{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2025-03-04-pt1-PgS1471", "2025-03-04", 119, 1, null, null, "PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE RELATING TO \"GROSS PROCEEDS REPORTING BY BROKERS THAT...", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S1471", "S1477", "[{\"name\": \"Tammy Baldwin\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Eric Schmitt\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Jack Reed\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"John Cornyn\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Patty Murray\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Maria Cantwell\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Katie Boyd Britt\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"SJRES\", \"number\": \"3\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"830\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"846\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"847\"}]", "171 Cong. Rec. S1471", "Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 41 (Tuesday, March 4, 2025)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 4, 2025)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S1471-S1477]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n  PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5,\n   UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE INTERNAL REVENUE\n    SERVICE RELATING TO ``GROSS PROCEEDS REPORTING BY BROKERS THAT\n     REGULARLY PROVIDE SERVICES EFFECTUATING DIGITAL ASSET SALES''\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the joint resolution.\n  The bill clerk read as follows:\n\n       A joint resolution (S.J. Res. 3) providing for\n     congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United\n     States Code, of the rule submitted by the Internal Revenue\n     Service relating to ``Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers\n     That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset\n     Sales''.\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Curtis). The Senator from Maine.\n  (The remarks of Ms. COLLINS and Ms. BALDWIN pertaining to the\nintroduction of S. 830 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements\non Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')\n  Ms. BALDWIN. I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.\n\n                      Nomination of Elbridge Colby\n\n  Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to argue for a swift and\ndecisive confirmation of Elbridge Colby as Under Secretary of Defense\nfor Policy.\n  It is common today to hear leaders in the foreign policy\nestablishment talk of upholding the rules-based international order and\npromoting liberal values and norms. What is much less common is to hear\nanyone talk about tangible, concrete American interests. Mr. Colby is a\nwelcome exception. He believes that America is a real, concrete nation\nand people with real, concrete interests and that the fundamental\npurpose of our foreign policy is to protect and advance those\ninterests.\n  For the past 30 years, American foreign policy has lurched from\ndisaster to disaster. To be a friend of the reigning consensus is to be\nan advocate of the same failed ideas that led us to spend trillions of\ndollars and countless young Americans' lives for causes and conflicts\nthat were not ours, while leaving us woefully unprepared for the ones\nthat are.\n  America does not need more of the same. What America needs is a new\napproach, a new strategy, a new philosophy of strength for the 21st\ncentury. That is what Elbridge Colby will deliver.\n  No one could argue that Mr. Colby isn't qualified for this role. He\nspent well over 20 years working in defense and foreign policy, serving\nin the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and various\nnational security positions at different think tanks.\n  He served faithfully in the first Trump administration as the Deputy\nAssistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development,\nwhere he was the lead author of the 2018 National Defense Strategy.\nFrom there, he founded a think tank, the Marathon Initiative, and wrote\na book called the ``Strategy of Denial'' outlining his vision for\nconfronting the true geopolitical challenge of our time: deterring--and\nif necessary, defeating--the threats posed by a rising China.\n  President Trump's decision to nominate Mr. Colby to this position was\nnot a mistake. It was intentional. This administration wants to carry\nout a fundamental and long-overdue reorientation of our Nation's\nforeign policy, and Elbridge Colby is a critical component of that\nmission.\n  The media tells us that he is controversial. Why? Well, he believes\nthat our foreign policy must prioritize our core interests, and that\nmeans that we can't be everywhere at once, doing everything all the\ntime. His critics say that makes him weak. In reality, it is exactly\nthe opposite. The quickest and most certain path to weakness is to\nwaste our blood and treasure on Wilsonian adventurism abroad as the\nreal threats and enemies of America grow unchecked. For years, Mr.\nColby has been one of the lone voices in the foreign policy\nestablishment with a real and viable vision for American strength.\n  It is true that Mr. Colby believes that the Iraq war was a mistake.\nHe does not believe that a hot war with Iran would serve America's\nlong-term interests. He believes that a costly and unwinnable proxy war\nin Ukraine is an obstacle to our ability to rebuild our military and\nrevitalize our industrial base here at home and that our European\nallies must step up and do more to defend their own continent as the\nUnited States transitions to our focus in the Indo-Pacific. On all of\nthese things, the decisive majority of Americans are on his side even\nif the foreign policy establishment isn't.\n  The political class in this city must come to terms with the fact\nthat the world most of us grew up in no longer exists. President Trump\nintends to drag this city--kicking and screaming if necessary--into the\n21st century. That is what we saw at the White House last week--a new\nforeign policy centered around uncompromising and unapologetic pursuit\nof the interests of the American people.\n  Mr. Colby will play a key role in that project, and I look forward to\nwatching him serve as our next Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.