YouSaid · the spoken record
Pete Ricketts
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On the record 2022–2026
congress · podcast
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“Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.”
Senate17 September 2026Source ↗
“Let's stop this right now because we know when THC gets into young people's minds, it can reduce their IQs, lead to mental health issues, such as suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression. This drug is bad for young people. So let's close this loophole and keep it closed. I yield the floor.”
Senate5 August 2026Source ↗
“For those of you who say this is going to impact agriculture, I will tell you right now, hemp production in the United States probably presents about 0.0056 percent of all the farmland--49,000 acres--and only 17,000 are using it to grow the kind of hemp that would go into these kinds of products. There are pilot programs right now on how to use CBD oil in the treatments of things like cancer. They are all out there. They are not going to be impacted. We should let this expire November 12. My colleague Ted Budd and I--the Senator from North Carolina--we want an amendment vote to be able to take this out of this continuing resolution and call upon my colleagues to help pass it. This is literally--these high-THC products disguised as candies-- could get into the hands of young children and poison them. It has done so already.”
Senate5 August 2026Source ↗
“We gave the industry until November 12 to adjust. We said: The loophole has been out there. We are going to give you a year to get your products in line with the new law. It has got to be below 0.3 percent, and you have got until November 12. But in our current continuing resolution, somebody wants to keep that extended until December 11. I have cosponsored an amendment with Ted Budd to take that amendment out of the continuing resolution. I am cosponsoring that because we don't need to extend this. This has been out there for a year. People know what is coming. One month more is not going to make a big difference in doing this.”
Senate5 August 2026Source ↗
“So it is not going to impact CBD oil because that is below 0.3 percent. It wouldn't impact any of those products that are used for clothing or for jewelry because they are all below 0.3 percent. In fact, the only place it is going to impact is for the intoxicating products that are out there in the marketplace, that are only out there because of this loophole that we created back in 2018. So, last year in our Ag appropriations bill, we closed this loophole. Now, one of the Senators in our body offered an amendment to strip out that loop--closing the loophole. And we had Republicans and Democrats vote together to stop that amendment--75 Senators, 51 Republicans all came together to say: No, we want to close this loophole. Well, now in our continuing resolution, somebody has decided to open that loophole back up again.”
Senate5 August 2026Source ↗
“Here we have a safe product, again, that looks like gummy worms, and here we have a product with THC in it. This is an industry that, because we made a mistake in the farm bill in 2018, has taken advantage of a loophole of the law to manufacture delta-8 and delta-10 THC to be able to infuse it into these products. Now, again, you cannot grow the hemp plant in concentrations to make this. You have to manufacture this. This was done on purpose. It was manufactured. And, by the way, this kind of knockoff doesn't happen by accident either. This was on purpose too. And this is what is poisoning our children. We have to shut this loophole down. And so last year we did. We actually changed the definition to cover all THC that would be in these types of products; that all THC products would have to stay below that 0.3 percent case.”
Senate5 August 2026Source ↗
“Well, what happened was some clever chemist figured out that you could take this product, which makes CBD oil, right, which is commonly available, and take CBD oil, chemically alter it, and create delta-8 and delta-10, which also have those intoxicating effects. The problem is, this is all unregulated, and so an industry exploded--an industry that in part targeted our kids with look-alike products that had THC at intoxicating levels, targeted kids with them. For example, we have an example here of Sour Patch Kids look-alikes. You may say: Why are they doing that? Well, they are trying to grow their market share. Sadly, the outcome was that this past July, a 3- year-old and 4-year-old in Nebraska took these out of their mom's purse and got THC poisoning. Even worse news is that this is not an uncommon occurrence.”
Senate5 August 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, we have a drug problem in this country today, and right now, there is an industry that is targeting our children with look-alike products with intoxicating levels of THC. THC is tetrahydrocannabinol. Now, this is the psychoactive ingredient that you find in marijuana. How could we possibly let this happen? Well, let's take a step back. In 2018, we passed a farm bill, and at the time, there were those who wanted to separate hemp--a plant that has some THC in it--from cannabis, which is a marijuana plant. Hemp used to be grown in this country, made into rope back in the 1940s. This is what we were told was going to happen. The bill was written, but in that farm bill, it said you had to keep the THC for delta-9, a certain type of THC, down to 0.3 percent by dry weight.”
