Brian Schatz
Senator for Hawaii · Democratic · United States
“And the reason I voted no yesterday is because I am not voting for a defense bill until this war is over, and I am not voting for a defense bill until we get to debate the most important thing happening in terms of our national defense. We are at war, and we are being prevented from even overseeing it.”
“And the reason I voted no yesterday is because I am not voting for a defense bill until this war is over, and I am not voting for a defense bill until we get to debate the most important thing happening in terms of our national defense. We are at war, and we are being prevented from even overseeing it.”
“And the criticism of the Obama agreement--and I was on the floor defending it--was that it didn't last long enough--not that it wasn't any good, but that it didn't last in perpetuity; that it was only good for 10 years. Now we have got nothing. Now we have got nothing.”
“To that point, having repeatedly ruled out allowing any uranium enrichment and demanding that Iran turn over its uranium stockpile, Trump has changed his tune on both: ``It is a little hard''--``it is a little hard''--``when other people have it, other adjoining states have it, and you're not letting them have it for purposes of electrici…”
“We went to war to change the regime. Not only not a success, but a terrible failure. We have got a younger and more radical and entrenched Ayatollah in the regime of Iran. And now they know they can withstand our best hit.”
“Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 115 (Wednesday, July 15, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 15, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S4098-S4100] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] Iran Mr. SCHATZ. Mr.”
The complete record
Every one of 410 lines we hold for Brian Schatz, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“MERKLEY. Mr. President, I appreciate the Senator's speech in laying this out. I am going to address another aspect of the first 100 days, which is about the phenomenal strategy of President Trump to undermine our Constitution; to undermine the separation of powers, the checks and balances, for the purpose of creating a strong-man state, which is also just an extraordinary, extraordinary experience to be living through. The first 100 days of the Trump administration have plunged our Nation into a constitutional crisis unparalleled since the Civil War. How bad is it, and how will we respond? How will this Chamber respond? How will the House respond? Our democratic Republic, with its separation of powers and checks and balances, is sliding into an unaccountable strong-man state.”
“MERKLEY. Mr. President, I have a question for my colleague from Massachusetts, if she would yield for a question. Ms. WARREN. Of course. Mr. MERKLEY. In your knowledge of American history, has there ever been a Presidential first 100 days that showed this level of corruption that we are witnessing with this administration? Ms. WARREN. I appreciate the question. I want to say here that I have never seen, anytime in American history, this level of corruption over 8 years in the White House, much less in just 100 days. This level of corruption is everywhere, all the time, and it truly undermines the ability of our country to function. It undermines our economy. It undermines our position in the world. It undermines the economic stability of our families. And it undermines our entire democracy. I thank the Senator for the question. Mr.”
“95, fired 18 inspectors general who make sure that Federal Agencies follow the law. No. 96, fired the head of the Office of Special Counsel, who protects whistleblowers and makes sure that civil service laws are followed. No. 97, fired the head of the Office of Government Ethics, who watches to see that the President and his administration follow the laws on conflicts of interest, bribery, and other ethical issues. The guy is gone. No. 98, fired DOJ prosecutors who worked on the January 6 investigations. No. 99, sidelined DOJ's office that reviews the legality of Executive orders. And No. 100, gutted DOJ's office that prosecutes misconduct by public officials. That is 100 corrupt acts in 100 days. Americans deserve accountability. We need to fight back--all of us. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon. Mr.”
“90, permitted Musk to join Trump's interview with the Air Force Secretary nominee while SpaceX held billions of dollars in contracts with the Air Force. No. 91, permitted the National Transportation Safety Board to share news related to the airplane crashes in Washington and Philadelphia only on Musk-owned X. No. 92, permitted the Social Security Administration to share important public communication only on X. No. 93, dropped the Department of Justice's anti-discrimination complaint against Musk's SpaceX. No. 94, fired FDA staffers reviewing Elon Musk's Neuralink clinical trial applications--a lot of benefits for Elon Musk there. And for our closing six moves that make every bit of this corruption even harder to root out, Trump got rid of the cops on the beat. No.”