\n\n                  Department of Government Efficiency\n\n  Mr. REED. Mr. President, on day one, President Trump lit the fuse on\nElon Musk's plan to hollow out the Federal Government by changing the\nname of an obscure technical office within the White House, the U.S.\nDigital Services, USDS, and called it DOGE, without congressional\nauthorization, and giving it extraordinary reach into the operations of\nthe Federal Agencies.\n  Since then, we have heard report after report about how Mr. Musk and\nDOGE have rammed their way into Agencies not to make smart decisions,\nnot to improve efficiency, not to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,\nbut to disrupt, denigrate, and demoralize.\n  And along the way, DOGE has made incredible blunders such as firing\nand then scrambling to rehire employees at the National Nuclear\nSecurity Administration.\n  Let me repeat that. Mr. Musk and his minions fired the people who\nkeep nuclear weapons safe, and then someone realized, fortunately,\nwithin a few days that they had to come back.\n  And here is another example: Musk and his hackers made the CIA send\nan unclassified email with the names of its recent hires. Boy, if I was\nin the Russian Security Service, I would love to get a list--which they\ndid--of everyone who is going into the CIA.\n  They also cut staff from the Federal Aviation Administration and the\nNational Weather Service who prevent and warn every American of travel\nand weather dangers. It goes beyond that. Agricultural interests listen\ndaily to the reports, the accurate reports of the Weather Service, so\nthey can plan their crops, so they can plan everything--and that is\nbeing withered away. And I think the ultimate goal is to privatize it,\nwhich is not the best way to go.\n  These actions don't just reflect incredible incompetence; they are\ndangerous. They undermine national security and increase risks for\nAmerican citizens.\n  In any other setting, blunders like these would be grounds for\nfiring, but Musk and DOGE operate with arrogance, impunity, and zero\ntransparency. Millions of Americans are asking: Who are these people?\n  As the ranking member of the Financial Services and General\nGovernment Appropriations Subcommittee, the subcommittee that\nostensibly oversees the\n\n[[Page S1472]]\n\nbudget for the White House, USDS, and DOGE, I am asking the same\nquestion. Because Congress, like the American people, is being kept in\nthe dark.\n  As appropriators, we typically work together on a bipartisan basis--\nno matter which party is in the White House--to get information, to\nconduct oversight, to ensure that Federal dollars are spent in\naccordance with the laws passed by Congress. But now, without\nauthorization from Congress, DOGE is recklessly slashing its way\nthrough virtually every Federal Agency, from the Office of Personnel\nManagement to Treasury to HUD to State to USAID to the Department of\nDefense and more.\n  It is vital that we understand what DOGE is and isn't. While Elon\nMusk tells us and the American people that DOGE is ``maximally\ntransparent,'' it is not. We still do not have answers to fundamental\nquestions like: What is the scope of DOGE's work? How many people work\nat DOGE? And who are they? Do they also hold jobs outside the Federal\nGovernment? What are their financial holdings and potential conflicts\nof interest?\n  Do they have allegiances to foreign governments? Will DOGE respond to\nrequests under the Freedom of Information Act? What are its plans to\nreform Agencies? Who is DOGE firing and why? And many, many other\nquestions.\n  And, unfortunately, when DOGE shares information, it is frequently\nwrong. As the New York Times reported, five of DOGE's biggest claimed\nsavings were deleted from its website because they were inaccurate.\n  This includes a canceled USAID contract for $650 million, which was\ncounted by DOGE three times; a canceled Social Security contract was\nerroneously listed as being worth $232 million, instead of the actual\n$560,000; and a canceled ICE contract was listed as saving $8 billion\ninstead of $8 million.\n  If you are going to name something the Department of Government\nEfficiency, don't you owe it to the taxpayers to actually do a good\njob? On top of having zero accountability, DOGE's legal authority to\noperate is dubious.\n  DOGE has, essentially, taken over the USDS, which was originally\nestablished to help Federal Agencies more adeptly utilize technology to\nserve the American people. Over the years, USDS helped establish\neverything from Direct File, which helps taxpayers file their taxes for\nfree, to direct-mail COVID tests to a successful online passport\nrenewal program.\n  DOGE is now using the hollowed shell of USDS to illegally undo the\nAmerican Federal Government, moving from Agency to Agency, cutting\ncongressionally appropriated Federal spending, priorities, and even\ndismantling entire Agencies.\n  The bottom line is that DOGE, without congressional authorization and\nwithout direct funding from Congress, is acting to undermine the\nFederal Government. And, frankly, contempt to the U.S. Congress as a\nconstitutional body who creates the law.\n  The President's challenge in the Constitution is to enforce the laws,\nnot to circumvent the Congress of the United States. Based on press\nreports, DOGE appears to be populated by a mixture of unelected\nbillionaires, tech executives, and unvetted, inexperienced people,\nincluding an individual who was found to have posted racist tweets.\n  This gang is being granted access to America's most sensitive data\nlike your bank accounts, your Social Security accounts, and, it would\nseem, a host of classified intelligence. And how are they using this\ninformation? How are they protecting this information from our enemies?\nIs it being shared with outside entities? Is DOGE simply being used to\ngive Mr. Musk, his companies, and his billionaire friends an advantage\nwhen competing for government contracts?\n  We simply don't know what this gang is doing inside the government.\nEvery single day that passes without transparency and congressional\naccess to information about DOGE's funding, staffing, and scope of work\nis a moment too long.\n  With the current continuing resolution due to expire on March 14, we\nhave big decisions to make. My hope is that these decisions can be made\non a bipartisan basis informed by the facts, but we cannot responsibly\nfund the government if we do not understand how DOGE has infiltrated\nit, made it less efficient and less responsive to taxpayers, and,\nessentially, has circumvented the constitutional responsibilities of\nthe U.S. Congress.