Senate
Page S2773 · Official textThe Senate met at 3 p.m. and was called to order by the President pro tempore (Mr. Grassley).
Monday, June 15, 2026
Vol. 172, No. 100 · 119th Congress, 2nd session
Prayer
Page S2773 · Official textThe Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following prayer: Let us pray. Mighty God, today, bless our Senators. Let Your Word be a lamp for their feet and a light for their path so they do not walk in darkness or in haste. Lord, shape their desires to match Your purposes. Where they are anxious, bring peace. Where they are weak, bring strength. Where they are uncertain, bring clarity. Grant them wisdom that is not merely human insight but discernment that comes from above. Guard them from pride that blinds and pressure that distorts. Help them to seek truth over convenience, justice over comfort, and peace over war. We pray in Your precious Name. Amen.
Pledge of Allegiance
Page S2773 · Official textThe President pro tempore led the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows:
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I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Reservation of Leader Time
Page S2773 · Official textThe PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Budd)
Under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.
Morning Business
Page S2773 · Official textThe PRESIDING OFFICER
Under the previous order, the Senate will be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
The Senator from Iowa.
United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement
Page S2773 · Official textMr. President, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement has been in force for 6 years. It is scheduled for review--and renewal, I hope--now, and that process is going on. I have been here two or three times this year to discuss the importance of continuing the Mexico-Canada agreement with the United States.
This week, delegates from Mexico will be meeting with U.S. trade officials to discuss leveling the playing field in agriculture under the USMCA. I would like to discuss some specific issues that affect the country nationally but that also affect my State of Iowa.
In July of last year, the United States ended the Tomato Suspension Agreement with Mexico. In direct response, the Mexican Government launched an investigation into the American pork industry. That is what affects my State of Iowa. Not only has the ending of the suspension agreement led to a tit for tat between the United States and Mexico, but it has opened the door to the issue of seasonality of fresh produce.
The effects of this issue stretch way and far beyond the southernmost regions of the United States--even up to my State of Iowa, where covered produce growers have been negatively impacted by the end of the tomato agreement.
While the USMCA meetings on agriculture take place, I hope that our U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Greer and others on his team take into consideration all the produce growers across the United States and especially the potential impact of Mexico's investigation of the U.S. pork industry. This is particularly important for my State of Iowa, as my State is the top producing State in the entire country, and Mexico is the No. 1 export market for American pork, with over $22 billion in exports last year alone. These issues must be resolved quickly for farmers who rely on this important market.
The USMCA has been an important trade agreement for Iowa agriculture. While there are areas for improvement, I urge the Trump administration to quickly advance trilateral conversations on renewing it. And I think it should be renewed. It is a big deal for all three countries, and it is a particularly big deal for American agriculture.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognition of the Majority Leader
Page S2773 · Official textThe PRESIDING OFFICER
The majority leader is recognized.
Nomination of Walter Clayton
Pages S2773–S2774 · Official textMr. President, on Thursday President Trump nominated Jay Clayton the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York to be the Director of National Intelligence. He has an impressive resume with experience in both the public sector and the private sector, and he has the kind of skill set necessary for managing issues as complex and varied as those faced by the Director of National Intelligence.
For some perspective from the other side of the aisle, the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee noted on Thursday, and I quote:
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I have known and respected Jay Clayton for many years and believe he is a capable public servant.
Republicans here in the Senate have built a record of acting quickly on the President's nominees, and we are going to do the same with Mr. Clayton. The Senate Intelligence Committee has already announced that it will hold a hearing on Mr. Clayton's nomination this week.
Once he is approved by the committee, it is my intention to bring his nomination to the floor very quickly, and I hope we will have bipartisan support for making that happen.
While we didn't know exactly when it would arrive, we knew a nomination like Mr. Clayton's was coming. How? Because the President made it very clear that his choice of Bill Pulte for Acting Director of National Intelligence was a temporary pick.
Despite this, Democrats decided to hold section 702 of FISA hostage over Mr. Pulte's temporary, short-term appointment. Thanks to their decision, as of Friday, this program authorization has lapsed.
What does that mean? It means the Nation is currently operating without the full capacity of its most critical intelligence-gathering tool. Let that sink in for just a minute. Thanks to Democrats' actions, the Nation is currently operating without the full capacity of its most critical intelligence-gathering tool all over a short-term, temporary Presidential appointment.
You certainly don't have to take my word for it on the importance of the 702 program to the security of our Nation. Let me just read a few quotes from my Democratic colleagues last time we were in danger of having the program authorization lapse. This was from the Democrat leader:
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[T]his very important tool for ensuring our national security is going to lapse, and that would be unacceptable.
From the senior Democrat from Delaware, and I quote again:
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This program is critical to the security of our nation, and we could not permit it to lapse.
From the senior Democrat from New Mexico, and I quote again:
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As a member of the Intelligence Committee, I've learned the vital role that FISA's Section 702 authority plays in bolstering our nation's ability to effectively fight terrorism, disrupt foreign cyberattacks, impede drug trafficking, and protect U.S. troops. For our national security and the safety of the American people, it is simply too important of a tool to let it expire.
Well, just last week the Democrat vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee called section 702, and I quote again:
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[O]ne of the most important intelligence tools [that] we have.
And yet despite all this, despite my Democrat colleagues' clear awareness and acknowledgment of the importance of this program, they voted to let the authorization for this program lapse.
And what the consequences of that will be, we cannot fully predict. We do know information secured through this program has been repeatedly used to help protect our Nation and American lives from a range of threats from fentanyl to cyber attacks to terrorism. And that information from this program is used on a near daily basis by those entrusted with the defense of our country.
The Democrat vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee has himself referred to the suspension of FISA--and I quote again--"a high-risk proposition."
So while we can't know the consequences of Democrats' decision to allow section 702 authorization to lapse, we do know it is almost certainly putting our Nation at greater risk. And I hope and pray that my Democrat colleagues will rethink their decision to take this program hostage and to restore this key safeguard of our country's security.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Daca
Pages S2774–S2775 · Official textMr. President, I just left a rally across the street. There are probably 200 young people there. And it was a rally because today is the 14th anniversary of the creation of something called DACA. The story behind it is worth repeating.
It was more than 21 years ago that I introduced a bill called the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act said if you were a child--infant, toddler, young child--brought to this country by your parents, you ought to deserve a chance--you deserve a chance--to aspire to become a citizen in the United States. But it is a path that you have to fight and walk down personally.
I introduced the DREAM Act. I have called for it on the floor of the Senate several times over the last 20 years. I have gotten a majority vote, but I never could hit that magic number of 60 at the right moment.
There came a time when a new Senator came to this Chamber to join me in Illinois with an unusual name: Barack Obama. He was my colleague, my junior Senator, and he was a cosponsor of the DREAM Act, which I just described to you.
The time came, in 2008, when he was elected President of the United States. I had hoped, with his leadership and help, we could finally pass the DREAM Act. But fate didn't give us that opportunity.
There came a time when I realized I had to appeal to him personally to help us with these young people, so that they wouldn't be deported, and he did. I wrote a letter with Richard Lugar, a Republican Senator from Indiana, to President Obama. Then, on a bipartisan basis, we asked him to do something by Executive order to protect these young children from being deported.
He created DACA, and the DACA Program was very straightforward. By Executive order, if you were one of those people brought to the United States as a child and you were living in this country and had no strikes against you--anything serious--you ought to deserve a chance to work without fear of deportation. That is what DACA is. It allows the individuals who qualify to work in this country without fear of being deported.
President Obama signed that Executive order 14 years ago today. Mr. President, 835,000 individuals are protected by DACA, protected from deportation and arrest--835,000.
Who are they? Teachers, nurses, caregivers. They do a myriad of jobs, but they do them all proud to be a part of America.
And every 2 years, they have to be examined again to continue with DACA. Every 2 years, they have to pay a $600 filing fee to go through a background check--a criminal background check--to make sure they are no danger to anyone. They have to pass that every 2 years.
Now, what has happened under President Trump is the worst. What they have done is to shut off this renewal of DACA status for these thousands of people as they become due. It means that many of them are now being deported by Trump--by President Trump--and his administration.
I have heard his speeches so many times I can repeat sections of it. He said he was going to go after the undocumented immigrants in America. He was going after the rapists, the murderers, the terrorists, the criminally insane, and those who prey on our children.
Well, that doesn't apply to DACA at all. Each of these individuals has gone through a thorough background check--a criminal background check--and they don't have anything like that in their background. If something terrible should occur involving them, I would be the first to say they have to be forced out of this country and leave. But for those who were brought here as children, who really want to be part of our future, this is their only chance.
So I left the rally across the street, in the shadow of the Capitol, with hundreds of DACA recipients who are asking for protection to continue, which they believe that they are entitled to under the law.
The courts--the Federal courts--have ordered this administration to start renewing DACA applications. The administration ignores them and doesn't do it. That, to me, is wrong--just plain wrong.
When you think that these kids grew up in America, went to their classroom every day and pledged allegiance to that flag, believing they were part of this great Nation, you must believe, as I do, that they deserve a chance to prove it. Many of them are doing it to this day.
So there will be several of my colleagues joining me on the floor a little later this afternoon to talk about DACA.
But this is an important program for over 800,000 individuals who are critically important to America's future, and I hope that we can find a way in our hearts to realize they are not the worst of the worst. In many cases, they are the best of the best. All they are asking for is a chance to be part of America's future.
Iran
Page S2775 · Official textMr. President, on a separate topic, over the weekend, we learned that the United States and Iran had reached a preliminary deal to end the current conflict. While I am glad that we might be seeing an end to the hostilities, I am deeply concerned about what might be in that agreement.
What was announced was only an end to the fighting, Iran's stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. blockade--moves that return us to the status quo before the President's invasion of Iran, over 100 days ago. In fact, after months of being promised an imminent deal by President Trump, the current loose framework stunningly avoids critical issues related to Iran's nuclear program. Don't you remember that was the reason he gave for invading this country?
And from what was being reported, the terms and the sanctions relief sound very similar to an agreement which was reached by President Obama and the Iranian people, before the election of Donald Trump--the JCPOA.
Let me be clear. Iran and its proxies and its nuclear program are all threats to the United States and its allies. But did we really start a war to return to the same deal President Trump abandoned during his first term as President? Is that it?
Now, I have heard my colleagues lament the Obama-era deal was weak and ineffective, compared to what President Trump has negotiated.
Let's be clear on the key points from that Obama agreement. It severely restricted Iran's enrichment capabilities, notably extending nuclear weapon breakout time. It also included some of the most intrusive inspections ever agreed to--international inspections of Iran during the Obama administration.
In fact, I hosted the IAEA Director General a number of times in my office. I sat across from him and asked him point-blank: Are there any doors locked? Are there any doors blocked that you can't get into to find out what is going on?
He said: No. Every time we identify anything like that, they open the doors.
Inspections, though difficult, were working.
The deal included the backing of the P5+1 nations under President Obama. He didn't go it alone, as President Trump did in his invasion of Iran. The nations that joined in supporting the JCPOA of President Obama included, of all things, Russia and China. Today, we stand alone in our negotiations with Iran.
The Obama agreement included specific wording, which said:
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Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop, or acquire any nuclear weapons.
I was watching one of the television shows yesterday. One of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle obviously missed this point. He said there was no guarantee in terms of nuclear weapons in Iran.
Well, there was never a guarantee, but there was a pledge and a promise--an enforceable one--and enforceable inspections.
It sounds to me, under the best case scenario, in which all enriched uranium--the most dangerous of which was developed under Trump, after he withdrew from the JCPOA--is removed from Iran, we are simply moving toward the same type of agreement all over again, at a cost of billions of dollars to the American taxpayer.
I sure hope my Republican colleagues, who so loudly objected to the JCPOA, will scrutinize Trump's deal with the same zeal and that we have just that opportunity, because we passed a measure, back during the early Obama negotiations, called the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.
Several Senators joined in that effort and won. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia still serves in this body.
This was bipartisan legislation, passed overwhelmingly in 2015, which will apply to any new agreement with Iran. The law requires the administration to submit to Congress, within 5 days, any agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, after which the Foreign Relations Committees will hold hearings. And then Congress can vote to approve or disapprove the deal.
So I look forward to a close look at what the final deal looks like. And if, as predicted, it is similar to what Trump abandoned, we have to ask ourselves whether this war was really worth the American lives and the cost in American servicemembers.
Nomination of Justin D. Smith
Pages S2775–S2776 · Official textMr. President, on a separate issue, the Senate will soon vote on the confirmation of one of the President's personal attorneys to the Federal appellate court. If it sounds familiar, it is because we have seen it before.
Last summer, the Senate confirmed another of the President's personal attorneys, Emil Bove, to be on the Third Circuit. It was previously unheard of for a President to do anything like this, but those rules are out the window.