“83, targeted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration staff who were reportedly ``a thorn in Tesla's side.'' That is enough to fire them. No. 84, said Musk would self-police his conflicts of interest--yeah, right. No. 85, pressured the Administrator of the FAA, which fined Musk's SpaceX, to resign. And No. 86, permitted Musk to keep his financial disclosure hidden. And, by the way, I have a new bill to fix that one in particular. No. 87, allowed Musk's Starlink to start working with the FAA after Musk criticized the FAA's air traffic telecom system. No. 88, made Musk's SpaceX the frontrunner for a new, lucrative Golden Dome contract. No. 89, stood by Musk when his X executives told an advertising firm to increase ad revenue, threatening that Musk could interfere with their pending merger if they didn't play along. No.”
“76, hatched a plan for the State Department to pay Tesla $400 million. No. 77, accepted a $4 million inauguration donation from a GOP megadonor and then nominated him as UK Ambassador on the same day. Did anyone miss the message here? And Donald Trump took actions so that he could advance the personal interests of his ``co-President,'' Elon Musk. How? Well, he fired EEOC leaders that were investigating and suing Tesla. He illegally fired the NLRB Chair, which had filed a complaint against SpaceX, one of Musk's companies. He gutted the CFPB staff and fired the Director after they investigated complaints against Musk's companies. He gutted the Department of Labor office investigating Tesla and SpaceX and fired the USAID inspector general who launched a probe into satellite terminals made by Musk's Starlink. No.”
“69, took its largest inauguration donation from a poultry company that was under DOJ's scrutiny. After the donation, the SEC approved its parent company for the New York Stock Exchange. No. 70, dropped a probe into sexual misconduct allegations against Trump's Education Secretary's husband. No. 71, hosted dozens of foreign Federal and State officials at Mar- a-Lago, helping enrich Trump. No. 72, hosted a GOP retreat at another one of Trump's resorts, for which Trump's resorts get paid. No. 73, circumvented the normal contracting process to pick a company with close ties to Trump's former campaign manager. No. 74, awarded a $30 million ICE contract to Trump insider Peter Thiel. No. 75, continued developing new Trump properties overseas, including in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. No.”
“64, nominated Intelligence Board nominees who have millions in Trump media company shares. No. 65, selected a special envoy to the Middle East who wants to develop real estate in Gaza while running his own real estate firm while he is Special Envoy to the Middle East. No. 66, appointed an FBI Director who consulted for the Qatari Government. No. 67, picked that FBI Director, even though he also received millions of dollars from a Cayman Island holding company with ties to China. No. 68, decided to cancel the Direct File Program. The cancellation of this program that lets taxpayers file their taxes online for free will help the bottom line of Intuit, which charges people for filing their taxes and that gave $1 million to Trump's inauguration. No.”
“58, disbanded DOJ's crypto unit after business talks between Binance and a Trump-backed crypto company ramped up. [[Page S2648]] No. 59, halted SEC enforcement actions against crypto companies that enriched Trump personally. No. 60, met with crypto executives who are asking Treasury to back off of oversight of their companies, all while simultaneously exploring a deal to list a Trump-linked crypto company's new stablecoin. No. 61, maintain financial ties between Trump officials and Trump's media company that includes FBI Director Kash Patel, who was given a huge award of Trump media company stock. No. 62, nominated Attorney General Bondi, who owned $2 million in DJT shares. No. 63, paid the Education Secretary almost $1 million in Trump media company shares. No.”
“50, appointed Treasury Secretary Bessent, who is gutting the IRS so that it can't audit rich tax cheats because he himself is a tax- dodging megamillionaire. No. 51, pardoned Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois Governor convicted for corruption after his vocal support for Trump. No. 52, pardoned January 6 insurrectionists who tried to overturn an election that Trump lost. No. 53, pardoned a Trump loyalist found guilty of wire fraud. No. 54, pardoned the son of a longtime Republican donor. No. 55, pardoned a corporation that had been fined $100 million for money laundering. No. 56, watched his own stablecoin while preparing to sign legislation that will help stablecoin and let Donald Trump oversee it. No. 57, sold merch with Presidential branding. No.”