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.\n\n                      Unanimous Consent Agreement\n\n  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following\nMembers be permitted to speak prior to the lunch recess: Myself, for up\nto 15 minutes; Senator Murray, up to 10 minutes; Senator Cantwell, up\nto 5 minutes; and Senator Britt, for up to 10 minutes.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.\n\n                       Joint Session of Congress\n\n  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as everybody knows, tonight, President\nTrump will give an address to a joint session of Congress. I look\nforward to attending the President's address, and I am happy to welcome\nmy friend Abraham George, who will join me as a guest tonight.\n  In addition, three other Texans will be joining the President tonight\nas his guests. Alexis Nungaray from Houston, TX, is an angel mom who\nlost her lovely 12-year-old daughter Jocelyn. Jocelyn was tragically\nmurdered by two illegal immigrants who, just weeks before, were\napprehended and released by the Biden administration.\n  Next from Texas, Roberto Ortiz from Weslaco is one of our brave\nveterans who has served nearly a decade in the U.S. Border Patrol.\nRoberto's courage in the face of danger has been tested repeatedly as\nhe has been shot on multiple occasions by cartel members while on the\nline of duty near the Rio Grande River in my home State.\n  And, finally, Elliston Berry from Aledo, TX, is a 15-year-old victim\nof computer-generated deepfakes. I applaud Elliston for her courage in\njoining us here tonight and for using her voice to speak out against\nthe dangers posed by new technologies.\n\n                            Border Security\n\n  Mr. President, President Trump has rightfully turned the page on a\nwide array of President Biden's disastrous policies, from reforming our\nrunaway spending through DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency,\nto prioritizing investment in semiconductors and manufacturing, to\nbringing our hostages held in Gaza back home to their families. But\nperhaps one of his most significant accomplishments thus far--and it\nhas only been about 6 weeks--has been when it comes to border security,\nsomething near and dear to my heart and the heart of my 31 million\nconstituents who call Texas home.\n  Border security played a significant role in the mandate that the\nPresident got last November. The past 4 years were marked by President\nBiden's failure to enforce the law and to secure our border. And this\nwas, without a doubt, a crisis--a humanitarian and public safety\ncrisis--of the former administration's own making. This was truly a\nmanmade crisis.\n  Starting from the campaign trail, President Biden invited the massive\nwave of migration by promising a ``surge to the border'' for asylum\nseekers. Can you imagine a President inviting a surge to the U.S.\nborder of asylum seekers? This is one promise that, unfortunately, he\nkept.\n  But President Biden's failures went far beyond just his rhetoric. In\nthe early days of his Presidency, President Biden basically reversed\nevery policy President Trump had put in place, including the ``Remain\nin Mexico'' policy, which has been remarkably effective. In other\nwords, people seeking asylum need to remain in Mexico while their claim\nis being processed.\n  And the truth is, only about 15 percent of people who claim asylum in\nAmerica who appear in front of an immigration judge ultimately are\ngranted asylum. They meet the legal criteria; whereas, the other 85\npercent do not.\n  The Biden administration also halted construction of President\nTrump's border wall and instead used Federal funds to store already-\npaid-for wall materials. So not only did the taxpayer pay for those\nmaterials, they had to pay for the storage of those materials when they\nweren't used for their intended purpose.\n\n  As the border crisis continued to evolve for the worse, President\nBiden ended title 42, the COVID 19-era policy that was our last line of\ndefense to keep a lid on the migrant crisis when\n\n[[Page S1473]]\n\nPresident Biden refused to enforce other laws.\n  After undoing the successful Executive orders made by the first\nPresident Trump administration, President Biden then decided to\ncircumvent Congress and attempt to make illegal immigration legal using\ntemporary programs that were never intended for that purpose. His\nDepartment of Homeland Security created the CBP One app--short for\nCustoms and Border Protection--an app for your phone which allowed\nmigrants to literally schedule a visit to a port of entry so they could\nthen claim asylum and then enter the country.\n  Another Biden-Harris administration program allowed up to 30,000\nmigrants a month to enter from four countries--Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua,\nand Venezuela. So that was 360,000 migrants who were basically told, if\nyou come, you can stay in the United States. But they were conferred a\ntemporary status that left them all in legal limbo.\n  Let's not forget the Biden White House cooking the books on illegal\nimmigration by abusing the parole system. ``Parole'' is a word that\npeople who are familiar with the criminal justice system understand.\nBut this is different. In immigration terms, parole means simply you\nwere released into the United States even if you didn't claim a right\nto be able to stay--for example, a right to asylum. You are just simply\nreleased as a border control measure to avoid bad publicity at the\nborder when people were sleeping in the streets and lines were stacking\nup.\n  Of course, we know what the tragic consequences of these misguided\npolicies look like--a crisis of mass illegal immigration, human\ntrafficking, drug trafficking across our southern border.\n  Approximately, 100,000 Americans die each year as a result of drugs\nthat come across the southern border--approximately, 70,000 from\nsynthetic opioids, like fentanyl, which is the leading cause of death\nfor young people between the ages of 18 and 45. During all 4 years of\nthe Biden administration, a number of illegal migrant encounters with\nCBP totaled over 10 million. That is basically 10 million people\nshowing up and saying let me into your country, and the Biden\nadministration said: Come on in.