Senate5 August 2026Source ↗
“I certainly understand if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle don't wish to do that unanimously; that, for whatever reason, somebody objects going forward, as my colleague from California has. I offer an alternative that let's schedule a vote. So, Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7008 and vote on the passage of the bill at a 60-vote affirmative threshold; further, that if the bill is passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, what we were just attempting to do was to pass it with unanimous consent. That means all 100 Senators agree that we can move forward on H.R. 7008, which includes the Stop Insider Trading Act and the voter ID. And as I mentioned in my opening remarks, it is about integrity. Integrity inspires confidence. Eighty percent of Americans don't believe we separate our inside information from our financial interests, and therefore we have a 15 percent approval rating. It is the lack of confidence in what we are doing, about how we are handling this, that is creating those low ratings. So we have an opportunity to be able to address that with the Stop Insider Trading Act and the voter ID, to restore that integrity and, therefore, that confidence.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7008, which was received from the House; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“That has the enforcement and the teeth that require Members of this body and Members of the House to take notice. This bill would go a long way toward restoring the integrity of this institution, restoring the confidence in this institution. And as was mentioned already, it passed bipartisan in the House. But the President has called on us to pass it and recently the Vice President when he was speaking to House Republicans. Let's restore the faith in this institution. Let's make sure people know that we are not using our insider information to financially benefit ourselves. Coming to Washington, DC, to serve our communities is a privilege. We do it for public service. It is not to be a profit center for people who are coming. So let's make sure there is no perception possible by passing H.R. 7008. Mr.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“7008 that includes the Stop Insider Trading Act that was introduced in the House and passed, as my colleagues pointed out, with bipartisan support. I introduced the companion bill here in the Senate. What this bill does is it says: You cannot buy stocks when you get here. Well, why is this important? Because we have disclosure laws right now, but yet we have the problem that 80 percent of Americans think that we do a bad job of keeping our financial interests and our insider information separate. And indeed we have seen people post on social media, for example, the stock trades of the former Speaker of the House, and it has become a legitimate trading strategy, as crazy as it sounds, because it is successful; it makes money.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, integrity; integrity inspires confidence, and the reverse is true. If there is a perception of lack of integrity, it undermines confidence. We have a problem here in the Congress: 80 percent of Americans believe that we do not do a good job of separating our financial interests from the insider information that we receive as part of our jobs. And because of this perception of lack of integrity, they don't think we are doing a good job. Our approval rating is 15 percent. Clearly, Americans are not trusting this institution on this issue. But we have an opportunity to course-correct, to help restore the integrity and, therefore, the confidence that Americans have in the U.S. Congress, and that is by passing H.R.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“I call on my Democratic colleagues--my colleagues across the aisle: Please, get on board. We need to restore faith in the institution. A 15-percent approval rating is terrible. We need to restore the integrity. We need to restore the confidence. My Stop Insider Trading Act does just that. I encourage all of my colleagues to get on board this commonsense proposal to be able to restore integrity and confidence in the U.S. Senate and prevent insider trading from getting between us and the American people. I yield the floor.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“We, because of our position, have access to this, but we should not benefit from it. This is supposed to be public service. No one should come here seeking a profit. And yet, on Monday night, some of my colleagues tried to pass a unanimous consent, passing the Stop Insider Trader Act that the House of Representatives passed, and Democrats blocked it. Democrats blocked my Stop Insider Trading Act, which would have helped restore confidence in this body. It is time that we got the Democrats on board, that we get this passed. It passed in the House with Democrat support. And 13 Democrats and 2 Democratic cosponsors are on the Stop Insider Trading Act in the House, which the House was able to pass. They have sent it here for the U.S. Senate--for us--to do our job.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Let's ban people's ability to use insider information to buy stocks and make sure, if they are going to sell any, that they have got to tell everybody well in advance so that Americans and the market can know. My bill also has real teeth in it. It is a $2,000 fine or 10 percent of the proceeds. Let's say you sell a million dollars in stock, and you didn't tell the market ahead of time, like you were supposed to. You didn't follow that 7-day rule. It is a $100,000 penalty--a 10-percent penalty. So either $2,000 or 10 percent, whichever is bigger, plus you have to give up all your profits. That is a penalty with teeth that will get the attention of Members here on Capitol Hill. It is time that we restore the integrity and the confidence in this body when it comes to inside information.