“44, appointed a top Pentagon official who led a firm investing in defense contractors and has directed DOD to outsource as much as possible to defense contractors. No. 45, appointed someone who lobbied to privatize Medicare to lead OMB's healthcare budget. No. 46, installed Steve Davis to effectively lead DOGE, while also leading another Musk company. No. 47, installed another DOGE leader to control Treasury's payment system, while still holding down his day job, oh, as a software CEO. No. 48, handed the power over crypto policy to a White House crypto czar, who leads a venture capital firm that heavily invests in crypto. No. 49, selected a border czar, who led a firm that got tens of millions of dollars of Federal contracts for Homeland Security companies. No.”
“38, tapped Doug Burgum, who made money from leasing land to Big Oil, to lead the Interior Department and manage the leasing to oil companies. No. 39, nominated a Big Oil lobbyist to run the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. No. 40, nominated as IRS head Billy Long, an aggressive salesman for a fraud-riddled tax credit who received donations after being nominated so he could clear out old campaign debts. No. 41, tapped Paul Atkins, a former crypto lobbyist, to lead the SEC that will regulate crypto. No. 42, appointed a former tax lobbyist to lead tax policy. No. 43, appointed Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who planned to get paid for anti-vax lawsuits while he was heading up HHS and could affect the outcome of exactly those same lawsuits. No.”
“33, announced that the DOJ would stop prioritizing enforcement of restrictions on foreign lobbyists under the leadership of Bondi, who herself is a former foreign lobbyist for Qatar. No. 34, appointed Howard Lutnick, who has billions invested in companies accused of illegally facilitating crypto money laundering, as the guy to lead the Commerce Department. No. 35, appointed Marty Makary, the former executive of a company selling weight-loss drugs, to lead the FDA, which would be the Agency that would regulate his company. No. 36, appointed Sean Duffy, who lobbied for the airline industry, to be the Transportation Secretary to regulate the airline industry. No. 37, tapped Pete Hegseth, whose wife owns stock in large defense contractors, to lead the Defense Department and help hand out those defense contracts. No.”
“27, appointed an oil and gas executive to lead the Department of Energy. No. 28, selected a Chief of Staff who was a big-time lobbyist for clients like tobacco and mining companies. No. 29, named officials who had recently lobbied for oil and chemical giants to help write EPA rules. What could possibly go wrong? No. 30, appointed Mehmet Oz, who had close ties to Medicare Advantage insurers--in fact, sold it on TV--to lead CMS to set payment rates and otherwise help out whom? Medicare Advantage insurers. No. 31, appointed John Phelan, a major donor with no military or government experience, to lead the Navy and hand out Navy construction contracts. No. 32, appointed Pam Bondi, a former lobbyist for a Federal detention contractor, to lead the DOJ. No.”
“19, coercing law firms to offer almost $1 billion in free legal work in an arrangement that experts say could run afoul of anti-bribery laws. No. 20, started undermining Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices after Big Pharma gave millions to Trump's inauguration. No. 21, filed a meritless lawsuit against ``60 Minutes'' and launched a baseless FCC investigation. No. 22, tried to get the AP to bend the knee and kicked them out of the White House briefing room when they refused to bend the knee. No. 23, hired Defense Secretary Hegseth's younger brother to serve in a key role. No. 24, hired a longtime former partner of Don, Jr., to serve as Ambassador to Greece. No. 25, nominated Jared Kushner's father to serve as Ambassador to France. No. 26, selected Tiffany Trump's father-in-law to serve as an adviser. No.”