\n  But on top of that, there were about 1.7 million ``got-aways.''\n``Got-aways'' are people who were evading law enforcement who appear on\nsome sensor--a camera or some other sensor--and evade law enforcement.\nOf course, now we know they are freely roaming the interior of the\nUnited States.\n  Let me ask you this. If you know that you could show up at the border\nand be allowed to enter--basically, ushered into the country--why in\nthe world would you evade Border Patrol? Well, I think the simple\nanswer is these are people who knew that they would not be able to\nenter because of criminal records because they were transporting drugs\nor engaged in some other illegal activity. Yet they made their way into\nthe interior of the United States.\n  Fentanyl, which I mentioned a moment ago, was manufactured from\nChinese precursor chemicals, smuggled through the open border, which\nhas taken tens of thousands of lives. And the people in Texas--the 31\nmillion people that I am honored to represent--have felt the burden of\nPresident Biden's disastrous border policies most acutely because we\nare closest to the problem. We are ground zero.\n  Governor Abbott, our outstanding Governor, and the Texas Legislature\nfilled the gap when the Federal Government refused to do its job along\nthe border. An international border is the responsibility of the\nFederal Government, not the State government. But what is the State\nsupposed to do if the Federal Government says: ``We don't care about\nthe law. We are not going to enforce it. It is up to you''?\n  Well, Governor Abbott and the Texas Legislature stepped up, and they\nspent roughly $11.1 billion to fill the gap that should have been\nfilled by the Federal Government. For that reason, I am insisting that\nCongress fulfill Governor Abbott's request to be reimbursed $11.1\nbillion that the State taxpayers had to spend, that rightfully should\nhave been the expense of the Federal Government and Federal taxpayers\nall across the country.\n  There can be no doubt that this historic crisis was the direct result\nof President Biden's policies. That is one of the reasons why I believe\nnot only did he not run but that Vice President Harris lost the\nelection. It was a rejection of those open-border policies.\n  I am looking forward to hearing the President discuss tonight the\nincredible strides his administration has made in just about 6 weeks\nsince his inauguration. Nowhere is that success more apparent than when\nit comes to border security.\n  After 4 years of record highs, CBP is now facing record lows. The\nBorder Patrol tells me: Now we can do our job. We are not relegated to\nchanging diapers or transporting migrants from one facility to another.\nWe can actually keep out the worst of the worst and enforce the laws\nwhen it comes to border security.\n  As soon as President Trump was elected, even before he took office,\nthe migrant flows began to subside. That is called deterrence. If you\nknow the law is going to be enforced and you know you are not going to\nbe successful making your way into the country, why would you spend\nthousands of dollars in order to pay off a cartel member to smuggle you\nup to the border?\n  During November and December of last year after the election,\nencounters were at their lowest levels between the ports of entries--\nthe lowest levels since August of 2020. In the first 2 weeks of\nJanuary, Customs and Border Protection encounters were nearly 50\npercent lower than they were at the same point in January 2021--50\npercent lower. During the latter half of the month, when President\nTrump actually took office, apprehensions fell by a staggering 85\npercent compared to the same period in 2024.\n  You know, the statement is often said: Elections have consequences.\nOne of the most important consequences of President Trump's election on\nNovember 5 was we are now reestablishing border security. And the\npeople of this great country are safer for it.\n  During the entire month of January, there were less than 1,500\napprehensions a day, a nearly 40-percent decline from December of last\nyear. And just 1 week ago, Customs and Border Protection hit a 15-year\nlow of only 200 encounters in 1 day at the southern border. These\nnumbers are pretty impressive, but they are not at all surprising. They\nare a direct result of the deterrent effect created by President Trump\nand Secretary Noem's policy changes. Migrants know that a Trump\nadministration means our laws will be enforced.\n\n  If you can make your way into our country using legal means, by all\nmeans, do so. As I mentioned earlier, our country is the most generous\nin the world when it comes to legal immigration. We naturalize about a\nmillion people a year. So if you have a desire to come to America, do\nit through legal means, not through illegal means.\n  Instead of rolling out the welcome mat like President Biden,\nPresident Trump started his second administration by turning the\ntraffic light red instead of green. On day one, President Trump\ndeclared a national emergency--which it was--at the southern border,\ngiving him greater flexibility to implement his Executive orders. He\nreinstated the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy and ended President Biden's\ndisastrous catch-and-release policies.\n  Secretary Noem, our new Secretary of Homeland Security, began her\ntenure in the President's Cabinet by sending a clear video message to\nmigrants that she intends to enforce the laws that prevent illegal\nimmigration. But she didn't stop there. Under President Trump and his\nadministration, ICE arrests--Immigration and Customs Enforcement--ICE\narrests have increased more than 600 percent, which include arrests of\ncriminal migrants which have doubled. They returned to a commonsense,\ncase-by-case approach to humanitarian parole, which had been abused\nunder the Biden administration, where it was used as a way to have mass\nreleases of migrants at the border who had made no legitimate claim to\nbe able to stay. They were just released.\n  Secretary Noem has also clawed back the $80 million a month spent by\nFEMA to house illegal migrants in luxury hotels in New York City. That\nis where your tax dollars went--to put people who had no legal claim to\nstay in the United States in hotels in New York City to the tune of $80\nmillion.\n  These policies are welcome. They are good news to my constituents in\nTexas and I believe to people across the country.