That is why the President nominated Todd Blanche, who represented him in cases that were filed against him, to serve as the next Attorney General. And that is why President Trump nominated Justin Smith, who is currently representing him in civil cases brought by E. Jean Carroll.
Ms. Carroll is one of dozens of women who have come forward to credibly accuse the President--credibly accuse the President--of sexual assault. In Ms. Carroll's lawsuits, juries found President Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Ms. Carroll nearly $90 million in damages. And that is being appealed.
But this conflict of interest raises serious questions. These are lifetime appointments to Federal judgeships--lifetime appointments which have to be given to people who have been carefully scrutinized. We have not done that when it comes to Mr. Smith. We can do better.
Mr. Smith has filed numerous briefs and motions in which he has challenged the verdicts against the President. While all litigants deserve a zealous advocate, Mr. Smith repeatedly attacked Ms. Carroll--a sexual assault survivor--in court filings. Mr. Smith baselessly dismissed Ms. Carroll's allegations as "facially implausible" and " politically motivated." He also falsely claimed that her allegations are a story that precisely matches the plotline from an episode of one of admittedly her favorite TV shows, `Law & Order'."
In addition to these lawsuits, Mr. Smith assisted in President Trump's defense in defense in Trump v. United States, the Presidential immunity case. But even apart from Mr. Smith's personal representations of the President, his record shows he is too ideological and too extreme for the Federal bench. Mr. Smith was an election denier long before he was hired by President Trump. While working in the Missouri Attorney General's Office, he joined the baseless effort to challenge the results of the 2020 election. When asked about this, he told the Judiciary Committee he was "proud to add [his] name" to that effort, once again demonstrating his loyalty to President Trump over the rule of law. During his legal career, in both government service and private practice, Mr. Smith has repeatedly worked to restrict abortion rights and the rights of LGBTQ Americans. His personal commentary on those subjects shows that his efforts reflect not only his legal positions but also his personal beliefs. In a blog post, Mr. Smith wrote: The Republican Party must have positions painted in bold colors on the critical issues that face this country. Abortion is murder. Gay marriage is sin." He added: On these core principles of our party, there must be no equivocation. When asked whether he still holds these beliefs about abortion and same-sex marriage, Mr. Smith refused to condemn them. Those words are unbefitting of a judge and reveal a level of bias and partisanship that is unacceptable in a judicial nominee.
Mr. Smith also has extensive rightwing political affiliations and ties to dark money entities. He has volunteered on dozens of Republican campaigns and participated in numerous events sponsored by conservative groups. He has also served as a board member of several Republican-aligned organizations, including super PAC and entities affiliated with Leonard Leo. Mr. Smith's record makes his extreme ideology and partisanship clear. It is equally clear that President Trump believes Mr. Smith will continue to place the interests of the President ahead of the interest of justice and the rule of law if he is confirmed. I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing his nomination.
I yield the floor.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
Page S2776 · Official textThe PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Britt)
The Democratic leader is recognized.
Iran
Page S2776 · Official textMadam President, Senate Democrats have been unwavering in calling for an immediate end to Trump's war with Iran, and we will continue to do so until his blunder is well and truly over.
For more than 100 days, I have come to this floor to denounce Trump's reckless and dangerous Iran war and demand its end. Now, it has been nearly 24 hours since Trump announced there was a potential deal with Iran, and we still don't know the details.
We have been told dozens of times that this war is over, and dozens of times we have been disappointed. There have been divergent statements from a variety of people in the administration. In these high-stakes negotiations, the devil is in the details. But Trump hasn't even revealed the text of his "understanding" with Iran. The American people need to know exactly what is in the deal. Trump must brief Congress and the public on the details of his understanding with Iran immediately and end this war once and for all.
Instead, Americans still have more questions than answers: Will our troops remain in harm's way? How does Trump plan to achieve any of the stated goals of his reckless war? What is the plan for the proposed "60 days of negotiations"?
There are still many unknowns about Trump's negotiations with Iran, but we know this for certain: We are worse off than before Trump began this foolish war of choice. The Iranian regime is more radical than before Trump began his war. Iran has more control over the Strait of Hormuz today than before the war began. Gasoline prices are still dramatically higher than before the war and will remain so for a long time.
Americans are scratching their heads wondering what we have accomplished in Iran. Make no mistake, the longer this war drags on, the worse all of this will get.
The biggest question Americans had at the beginning of this war was, What would Donald Trump get out of it and at what cost? But Trump answered that question: Thus far, nothing and at an enormous cost.
Fisa
Page S2776 · Official textMadam President, now on Pulte and FISA and the SAVE Act, Senate Democrats have made it clear that however long Trump wants Bill Pulte to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence is too long. Every minute Pulte spends as DNI is a minute he could spend undermining our national security and politicizing our intelligence community. No one wants his eyes or hands on this document, given his recklessness, his attack-dog stance whenever it comes to Trump.
The 18 U.S. intelligence Agencies are simply too important to entrust to someone as inexperienced, as blindly loyal to Trump, and as blind to facts as Bill Pulte, and that is not what we need in a DNI.
Trump's absurd demand to tie his radical SAVE Act--restricting Americans' voting rights--to FISA is also deeply reckless and demonstrates his true motives. The SAVE Act is perhaps the most vicious piece of anti-voting rights legislation Trump has ever come up with and it will not pass and it will not save FISA, Donald Trump.
Once again, Trump proves he has no problem undermining America's national security if he thinks it will help him politically.
(The remarks of Mr. SCHUMER pertaining to the introduction of S. 4781 are printed in today's Record under "Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.")
Nomination of Justin D. Smith
Page S2776 · Official textMadam President, Trump's Eighth Circuit nominee, with his nomination of Justin Smith to the Eighth Circuit Court, Donald Trump continues--continues--to stack our courts with judges whose only qualification is their complete loyalty to him and his extreme far-right agenda. Smith checks all of Trump's boxes.
Smith currently serves as Trump's lead counsel in his case against E. Jean Caroll, who received $90 million after jurors found Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her.
Smith also helped prepare Trump's lead counsel for the Supreme Court case to grant the President absolute immunity to break the law.
A longtime Republican operative, Smith once wrote in 2007 that "abortion is murder, gay marriage is a sin . . . and on these principles of our party, there must be no equivocation."
In keeping with Trump's efforts to undermine America's elections, Smith also supported efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. Trump's nomination of Smith to the Eighth Circuit is part of his effort to undermine the rights of American people and to turn our justice system into a rubberstamp for his egregious crimes. I strongly urge a "no" vote from my colleagues.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The Senator from Alaska.
Iran
Pages S2776–S2779 · Official textMadam President, like so many of us here in the Senate and really across the country, I think we have all been watching the news this weekend to see whether or not we would have an announcement from the Trump administration on a possible agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ensure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon, among other objectives. I think the news this morning was promising, and we are all waiting to see what the contours of that agreement will be.
We can debate the way the administration started this war, but I certainly stand here today genuinely wishing the administration all the best in ending this on favorable terms. It would clearly be good for the region and it would be good for the world if the Iranian regime stops funding terror and permanently abandons its nuclear ambitious. I think we can all agree to that.
Yes, while there appears to be a final agreement, we haven't seen it yet. We want to have a good deal from the U.S. perspective. We are going to learn more this week. As we do that, I hope that things will begin to reopen and that we will be able to stave off what has been rapidly approaching in our energy markets, and that is what I want to speak to more directly today.
We know the basics here. All across the country, people and businesses are just paying a lot more for fuel. We have seen the prices go down a little bit today--that is good news--but the fact of the matter is, we have all felt the impact from rising prices.
The price of oil went up substantially during the war, and so did the price of gasoline, the price of diesel, of kerosene, of avgas, and other fuels as well. That is taking a toll. It is simply more expensive to drive, and it is more expensive to fly and to buy groceries. According to one estimate, the average American household has paid nearly $400 more for fuel since the start of the conflict.
As tough as that all is--and it has been. It has been very hard for many families. But it has also been somewhat tempered. For the past couple months, we have been emptying ships with fuel that had already transited the Strait of Hormuz. Some regional flows have been rerouted to bypasses. That has been good in terms of getting product out there. Some producers-- particularly here in the United States--have clearly stepped up their production, and we have seen how that has been able to soften things. China has reduced its imports, and refiners have adjusted their runs. So there has been a lot that has been going on in really trying to work to soften this impact. We have also tapped into commercial stocks and our emergency reserves through the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
We have benefited from some sound policies that this country has put in place. It was not too many years ago that I was very proud to be able to lead the effort to lift the ban on crude oil exports, which, as we have seen, has greatly stabilized the markets here.
So far, we have avoided the energy crisis that many thought inevitable after so much global supply went offline, but I don't think we are out of the woods yet. Global oil inventories are now dangerously low, and many in the industry are sounding the alarm, and they are telling us things like: We are running out of runway here; that we have depleted our buffers and our shock absorbers; that inventories have declined to levels not seen for 40-plus years. And once no cushion is left, it is just really hard--it is hard to keep those prices down when you don't have the absorber here. I hope we are going to be able to avoid that, absolutely, because the consequences could be catastrophic in some places.
As a Senator from Alaska, I am keenly aware that even if most of the country is able to avoid the worst, there are some who won't be able to escape it. In fact, some are already living through it, and they are living in my home State right now in communities like Ambler and Galena and Mountain Village. What they are seeing is the impact of these rising prices that unfortunately are high now, but it is really hard for them to see relief in sight.
Even if the Strait of Hormuz fully opens this week, even if regional production and shipping come back much faster than projected, these Alaskans in these communities and around my State will continue to face the repercussions of this war and will for months to come. It is them that I want to draw attention to because, quite honestly, they need some help. They need and deserve help from every level of government--starting in Alaska and primarily from the State of Alaska but extending to some reasonable actions we can take here.
Let me explain. How is the war in Iran impacting towns and villages more than 6,000 miles away in Alaska so much more so than in other places? Because I am hearing from all my colleagues that everyone is feeling the impact in their communities. So why am I standing here today to say that our situation is just a little bit harder, a little bit more challenging now, and why will those impacts continue even after the war is over?
So we can't have a discussion about Alaskan communities without putting it in context of the whole. Alaska is big. We all know Alaska is big--one-fifth the size of the United States of America. If you stretched Alaska over the lower 48 States, we would stretch from Florida all the way to these Aleutian Islands, all the way out to California, practically from the Canadian border going south. It is big, and in the midst of all this big geography, we have some 200 isolated communities around the State--20 percent of our total population--that are not connected by a road system.
So all these that you are seeing here, all around the outline and the perimeter of the State, all the way up to the North Slope--all that--not connected by road, right? And down here in the section of the State where I grew up, this is all island, so nobody is connected by a road there. So you have the panhandle and the Aleutians and all of your coastline here that is not connected by road.
And so they are supplied by way of boats and planes to bring in the goods, to bring in food, the medical supplies, their mail, and their fuel, the fuel that they rely on. So many of these particularly small coastal communities, they are diesel-powered generation. So they rely on diesel to be able to keep their lights on. And sometimes they are offset by a little bit of wind, maybe a little bit of solar, but for the most part many of those communities are diesel-powered, so they rely on this as their fuel supply.
So how do you get your fuel? It is not like you can just call up the fuel barge any time of year--because once you get around here, you run into ice-choked waters all the way up to the top, rivers frozen over. And so in order to deliver the fuel, you have to wait until the ice has moved out, the ice has moved out of the area, melted.
And so this is the time of year. It is hotter than dickens here in Washington, DC, but back home the ice has really just left a matter of weeks ago to allow for these fuel barges to get up into this region to start resupplying these communities. So effectively what happens is, for most of these coastal communities and our river communities--the Kuskokwim coming up here and the Yukon coming up here is going all the way into Canada. For many of those communities, they get their fuel by the barges that come in here. They lighter on and take them up into smaller barges all the way up to rivers. So it may be July before they get the fuel, but it has really just started now, in June, where you see the first fuel delivered.
The second delivery is going to come typically in September before freezeup. And sometimes, in many of the river communities, it is just fuel delivery once a year because the water in the rivers may be low enough that you are not able to make it up all the way.
So it is expensive, right, if you have to haul all this. And I don't have my other map, but, you know, the State of Alaska is sitting right up here. We have to go through Canada. We have to go through the Gulf of Alaska, around through the Aleutians, to get all the way up. Transportation costs are high. So fuel was expensive even in these communities before the war.
So if you think $4 a gallon in Denver is bad, try $9 a gallon in Dillingham. Four dollars a gallon is bad in New Hampshire, but up here in Nuiqsut, it is about $14 a gallon. And these are prices that I had my interns check just last week. So these are the current prices. These are the current prices before we have had the spring barges coming in.
So think about what is happening in these communities. And in the hubs, like down here in Bethel or here in Nome or up in Kotzebue, the fuel barges--the spring barges--are arriving. And so the fuel prices that I just mentioned--$9 a gallon in Dillingham or $14 in Nuiqsut--those prices are going to go up. We are looking at estimates of perhaps 50 percent or more. So this is sticker shock.