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“We are not going to force you to sell your stock of your company. But we are going to say that you have to give notice, 7 days at least, to let people know if you are going to sell any positions you own. Remember, you can't buy any more. But if you have some already and you want to sell them, you have to give 7 days' notice. And that will address the issue of, for example, when we had a member of the Intelligence Committee sell about a million and a half dollars' worth of stock right before the COVID pandemic selloff of the stock market. Even the perception of impropriety undermines the integrity, and therefore the confidence the people have. So let's stop it altogether.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“In fact, as crazy as it sounds, that has become a legitimate investment strategy because it makes money. And that undermines the confidence people have in our institutions. We have disclosure laws, which is how people can see those trades and make them. But it is not enough for the integrity of the institution. We need to make the rules stronger. We need to stop people from being able to buy individual stocks in the Senate and in the House. We need my Stop Insider Trading Act because that is exactly what it does. It says that, if you get elected to the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, you can no longer buy stock. Trading on insider information will become impossible because you won't be able to make that purchase. Now, we also want to make sure that if, say, you come from a successful business, we don't want to penalize you.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, integrity--integrity inspires confidence. We have a problem here in the Senate and in the House: 80 percent of Americans believe we do a poor job of keeping our financial interests separate from the insider information that we have. People don't have the confidence in us, and that leads to an approval rating of 15 percent for Congress. But we can help restore integrity, and therefore confidence-- confidence in the Senate, confidence in the House, confidence in our institutions. We can do that with a bill that I have introduced called the Stop Insider Trading Act. Now, it is well known that Members of this body and the House have bought individual stocks. In fact, we have seen that people will post on social media the stock trades of the former Speaker of the House and trade off of her trades.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate29 July 2026Source ↗
“This is supposed to be a public service, and we need to take steps to restore the credibility with the American people. The Stop Insider Trading Act is the solution to be able to help restore that credibility, to let the American people know that we are not financially benefiting from inside information. It would apply to not only Members of the House and Senate but their spouses and their dependent children as well. The President has called on us to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act. The Vice President just last week, in addressing House Republicans, said we need to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act. It is time for Congress to act on this important piece of legislation that will help restore people's faith in their institutions. I call on my colleagues to support this bill and send it to the President's desk. I yield the floor.”
Senate21 July 2026Source ↗
“So, for example, if you went and sold a stock after getting elected, without giving the proper notice, and say it was a million-dollar transaction, you would have to pay a $100,000 fine. In addition, you would have to forfeit all of the profits. The Stop Insider Trading Act has real teeth in it to back up the policy. By making sure that Members of Congress cannot buy stock on inside information and would have to notify the public if they wish to sell any stock well in advance of their actually being able to do that, we can help restore the faith of the American people that we are keeping separate the inside information that we get for very good reasons from our finances. Let's be clear, no Member of the House or Senate should benefit from inside information. They should not be allowed to profit from it.”
Senate21 July 2026Source ↗
“And as crazy as it sounds, that became a legitimate investment strategy because it was making people money. We also had a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who sold about $1.5 million in stock in 2020 that occurred right before the market tanked because of the COVID pandemic. Even the appearance of impropriety undermines the credibility of the House and the Senate, that it gives the--even if we give the perception that we are using inside information to benefit financially, it undermines the public's trust in our democracy and may depress people from wanting to vote, keep them home, and it certainly undermines the faith they have in our institutions. I have a solution. My Stop Insider Trading Act. My Stop Insider Trading Act would go beyond our current disclosure laws.”
Senate21 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, people generally in this country--and Nebraskans in particular--expect when they send their elected officials to Washington, DC, that they are going to serve the communities. Sadly, that belief that we are coming here is undermined by some of our policies that we have. For example, 80 percent of Americans believe that Congress does not do a good job of keeping the inside information that we have separate from our finances. Consequently, the approval rating of Congress is about 17 percent. And it is not just the polling that shows that we have got a problem; so does history. We can look on social media and see that regularly, publishing the trades of Members of this body is something people try to profit off of. In fact, the former Speaker's trades were published quite regularly.”
Senate21 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate21 July 2026Source ↗
“He was charming, funny, intelligent, dedicated to this country. Our body and this country is losing a lot with Lindsey Graham. We are losing some of the humor we had. We are losing some the glue that holds us together. We are losing a fierce patriot, and our country is worse off for it. Susanne and I are praying for Darline and the rest of her family and Lindsey's staff at this tragic time and, indeed, for our entire country as we have experienced the loss of this larger than life patriot, Lindsey Olin Graham. Lindsey, I know you are looking down on us from upstairs, and you are going to do your best to guide us from up there. We really, really miss you. I yield the floor.”