“14, halted enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act-- wouldn't want people to know what is going on. No. 15, offered a private dinner with Trump himself and a special tour of the White House for the top 220 holders of his meme coin, permitting Trump and his family to profit both from the runup in the value of the coin and the increase in trading on the Trump platform. No. 16, accepted $40 million for First Lady Melania's documentary from Jeff Bezos--way above the market rate. No. 17, pointed to Bezos's multimillion-dollar documentary payment as a model when Warner Bros. asked Trump's team how to improve its own relationship with the White House. No. 18, struck a deal with Amazon to stream Trump's old show, ``The Apprentice,'' which will mean more money for Trump, as Amazon is seeking tax breaks and other Federal benefits. No.”
“6, declared that there would be no tariff exceptions, then permitted Apple's CEO behind-the-scenes access, and, poof, iPhone tariffs were cut. No. 7, created an opening for insider trading by reportedly giving Wall Street exclusive information about how trade talks were going. No. 8, hosted million-dollar dinners between Big Pharma CEOs and their regulator, R.F.K., Jr. No. 9, launched crypto meme coin right before the inauguration to make millions of dollars, then increased the value of those coins by signing Executive orders, making crypto a priority. No. 10, launched a meme coin for Melania too. No. 11, promised his ``rich-as-hell'' donors a giant tax handout and is working hard to deliver. No. 12, weakened rules insulating government workers from politics. No. 13, limited corporate foreign bribery investigations. No.”
“Now, when he ran for office, Trump promised repeatedly--repeatedly-- that he would lower costs ``on day one.'' But instead of following through on his promise, Trump and his Trump administration have paved the way for the President, his top officials, and his billionaire buddies to personally feed at the trough of government corruption. So count with me. In just 100 days, Donald Trump, his family, and his administration have: No. 1, turned the White House into a Tesla dealership. No. 2, fired independent Commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission. No. 3, punished former officials who opposed his 2020 election lies. No. 4, paid for the White House Easter Egg Roll by soliciting corporate sponsors who have business pending before the government. No. 5, helped Trump's son set up a club--pay $500,000 for access to Trump's Cabinet. No.”
“But Marylanders care; the American people care, and we are tired of seeing this administration tank our economy. We are tired of seeing out-of-touch leaders dismiss the sacrifices that families across the Nation make every single day, and we are already sick and tired of seeing billionaires win while the rest of us lose. We are sick of it, and we are fighting back. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts. [[Page S2647]] Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I want to say how much I appreciate the remarks of Senator Alsobrooks. It is an honor to fight alongside you. So here we are--100 days, 100 acts of corruption. Today, I am reading into the Congressional Record 100 reports of corruption from Donald Trump's first 100 days in office.”
“This administration is full of examples like this. The callous, heartless disregard for others comes right from the top, and it is mirrored in the people who have been nominated to run the government. So we can't join them in celebrating this milestone, because there is nothing that they can hold up as an accomplishment that they have achieved on behalf of everyday Americans. One hundred days in, we have seen what this administration is. They are disinterested in the lives of working-class and middle-class Americans, uncaring about the futures of our veterans and our seniors, unmoved by the plight of the underprivileged, obsessed with attacking our civil servants and settling scores, unable to make good on the promises that they laid out when they took control, and they don't seem to care.”
“He is doing the administration's bidding to eliminate funding that goes toward finding cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, and rare diseases; and in the midst of outbreaks of measles--a disease that researchers had virtually eliminated--he has pressed forward with firing thousands of vital workers in our health Agencies. This is not efficient, and it is not a profile in competent leadership. What it is, instead, is absolutely dangerous, and it is putting sensitive information and decisions between life and death in the hands of grossly unqualified people. Secretary Kennedy's pledge to make America healthy again is another promise that this administration is either unwilling or incapable of keeping. His idea to create a national registry for people with autism is an example of what happens when incompetent and incapable leadership is in place.”
“At Health and Human Services, that has meant eliminating diseases that used to ravage our communities and currently means working on solving health challenges that continue to puzzle us today. The NIH is headquartered in my State, and I know firsthand the good work that they do. We know all too well the significant role that the NIH and other health and research Agencies play in developing and deploying vaccine treatments. Only recently emerging from a devastating public health crisis, we know firsthand how important their work is. Secretary Kennedy either doesn't know or doesn't care what his Department's mission is.”