\n\n[[Page S1474]]\n\n  There is a reason why Secretary Mayorkas, the former Secretary of\nHomeland Security who was responsible for implementing the border\nsecurity measures of the Biden administration--there was a reason why\nhe was impeached by the House of Representatives. He simply did not do\nthe job he had sworn to do. Well, Texans have had to bear the brunt of\nopen borders for 4 years, which includes rampant crime and deadly\nfentanyl.\n  I look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Noem to\ncontinue the important work they have begun to keep Americans and\nTexans safe.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.\n\n                           Government Funding\n\n  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, no one wants a shutdown--well, actually,\nno one except Elon Musk, who recently said that sounds great, or Donald\nTrump or Russ Vought.\n  That is why I have been at the table this entire time ready to pass a\nbill that protects key investments and makes sure that Congress--\nCongress, not Donald Trump or Elon Musk--decides whether or not our\npublic schools or our lifesaving cancer research gets funded.\n  Unfortunately, Republican leadership told their Members last week to\nwalk away from the negotiating table--which raises the risk of a\nshutdown--in an attempt to pass a clean yearlong continuing resolution\nthat would actually give Trump and Musk exactly what they want, fewer\nrestraints and more power over Federal spending so they can pick\nwinners and losers as they see fit, which would hurt all of our\nconstituents.\n  Nonetheless, I am urging Republican leadership to come back to the\ntable, if they are willing to do that, and work with us on full-year\nfunding bills, the type of work we do together every year and prevent a\nshutdown while we do that.\n  We cannot stand by and accept a yearlong power grab CR that would\nhelp Elon take a chain saw to programs that families rely on like yours\nor keeps our Agencies together, that keep our communities safe.\n  We actually have a job to do here, Republicans and Democrats, to be a\nvoice for our constituents, to advocate for the funding they need, and\nto get support back to our communities.\n  I heard my House Republican colleagues say they will not restrict a\nRepublican President's powers. I want to be clear. What I am asking for\nis to work together to make sure, as we write and negotiate these full-\nyear spending bills, that our laws get followed. I welcome and I want\neveryone to know I am open to any and all ideas about how we can work\ntogether to do that.\n  I am confident we can get this done. I am ready to pass a short-term\nCR immediately to take down the risk of a shutdown so that we can\nfinish our negotiations and write our full-year spending bills, which\nis our job to do. Today, on a topic I believe appropriators actually on\nboth sides of the aisle would agree with, we need far more information\nand transparency and accountability from the Trump administration in\norder to write these bills because here is one big problem: How are we\nsupposed to fund the government when many of our Agencies today are not\nresponding to our questions and we have no picture--clear picture--of\nwhat is actually or who is actually in charge of many of our Agencies?\n  It is clear as day there have been a lot of dramatic changes made\nacross the government. Agencies are being illegally shuttered; workers\nare being fired by the thousands--again, often in direct violation of\nlaws we have passed--and hundreds of billions of dollars in Federal\nprograms and grants have been frozen, unfrozen, and frozen again. We\nhave had contracts that have been recklessly canceled, some\naccidentally and then restarted, not to mention the workers who were\nfired and rehired.\n  It is incredibly chaotic, and it makes it much harder to write our\nlegislation that actually responds to these latest developments when\nprograms are switching on and off again like a 2-year-old who is\nplaying with a light switch and when the number of people and programs\nillegally terminated remains unclear. It is much more difficult to\nwrite funding bills for Department programs when we have no idea what\nthe Department is actually doing or what the actual plan is for next\nyear or if it is actually they or, perhaps, DOGE making the plans in\nthe first place. We are seeing decisions made and reversed and made and\nignored--made by people who have no authority to make them, and yet\nthey are seemingly being implemented.\n  It is not just the whirlwind of decisions that is causing this chaos;\nit is the complete lack of transparency and accountability surrounding\nthese decisions from Trump and Musk that makes it all but impossible to\nget a straight answer.\n  When we have questions that urgently need answers, like: Why has this\nenergy program been frozen or when will the NIH grants start up again\nor which VA contracts have actually been scrapped or how many workers\nhave been pushed out? then it helps if we know who is actually in\ncharge.\n  When our constituents have problems that require solutions quickly or\nthey will have to close a business or lay people off or lose their\nfamily farms, then it matters that we can get the right person on the\nphone to get things resolved.\n  Yet, when there is information we urgently need so we can write our\nfunding bills and avoid a shutdown, like Agencies' priorities or\nunexpected challenges or just the basic nuts and bolts of stuff--to say\nnothing of the information we need to address the very extraordinary\ncircumstances and decisions of the past few weeks--it is totally\nunclear who we should actually be talking to if we want answers that\nactually reflect the reality of what is happening. It is totally\nunclear who is actually making these decisions and who is actually in\ncharge. Appropriators have now sent over 30 letters to Agencies since\nJanuary 20, asking just to understand Agency actions, and that is to\nsay nothing of the efforts from me and my staff to get answers to our\nemails and our calls, but the answers have been few and very far\nbetween.\n  What is more, just because we hear something from someone who should\nknow and just because we hear from someone who should be in charge, we\nhave found that it does not mean it is actually true. There has been\nmore than one time in the past few weeks when we have been told one\nthing only to see the reality is entirely different. Like, for example,\nwhen the OMB funding freeze was implemented and we were told it\nwouldn't affect Head Start, except that it did affect Head Start.