Senate16 July 2026Source ↗
“He was appalled by the invasion of Russia into Ukraine--that unprovoked, aggressive attack--and was a fierce advocate for supporting Ukraine, not only because of the injustice of what Russia is doing to Ukraine but because Lindsey understood what the threat to the United States and the people of America would be if Putin is successful; that if they are successful in Ukraine, they are going to go after a NATO member, and then we will have boots on the ground in Europe. Lindsey was trying to keep us safe by advocating for the Ukrainians. When Lindsey would see an issue, he would hop on a plane and go fix it, whether it was overseas or to my home State of Nebraska. He came to Nebraska several times. I loved the man. I had the privilege of spending time with him here over the last 3\1/2\ years. He liked Coke Zero and Riesling wines.”
Senate16 July 2026Source ↗
“When he would go talk to foreign leaders, he would be able to get across those simple ideas the way he did with audiences back at home and be able to express directly through humor, through charming them, to help them understand where their interests were aligned with our interests, how we needed to work together to be able to keep the people of their country safe and the people of our country safe. Lindsey was very clear-eyed about the dangers of dictators like Vladimir Putin. He understood, when Putin is losing, we are winning, we are safer.”
Senate16 July 2026Source ↗
“How many people think we should stop them from getting a nuclear weapon? They would raise their hand. That is the simple way that Lindsey would make his point. He was supersmart and had an incredible sense of humor. It was not often fun if you were on the other side of that sense of humor sometimes. In one of our Budget Committee hearings, Lindsey Graham was presiding, and we had one of our members who was going through all sorts of points and charts and so forth. And when the presentation came to an end, Lindsey Graham said something to the effect: Well, next time we are going to record that, and we are taking it down to Gitmo because it would be more effective down there. So you wanted to make sure that you were talking to the right audience and making your points quickly with Lindsey. He was also very charming and was very direct.”
Senate16 July 2026Source ↗
“He served our country in the Air Force and in the National Guard and the Air Force Reserve, a total of 33 years, retiring at the rank of colonel and a Bronze Star. He began his career in politics in 1992 in the South Carolina Legislature and got elected to the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives, in 1994. He was the first Republican to be elected from his district since 1877. He served in the House for 8 years and then came to the Senate, 2002, taking over for Strom Thurmond. And he has been a dynamic personality in this body, and I have had the privilege to get to know him and call him my friend. Lindsey Graham was part of the glue for the Senate, and not just for Republicans but for Republicans and Democrats. He worked across the aisle.”
Senate16 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I rise today to talk about our colleague Lindsey Graham, who tragically passed away last weekend. Lindsey Graham was the definition of the word ``patriot.'' He loved this country and dedicated his life to serving this country. He was from humble backgrounds. His parents ran a bar. And, again, tragically, he lost his parents at a young age. His mom died when Lindsey was 20, and his dad died when he was 22. And so, as a young man, he took over the care of his sister Darline, who was only 13 years old. He was the first in his family to go to college and then got a law degree, joined the Air Force. And to help take care of his sister, he adopted her so she could get his Air Force benefits.”
Senate16 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate16 July 2026Source ↗
“Why on Earth are we doing it with the Chinese Communist Party? It is absolutely ludicrous. We need to keep the pressure on. We need to make sure that TikTok is sold. I echo my colleague's comments with regard to any sort of future Chinese ownership that would allow them to be able to continue to do this. We need to make sure this is no longer going to threaten our young people. Therefore, Mr. President, I object.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“They avoided getting a deal done. President Trump came into office. They are still avoiding getting a deal done. The people who are taking on the liability here are the companies that are the facilitators. I urge those companies to reconsider. You should think carefully about what you are doing. The law is very clear. TikTok needs to be sold to an American owner to continue operation, not some half-baked plan, as my colleague from Arkansas was describing, where the Chinese Communist Party would still have influence on the TikTok algorithm, still have the ability to push their propaganda to the American people. That cannot happen. We need to make sure that the Chinese Communist Party cannot do that in our country. Again, we won't allow other TV or radio stations to have that much access.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“Now, let's also bear in mind that we would not allow any American TV, news station--even newspaper--to be able to own as much of the American marketplace as TikTok has today--170 million people. Current law says that you can only own 39 percent, for example, of the TV marketplace across the country. That would roughly equate to about 50 million households in the United States--far above what we are seeing here with what TikTok has access to. So if we are not going to allow Americans to be able to have such broad access to our population, why on Earth would we allow the Chinese Communist Party to do it? And by the way, the Chinese Communist Party has no First Amendment rights in this country. ByteDance was given 270 days to make a deal. The Communist dictator Xi Jinping clearly did not want it. They tried to lobby us.