“There is no better example of this administration's chaos and cruelty than HHS Secretary Kennedy. His Department and its Agencies are indispensable in the fight of keeping Americans safe and healthy. From keeping our food safe today to finding cures for disease, the mission of these Agencies and their workers is critical to our well-being. Yet Secretary Kennedy doesn't care. He has pledged to make America healthy again, but in reality, he has fired safety inspectors, eliminated food safety labels and labs, and revealed plans to take the Federal Government out of the role of keeping our food safe. Our Nation has enjoyed progress due in no small part to our commitment to sustained research. The groundbreaking discoveries that our Nation's researchers have made have done so much for our society.”
“They have had their lives disrupted by these abrupt and improper firings. My State has felt a significant impact from these firings. It is home to so many Federal workers--as I have mentioned, 160,000 of them-- people who I am incredibly proud to represent. I have heard the calls from panicked workers who don't know what the future holds. I have met with distraught workers who fear that they won't be able to provide for their families. All of this is the result of an administration claiming to prioritize efficiency. The majority of Americans is OK with finding efficiency. What they are not OK with is the cruelty that we are seeing. How you treat people matters, and this administration is more interested in celebrating cruelty than being cost-effective.”
“Close to 160,000 of them live in the State of Maryland, and many of them have served for years under both Democratic administrations and Republican administrations, and they have one dedication, and that is to their fellow Americans. Our Federal workers keep our food safe. They explore the bounds of science to find cures to our most challenging diseases. They make sure that our veterans receive the benefits that they so richly deserve and that our seniors have access to resources that they set aside for the future. Our civil servants do so much to boost our quality of life, and do you know what? This administration doesn't care. For the first 100 days, they have been subjected to spiteful, petty attacks. They have been caught in the crossfire of a political witch hunt.”
“They are hurting the business community, and they are hurting farmers. They are hurting cities, and they are hurting our rural areas. They are hurting law enforcement officers and factory workers. They are hurting teachers and students. They are hurting factory workers and union members. They are hurting doctors and medical professionals and researchers. Across the political spectrum and across all demographics, the only thing we have to show for the first 100 days is losing, the kind of losing that will be felt in this Nation for years to come. One hundred days in, look at how they have treated the very best of us--this Nation's civil servants, the Federal workers who serve with absolutely no political motivation. I have met them. I know them.”
“It was a funding plan that people had worked on for years and for such a long time, but this administration's rash decisions have now eliminated that plan. These are the kinds of decisions that can leave you feeling hopeless, and when you see that your emotions and your struggles are being ignored by this President so that he can hand tax cuts to the billionaires around him who choose to grab for more money instead of holding on to some sense of morality, you feel angry. Resources may be in short supply for American families right now, but there is more than enough hurt and anger to go around. This administration is hurting Americans--the ones who voted for this President and Americans who didn't. They are hurting Americans who didn't vote and Americans who were too young to vote.”
“If you get your healthcare through Medicaid and Medicare, you are feeling alarmed at this administration's intent to gut these essential programs. If initiatives like SNAP and Head Start help keep your family's head above water during tough times, you are feeling frustrated that this administration is so out of touch that they would even consider eliminating this critical funding. These emotions run deep nationally, and I have seen them felt locally. Somerset County, for example, is one of the poorest counties in my State, the State of Maryland. If that is not enough, its geography has contributed to awful flooding problems for decades. The city of Crisfield was depending on a Federal grant to finally help fix the problem.”
“Not one promise that this administration made to everyday, hard-working, working-class families, made at the outset of this administration, has been met. In fact, they have not even come close. And do you know what? What is worse is they don't seem to care. But do you know who does care? The American people care. If you are a working-class American who had hopes that this administration would lower costs as they promised, I will bet you are feeling betrayed by now by the impact of the Trump tariffs. If you spent your working life paying into Social Security, like so many of our seniors, in the hopes of having a reliable safety net in your later years, you are feeling helpless in listening to this administration's plans to raid Social Security.”