It is tough enough to see the increase with those spring barge prices coming on, but then, keep in mind, this is not just a blip. This is not just a temporary increase. These prices are going to last for months because that is the only way they can buy their fuel. They buy it in bulk. So these shipments have to last them either for the rest of the summer, through September; or, again, for some, it has to last them through the end of the year.
So what happens is they are locked into the fuel prices that they have paid in just the past month, 6 weeks, 2 months. They had to lock in at these high prices.
So the hubs are facing strains, but costs are going to be even higher for the communities that are upriver or inland from them. And not every situation is going to be the same, but you are probably going to have to add another couple of dollars per gallon for most of those folks that are inland. In the King Salmon area, right around down in here, you have got a small road that connects you to Naknek. I will be going there in a couple weeks. You can get groceries at the AC store, but it is a 15-mile drive each way and fuel is running about $9.11 per gallon. So you think about it; you don't just run off to the stores to go get some milk. It is not a cheap commute.
In Hooper Bay--here--where fuel costs almost $10 a gallon, residents are now paying $550 to fill up their fuel tanks. That is going to translate to more than $1,000 a month this winter. And, again, even if the oil prices continue to fall, as we have seen just from the news this weekend--again, that is good, but my fear is that these communities that we are seeing and I am talking about are not going to be able to benefit from it because, again, they had to buy when the prices were high, and they are locked in now. So time just didn't work in their favor.
It takes about 3 months from the time of refinery order to deliver in upriver villages. So they couldn't just sit back and say: Well, we are just going to wait and see how this all plays out and hope for lower prices--because, if they do that, they risk not getting any fuel at all as we get closer to winter, the sea ice returning, and you are locked out. Then the only solution is flying fuel in 50-gallon barrels at a time. That is expensive.
So it is hard right now. And we seek to avoid the worst of the worst, but for some communities this has just been a really hard time. These are small communities. Some don't have the working capital to pay 50 percent more for their fuel. Again, so some are actually waiting and risking bad outcomes this winter because, again, they just might not be in a position to be able to buy their fuel.
Rural Alaska has faced an affordability crisis for some time. So when it suddenly intensifies like this, I don't even know--I don't even know what we would call it. But I can tell you this much. If you live in one of these rural towns and villages, you are wondering: How am I going to make it?
How am I going to make it? Because this is the time of year where you need to be able to put--you need to fuel up your skiff to go upriver to go fishing so you can feed your family--because what you can get in the store was expensive before and is now more expensive. You need to be able to go out hunting for caribou, and so you need to be able to fill up your four-wheeler.
But, again, these are challenges that we have faced. And it is not only about food security. You are trying to figure out where else can I cut back because we have got to have the fuel in order to make it through the winter. None of these places are easy places to live--and particularly in the winter.
I got a letter just today--in fact, just a couple of hours ago--from one of the leaders from the AVCP region, and she starts off by saying "It is not too often that I am scared, but today I am." And she speaks to the challenge of higher fuel costs, the concerns that they have with regards to accessing salmon and just being able to provide for their families. And I talk a lot about the rural communities because their situation is just so challenged right now, but it is not just in rural Alaska that we are seeing the concerns. Every Alaskan is feeling it. In Fairbanks, in the interior, where I went to high school, the local utility has, just last month, announced a new fuel surcharge for customers. It is averaging almost $50--$45.74 a month. Again, that is an add-on to already high utility bills.
These are the issues that emerge when your home State's ability to responsibly produce its resources has been choked off for decades, resulting in a pipeline system that is one-quarter full, less instate refinery capacity that you would otherwise have, and less space in the budget to build out new energy systems.
So my final point today is these folks, these Alaskans, are going to need some help. As I said, most of that should come from the State of Alaska because, in fairness, our budget has benefited from the war. Our State's treasury has been helped because of the higher prices of oil. And I do commend our State legislature. They have already passed legislation to provide a $200 energy rebate to each Alaskan. They have doubled the cap on a bulk fuel revolving loan program. They appropriated more funding to it. They have made an allocation to school districts to purchase fuel. And they have brought back some community assistance programs. So I am pleased with some of the direction that they have taken. We are waiting for the Governor to sign those measures. But I think there is a possibility that our State legislature could do more in a future special session.
Here at the Federal level, I think we will have an opportunity to complement their actions, to help those hurt most dramatically, most immediately, by higher fuel costs. We can do things within some of the existing programs that we have. We can provide full funding and emergency contingency funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP. We can also appropriate funding for USDA's High Energy Cost Grants Program. The Denali Commission in Alaska administers this. We can look at a new mechanism to provide temporary assistance to those who are grappling with perhaps some of the heaviest of burdens.
And we can help, and I want to underscore that. So as this Chamber considers an Iran supplemental to replenish missiles, interceptors, radars, drones, and the infrastructure that we have lost, I would hope that some of these options might be on the table because, for some of our fellow Americans--especially those in rural Alaska--the impacts of this war won't end when a peace agreement is signed; it is going to continue long after, making life even more challenging.
So I share this with colleagues in an effort to explain some of what we face in a place that many feel is far away and very remote. But I would also suggest that we all have rural places in our States. We all have those communities that are challenged right now. So how we are there for them as they face these matters within their own families, to be there for them, is why we are here.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The Senator from California.
Madam President, today marks the 14th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, known across the country as DACA.
As a Senator from California--home to thousands of Dreamers and DACA recipients--I stand here to acknowledge the enormous impact of DACA, a program that has provided more than 800,000 young people a shot at the American dream--a chance to form families, buy a home, attend college, achieve a career, and pursue their dreams--and a chance to feel safe in the only place they have ever called home.
Today, we also reflect on the road ahead as we seek to achieve a permanent solution for Dreamers--a pathway to citizenship.
Most Dreamers arrived in the United States as children and have grown up in the United States and spent the vast majority of their lives here. DACA recipients--one of every four of whom lives in California--are part of the fabric of our communities and essential to our economy. They are interwoven in the very fabric of our society. They are our doctors, our teachers, our nurses, and our engineers. They are our neighbors and contribute nearly $17 billion to the U.S. economy annually. They are our family and friends. They want to be our fellow citizens.
Despite the relief this program has provided in the past, hundreds of thousands of Dreamers and DACA recipients live day to day facing an oppressive uncertainty. They have faced that for years, living from one court case to the next, one Presidential whim to the next. With each passing anniversary, we are reminded how fragile this lifeline has turned out to be.
Because of this administration's draconian immigration policies, thousands of Dreamers and many others are living in a constant state of fear of deportation. Since the program was created, Republicans have tried to strip DACA recipients of their protections, repeatedly attacking the program in the courts, failing to support comprehensive immigration reform, refusing DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship, and creating significant delays in their ability to renew their status and work authorizations.
Right now, many DACA recipients are being forced out of their status and losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Under this administration, 261 recipients have been detained--261 DACA recipients detained--and dozens have been deported.
In March, I met with Maria, a DACA recipient from Sacramento. Maria was wrongly detained and deported just 24 hours after what she thought would be a routine immigration appointment. She has lived in the United States for nearly 30 years. Yet, even with her DACA protections, she was deported and separated from her daughter, causing enormous pain and fear. She is now back in the United States after a judge ruled her deportation unlawful, but this never should have happened in the first place.
Every month, I receive alarming letters from constituents concerned that their DACA status is going to be taken away and they will be separated from their family and friends.
Elidio, a DACA recipient from the Bay area, wrote in a letter to me:
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I was recently diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, and I was inquiring if you can help out with an inquiry on the timetable of the process. My work authorization is set to expire soon, and with it, the prospects of losing my health insurance, which I deeply rely on.
His life, his very life, depends on the renewal of his DACA application.
Another of my constituents, Ravina from the Inland Empire, wrote to express frustrations and deep concerns with ongoing renewal delays, which have already negatively impacted them. They came to this country as a 1-year-old. Now they are a civil engineer, living what they called "a dream come true" and contributing to California's vital infrastructure and transportation sectors. But that dream has always carried with it the threat of expiration due to processing delays and the uncertainty of the program.
Ravina's work permit lapsed due to deliberate delays on the part of this administration, and they are now on mandatory leave and at risk of losing their job entirely. They want to work. They want a stable future. They want, as with all DACA recipients, certainty--certainty that from one day to another, they will not be forced to leave this country, their home.
Another of my constituents, Marco from the Southern California area, also wrote to me, worried about the future. He works for a local health department while going to school to obtain a degree in microbiology. Since he doesn't qualify for Federal student aid, he is paying everything out of pocket, working while a student to get by. Without his work authorization, he could lose his job and ultimately be forced to drop out of college.
These stories are real. Their constant worry is real. These Dreamers just want a permanent fix and a pathway forward.
My constituent services team is working diligently to assist DACA recipients with their applications, but we need something more permanent. We need to provide Dreamers a pathway to citizenship in this country and ensure that they and their families are not living in limbo, that they have the certainty they need to achieve the American dream.
Just recently, Congress voted to give ICE and CBP a budget so astronomical that it rivals the military budget of many industrialized countries--all in the service of a draconian immigration enforcement agenda that is anything but American. And this comes at a time when, instead of addressing our Nation's challenges, American taxpayers are being forced to give even more to ICE and Border Patrol agents--more money to fuel a cruel immigration policy and raids that are separating families; more money for an out-of-control Federal police force without a modicum of accountability, including agents that have killed American citizens in cold blood, in broad daylight, on video, for exercising their constitutionally protected right to free speech. These agents have broken into homes. They have refused to show their faces or their badges and have ripped children from their parents.
If we can afford $70 billion more for these agents, why can't we afford a clear path for Dreamers? Why can't we afford to process work applications in a timely way? But of course we can if there is the will to do it. This administration could start fixing the delays that DACA recipients are facing. This won't just help families across the country; it will also help stabilize the workforce and boost our economy.
But Congress itself needs to act as well because we failed at every turn to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, and it is within our power to do so.
President Trump once said that he himself believed Dreamers needed protection. He once said:
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I'd love to be able to do something for them. . . . [T]hey should feel safe, but I'd like to be able to do something.
That was then. I guess we are living in a very different kind of now.
Nevertheless, this body should act. Members on both sides of the aisle should recommit today to work together to find a pathway to preserve, codify, and extend the DACA Program and provide all Dreamers a real pathway to citizenship.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The Senator from Kentucky.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the previously scheduled rollcall vote commence immediately.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Without objection, it is so ordered.
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR (Executive Session)
Page S2779 · Official textThe PRESIDING OFFICER
Under the previous order, the Senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report.
The senior assistant bill clerk read the nomination of Justin D. Smith, of Missouri, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit.
Vote on Smith Nomination (Executive Session)
Page S2779 · Official textThe PRESIDING OFFICER
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Smith nomination?
I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant bill clerk called the roll.
The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Curtis), the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis), and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell).
I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Lujan), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.
The result was announced--yeas 48, nays 43, as follows:
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Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Collins Cornyn Cotton Crapo Cruz Daines Ernst Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Marshall McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Paul Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tillis Tuberville Wicker Young
Alsobrooks Baldwin Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim Klobuchar Markey Merkley Murkowski Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Peters Reed Rosen Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Van Hollen Warner Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden
Bennet
Cramer
Curtis
King
Lujan
Lummis
McConnell
Sanders
Warnock
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ricketts). Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the President will be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.
Legislative Session
Page S2779 · Official textMr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The question is on agreeing to the motion.
The motion was agreed to.
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR (Executive Session)
Pages S2779–S2780 · Official textMr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 760.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The question is on agreeing to the motion.
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The clerk will report the nomination.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Michelle Steel, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Korea.
Cloture Motion (Executive Session)
Page S2780 · Official textMr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The cloture motion having been presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion (Executive Session)
Page S2780 · Official textWe, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Executive Calendar No. 760, Michelle Steel, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Korea. John Thune, Ted Budd, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Katie Boyd Britt, Thom Tillis, Roger Marshall, Rick Scott of Florida, Bernie Moreno, Mike Rounds, John Boozman, Joni Ernst, Jon A. Husted, Marsha Blackburn, Steve Daines, Shelley Moore Capito, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Pete Ricketts.
Legislative Session
Page S2780 · Official textMr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The question is on agreeing to the motion.
The motion was agreed to.
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR (Executive Session)
Page S2780 · Official textMr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 763.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The question is on agreeing to the motion.
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The clerk will report the nomination.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of George Holding, of North Carolina, to be United States Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Cloture Motion (Executive Session)
Page S2780 · Official textMr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The cloture motion having been presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
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We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Executive Calendar No. 763, George Holding, of North Carolina, to be United States Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
John Thune, Ted Budd, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Katie
Boyd Britt, Thom Tillis, Roger Marshall, Rick Scott of
Florida, Bernie Moreno, Mike Rounds, John Boozman, Joni
Ernst, Jon Husted, Marsha Blackburn, Steve Daines,
Shelley Moore Capito, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Pete Ricketts.
