in which he said: People die. That happens in war. No sense that he feels deep in his soul the awesome responsibility that he carries. He has entered into this adventure without much thought about the human cost or the security of the United States or the stability of the region. The declaration of war is not a power that the President of the United States has. The Constitution makes it clear the declaration of war is the authority and the responsibility of Congress. Presidents of both parties, yes, they have engaged in military operations, but the declaration of war belongs to this body. Well, to me, this looks like a war; it feels like a war. Those six families are dealing with the consequences of war, and Donald Trump has said there will be more. Moreover, Donald Trump has said this is war. Well, I take him at his word. He has called it a war, and yet he refuses to come before the Congress as the Constitution demands and make his case for war. And after yesterday's briefing, I think I know why. Aside from his own ego and hubris, his authoritarian tendencies, Donald Trump has refused to come before the Congress and make his case because he has none. It is exceedingly difficult to explain your rationale when it is not clear in your own head, when it changes every day. Is it regime change? Well, they have no idea who will follow. And as my colleague from Connecticut laid out, history suggests that we may well end up with somebody worse. We have seen the perils of regime change. And then we heard another explanation. Is it to disarm Iran of its nuclear capabilities? I thought the President said he had obliterated that a few months ago. Now, he says the regime was an imminent nuclear threat. Which is it? The American people deserve to know, and the families of those six servicemembers who have already died deserve to know. Is it to destroy their ballistic missile capabilities? Well, what changed in their capabilities that demanded this action right now as we are 4 days into this conflict and already this war is spreading? The American people deserve better than this: No rationale, no explanation, no strategy, no exit plan. We must stop this madness because the American people have made it clear that they want us focused on the healthcare, their everyday costs, their children, their families. Are they concerned about their safety? Yes. But while Khamenei was clearly a brutal dictator--and there are many of them around the world--whether we are actually safer today than we were last week, given the increased instability that we are witnessing in the region in real time, is an open question. And still getting this body to have a real debate on something so grave, so deeply consequential, is almost impossible, but we must demand that it happen. Donald Trump has attacked seven countries in the first year of his Presidency, more than any President in the modern era. He is out of control. We must put guardrails on this President. Otherwise, who can and who will? My colleagues, our servicemembers are living up to their oath. Let's live up to ours. Let's put guardrails on this President, stop this madness, and get focused on the American people. I yield the floor.