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I echo my colleague from Arkansas' comments with regard to TikTok. Let's recall that in communist China, there really isn't such a thing as a private company, as much as ByteDance might want to say it is. The Chinese communist law is very clear that companies in China have to do what they are told to do by the Chinese Communist Party, and that is one of the reasons TikTok is so dangerous. TikTok, as has been covered by my colleague from Massachusetts, reaches 170 million people; 52 percent of those people say that they regularly get their news from TikTok. As I have risen on this floor in the past, I have discussed specific cases where the Chinese communists have been pushing their propaganda through TikTok.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“We have to have secure borders. The stakes are too high. Too many lives have already been lost. President Trump is leading the fight to secure our borders and stop the flow of this horrible drug into our country, and I am proud to support him in doing that. I yield the floor.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“That is enough to kill 15 million Americans, and he was doing it every month--and that was one smuggler. Now he also said that, lately, it had been quiet. They hadn't been moving as much fentanyl. And, again, that gets back to President Trump taking a stand to get our neighboring countries to start enforcing their border, to put more resources there, and to start blocking this fentanyl before it gets into our country. These policies are having an impact. They are working. We need Canada and Mexico to continue to do more. President Trump is using his powers to be able to help stop that flow of fentanyl. We are here standing up for secure borders, standing up for American families, standing up for those families who have lost loved ones already to this terrible scourge. We cannot afford to return to an open borders policy.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“That is enough to kill 300 million Americans. President Trump is using his powers to bring that to an end. Now, some people have said: Well, that is fine. We get it, Mexico. But what about Canada? Canada is not the problem here. But our northern border is also exposed. When Canada released or eased up on some of its visa restrictions, the cartels saw their advantage and started moving operations to Canada to transport both people illegally across the border and fentanyl. In fact, 60 Minutes just did a story where they talked to one of these cartel drug smugglers about what he was doing, and he said that-- this one smuggler--he was responsible for moving 30 kilograms of fentanyl across the border from Canada into the United States every month.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“And President Trump got elected to stop it, to make a difference, to end this catastrophe. One of the ways he is doing that is by putting tariffs on the countries that are allowing this to ship through their countries, across their borders. I already mentioned how communist China and Mexico are linked to this. There was a daily podcast from the New York Times that talked about how President Trumps' policies are really having an impact on Mexico. Some people have said: Wait. Using tariffs, that is creating a trade war. That is absolutely not the case. The case is this is a drug war, and the President is using the tool of tariffs to get a handle on it, to shut off the flow of fentanyl. In just 1 month under Joe Biden, law enforcement intercepted 1,400 pounds of fentanyl coming into our country--1 month.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“But after Joe Biden got elected, in just the first 6 months of 2021, that number jumped to 151,000 pills. And it wasn't just the numbers; it was the human cost. Taryn Lee Griffith is a young mom with two children. She took a pill she thought was Percocet, but it was laced with fentanyl. She died that night. Now her children are going to have to learn about their mom from stories, from pictures because they don't have their mom anymore. Sadly, that story is being told all across this country because of the fentanyl crisis that we have. President Trump was elected to stop this crisis. I mean, think about it. If we had had 70,000 Americans killed in a terrorist attack, we would be up in arms. It is more than are dying from car accidents or heart disease in that age bracket, and yet Joe Biden did nothing.”
Senate2 April 2025Source ↗
“Men and boys shouldn't compete against women and girls in female sports. It is just common sense. It is absolutely just plain common sense. Yet, 2 days ago, every single one of my Democratic colleagues voted against protecting women's collegiate athletics. They chose the wrong side of an 80-20 issue. They chose not to fight for science, for equal opportunity, and for women and girls. I urge them to reconsider. Let's stand with women over radical policies. Let's stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans. Let's keep a level playing field for our daughters and granddaughters. Again, I urge my Democratic colleagues to reconsider. I yield the floor.”
Senate5 March 2025Source ↗
“We can do it here. I yield the floor.”
Senate4 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate4 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of my colleagues.”
Senate29 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 12 noon on Thursday, January 30; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of Executive Calendar No.”
Senate29 January 2025Source ↗
“I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.”
Senate29 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 46, which was submitted earlier today.”
Senate29 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 45, which is at the desk.”
Senate29 January 2025Source ↗