Legislative Session
Page S2780 · Official textMr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Recognizing the Triangle X Ranch Centennial
Pages S2780–S2781 · Official textMr. President, I rise today to celebrate the centennial of the Triangle X Ranch.
Located at the base of the Grand Teton Mountains in Moose, the Triangle X Ranch is a fully operational guest ranch. This Western icon has introduced thousands of visitors to Wyoming over the past ten decades.
Triangle X Ranch's centennial aligns with America's 250th anniversary. It took the same tenacity and bravery that America's founders demonstrated to forge a life out of the harsh Western frontier. These two milestones align in a way that allows us to honor the independence and hard work required to craft a life on a new frontier.
On June 20, 2026, Triangle X Ranch will celebrate its 100th anniversary as a successful ranching operation, serving five generations of the Turner family. Purchased on July 6, 1926, by John and Maytie Turner, the ranch has a storied history steeped in beauty and overcoming challenges.
That summer, John and Maytie packed up their lives in Morgan, UT, moving to the valley with their sons John C. and Burt. By the fall of 1926, they welcomed their first official guests: a group of big game hunters.
While game was abundant and the land was well suited for cattle, early life on the ranch presented its own challenges. Situated 26 miles out of town, the commute to Jackson was always long, and winter made it treacherous. Since the valley roads went unplowed, the family had no choice but to become fiercely self-sufficient.
For most of the winter, they were confined to the ranch. The infrequent trips to town required a covered horse-drawn sleigh, heated by a small wood stove. Without electricity on the ranch, the Turners relied on wood stoves to heat just two rooms of the main house. During the winter months, the family cut ice chunks from nearby beaver ponds and stored them in piles of sawdust for the summer.
In the late 1920s, the Turners sold the ranch property to John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s Snake River Land Company. The family negotiated the right to continue operating the Triangle X Ranch as a working dude ranch. In 1950, Congress expanded the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park, fully incorporating the Triangle X Ranch property and making it an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service. The ranch remains the last dude ranch within any National Park.
Today, the Triangle X Ranch is a top destination for visitors from around the world. As a premier dude ranch, it offers guests the opportunity to experience the cowboy lifestyle and immerse themselves in the beauty of the Jackson Hole Valley. Much like its early days, guests can take a horseback ride, hike, hunt, fish, or raft down the Snake River.
In addition to hosting guests, it also offers outfitting and guide services, pack trips, and big game hunts. Folks from around the world make the trip to Triangle X ranch to experience firsthand their own Western adventure and experience the grandeur Grand Teton National Park has to offer.
Triangle X Ranch's commitment to conservation is impressive. For generations, the ranch has been a leader in land stewardship efforts and wildlife management. Their guiding principle of caring for the land has also fostered conservation leaders.
John F. Turner served the State of Wyoming first in the State house and then the State senate from 1970-1989. John went on to serve as the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and then as the Assistant Secretary for the State of Oceans and International Environmental Affairs within the U.S. Department of State. He was instrumental in expanding the National Wildlife Refuge System and ensuring protection for millions of acres after seeing the benefits of quality management on the Triangle X Ranch.
Each member of the Turner family has been instrumental in preserving the Western legacy of the Triangle X Ranch. Their hard work and dedication have preserved the beauty and resilience of the ranch. The family successfully bridges the gap between the values of a working ranch and the luxury experience of a western dude ranch. Over the years, members of the family have dedicated their lives to the ranch, including:
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John S. and Maytie Turner John C. and Louise Turner Bert Turner Harold and Berniece Turner John F. and Mary Kay Turner Donald and Anne Turner Matt Turner John Turner Robert Turner John Tote Turner Kathyrn Turner Mark Turner Lucas Turner Elizabeth Turner
From humble beginnings to a legacy as one of the most iconic ranches of the West, Triangle X Ranch has preserved the true spirit of Wyoming cowboy culture. For generations, the ranch has embodied the cowboy code. Its deep family ties, incredible location and dedication to excellence have solidified its status as an icon of the American West.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Triangle X Ranch, I urge my colleagues to take part in celebrating the legacy of this iconic symbol of Wyoming and America. I applaud the Turner family who, for generations, has worked every day to ensure the ranch remains a leading Western destination. I join the Triangle X Ranch staff, friends, and family in celebrating this momentous anniversary.
Remembering Michael Johnson
Page S2781 · Official textMr. President, today I rise to recognize the life and legacy of Michael Johnson, a respected community leader, a dedicated advocate for young people, and a champion for opportunity throughout Wisconsin. Mr. Johnson's leadership, vision, and unwavering commitment to service transformed countless lives and helped build a stronger future for children and families across Dane County. His passing is a tremendous loss to the Madison community, Dane County, the State of Wisconsin, and to all those fortunate enough to know him.
Mr. Johnson was raised in Chicago, where he developed an early understanding of the challenges facing many young people and families. Those experiences shaped a lifelong commitment to creating opportunities for others. He believed deeply that every child deserves the chance to succeed, regardless of circumstance, and he dedicated his career to making that belief a reality.
Before coming to Wisconsin, Mr. Johnson worked with youth-serving organizations in Chicago, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. In 2010, he became president and chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County. Over the next 16 years, he transformed the organization into one of the region's most impactful nonprofit institutions. Under his leadership, the Boys & Girls Clubs expanded its reach, strengthened partnerships throughout the community, and increased its capacity to serve young people and their families.
Mr. Johnson understood that helping young people succeed required more than afterschool programs alone. He championed initiatives focused on education, workforce development, mentorship, and career readiness. Through partnerships with schools, businesses, and community organizations, Mr. Johnson helped create opportunities for students to pursue higher education, develop professional skills, and prepare for successful futures. Thousands of young people benefited from programs and services made possible through his vision and determination.
Among Mr. Johnson's most significant accomplishments was his vision for the McKenzie Regional Workforce Center. Recognizing both the growing demand for skilled trades workers and the need to create pathways to economic mobility for young people, he led the effort to develop a first-of-its-kind workforce training center in Dane County. Through years of planning, partnership-building, and fundraising, Mr. Johnson transformed an ambitious idea into reality. Today, the center provides hands-on training, industry certifications, and career preparation in high-demand skilled trades, creating opportunities for young people to build family-sustaining careers while helping address workforce shortages throughout the region. Mr. Johnson viewed the center not simply as a building, but as an investment in the future of Wisconsin's youth and a model for how communities can expand opportunity through innovation and collaboration.
Mr. Johnson also understood the importance of ensuring that young people see themselves reflected in the history and institutions around them. He played a leading role in the effort to establish the Vel Phillips Memorial Statue on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Capitol. Through his leadership and fundraising efforts, supporters from across Wisconsin came together to create a lasting tribute to Vel Phillips, a pioneering civil rights leader, jurist, and public servant whose groundbreaking achievements opened doors for generations of Wisconsinites. The unveiling of the statue marked a historic milestone for the State of Wisconsin and reflected Mr. Johnson's belief that honoring the accomplishments of trailblazing leaders can inspire future generations to pursue lives of service and leadership.
Mr. Johnson's impact extended far beyond the Boys & Girls Clubs. He became one of Madison's most trusted civic leaders and strongest advocates for building a more inclusive community. He brought together leaders from education, business, government, and nonprofit organizations to address challenges facing local families. Whether working to expand educational opportunities, strengthen neighborhoods, or create pathways to economic success, Mr. Johnson had a unique ability to unite people around a common purpose.
Those who knew Mr. Johnson often spoke of his gift for connecting with others. He believed in meeting people where they were and helping them realize their potential. He served as a mentor to countless young people and emerging leaders, offering encouragement, guidance, and support. His leadership was grounded in the belief that meaningful change comes from investing in people and empowering them to succeed.
While Mr. Johnson received many honors throughout his career, his greatest achievement was the lasting impact he made on the lives of others. The students who graduated, the families who found support, and the community leaders he inspired all stand as a testament to his life's work. His legacy can be seen throughout Dane County in the opportunities he helped create and the futures he helped shape.
Mr. Johnson was also a devoted husband, father, and family man. He carried the same compassion, integrity, and commitment into his personal life that he demonstrated in his professional career. His family, friends, colleagues, and community will remember him not only for what he accomplished, but for the kindness, optimism, and generosity he shared with others.
Mr. Johnson devoted his life to expanding opportunity and strengthening communities. His leadership helped countless young people imagine a brighter future and gave them the tools to pursue it. As we honor his life and mourn his passing, we celebrate a legacy of service that will continue to inspire generations to come. I am proud to join communities across Wisconsin in recognizing Michael Johnson's extraordinary contributions and the enduring legacy of his life's work.
Messages from the President
Page S2781 · Official textMessages from the President of the United States were communicated to the Senate by Mr. Hanley, one of his secretaries.
Executive Messages Referred
Page S2781 · Official textAs in executive session the Presiding Officer laid before the Senate messages from the President of the United States submitting sundry nominations which were referred to the appropriate committees. (The messages received today are printed at the end of the Senate proceedings.)
Measures Placed on the Calendar
Page S2781 · Official textThe following bill was read the first and second times by unanimous consent, and placed on the calendar:
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H.R. 3922. An act to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on existing programs, rules, and authorities that enable or inhibit wildfire mitigation across land ownership boundaries on Federal and non-Federal land, and for other purposes.
Enrolled Bill Presented
Page S2781 · Official textThe Secretary of the Senate reported that on June 15, 2026, she had presented to the President of the United States the following enrolled bill:
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S. 1003. An act to require the Federal Communications Commission to issue an order providing that a shark attack is an event for which a wireless emergency alert may be transmitted, and for other purposes.
Executive and Other Communications
Pages S2781–S2784 · Official textThe following communications were laid before the Senate, together with accompanying papers, reports, and documents, and were referred as indicated:
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EC-3789. A communication from the Chief, Office of Labor-Management Standards, Department of Labor, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Minor Child Definition for Form LM-30 Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report" (RIN1245-AA16) received in the Office of the President of the Senate on June 9, 2026; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
EC-3790. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-318, "2607 Connecticut Avenue NW and 4111 Kansas Avenue NW Timeline Extension and Tax Forgiveness Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3791. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-320, "Place-Based Substance Use Disorder Outreach Amendment Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3792. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-321, "Special Election in the Office of Delegate Amendment Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3793. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-322, "The Jewels Way Designation Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3794. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-323, "Lenora Baker Way Designation Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3795. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-324, "Closing of a Portion of a Public Alley and Establishment of a Building Restriction Line in Square 2319, S.O. 22-02364, Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3796. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-325, "Transfer and Recordation Tax Appeals Amendment Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3797. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-326, "Roland `Fatty' Taylor Way Designation Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3798. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-327, "Library E-Book Licensing Fairness Amendment Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3799. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-328, "Charlie McCormick Way Designation Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3800. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-329, "Ralph J. Bunche Way Designation Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3801. A communication from the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report on D.C. Act 26-341, "One Front Door Amendment Act of 2026"; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3802. A communication from the Senior Bureau Official, Legislative Affairs, Department of State, transmitting, pursuant to section 36(b)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act, the Air Force's proposed letter(s) of offer and acceptance to the Government of the Republic of Korea for defense articles and services estimated to cost $292 million (RSAT Case 26-72); to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
EC-3803. A communication from the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, transmitting, pursuant to law, the Board's 2026 Annual Report; to the Committee on Finance.
EC-3804. A communication from the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds, transmitting, pursuant to law, the Board's 2026 Annual Report; to the Committee on Finance.
EC-3805. A communication from the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, Department of Health and Human Services, transmitting, pursuant to law, a report entitled "2026 Report to Congress Annual Update: Identification of Quality Measurement Priorities and Associated Funding for the Consensus-Based Entity and Other Entities"; to the Committee on Finance.
EC-3806. A communication from the Chairman, Federal Maritime Commission, transmitting, pursuant to law, the Commission's Semiannual Report of the Inspector General and a Management Report for the period from October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3807. A communication from the Administrator of the General Services Administration, transmitting, pursuant to law, the Administrator's Semiannual Management Report to Congress for the period from October 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3808. A communication from the Senior Bureau Official, Legislative Affairs, Department of State, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, Department of State and Overseas Embassies and Consulates-Visa and Citizenship Services Fee Changes" (RIN1400-AG13) received in the Office of the President of the Senate on June 9, 2026; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
EC-3809. A communication from the Assistant Secretary of Defense, transmitting legislative proposals that the Department of Defense requests be enacted during the second session of the 119th Congress; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
EC-3810. A communication from the Assistant Secretary of Defense, transmitting legislative proposals that the Department of Defense requests be enacted during the second session of the 119th Congress; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
EC-3811. A communication from the Assistant Secretary of Defense, transmitting legislative proposals that the Department of Defense requests be enacted during the second session of the 119th Congress; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
EC-3812. A communication from the President of the United States to the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, transmitting, consistent with the War Powers Resolution, a report relative to military action taken on June 9, 2026, against the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
EC-3813. A communication from the Assistant Secretary of Defense, transmitting legislative proposals that the Department of Defense requests be enacted during the second session of the 119th Congress; to the Committee on Armed Services.