“Only, 100 days later, Americans have only seen reductions in the stock market, in their 401(k)s, and a lowered respect for the Constitution. What we have seen continue to rise, instead, are grocery prices. We are seeing the cost of living grow out of control as families experience freezes in critical funding that supports their households. We are seeing housing costs continue to skyrocket as well. Again, we were promised the exact opposite, which is that this President knew and understood what it was for the average American family to struggle to afford the cost of housing. He [[Page S2646]] promised that he had the solution and that he was going to cause those costs to go down. Yet everyone from our children to our veterans has suffered under this administration and under this leadership.”
“President, I would like to use my time tonight to talk, as well, about the first 100 days under this administration's leadership. You have heard my colleague already speak, and I concur with his remarks. Simply put, it has been chaotic; it has been disorganized; it has been an unmitigated disaster. Quite frankly--and I know that I am not alone in this--we are absolutely sick of it. This President and this administration rode in with promises of reducing costs for American families--families like the family I grew up in, with a father who worked through the night and into the morning as a newspaper delivery person and with a mother who worked as a receptionist. This President promised. He said, on day one, that he was going to reduce the cost to American families and improve their quality of life.”
“So I am not here to try to be vindicated. I am saying, for even those people who voted for him, all of the reasons that you voted for him, unless you were enthused about corruption, unless you were enthused about lawbreaking, unless you really hated Medicaid, unless you really wanted veterans to be laid off, unless you really wanted our standing in the world to be diminished by massive proportions in a super short period of time--unless you love that stuff, it is OK to say: This guy is not working out. He doesn't own your vote. He doesn't own your support. You cast a ballot, and he becomes the President of the United States. It went very badly. This is the worst 100 days of a Presidency in American history. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland. Ms. ALSOBROOKS. Mr.”
“Everyone is afforded due process in our system, and with good reason--because the moment some people are not provided due process, there is no telling who is entitled to it and who is not and, crucially, who decides who gets due process. It sure shouldn't be any individual elected official to determine whether you get due process. This has been the worst start to a Presidency in the history of the United States. People had their own reasons for voting for Trump last fall. I have got friends who voted for Trump. I understand, for some, it was COVID. For some, it was Gaza. For some, it was the price of everything. For some, it was Biden's being too old. A lot of people had a lot of reasons, and I am not here to judge. A good buddy of mine, a former Governor of Hawaii, used to say: You know, people vote for you for their reasons, not yours.”
“While regular people are losing money every day because of Trump, he and his family continue to get richer--and worse, if Trump has his way with the tax bill, billionaires will get the biggest tax break in history while children, seniors, and families find it even harder to make ends meet because they can no longer get healthy meals or because they have been kicked off of Medicaid. One final point: Whether it is withholding funds that were enacted by Congress and made into law or deporting people without due process, including a 2-year-old--a 2-year-old--American citizen with cancer last week, Trump is breaking the law on a daily basis.”
“And then just last week, after Trump announced a dinner with the coin's top holders, complete with a ``VIP White House tour''--let's be very clear. There are some things you absolutely can't do. One of them is to monetize the Presidency. The other thing is to use a government building, to use the White House as an inducement to pay the U.S. President is out-of-this-world corrupt. It is the kind of thing that if you are on the Foreign Relations Committee or the Defense Committee or whatever it is and you are traveling abroad, you will have in your talking points to scold some counterpart of yours about corruption. This is the kind of thing that, up until about 100 days ago, we went around the world trying to prevent, but now our leader is doing it.”
“The people currently in charge of the most powerful Nation in human history, moving trillions of dollars around, are just winging it, and their response to the frequent mistakes, no matter how serious or costly, is ``oops'' or sometimes they pretend it was their plan all along. Trump's ineptitude is matched only by his corruption. Just days before his inauguration, he launched his own meme coin, which he encouraged supporters to buy. For those of you who are not super up on all the crypto stuff, this is the equivalent of basically saying: I have a Swiss bank account in case anybody wants to deposit money into the President of the United States' pocket. That is what this meme coin does. After he made close to $100 million from it, the coin quickly lost most of its value.”