\nProviders in my State were locked out of that payment system for days\neven after the funding freeze itself was rescinded.\n  It seems like the only thing that has been consistent about the last\nfew weeks is that every time there has been chaos, every time I see\nactions that fly in the face of laws we have passed--not to mention\ncommon sense--or contradict what I have heard from Agency leaders, DOGE\nhas been at the center of it. We have seen DOGE absolutely trample the\nauthority of Congress and other Federal Agencies, including officials\nCongress confirmed.\n  For example, while Secretary Rubio instituted a recklessly broad and\nillegal freeze of all foreign assistance funding, he publicly announced\nexceptions for a limited set of programs, including lifesaving aid, the\nbasic idea being that we probably shouldn't let HIV spread rampant, and\nwe probably shouldn't let food grown right here in America rot in ports\nwhile children starve. Causing mass death through pointless negligence\nis not really a good strategy for bolstering our global reputation. It\nis cruel, and it is self-defeating.\n  So, as Secretary of State, he made the exception, but DOGE had other\nplans, because on the rare occasion that what was left of USAID staff\nwho had not been sidelined was able to clear these payments through the\nAgency's interim leadership--surprise--DOGE staffers would veto those\npayments anyway. Keep in mind, we know about this not because DOGE\ndisclosed it or State disclosed it. We know only because of reporting.\n  That is not how this works. Congress and the American people we\nrepresent should not be out of the loop, especially given the serious\nstakes here and the serious questions that remain, like: On what\nauthority did they veto those\n\n[[Page S1475]]\n\npayments? Whose orders did they use to overrule the Secretary?\n\n  I, for one, would very much like to know, because while the Secretary\nis guilty of plenty of attacks on his workforce and programs, it\ncertainly seems like the Secretary of State got steamrolled on numerous\noccasions without even knowing it. If that is the case, who are we\nsupposed to talk to with questions about States' funding needs--the\nSecretary or the two DOGE minions who actually have their hands\ndirectly on the levers of power here?\n  And let's not forget about what happened at Treasury. DOGE wanted\naccess to our most secure systems. Agency officials told them no, and\nthen the Agency officials were told they are fired. That sent a\nchilling message to our Federal workers: You stand up to DOGE at your\nown peril.\n  It is not just Treasury. DOGE has been worming its way into\nDepartment after Department, making a beeline for the most sensitive\nsystems, including ones storing my constituents' sensitive financial\ndata, and bulldozing over anyone who stands in their way for any\nreason. We don't even know who all of these people are or whether they\neven have security clearances. They have even had people fired for\ndenying them access to classified material beyond their security\nlevels. That is how completely unchecked their power has become. We\nhave incredibly little insight into what they are actually doing with\nthose sensitive systems. We have seen DOGE claim they can only view\nsome data. That is already deeply concerning, but there are also plenty\nof indications they have been given more power at times. They are\ninterested in tinkering around with some of these systems, too, or are\nunaccountably blocking payments like we saw at USAID.\n  Let's talk about the Defense Department because, first, Secretary\nHegseth was saying he wanted to revive the ``warrior spirit'' at the\nDepartment, but now he is telling employees to reply to DOGE's weekly\nemails. He is firing thousands of defense personnel, and he is asking\nevery corner of DOD to propose major cuts.\n  So, as an appropriator trying to write full-year bills that fund our\nmilitary, which is it--major increases or major cuts? And who do I ask\nabout Department needs? Is it up to the Secretary or up to DOGE? Who at\nDOGE is even steering this ship? We need to know this kind of thing,\nand we really needed to, like, know yesterday because we have a\ndeadline coming up for funding the military.\n  We have some serious questions for whoever is in charge about how the\nadministration is approaching things. When I say ``whoever is in\ncharge,'' I don't mean who is in charge on paper, because it seems like\nthere is a big disconnect. I mean, Who is actually making decisions and\ndriving actions at our Agencies and at DOGE for that matter?\n  Look. First, Elon was running DOGE with Vivek. Then it was just Elon.\nThen it supposedly wasn't Elon at all, but then Elon kept right on\nposting about hiring decisions like someone in charge and rehiring an\nindividual who resigned after their blatant racism came to light. He\nkept right on doing press availabilities with the President in the Oval\nOffice to discuss his work at DOGE like someone in charge. So it sure\nlooks like Elon is still the head of DOGE. Even after we were all\nfinally told, with great supposed certainty, that DOGE was actually\nbeing run by another person no one had ever mentioned, we then promptly\nlearned, oh, she is on vacation, and the very next day, we saw Elon\nbriefing the Cabinet on what he is doing at DOGE.\n  If that all seems confusing or contradictory, I don't think it is an\naccident as much as a smokescreen--one that seems designed to hide the\nobvious fact that Elon Musk is the one who is calling the shots at\nDOGE. All of us here in Congress really need to know that because he is\nthe richest man in the world, with billions, actually, in government\ncontracts on the line. He is, apparently, in charge of his own\nconflicts of interest. And we are just supposed to trust him? Has he\nrecused himself from a single decision? We haven't heard anything about\nthat.\n  As a steward of taxpayer dollars who wants to make sure the bills we\nwrite are implemented to help my constituents, not Elon Musk's bottom\nline, I would like to know: Did the owner of SpaceX recuse himself from\ndecisions gutting NASA? Did the owner of Tesla interfere at all in the\nfunding freezes that hurt his competition in the electric vehicle\nmarket? Does the guy who posted criticizing of Verizon's work for FAA\nand pitching his own company's Starlink as an alternative have anything\nto do with the reports the government may reverse course now on the\nVerizon contract? Did the guy selling satellite internet have any role\nin halting funds that were helping my constituents have access to\nbroadband?