EC-3814. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Amendment of Class E Airspace Over Honesdale, Pennsylvania" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0901)) received in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3815. A communication from the Director, Congressional Affairs, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Acceptability of ASME OM-2 Code, Component Testing Requirements at Nuclear Facilities" received in the Office of the President of the Senate on June 11, 2026; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
EC-3816. A communication from the Director, Congressional Affairs, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Fee Schedules, Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2026" (RIN3150-AL12) received in the Office of the President of the Senate on June 11, 2026; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
EC-3817. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Dassault Aviation Airplanes; Amendment 39-23332" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0739)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3818. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Dassault Aviation Airplanes; Amendment 39-23331" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0378)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3819. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; ATR-GIE Avions de Transport Regional Airplanes; Amendment 39-23335" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-2278)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3820. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes; Amendment 39-23339" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2025-2552)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3821. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes; Amendment 39-23336" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-1323)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3822. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes; Amendment 39-23338" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0009)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3823. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes; Amendment 39-23334" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-1324)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3824.
Text printed in the Record (11,947 characters)
A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Leonardo S.p.A. Helicopters; Amendment 39-23330" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2025-2556)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3825. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Leonardo S.p.A. Helicopters; Amendment 39-23326" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0017)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3826. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Dassault Aviation Airplanes; Amendment 39-23328" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0737)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3827. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH (AHD) Helicopters; Amendment 39-23329" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0730)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3828. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Standard Instrument Procedures and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures; Miscellaneous Amendments; Amendment No. 4218" ((RIN2120-AA65) (Docket No. 31664)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3829. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Standard Instrument Approach Procedures and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures; Miscellaneous Amendments; Amendment No. 4217" ((RIN2120-AA65) (Docket No. 31663)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3830. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP Airplanes; Amendment 39-23325" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2025-5404)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3831. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Embraer S.A. Airplanes; Amendment 39-23333" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-3877)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3832. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes; Amendment 39-23327" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-3871)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3833. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS Airplanes; Amendment 39-23324" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2025-23324)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3834. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Amendment of Class C Airspace and Class E Airspace; Palm Beach International Airport, West Palm Beach, Florida" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2026-4532)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3835. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Amendment of Class D and Class E Airspace and Revoke Class E Airspace; Fort Knox, Kentucky" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2026-3074)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3836. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Establishment of Class E Airspace; Winnie, Texas" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2025-1238)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3837. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Modification of Class E Airspace; Nenana Municipal Airport, Nenana, Alaska" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2026-1131)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3838. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled " Establishment of Class D and Class E Airspace; Ceiba, Puerto Rico" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2025-4674)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3839. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Establishment, Modification, and Revocation of Class E Airspace; Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport, Palm Springs, California" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2025-2244)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3840. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "25-Hour Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) Requirement, New Aircraft Production; Correction Amendment" ((RIN2120-AL92) (Docket No. FAA-2023-2270)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3841. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Modification of Class D and Class E Airspace; Palm Springs International Airport, Palm Springs, California" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0027)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3842. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Bell Textron Canada Limited Helicopters; Amendment 39-23344" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0736))
received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3843. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Airworthiness Directives; Leonardo S.p.a Helicopters; Amendment 39-23343" ((RIN2120-AA64) (Docket No. FAA-2026-0025)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3844. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Aviation Maintenance Technical Workers Workforce Development Grant Program Notice of Funding Opportunity" (NG-AWM-25-002) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3845. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Aircraft Pilots Workforce Development Grant Program Notice of Funding Opportunity" (NG-AWP-25-002) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3846. A communication from the Attorney Adviser, Federal Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Training, Qualification, and Oversight for Safety-Related Railroad Employees" (RIN2130-AC87) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 28, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3847. A communication from the Manager of Legal Litigation and Support, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Amendment of Jet Routes J-70 and J-94 and Amendment of Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Federal Airways V-30, V-55, V-84, V-170, and V-274 and Revocation of jet Routes J-547 and J-548 in the Vicinity of Pullman, Michigan" ((RIN2120-AA66) (Docket No. FAA-2025-5244)) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3848.
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A communication from the Paralegal of the Office of Chief Counsel, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Pipeline Safety: Standards Update-NACE SP0502" (RIN2137-AG37) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3849. A communication from the Paralegal of the Office of Chief Counsel, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Pipeline Safety: Standards Update-ASTM A333/A333M" (RIN2137-AG29) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3850. A communication from the Paralegal of the Office of Chief Counsel, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Pipeline Safety: Interpretation Request Procedures" (RIN2137-AG40) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3851. A communication from the Attorney Advisor, Department of Transportation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled "Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs" (RIN2105-AF28) received during adjournment of the Senate in the Office of the President of the Senate on May 26, 2026; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3852. A communication from the Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Department of Homeland Security, transmitting legislative proposals that support the President's fiscal year 2027 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
EC-3853. A communication from the Assistant Secretary of Defense, transmitting legislative proposals that the Department of Defense requests be enacted during the second session of the 119th Congress; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Reports of Committees
Page S2784 · Official textThe following reports of committees were submitted:
Text printed in the Record (632 characters)
By Mr. CRUZ, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute:
S. 3266. A bill to support the athletic programs of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Rept. No. 119-126).
By Mr. WICKER, from the Committee on Armed Services, without amendment:
S. 4784. An original bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes (Rept. No. 119-127).
Introduction of Bills and Joint Resolutions
Page S2784 · Official textThe following bills and joint resolutions were introduced, read the first and second times by unanimous consent, and referred as indicated:
Text printed in the Record (2,900 characters)
By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
S. 4779. A bill to support nutrition, farmers, the seafood industry, agricultural research, wood energy and innovation, and indigenous self-determination, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
S. 4780. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude micro-grants for food security from gross income; to the Committee on Finance.
By Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. Reed, Ms. Klobuchar,
Mr. Coons, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Warren, Mr. Booker, Mr.
Van Hollen, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kim, Ms.
Blunt Rochester, and Ms. Alsobrooks):
S. 4781. A bill to expand the mission of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and focus on building export-related domestic critical industries that produce goods and services that support employment in the United States and strengthen global competitiveness, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
By Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. Scott of Florida):
S. 4782. A bill to establish a Federal Government priority goal, Scams Steering Committee, Scams Action Plan, and website to promote scams information and prevention, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
By Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. Budd, and Mrs. Moody):
S. 4783. A bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide relief for members of the uniformed services who homeschool their dependent children, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.
By Mr. WICKER:
S. 4784. An original bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; from the Committee on Armed Services; placed on the calendar.
By Ms. SMITH (for herself and Mr. Hoeven):
S. 4785. A bill to amend the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into self-determination contracts with Tribal organizations to carry out the food distribution program on Indian reservations, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
By Mr. BOOKER:
S. 4786. A bill to authorize sitting Governors to conduct health and safety oversight inspections of immigration detention facilities located within their states, and to establish a reporting mechanism to Congress on conditions found therein; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
By Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Ms. Lummis, Mr.
Cotton, and Mr. Scott of Florida):
S. 4787. A bill to expedite resolution of certain administrative proceedings at the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Submission of Concurrent and Senate Resolutions
Page S2784 · Official textThe following concurrent resolutions and Senate resolutions were read, and referred (or acted upon), as indicated:
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By Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. Markey, Ms.
Cantwell, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Capito,
Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Risch, Mr. King,
Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Booker, Mr. Bennet, Mr.
Lankford, Mrs. Moody, Mr. Justice, and Ms. Cortez
Masto):
S. Res. 770. A resolution designating June 6, 2026, as National Naloxone Awareness Day; considered and agreed to.
Additional Cosponsors
Pages S2784–S2786 · Official textAt the request of Mr. Graham, the name of the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick) was added as a cosponsor of S. 775, a bill to amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to prohibit the slaughter of equines for human consumption. At the request of Mr. Hawley, the name of the Senator from Nevada (Ms. Cortez Masto) was added as a cosponsor of S. 844, a bill to accelerate workplace time-to-contract under the National Labor Relations Act. At the request of Mrs. Capito, the names of the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Sullivan) and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) were added as cosponsors of S. 925, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for working family caregivers. At the request of Ms. Smith, the name of the Senator from California (Mr. Schiff) was added as a cosponsor of S. 1237, a bill to establish the New Producer Economic Security Program within the Farm Service Agency Office of Outreach and Education. At the request of Mr. Cassidy, the name of the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) was added as a cosponsor of S. 1406, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve the payment method for oxygen and oxygen related equipment, supplies, and services, to increase beneficiary access to oxygen and oxygen related equipment, supplies, and services, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Cassidy, the names of the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) and the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Alsobrooks) were added as cosponsors of S. 1459, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the historic rehabilitation tax credit, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Crapo, the names of the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell) and the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Blumenthal) were added as cosponsors of S. 1532, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the railroad track maintenance credit. At the request of Mr. Cotton, the name of the Senator from New York (Mr. Schumer) was added as a cosponsor of S. 1705, a bill to require the Secretary of Commerce to issue standards with respect to chip security mechanisms for integrated circuit products, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Ricketts, the name of the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell) was added as a cosponsor of S. 1806, a bill to terminate unused authorities of the Securities and Exchange Commission that were established pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. At the request of Mr. Hawley, the names of the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton) and the Senator from Maine (Ms. Collins) were added as cosponsors of S. 1829, a bill to combat the sexual exploitation of children by supporting victims and promoting accountability and transparency by the tech industry. At the request of Ms. Baldwin, the name of the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis) was added as a cosponsor of S. 2195, a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the brave women who served in World War II as members of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. At the request of Mr. Young, the name of the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) was added as a cosponsor of S. 2674, a bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Defense to conduct or support capacity-building programs for foreign security forces to counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and for other purposes. At the request of Ms. Murkowski, the name of the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) was added as a cosponsor of S. 2903, a bill to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require a group health plan or health insurance coverage offered in connection with such a plan to provide an exceptions process for any medication step therapy protocol, and for other purposes. At the request of Mrs. Hyde-Smith, the name of the Senator from California (Mr. Schiff) was added as a cosponsor of S. 3065, a bill to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to strengthen country of origin and method of production labeling for fish. At the request of Mr. Hoeven, the names of the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy) and the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) were added as cosponsors of S. 3257, a bill to require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to revise regulations for certain individuals carrying out aviation activities who disclose a mental health diagnosis or condition, and for other purposes. At the request of Ms. Collins, the name of the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla) was added as a cosponsor of S. 3267, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of blood-based dementia screening tests. At the request of Mr. McCormick, the name of the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) was added as a cosponsor of S. 3524, a bill to amend title 54, United States Code, to modify certain cost-sharing requirements for grant programs under the American Battlefield Protection Program, and for other purposes. At the request of Mrs. Blackburn, the name of the Senator from Florida (Mrs. Moody) was added as a cosponsor of S. 3653, a bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out efforts to inform veterans of their rights with regards to the receipt of health care, benefits, and services furnished under provisions of law administered by the Secretary, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. McCormick, the name of the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Blumenthal) was added as a cosponsor of S. 3900, a bill to promote human rights, internet freedom and accountability in Iran, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Daines, the name of the Senator from Nevada (Ms. Rosen) was added as a cosponsor of S. 3940, a bill to amend the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to require the Secretary of the Treasury to testify before Congress, and for other purposes. At the request of Mrs. Gillibrand, the name of the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker) was added as a cosponsor of S. 3958, a bill to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition Puerto Rico to the supplemental nutrition assistance program, and for other purposes. At the request of Mrs. Murray, the name of the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4081, a bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to ensure that certain caregiving employees are no longer exempted from overtime and minimum wage protections. At the request of Mr. Justice, the name of the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4367, a bill to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to modify the definition of food. At the request of Mr. Marshall, the names of the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons) and the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford) were added as cosponsors of S. 4384, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain reforms under the Medicare Advantage program, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. McCormick, the names of the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) and the Senator from Nevada (Ms. Rosen) were added as cosponsors of S. 4395, a bill to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Cassidy, the name of the Senator from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4427, a bill to prohibit the Secretary of Labor from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing a proposed standard with respect to heat injury and illness prevention, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Booker, the names of the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Banks) and the Senator from California (Mr. Schiff) were added as cosponsors of S. 4443, a bill to increase cooperation with countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region in order to strengthen energy security and defense capabilities, and for other purposes. At the request of Ms. Murkowski, the names of the Senator from Maine (Ms. Collins), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) were added as cosponsors of S. 4472, a bill to amend the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act to reauthorize the provisions of such Act through fiscal year 2031, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Murphy, the name of the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4522, a bill to prohibit vulture investors from investing in youth sports, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Graham, the name of the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4533, a bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to include the Coast Guard in the requirement to buy certain articles from American sources. At the request of Mr. Scott of Florida, the name of the Senator from Maine (Ms. Collins) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4586, a bill to require a review of the national security risk posed by communications equipment and services produced or provided by certain entities, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Wyden, the name of the Senator from Delaware (Ms. Blunt Rochester) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4588, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the excise tax for the repurchase of corporate stock by large oil and gas companies. At the request of Ms. Collins, the name of the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4641, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare. At the request of Mr. Moran, the name of the Senator from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4744, a bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, and other Federal laws, to improve benefits for veterans and the administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs. At the request of Mr. Scott of Florida, the name of the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Budd) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4769, a bill to double the civil penalties for aliens who enter or attempt to enter the United States without authorization, aliens subject to a final order of removal who fail or refuse to depart from the United States, and employers that knowingly hire aliens who are not authorized to work in the United States. At the request of Mr. Scott of Florida, the name of the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Budd) was added as a cosponsor of S. 4771, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to collect a fee for credible fear interviews, and for other purposes. At the request of Mr. Crapo, the names of the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott) and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. McCormick) were added as cosponsors of S. Con. Res. 6, a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that tax-exempt fraternal benefit societies have historically provided and continue to provide critical benefits to the people and communities of the United States.