“You don't bring peace to Gaza and Ukraine by making false promises and empty threats, nor do you win the future on issues like AI and clean energy by pretending that America, as strong and powerful as we are--and we are strong and powerful--that we can solve any of these global challenges alone. A lot of Trump's failures, whether in domestic or foreign policy, boil down to the simple fact that he and his people honestly don't know what they are doing. There is no grand strategy that we are all somehow missing. There is no brilliant, new way of looking at things. They are just kind of messing around in the most powerful positions on the planet--the Signal group chat, the forged DOGE savings receipts, the frantic firing and rehiring of nuclear weapons workers and disease detectives.”
“China sent 600 workers and has committed to delivering close to $14 million in supplies. I think that is catastrophic for humanitarian reasons. I think that is catastrophic for moral reasons. I think it is bad that the United States is causing death on purpose. But even if you don't care about that, we can at least see the geopolitical downside to vacating the scene when another country is in trouble and letting China go into the breach. I have a friend of a friend who just texted me. They were doing good work in Fiji, and they were sent home. China came in within 2 weeks and is performing the same work. I cannot imagine anybody making the argument that that is good for the United States. You do not counter China's growing regional influence or outcompete its economy by walking away from the world and insulting all of your friends.”
“One note to my former colleague Secretary Rubio: There is not a waiver program in place that allows lifesaving aid to flow. These organizations that provide aid are absolutely shutting down. I was just talking to a colleague who was in Africa over the recess period, and he said kids are on half rations. Kids are half the size they are supposed to be because of what America is doing--because of what America is doing. An earthquake hit Myanmar, and the United States sent three aid workers to assist with the disaster response, who were then fired while they were on the ground. We have three people there to help people in Myanmar, where there was a catastrophic earthquake. The ``United States'' logo is on their armbands, and they are fired and told to come home. Guess what happened next.”
“[[Page S2645]] I was in Europe a couple of months ago, and it was kind of jarring when our allies--and I mean our allies, our closest allies, who have always been there with us, who have defense treaties with us, who have economic partnerships with us, who have people-to-people ties--came to us and said that the biggest destabilizing force on the planet is the President of the United States. We used to be the good guys that would respond to disasters and treat diseases around the world, but Trump has decimated one of the most successful global health programs in history--PEPFAR--leaving an estimated 1 million newborns to contract HIV from their mothers--1 million newborns contracting HIV from their mothers. What possible purpose could there be behind that?”
“A proposed downsizing at the Postal Service will keep people waiting longer to get their packages and their mail and their prescriptions and their bills, especially in rural and remote areas. And none of this is saving any money. It is absolutely making people's everyday lives harder. OK, so the economy is not doing great, support services are being cut left and right, but are we at least safer and stronger and more respected globally? The answer is no. Since his first hours in office when he froze all foreign assistance, Trump has undermined our safety and national security at every single turn. He has picked fights with neighbors and allies, weakening longstanding partnerships and forcing the rest of the world to work against us rather than with us.”
“Trump, aided by his band of rogue advisers, including Elon Musk and Russ Vought, has broken basically everything, forcing seniors and disabled people to wait for hours just to get help with the benefits they have already earned. Veterans are being laid off by the thousands and facing even longer delays in getting the care they need. Trash is piling up at national parks with fewer park rangers to look after them. Drastic cuts to medical research and staff mean fewer discoveries and potentially lifesaving treatments for conditions like cancer and Alzheimer's. The national parks, the VA, the NIH, the CDC--these are the kinds of American institutions that have made us strong for generations, and they are being trashed on purpose.”