\n  What about all of the watchdogs who have been fired--people reviewing\nNeuralink devices at the FDA? people at the Agency that reviews the\nsafety of Tesla's self-driving cars? or the inspector general looking\ninto Elon's connections to foreign governments?\n  Despite what Musk likes to pretend, it is not in the slightest bit\ntransparent for him alone to be deciding what he hides and what he\nshares about his role in government, nor is it transparent when DOGE is\nposting updates that are often completely inaccurate--from getting\nbasic math wrong to getting wrong basic timelines of what Trump did\nversus Biden to not understanding how our contracts work and counting\nthe same cuts over and over and over again. They aren't being\ntransparent. They are muddying up the waters with falsehoods and\ndisinformation and making it that much harder for us to write\nmeaningful funding bills in the next few days.\n  I mean, if DOGE doesn't even know what programs they have cut and how\nmuch they have cut, how are we supposed to understand how these\ndecisions hurt our constituents? How are we supposed to write\nlegislation that rejects the cuts we find harmful or even aligns if\nthere are areas of agreement?\n  We need real answers from DOGE, and we need them as soon as possible.\nSo, once again, I am requesting that Elon Musk come before Congress for\na hearing in order to be held accountable to the American people. Tell\nus: What exactly are you doing? Why are you firing Federal employees\nwhose salaries are covered by fees, not by taxpayer dollars? Why are\nyou firing our veterans by the thousands who are doing work to support\nour communities? Why are you planning to fire the people who make sure\nseniors get their Social Security checks? Who are the people who work\nfor you? How were they vetted? What are your long-term plans for this\nAgency? Based on what authority are you overruling our Secretaries,\ndirecting Federal workers, and ignoring the laws we have passed here in\nCongress?\n  America is waiting. We are losing valuable time. Congress and the\nAmerican people deserve answers, and we need them to do their jobs.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.\n\n                          Trump Administration\n\n  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise to speak today on important\npublic policy issues related to my State's economy and appreciate the\nopportunity to follow our senior Senator, Senator Murray, who is\narticulating the impact of some of these so important public policy\nissues on the State of Washington.\n  Trade is the lifeblood of the State of Washington and our economy.\nFarmers in my State export $7.5 billion worth of agriculture products a\nyear. That was the number from 2023--$7.5 billion. So anytime somebody\nstarts a trade war, I guarantee you, you are going to get our\nattention.\n  Under the President's trade war, the farmers in my State are going to\nbe the first victims. Trump said to our farmers yesterday on Truth\nSocial, ``Tariffs will go on external products on April 2. Have fun!''\n  Have fun? Have fun? When retaliatory tariffs strike our farmers, just\nas they did in the first Trump administration, it is not going to be\nfun; it is going to be a nightmare for our farmers. And many of the\nfarmers in my State worry that they will be able to farm at all.\n  It is not like they are going to lose farmland. There are rich\npeople, billionaires, software executives who will buy farmland. We are\ngoing to lose farmers. I know this because we have already been through\nthis trade war, with many of my farmers struggling to overcome the\ndamage that was wrought during the first Trump administration.\n  The last time we went down this road, we lost the apple market\nbecause\n\n[[Page S1476]]\n\nof retaliatory tariffs. We had a $120 million market that basically\ncollapsed, practically overnight, in India. And I traveled to India and\nworked hard over several years to lift those tariffs, and now, we\nfinally are back growing our exports exponentially, but the market\nstill isn't fully recovered, and now, people are questioning what is\ngoing to happen next.\n  I heard from a grower in my State who said, ``The alarms in ag are\nsounding. The band has stopped playing, and the last lifeboats are\nleaving the ship. We cannot endure another cycle similar to the one\nthat was started seven years ago when tariffs were first put in place.\nAnd without meaningful, long-lasting solutions, you may very well be\nlooking at the last generation of farm families.''\n  That is just one of my constituents. He doesn't sound like he is\nhaving fun. These family legacies, built on generations of work, cannot\nbe lost in a trade war. You can't get them back once they are gone.\n  I hope my colleagues will slow down on this tariff tirade. Under\narticle I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power\nto set duties and regulate foreign commerce. However, Congress has\nspent the last 80 years delegating its tariff authority to Presidents.\n  You can say, okay, well, that might have been okay because previous\nDemocrat and Republican Presidents worked to lower tariffs and to open\nup markets. I have voted for many of those trade agreements. But this\nPresident, I believe, is abusing this authority. He calls it an\nemergency. He is using the trade wars to supposedly force countries to\ndo things like changing their border policies.\n  I believe it is time for Congress to start taking back some of that\npower and considering how we are going to protect the family farm.\n  We know this--that in my State, families are paying more for\ngroceries. They are paying more at the gas pump. They are paying more\nfor electricity bills. And they are seeing the stock market plummet\nbecause, as businesses grapple with Trump's unnecessary trade war,\nbusinesses are concerned about the long-term impacts of the supply\nchain and the cost of those tariffs.\n  The American people want to see the administration tackle inflation\nand the high cost of everything. When President Trump was on the\ncampaign trail, he talked about inflation. He said, ``Starting day one,\nwe will end inflation and make sure that America is affordable again\nand bring down prices on all goods.'' Well, I don't think that is what\nis happening today.