Senate Resolution 770--Designating June 6, 2026, as National Naloxone Awareness Day
Pages S2791–S2792 · Official textSENATE RESOLUTION 770--DESIGNATING JUNE 6, 2026, AS NATIONAL NALOXONE AWARENESS DAY Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. Markey, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Risch, Mr. King, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Booker, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Lankford, Mrs. Moody, Mr. Justice, and Ms. Cortez Masto) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Text printed in the Record (3,550 characters)
Whereas opioid overdoses continue to devastate communities across the United States, leading to a significant loss of life and widespread societal impact;
Whereas opioid overdoses during the 12 months preceding November of 2025 claimed a reported 43,810 lives in the United States;
Whereas fatal overdoses are often witnessed by a bystander;
Whereas, in 2025 alone, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than 369,000,000 potentially deadly doses of fentanyl, enough to kill every individual in the United States;
Whereas, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl-related poisonings are a leading cause of death for individuals in the United States between 18 and 44 years of age;
Whereas naloxone is a safe and effective medication that can reverse opioid overdoses and save lives when administered promptly by rapidly reversing the effects of opioids;
Whereas naloxone plays a vital role in preventing long-term brain damage and reducing the risk of fatality associated with opioid overdoses;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes naloxone as an important tool in preventing opioid overdose deaths;
Whereas it is imperative to educate individuals, families, healthcare professionals, and first responders about--
(1) the benefits of naloxone, including the potential naloxone has to reduce opioid-related fatalities; and
(2) how to safely administer naloxone;
Whereas it is imperative to identify current or potential barriers for individuals, organizations, and Federal, State, and local governments to obtain and distribute naloxone;
Whereas increasing access to naloxone can improve the chances of recovery for individuals struggling with opioid use disorder and support a future free from the grip of opioid use disorder;
Whereas the Food and Drug Administration acted to authorize the over-the-counter sale of 10 milligram doses of naloxone alongside extending the shelf life of newly manufactured naloxone 4 milligram nasal spray products from 3 to 4 years in 2024; and
Whereas recognizing National Naloxone Awareness Day will contribute to the ongoing efforts to educate the public, reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder, and promote access to lifesaving naloxone: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) designates June 6, 2026, as National Naloxone Awareness Day;
(2) recognizes the life-saving benefits of naloxone in reversing opioid overdoses and preventing unnecessary deaths;
(3) acknowledges that increased access to naloxone empowers individuals, families, healthcare professionals, and first responders to intervene in emergency situations and provide immediate assistance to those experiencing an opioid overdose;
(4) recognizes that National Naloxone Awareness Day serves as an opportunity to educate the public about the importance of recognizing the signs of opioid overdose and equipping themselves with naloxone to save lives;
(5) encourages Federal, State, and local governments, as well as private and nonprofit organizations, to support increased naloxone access, education, and distribution efforts; and
(6) calls upon Federal agencies, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and all others engaged in the National Drug Control Strategy to continue supporting public awareness of naloxone, and overdose and poisoning prevention.
Appointment
Page S2792 · Official textThe Presiding Officer. The Chair, on behalf of the President pro tempore, upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader, pursuant to Public Law 110-315, announces the appointment of the following individual to be a member of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity: Jeffrey Scott Stroup of Oklahoma.
National Naloxone Awareness Day
Page S2792 · Official textMr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 770, which is at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior assistant bill clerk read as follows:
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A resolution (S. Res. 770) designating June 6, 2026, as National Naloxone Awareness Day.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 770) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to. (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record under "Submitted Resolutions.")
Orders for Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Page S2792 · Official textMr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 16; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. tomorrow for the weekly conference meetings.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Order for Adjournment
Pages S2792–S2793 · Official textMr. 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 Democratic colleagues.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The minority whip.
Mr. President, today I want to reflect on the 14th anniversary--it is the 14th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, known as DACA.
After years of congressional inaction, in 2010, I wrote a letter to my former Senate colleague President Barack Obama, cosigned by my late Republican colleague Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, asking President Obama to stop the deportation of Dreamers.
Who are the Dreamers? They are kids who came to the United States with their parents. They were infants, toddlers, young boys and girls, maybe even teenagers. But they didn't make the family decision. They got in a car and headed north.
They grew up in the United States, never knowing that they were undocumented and didn't have the proper legal identification. When everybody stood up in the classroom and pledged allegiance to that flag, they joined in. That was their flag, for their country and their future.
And somehow, a little later in life, around their teenage, adolescent years, one of their parents sat down and said: I have got to tell you the grim reality. You are not legally in the United States. You are undocumented. No matter how hard you studied, how many times you pledged allegiance to that flag, you don't legally belong here.
As a consequence, I introduced a bill called the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act basically said: If you keep your nose clean, if you work hard, if you pursue the path the right way--now that you are here--we are not going to hold it against you that you were sitting in the back seat when your mom and dad drove up here. We are going to give you a chance for your future to prove that you are of value to the United States. That was the DREAM Act.
I tried to pass it on the floor of the Senate many times. Often, I would get a majority vote, but the requirement on the floor would be 60 votes, and I would fall just short of it.
So it was about 14 or 15 years ago that I wrote this letter, cosigned by Senator Richard Lugar, to President Barack Obama. When he was in the Senate, he sat over here. He was a cosponsor of the DREAM Act. So I knew that I had a pretty good audience, sending him this letter.
I asked him if there is anything, as President of the United States of America, he can do to protect these young people from being deported. It took a while. It took months. There was some fierce negotiations even within his administration. But 14 years ago today, he came up with the DACA Program.
The DACA Program is fairly simple and straightforward. If you want to stay in the United States and legally work and also pay your taxes, if you want to make sure that you are not going to be deported, you come to the government every 2 years, and you pay a filing fee of $600.
They process you and do an extensive criminal background check. If you pass that check, you can work here for 2 years and then do it all over again.
If something happens in the intervening 2 years, where you have broken the law with a serious crime, you are gone. It is just that simple. No more DACA protection, nothing.
So how many young people stepped up? I was surprised. I expected some, but I didn't expect the overwhelming turnout.
It was in August of that year that we held a meeting at the Navy Pier in Chicago. Congressman Luis Gutierrez and I had thought, well, we will bring in some volunteer immigration attorneys. We will bring in the notary publics that may be needed. And we will let these young people--by and large, young people--sign up for the DACA Program.
We were expecting about 500; 20,000 came--20,000. They stood in line, starting at midnight, and snaked around the Navy Pier--parents bringing their kids in to finally have a chance to have peace of mind that their son or daughter had a future in the United States. How many all together across the Nation signed up? Mr. President, 835,000--835,000.
They came forward. They received the protection of DACA. And now who are they, and where are they? They are teaching their kids in the classroom at school. They are the nurses that answered the buzzer when your spouse was in the hospital. They are engineers, small business owners, caregivers. They are taking care of your mom and dad in that nursing home tonight--DACA.
These young people grew up in America, alongside our own kids. This is the only place they ever called home. DACA recipients--with peace of mind that they could go to work--started families, with 37 percent having U.S. citizen children. And 935,000 U.S. citizens live with DACA holders.
This program, created because of a letter that Senator Lugar and I sent to President Obama, has reached out and touched the lives of millions of young Americans.
DACA recipients pay their taxes. They contribute nearly $16 billion a year to the U.S. economy. Let me highlight the story of one of these DACA recipients so that you come to know at least one person who has benefited from DACA.
I have come to the floor of the Senate many times to tell these stories of Dreamers. This is No. 152. Her name is Diana Perez. She was born in Mexico City.
Diana was brought to this country when she was 7 years old. She grew up in one of the best cities in the world, as far as I am concerned, a city which has a pretty good baseball team too. That is, of course, the city of Chicago in my home State of Illinois--two pretty good baseball teams. I better be careful.
Before Diana obtained DACA, her academic advisor laid out the barriers she would face, questioning how she would support herself and how she would be able to afford her education.
For young people like Diana, this is a hill to climb and a responsibility that they have to face that many kids don't ever face.
She was a determined person. She wasn't going to let anybody discourage her from her goals in life. She cleaned houses. She served coffee to pay her tuition and cover the cost of books.
She was so passionate about her education and it being the key to her success, she confronted every barrier head-on. Ultimately, Diana graduated with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in media and communications from Northeastern Illinois University. She is a proud Golden Eagle of that great school.
Her experiences in college and graduate school inspired her to fight for the rights of others and combat discrimination. Diana now serves as the community engagement director for the city of Chicago's Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which is chaired by Alderperson Andre Vasquez of the 40th Ward.
Since joining the committee, Diana has collaborated with community partners, nonprofits, and government officials, and she has advocated on behalf of the people of Chicago.
I met Diana here in the Capitol in April. She and her colleagues with the Chicago Latino Caucus Foundation traveled to Washington, DC. Diana explained to me that DACA changed her life. It provided her with the opportunity to pursue the career that she is so passionate about. Her goal is to work in the Federal Government someday. And wouldn't we all be lucky to have her represent us?
Despite multiple court challenges, DACA still survives. And the Trump administration is under court order to resume processing DACA renewals and work permit applications.
When they couldn't just stop the program, they tried--in the President's first term, they tried to find some way to slow it down with a challenge in court. They lost in court. The judge ordered them to proceed with DACA as written, but they refused to do so.
We know that President Trump attempted to eliminate DACA in his first term. Now his administration is stripping away many of the Dreamers of their lawful presence and deporting them from the country they grew up in.
How does that work? They show up to renew their DACA status, protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work and pay taxes, and someone is waiting at the front door. They say: Before you sign up, we are going to detain you, question you, and deport you. That is a fact.
The data tells the story. In Illinois alone, my office is working on 92 DACA constituent cases as of May of this year. This month, that number has climbed to 145--a 50 percent increase. The Trump administration is gaming the system, not giving people like Diana the opportunity that they are entitled to, to show up, pay their fee, go through a background check, and have 2 more years of protection.
The slow-walking of renewals has resulted in many Dreamers--individuals who are following every rule--to lose their DACA protection, lose their jobs, and risk deportation through no fault of their own.
Additionally, the Justice Department's Board of Immigration Appeals, which has been totally politicized by this administration, recently issued a controversial decision, holding that DACA would no longer necessarily protect Dreamers from deportation.
When President Obama created DACA 14 years ago, some Dreamers and their families expressed concern. I heard them. I saw them at the Navy Pier.
Why would we possibly give all our personal information about our family to protect our daughter under DACA if that information could be used against our family in later years and deport people in our family? Why should we cooperate? Why should we come out of the shadows?
Well, many of us said to them: Just follow the law. The law is established by this executive order. Do what you are supposed to do. Pay your $600 fee every 2 years. Go through your criminal background check. Make sure you show up in time to renew your DACA protection. Do those things, and you will be following the law. You will be fine.
We were wrong. The information, which these families turned over for DACA applications, is now being used to seek them out, detain them, arrest them, and deport them. What a heartbreak.
After years of waiting, I think it is long overdue for Congress to honor the Dreamers' patience and persistence, act on our own promises, and provide them with a pathway to citizenship. Only Congress can give Dreamers the stability they crave and deserve. The time to pass the DREAM Act is now.
To the Dreamers watching, I say: I am not going to give up on you. Don't give up on me, and don't give up on this Congress. We can do the right thing. I am going to continue to fight for the Dreamers and continue to fight for DACA.
In the face of this administration's actions, Congress must finally act to protect these young people who know no other home than here. This is a matter of simple American fairness and justice.