“But this is not a global pandemic; this is a self-imposed recession by one person who has a very weird idea about economic policy and nobody willing to stand up to the mad King. This is not what people voted for. And if you voted for Donald Trump--look, a lot of people voted for Donald Trump. Most people voted for Donald Trump. I am not here to scold anybody. But people thought that whatever his other faults, Trump was going to be good for the money side of things--he was going to be good for your money; he was going to be good for entrepreneurship; he was going to be good for your 401(k); he was going to be good for the stock market; he was going to be good for investments. Here we are, and the American economy is in a free fall, threatening to drag the entire world down with it. But it is not just the economy that is hurting.”
“financial system and economy is that we are the most stable place, the most predictable place, the best place for rule of law, to park your money, for infrastructure, for higher education, and all of that has been lit on fire in 100 days. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. Trump's approach to tariffs--one day they are on, and the next day they are gone--is starting to make everything from groceries, to clothes, to cars and homes more expensive. And people are understandably worried about a recession. Consumer confidence is at its lowest point in 5 years. You will recall that there was a global pandemic that caused people to have a low level of consumer confidence.”
“In 3 months, we have become less safe, less secure, and less prosperous, and it comes down to Donald Trump. People voted for him for all kinds of reasons, but as my friend Senator Chris Murphy said, people took him seriously when he said he would lower costs and didn't take him seriously when he said he would act like a dictator. It turns out that the opposite is true. We are paying more for everything. We are paying more for everything. People's life savings and college plans for their kids are being gutted. Tens of thousands of jobs are getting cut. Investors are looking for more stable places to invest their money. The hallmark of the U.S.”
“42) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to ``Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment''. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii. Trump Administration First 100 Days Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, we are 100 days into Donald Trump's term, and it is time that we ask the most important question, the most obvious question, but it is a question, actually, that has not been asked enough--not ``How is he doing?'' not even ``What is he doing?'' That is important too. The most important question is ``How are we doing under Donald Trump?'' The answer is ``Terrible.'' It is going very badly.”
“Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 71 (Tuesday, April 29, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 29, 2025)] [Senate] [Pages S2644-S2656] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELATING TO ``ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR APPLIANCE STANDARDS: CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS, LABELING REQUIREMENTS, AND ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT'' The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The bill clerk read as follows: A joint resolution (H.J. Res.”
“I know that he has shown that kind of thoughtfulness and care to so many, even when facing his own loss. I am lucky to call him a mentor and friend, someone who I have learned as much from and rely on for counsel and perspective over many years. The good news for the country, for me, and for all of us colleagues is Senator Durbin's work here in the Senate is far from over. We are lucky to be able to count on his leadership and example, as always, in the 2 years ahead. But for now, I want to thank Senator Durbin, his family--especially his wife Loretta--and his excellent staff for their decades of extraordinary service [[Page S2595]] to the State and to the Nation. We are all better for him. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.”
“In 2002, he was among a small group of Senators who voted against the invasion of Iraq, cautioning against the dangers of acting hastily on fear rather than fact. Years later, in the throes of the war on terror, Senator Durbin became an outspoken critic of the U.S. Government's use of torture in foreign prisons. In both instances, he was criticized and condemned at the time. In both instances, history has rendered his judgment as the right and patriotic one. It has been one of the true privileges of my career to serve as his chief deputy whip and to watch him work his magic during floor debates and in the Judiciary Committee. He is a gentleman of the Senate through and through. I will never forget the time he took to talk about my dad's legacy on this very floor.”
“Those laws have since helped to reduce overcrowding in prisons, lower criminal recidivism, and revitalize communities across the country. Shocked by the plight of Dreamers who spent their lives calling America home but without the papers to prove it, Senator Durbin has been on the frontlines of the push to put them on a path to citizenship. It is a fight that still continues and one that I know Senator Durbin will keep at for as long as it takes. Anyone who has served in this body long enough knows that there are those votes that test your resolve and weigh heavily on your conscience. And for so long, Senator Durbin has been a uniquely consistent voice of moral clarity and conscience, not just when it is easy or when it is obvious but especially when it is hard and even when it is lonely.”