\n  The Wall Street Journal editorial board put it well this morning when\nthey wrote: ``Trump takes the dumbest tariff plunge.'' I agree. We\ndon't need to be doing this.\n  These tariffs are attacks on groceries bought by every American.\nCanada is the largest exporter of meat to the United States, while 77\npercent of fresh vegetables are imported from Mexico and 11 percent are\nimported from Canada. So costs are going up on every American who is\nbuying, and that means they will also buy less.\n  The tariffs on Canada and Mexican goods that President Trump is\nplanning would cost American families an estimated up to $2,000 per\nyear. According to Anderson Economic Group, tariffs could raise the\nprice of a new car as much as $12,000. I am pretty sure nobody has\nextra money for a new car.\n  Housing costs--one of the biggest drivers on inflation, but President\nTrump's tariffs would drive up the cost of construction material,\nmaking it even more expensive to address our housing shortage, slow our\nnew home construction, and one analysis found that tariffs could push\nhome construction up by 4 to 6 percent over the next 12 months.\n  I can tell you, we already have expensive housing in the Northwest.\nWe can't afford another 4 to 6 percent. And the tariffs also create\nsupply chain disruptions, making it harder to find alternative sources\nof materials, delaying projects that are already underway, and these\nshort-term sticker shocks will put long-term pressure on housing\naffordability, making the problem worse--not solving it.\n  Just last week, when people want to talk about GDP and where this is\ngoing, it was amazing that the Atlanta Fed was forecasting GDP growth\nover 2 percent for the first quarter of 2025. That is literally what\nthis line here was discussing, that the consensus was 2 percent, and\neven the Fed was weighing in on that.\n  But we can see when we got to February, we fell off a cliff. We fell\noff a cliff. And why? Because now the Atlanta Fed is saying we had one\nswing of 5 percent in just 1 week. And now, this drop is the\nrepresentation of a cliff that President Trump is pushing the American\neconomy over.\n  So you can see they are going down to negative--not just zero growth,\nbut negative. We can't afford that, and we can't afford the stock\nmarket dropping 700 points yesterday.\n  The only way that we can work together is that if my colleagues here\nwill start talking about these tariff issues. We don't need to weaken\nour institutions here; we need to strengthen them. And our colleagues\nneed to work together to resolve these issues.\n  I would say, too, that as my colleagues start to plan how we deal\nwith these budget issues, that we should also keep in mind that some of\nthe cuts that these Agencies have been facing are really the cuts to\nsome of the most technical jobs the U.S. Government has.\n  Whether you are talking about NOAA or the National Weather Service or\nthe National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation or\nthe U.S. Department of Agriculture--they have all been targeted for\nreductions. These Agencies are critical to our economic growth and to\nour security. And at a time when we are seeing more extreme weather\nevents or more floods or more wildfires, why shouldn't we be investing\nmore in weather forecasting, not less?\n  And when you look at NOAA workers who support our commercial and\nrecreation and Tribal fisheries--they employ 1.7 million people,\nincluding thousands in the State of Washington. Why would you cut\nspecialized workforce that are helping support the growth of GDP?\nBecause you want to basically cut those technical workers at the same\ntime you are putting on tariffs?\n  In 2023, the National Institute of Health awarded $1.2 billion in\nhighly competitive grants to the State of Washington--65 different\norganizations. This supported 12,000 jobs and generated $3 billion in\neconomic activity. But DOGE wants to cap the overhead expenses of\nresearch. University of Washington Medicine tells me that this would\nleave them with shortfalls and that they might have to stop clinical\ntrials that are underway. You can't just stop medical research like it\nis a faucet.\n  Once halted, the research, the data, the clinical trials, the\npatients, the laboratories, the equipment, all that led to innovation--\nwill be lost. You think you just turn that back on? You know, these\nkinds of ideas sound great, but they are not well thought out. It is\nliterally throwing tax dollars away.\n  Tonight, my guest at the State of the Union will be Dr. Paul Lange\nfrom the University of Washington. With support of Federal funding, Dr.\nLange helped develop early detection tests for prostate cancer. Because\nof these tests and other treatment breakthroughs, we have seen a\ndecrease in the death rate from prostate cancer. From 1993 to 2022, it\ndropped by one-half--significant progress.\n  That is why we need research dollars to save lives. Similarly,\nWashington State University researchers actively test on novel drug\ntreatment for advanced prostate cancer at Sharma Lab. If its work is\ndisrupted, they say that ``risk potentially is high, not being able to\nreplace data, and endangering the ultimate viability of potentially\nlifesaving treatments.''\n  There are lives that might not be saved because of these budget cuts.\nSo it is time that Congress gets involved, that we fight for the\nscience that we believe will save lives, move our country forward and\ngrow our GDP, and help our farmers by stopping these trade wars, and\nputting our farmers back in charge of growing an economy for the\nfuture.\n  I hope that we don't cut ARS funding that USDA depends on. I hope\nthat we will give hope to our future constituents and the growth that\nwe need to grow our economy instead of cutting our opportunity.\n  I yield the floor.\n\n[[Page S1477]]\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.\n  (The remarks of Mrs. Britt pertaining to the submission of S. 846 and\nS. 847 are printed in today's Record under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')\n  Mrs. BRITT. I yield the floor.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2025-03-04-pt1-PgS1471"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 5.952398059889674, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}