If you could meet Diana--or the thousands of others who take advantage of DACA to give back to this country--you can understand why this is the right thing to do.
I don't believe that we should knowingly accept any dangerous person who wants to come into this country, nor should we allow any dangerous person to continue to stay in this country if they have committed a serious crime or are threatening. They are gone.
But for those who were brought here as kids, as children, who became part of America--because they fell in love with this country, like we all do--and just want a chance to be a part of its future, this is not too much to ask. You can be tough on border enforcement. You can be tough on crimes committed by those who are not here legally. I will join in that effort.
But in the meantime, have a heart for those who are really trying their best to make a life in America and make this country a better place. The DACA recipients are just those people. They deserve our help.
I yield the floor.
Daca
Pages S2793–S2795 · Official textMr. President, I thank Senator Durbin for his leadership in fighting for Dreamers.
We will also be joined by the Senator from Nevada, Senator Cortez Masto, who has done the same.
Senator Durbin, when your DREAM Act finally becomes law--and it will--it will be because of your enduring commitment for all of these years.
Fourteen years ago, the Obama administration acted to protect Dreamers. Since 2012, the DACA action of the Obama administration has helped roughly 835,000 people have legal protection.
For most Dreamers, the United States is the only home they have ever known, that they ever remember, and they live as part of their communities in all ways, just like everyone else, except for the certainty of permanent citizenship.
In Minnesota, we are proud to be home to nearly 4,000 DACA recipients who have already passed background checks, paid fees, and met educational requirements so they can stay in the United States and continue to pay taxes and contribute to our communities.
Dreamers serve in our military. They keep us safe as police officers in our State. They are teachers and nurses. They run small businesses that power our economy.
In my State, one DACA recipient is a medical assembler helping build lifesaving devices that reduce the risk of stroke.
Another Dreamer came to this country when she was just 3 years old. A few years ago, she got her phlebotomy certification from the Mayo Clinic. Now she is providing critical care to patients as a medical technician, all while serving as her family's primary breadwinner.
Another Dreamer is a driver for special needs kids and a mom of five kids, including two with urgent medical needs.
Another Dreamer was just 10 years old when she came to Minnesota from Mexico. She applied for DACA in 2012--just days after USCIS began accepting applications. She earned her degree and has worked with residents in nursing schools and elementary school children. As she said, she "finds purpose in helping others."
Minnesota is better because of our Dreamers, and thousands like them across our State continue to believe in the promise of this Nation and work every day to contribute to it.
Since its establishment, DACA recipients have contributed an estimated $150 billion to the U.S. economy in spending power and $40 billion in combined Federal, payroll, State, and local taxes.
In the past, President Trump has talked about working with Senators of both parties to protect Dreamers who were brought here as children. In December 2024, he said:
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We have to do something about the Dreamers.
The last time Donald Trump was President, we actually had a bipartisan bill led by Senator Rounds--I was part of it--that would have invested in border security while providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. In the end, President Trump opposed the bill.
More recently, the Trump administration has dramatically delayed DACA processing. My office has heard from Minnesotans who are filing renewals up to 150 days--months--in advance, as recommended by the Federal Government, by USCIS, and they are still losing their protections solely due to delayed processing and the chaos. It is not due to the fact that they have jobs, that they work as nurses, that they are in the military, that they work in public safety--no, nothing about them. Nothing about their backgrounds. Nothing about their jobs that we need them to perform badly in our economy. It is solely because the Trump administration can't get its act together or is messing around with them.
Well, when they mess around with them--with those over 800,000 people who are contributing to the United States, with all those people who are part of our economy--they mess around with us; they mess around with our country.
The Trump Justice Department, in an immigration court decision, further undermined protections by holding that DACA status does not protect people from removal procedures.
During Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, we saw not only multiple, multiple hundreds of constitutional violations but also DHS tearing people who have followed the rules from their loved ones.
In January in Minnesota, ICE arrested Jorge Cordoba Hernandez at 4:30 a.m. without a warrant when he was on his way to work for a manufacturer in Eden Prairie, MN. By 10 p.m., he was on a plane to a detention facility in New Mexico, and he was held without bond.
Jorge was brought to the United States when he was 8 years old and has been in DACA for 13 years--passed the test; did everything right. When arrested, he had applied to extend his DACA, like so many of my other constituents who have been on DACA for years and are working. Well, he had applied to extend his DACA, and he was scheduled for a biometrics appointment.
He is married to an American citizen and has four children--two of whom have disabilities. He has no criminal record.
While he awaits his DACA renewal--and by the way, here is a guy, as I said, that was on his way to work, where he is working in a good job, paying taxes. He is married to an American citizen and has four kids--two with disabilities. Just simply waiting for the Trump administration to do the paperwork. He gets arrested and sent to New Mexico.
While he awaits his renewal--now released--which is delayed because of the backlog at DHS, he is only out of detention because a Trump-appointed Federal judge did his job and granted his habeas petition. He is not out of detention because the Trump administration realized that it had made a mistake. He is not out of detention because he never should have been put there in the first place by them. He is out of detention because someone applied the law, and that happened to be a Trump-appointed judge who knew better than the President that appointed him that you follow the rules in America, that you follow the law.
It is not just Dreamers and their families and neighbors who will suffer from terminating DACA; it is also our economy. If DACA was ended, it is estimated we would lose roughly 440,000 workers, including 37,000 healthcare professionals. Are you kidding me? When we have such a shortage of people working in healthcare and working in our nursing homes--such a shortage. So you are going to take away people who are legally working because simply you just want to make some political point or you don't want to get the paperwork done? We will lose 17,000 STEM professionals, 17,000 educators. The loss of this talent would cost the U.S. economy an estimated $648 billion.
We cannot afford to shut out the world's talent or drive away those who call our country home, because immigrants are truly a major economic driver across our country. Almost half of America's Fortune 500 companies were started by people born in other countries or their kids, and 30 percent of our country's--the United States of America--Nobel laureates were born abroad.
It is time, as Senator Durbin has made clear, for the USCIS to expeditiously process all applications for deferred action for childhood arrivals and provide protections for Dreamers.
We are just weeks away from celebrating America's 250th birthday, when a nation was born out of the dream for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--a nation born of immigrants, people like my grandpa, who came in through Ellis Island, and they had a limit on Swiss immigrants, and then he somehow found his way through Canada but then stayed there for about a week and then made his way through Michigan and into Wisconsin.
When, during World War II, finally they made everyone register--even though he was married to an American citizen, my grandma, who was also an immigrant--that is when they discovered he had kind of come in twice. They had his hearing, and they looked at him--hard-working guy with two kids, married to a U.S. citizen--and they said: That is fine. And they gave him his citizenship.
That is not what this administration is doing. This administration is looking at hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people that they are just holding up--not just holding up their dream; holding up our dreams for anyone who wants to send their mom to a nursing home, to find out if they have enough staff, or to go into an emergency room in the middle of the night and figure out if there is staff there. No.
Passing the DREAM Act is the right thing to do, but making sure that in this very moment, we treat these people with the respect they deserve and get these forms processed and make sure they can continue working as functioning members of our economy is most important for now.
Immigrant families, including Dreamers, don't diminish America. They define America. They strengthen America. They are America.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno)
The Senator from Nevada.
Daca
Pages S2795–S2796 · Official textMr. President, I am joining my colleagues on the Senate floor because today marks the 14th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program that we all commonly know as DACA.
When it was created by President Obama back in 2012, the purpose of this program was to protect people who came to the United States as children. But President Obama made clear that legislation was also needed. He knew that Congress needed to pass legislation to give Dreamers a path to citizenship, along with DACA.
There was bipartisan support for it, but unfortunately, since that time, petty politics keep getting in the way. It is having real life consequences on the country, on families, on individuals, and on businesses. Because we are unable to work in a bipartisan way just to put Dreamers and their families on a pathway to citizenship, we are here to talk about a program, DACA. It is important for us to keep in mind why we strive not only to continue this program but to fight for these families.
DACA has become a lifeline for hard-working, inspiring young people who have only ever known this country as their home.
And make no mistake, DACA is not given out freely. You just heard my colleague from Minnesota talk about this. DACA recipients, these applicants, undergo intense background checks, and every 2 years, they have to renew their status and go through another scrutinizing background check.
For the past 14 years, DACA has worked as intended. It has allowed thousands of young people to obtain work permits, and critical protections from deportations are associated with this program because these kids have only known this country and play by the rules and follow the law and just want to go to school and be a part of our workforce and raise their families here. They want an education. They want to build their careers and their lives in the United States.
The DACA Program has been an overwhelming benefit to our country. Ninety-nine percent of the DACA recipients who started the program in 2012 completed high school and got their diplomas--almost every single one. That is the kind of dedication you find in Dreamers.
Additionally, more than 90 percent of DACA recipients over the age of 25 are participating in our workforce, they are building families, they are working hard, and they are paying more than $2 billion in State and local taxes. And they love this country. They feel as American as every Member of this Chamber.
Yet, over the past 14 years, they have endured attack after attack and been made into pawns by too many politicians. Even still, through it all, I have to tell you, they are thriving, and they are building an American dream. And that is all they are asking from us, is to allow them to continue to do so. But, right now, our country is breaking its promise to them.
Now, like my colleague Dick Durbin, the senior Senator from Illinois, who has done an incredible job fighting for our Dreamers and their families--I watch him as he comes to the floor. I have watched him as he has talked about Dreamers and their families and the fight. And I think it is important we keep our voices loud and proud about who they are in our communities. I, too, have stood here on the Senate floor, multiple times now, over the course of the last several months, to talk about this.
This administration is intentionally delaying DACA renewals so DACA recipients go unprotected.
Let me just say that one more time. I get these calls into my office. I know the DACA recipients and Dreamers in my State. I hear from them all the time. This administration is intentionally delaying DACA renewals so DACA recipients go unprotected.
How do I know that? Because DACA recipients have told me. In my State, they have been applying months ahead of their 2-year deadline--months ahead of that 2-year deadline--but for many, that is still not enough time before their status expires. This expiration and this delay of approving their application, it is all part of this administration's plan to attack and undermine immigration and these DACA recipients.
Now, I want to be clear about something: We all agree that we need strong border security and that criminals need to face justice. Listen, I spent my career doing just that. There is no question about it.
But instead of focusing on the "worst of the worst," like President Trump promised to do, he and Stephen Miller are directing Federal immigration enforcement to go after DACA recipients--mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers--with absolutely no criminal record.
Why? Because they had the audacity to be brought here as children, because they have only ever known this country as their home.
Why, instead of going after actual criminals, is this administration focused on young men and women who are woven into the fabric of their communities?
I think I know why. It is because DACA recipients look a little different or sound a little different from what the Trump administration has decided are real Americans and what they should sound like and look like. It is because DACA recipients' shining successes prove that immigrants are actually a benefit to the United States, not a detriment, as this administration would have you believe.
The actions of this administration to delay DACA renewals are about as un-American as you can get.
I have been hearing and sharing stories of DACA recipients who have struggled with these delays, but I don't think people really understand the toll this is taking on thousands of families across the country.
When someone's DACA status expires, they lose their work permit. Some workers are placed on leave until their status gets renewed, but some permanently lose their jobs. That means a source of income a family relies on is now gone. That is why they apply for the renewal months in advance, so they can continue to go to their job, so they can continue to pay taxes, be a part of our community, pay rent. And they believe in that community.
If they had U.S. citizen children, critical support for them now is gone because of the delays by this administration. If they had employer-sponsored healthcare, now that is gone too. And if they didn't, then healthcare is even harder to afford for them because they lost their work permit. And the only thing they did was have the audacity to apply for renewal months in advance.
It is now more difficult for them to take care of disabled, elderly, or sick relatives, not to mention that there is the constant threat of being sent away from their family to a country they have never known hanging over their heads.
That is all piled on top of the enormously high costs of groceries, gas, electricity, and healthcare that all Americans are experiencing under this administration.
So imagine being a DACA recipient who has lived your whole life in this country, except for a few years, when you were a baby. For over a decade, your government has told you that if you play by the rules and you contribute, you will be able to work and be protected from deportation.
So you go to school, you get a job, you play by the rules, you follow the law, you meet someone, you settle down, and you start a family, like any American would do. And then your government--the same one you support with your hard-earned tax dollars--turns on you.
You know, I don't know about all of you, but that is just unacceptable to me.
DACA recipients are not the only ones being punished. These delays are hurting our businesses and our communities as well. I can't stress that enough.
This administration thinks they are going after these individuals, and they want to deport them. But it is not individual DACA recipients and their families that are suffering. It is our businesses and our communities as well.
A police chief in California was here in Washington, last month, to talk to us about how delays in DACA renewals are hurting his police department. One of his officers was recently unable to work for a while, while he waited for his renewal application to process. Local law enforcement is already stretched thin. So you should know this. Now, this administration is even making it worse.
Small businesses, retailers, construction companies, they are all losing their employees they depend on. How do I know? Because I hear from my small businesses in Nevada about this very issue.
Approximately 37,000 healthcare workers are DACA recipients. Now, if they can't go to their job, what do you think that does to our healthcare industry, which is already stretched because of the policies of this administration?
Hurting DACA recipients is hurting our country. It is more important than ever that we recognize the fact that, in light of the upcoming celebrations for America's 250th birthday, we have to recognize our contributions and our service to the members in our country who are a big part of it. Our 250th anniversary is a critical reminder that our great Nation only exists because of immigrants. We all have a story. We all have it--every single one of us. I do.
My grandfather came from Chihuahua, Mexico. He came into the United States, served in our military, and became a U.S. citizen. I have a great-grandfather who came to Ellis Island from Italy. He ended up in Kansas City, MO, of all places, raising his family, where my mother was born. We all have this story. That is what makes this country so great. That is why people come here.
And it should be that, yes, if you want to come to a country and you want to follow the rules--you want to follow the rules--you want to follow the law, work hard, you should be able to come here and get ahead. That is the country I know and love, and to lose sight of that is to spit on everything our country stands for.
The Declaration of Independence was written because immigrants and sons of immigrants, daughters of immigrants, grandsons, granddaughters of immigrants came together to escape tyranny and live their lives freely.
Every time I walk on the floor of the Senate, I think about my grandfather and my great-grandfather coming to this country. If they would have ever thought that one day they would have a granddaughter or a great-granddaughter that would walk on the floor of the U.S. Senate representing this country, it is beyond what they could have ever dreamed for. But they hoped. They had hoped for a life better for their children and grandchildren.
And DACA recipients are asking for the same freedoms and opportunities that our Founding Fathers envisioned for this country 250 years ago.
And I will say: It is time we stand with them. It is time we do right and we recognize the importance of those words in our Constitution, what our Founding Fathers stood for, how we stood on shoulders of others to get here. And those shoulders were immigrants.
We don't pull up the ladder behind us, but we make sure everybody has an opportunity to be a part of this beautiful country.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The Senator from Connecticut.
Daca
Pages S2796–S2797 · Official textMr. President, I am honored to join my colleagues this afternoon in celebrating the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals, or DACA, Program and its absolutely historic impact on our country, but also to mourn and to express outrage at the all-out assault launched against this program by the Trump administration.
The point of it, once again, seems to be cruelty--purposeful, relentless cruelty--which we have seen in the implementation of immigration practices in so many different ways by this administration.
Just this morning--literally, this morning--I participated in the announcement of a lawsuit against the government by a woman who was seized from her car taking her children to school, a year ago, leaving her children unattended in the car, shackled, sent to a detention center, and then summarily deported without even a shred of due process. And she is suing the U.S. Government because she is still in Mexico, separated from her two young children--at the time, 13 and 8 years old--as well as her husband.
She was on a screen today from Mexico--heartbreaking--as her two children listened to her in the Yale Law School conference room where the lawsuit was announced.
This kind of cruelty should have no place in our great country. I don't recognize the America that separates a mother from her children without any reason. She has no criminal record. She has been in this country for 15 years. Her two children are American citizens because they were born here. Cruelty and stupidity.
DACA, since its creation 14 years ago, has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people--people who came to this country as infants or young children--and it has given them the opportunity to work, to contribute; to educate, to support their families; to contribute to this great country. There are nurses, doctors, and engineers. They strengthen America. DACA has strengthened America.
In Connecticut alone, numerous DACA recipients actively contribute to our economy and enrich our communities. And yet despite the enormous, obvious, indisputable benefits of this program, the Trump administration has declared war on DACA.
Again, the point seems to be cruelty. The administration has slow-walked DACA renewals. They have purposely allowed Dreamers' work authorizations to expire through no fault of their own--cruelty and stupidity because they are harming the employers who depend on those DACA workers and the skills that they bring to jobs every day.
The Department of Education has investigated five universities that offer financial help to DACA recipients. What purpose does it serve to punish universities for developing talent that will then serve our country?
In the latest affront to legal protections, the Board of Immigration Appeals has ruled that DACA status alone will not shield Dreamers from deportation, despite the fact that DACA is a mechanism of deferred action.
I mentioned the title in the first sentence of my remarks here--Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program--because the point is action is deferred. And now the administration is defying the law and common sense in this policy of stupidity and cruelty.
As a result of these illegal policy changes, DACA recipients have not only lost their sense of safety and security but, in some cases, their freedom--and their place in this country. It is the only place they call home. English is the only language many of them speak. And we are depriving them of that sense of home and security and safety.
I will just give you one example: Jose, of Connecticut. He is a DACA recipient. He came to Connecticut from Mexico when he was young. Thanks to DACA, he was able to put himself through college while working full time, and he built a successful career at a Fortune 500 company. He has worked there for 12 years. And now, because of the Trump administration's efforts to delay renewal requests at USCIS, Jose's DACA status and his work permit have not been renewed. No fault of his own. Jose lost the job. He lost that job that he held for 12 years, and today he is struggling to pay his bills. He faces eviction.
What purpose does it serve to drive him into financial peril and even bankruptcy, to deprive his employer of his skills, to, in effect, make him homeless?
President Trump's treatment of DACA recipients is the latest failure of his promise that his immigration efforts would focus on the worst of the worst.
Americans like the idea of deporting dangerous criminals, people who have been convicted of crimes--not Nancy Martinez, who was separated from her children as she took them to work in her car, having committed no crime; not Jose, who is the opposite of the worst of the worst, a productive member of our society, doing good work at a good corporation over 12 years.
These DACA recipients like Jose are far from the worst of the worst. They are our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and friends. They are some of the best--not the worst--of us.
We are not talking here about securing our borders. We are not talking about deporting dangerous criminals. We are talking about rolling back and reversing progress that has been made on behalf of young people who are here through no choice of their own; they were brought here, and they call America home because it is their home.
I call on the Trump administration to resume prompt review of renewal applications and halt unlawful detention and deportation of DACA recipients. I am under no illusions that my calling on it to do so is going to automatically have an effect on this cruel and stupid set of policies and practices, but I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will heed this peril, this danger to America, and that they will come together with us and say on a bipartisan basis: An assault on DACA makes no sense for America. It is not the America that we recognize.
And as we approach our 250th anniversary, we have an opportunity to reflect on who we are and, equally important, whom we aspire to be. Whom do we want to be? That has always been America. It isn't only about what America has done or who we are today. America is an idea, an aspiration, and a future.
DACA recipients embody the values that we celebrate as America: hard work, resilience, a commitment to our country and to building a better America. Let's provide Dreamers with the respect and dignity and future they have earned.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The Senator from California.
Daca
Pages S2797–S2798 · Official textMr. President, I am honored to join my colleagues here today, and I appreciate Senator Durbin's leadership in bringing us all together because today is truly an important day for hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children across America.
It was 14 years ago today that President Obama took action to memorialize an important truth: that young people who were brought to the United States as young children through no choice of their own--who have grown up in our communities, who have attended our local schools, many graduating at the top of their class from high school as valedictorians and who know no other home but the United States--that they deserve an opportunity to continue to be part of this country, free of the fear of being deported for a decision they had no say in.
Fourteen years ago, the U.S. Government made that promise: that if they came forward, passed a background check, and followed the rules, did everything that we asked of them, that they could stay here and pursue their dreams in the only country that they have ever known. And hundreds of thousands of brave young people did exactly that.
Now, to be clear, DACA was never intended to be a permanent solution. It was meant to be a temporary stopgap until Congress took action by passing the Dream Act or, ideally, modernizing our immigration system as a whole. Yet here we are, 14 years later, still having the same debate about these young people and their future because while the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients kept their promise--they did their part--Congress has repeatedly failed to do ours. And now these individuals, who were young children back then when this program began, are now adults with careers and families of their own. They are even more deeply ingrained in our communities and our country than they were 14 years ago.
There are over 530,000 people enrolled in DACA today--somewhere between 140,000 or 150,000 of them in my home State of California alone. Listen to this. The average DACA recipient is 33 years old now. The average DACA recipient has lived in the United States for 27 years. They are not recent arrivals. They are our friends and neighbors, our family members, our loved ones. They have grown up to be teachers and nurses, caregivers, lawyers, small business owners.
We would call them model citizens if we would allow them to become citizens, but they are model, nonetheless. Eighty-seven percent of them are gainfully employed. Collectively, they contribute $17 billion to the American economy. That ought to be celebrated, not shunned for political purposes. About 1 in 3 are married, and roughly 240,000 U.S. citizen children live with at least 1 parent who is a DACA recipient.
They are among the people being targeted now by an administration claiming to be only going after the worst of the worst. Not only are they being swept up in the administration's mass deportation campaign, but many are now facing extraordinary, monthslong delays when trying to renew their DACA and work authorization--delays that are having real impacts, with real consequences, as this administration seemingly tries to undermine this program.
And on this anniversary of the DACA Program, I want to share a couple of stories of DACA recipients in my home State. Twenty-five-year-old Maria Fernanda Hernandez has been a DACA recipient since she was 15 years old. Thanks to DACA, Maria was able to attend college, earn a bachelor's degree in psychology, and find a full-time job as a project manager at a market research company. But Maria recently had to take a leave from her job, as many others, because even though she submitted her application on time back in January, it still hasn't even been reviewed by USCIS nearly 6 months later. In the months she has been forced to wait, Maria's DACA and the work permit that went along with it expired.
If that wasn't bad enough, her father has been battling a number of health issues over the last year. He spent months in the hospital and, at one point, had to have his legs amputated. I mention this because Maria was doing as much as she possibly could to help support her parents financially during all of this. But now, with her renewal stuck in limbo, Maria can no longer work or help her parents at a time when they need her the most.
Teresa is another DACA recipient who came to this country as a very young child. Teresa worked hard, got a good education, and built an impressive career not just as a nurse but as an award-winning nurse at one of Los Angeles County's largest hospitals. And like Maria and so many others, Teresa filed her renewal application on time. Yet months later, despite repeated outreach to USCIS, she still hasn't received any updates. And because of those delays, Teresa's work authorization has expired, and she is facing the possibility of losing the career she worked so hard to build because she is not able to provide her employer the necessary documents to keep working. That is what these cruel delays have caused.
Jose Morales Perez is 32 years old. He has lived in Los Angeles most of his life, ever since coming from Tijuana as a young child. He attended local schools, eventually graduating from Garfield High School in East Los Angeles and later attending Glendale Community College. Jose has built a life here. He has worked a steady job. He started a family. He helps care for his mother, whose diabetes complications have left her unable to walk.
Jose was up for a promotion at work earlier this year, and instead of celebrating that promotion, he lost his job when his DACA expired while waiting for the administration to process his renewal application.
And now his family is struggling to make ends meet, to the point where they are now pawning family heirlooms just for a little bit more cash to continue to scrape by.
Maria, Teresa, Jose--these and thousands of others just like them are the people that we are talking about when we discuss and debate DACA, people who followed the rules and did everything that we asked of them. The only choice that they ever made was to trust the U.S. Government when the government made them the promise that, if they came forward, they would not be punished for doing the right thing. That promise is being broken today by the Trump administration.
These men and women that I am talking about--not just the three that I mentioned--all of them deserve better. They deserve certainty. They and all Dreamers like them deserve the opportunity to continue contributing to their communities and to our country. They deserve the chance to become full-fledged members of this country--their country, our country--the only country that they have ever known, that they have given so much of their talent and so much of their leadership to each and every day.
Colleagues, 14 years after the creation of DACA, it is past time that we finally do what is right by the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients and Dreamers who have already proven their commitment to this country. They kept their promise, and now it is time for Congress to keep ours. It is finally time to pass the Dream Act.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER
The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. President, the Republican leader said that we could continue in session so long as there were Democrats to speak. To my knowledge, there are no additional Democrats. I want to thank you and the staff and the pages for this extra time this evening.
Adjournment Until 10 A.m. Tomorrow
Page S2798 · Official textThe PRESIDING OFFICER
Under the previous order, the Senate stands adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Thereupon, the Senate, at 7:44 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 10 a.m.
Nominations
Page S2798 · Official textExecutive nominations received by the Senate:
Text printed in the Record (492 characters)
JAMES ANDREW CROWELL IV, OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TERM OF FIFTEEN YEARS, VICE KATHRYN A. OBERLY, RETIRED.
STUART GORDON NASH, OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TERM OF FIFTEEN YEARS, VICE LOREN L. ALIKHAN.
MATTHEW R. BYRNE, OF OHIO, TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO, VICE MICHAEL H. WATSON, RETIRED.
Confirmation
Page S2798 · Official textExecutive nomination confirmed by the Senate June 15, 2026:
Text printed in the Record (87 characters)
JUSTIN D. SMITH, OF MISSOURI, TO BE UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT.