to try to make a difference for american children. they're in foster care or that were homeless. and i'm frustrating. i'm sitting back here, something i dream of doing again one day, sitting. and just kind of -- just kind of upset. and then i see walking through those doors senator jim inhofe. and he walks to the well, kind of talking. and i remember the story he told me about this little black girl and his family. and i -- something tells me to get up. i walked into the well, down these steps and i say to him, mr. chairman, sir, i know how much you care for children in tough circumstances. i have an amendment and i explained my amendment to him. and he looked at me and gave me the senate version of no which i'll think about it. and i got frustrated and said thank you, sir, for considering it. i walked back and sat down right here. and then when i picked my head up, he's marching into our side like you do on the other side. like his g.p.s. coordinates were

off, marches up to me and sort of grunts at me. i'm n. and then turns around and starts waking away from me. i step up and go wait, what do you mean? cory, i'm going to cosponsor your amendment. i was so happy. and now i go over to senator grassley and say the same thing to him. a rmthsship that thank -- relationship that thanks to dick durbin i really bonded. i have a sweet relationship with him even though again we disagree on so much. he doesn't make me wait. he says you got inhofe and signs on my amendment. by the time i go to lamar alexander, i look at him. i have a full house. i'm sorry i have no other democrats but i have all these reaction. i looks at me and laughs. he goes really? and he puts the amendment on the bill. it's the law of the land now. and so, what you said in the gipping of your long -- in the beginning of your long question,

my brother, is how real change is made. that man, dick durbin, when i first got to the senate, he knew how much i cared about criminal justice reform. he brought tme to the table. i started working in conversations with mike lee, in conversations with chuck grassley. we cobbled together a bill. it wasn't done by executive fiat. it was done in the senate. 87 votes. law of the land. thousands have been liberated from unjust incarceration. so my point to the senator is his spirit is so right and so true about what it takes to make real change, but the president we have right now doesn't seem to be coming to this body with any kind of bold bipartisan legislation to solve the problems of our nation, to cobble together the common

ground of this country on immigration. no, he is not acting like that. he is using language like presidential primacy. he is defending his corrupt practices in immigration by saying things like, presidential primacy. he's invoking the alien enemies act. he is invoking the alien enemies act, an act from the 1700's, to deny due process, which antonin scalia says, whether you're born in this country or not, you have due process here. the constitution states, only one thing twice -- both the fifth and the 14th amendment say that no one -- not no citizen, no one shall be deprived of liberty or property without due

process of law. and yet this president is disappearing people. and as we document it here, disappearing the wrong people. as we document it here, detaining unjustly americans, separating families, all while pushing his agenda and doing things that the values of people on both sides of this aisle don't believe in, like stopping the investigation of children for alleged sexual molestation. this is wrong. and i sat down with some of the advocates who were telling me -- who were trying to fight to stop the law from being broken and they scared me, dick durbin. because they said what i said on this floor. if someone is willing to violate the constitution for some, it endangers the constitutional rights for us all. do not think this is, oh, those

people. if they are violating rights of some, it is a threat to the rights of all. i am standing here because of a national crisis has growing. we talked about social security, we talked about health care, we talked about education. this is a crisis for us. and this is what the person said. they talked about the insurrection act. they've been hearing people in the administration talk about the insurrection act. every person in this congress and across the country wants a safe and secure border. but scapegoating immigrants to erode basic constitutional freedoms does not make america safer, does not make our communities safer, does not reform our immigration system like we should be doing in a bipartisan manner, like lankford and murphy. it does not stand on long-standing problems in our agriculture industry to our tech industry.

history has shown that when due process and basic constitutional rights are eroded for some people, it does not stop. it continues to erode. the shoreline that kept you safe will shrink until it reaches you. i am reminded of german pastor, first they came for the socialist and i did not speak up because i was not a socialist. then think came for the trade union identifies. did i not speak up. then they came for the jews. i did not speak out because i was not a jew. then think came for me. -- then they came for me. and no one was left to speak. well, everything that has happened in the last few months contraintelligence committee dids american values, shared values. i am most concerned about what this signals for the future and

the potential invocation of this president of the act. the inso indication of these two antiquated laws, the alien enemies act and the insurrection act may result in the true erosion of our constitutional rights. trump's recent invocation of the alien enemies act is the first step to securing people without due process as antonin scalia zais says is wrong and then on the first day in office, trump directed the secretaries of defense and homeland security, trump directed them to initiative a 90-day review to determine whether the president should invoke the insurrection act of 1807. that 90-day review, when do those 90 days come up, folks? this month.

in 19 days, april 20. the president of the united states, who's already invoked a 1780's-something law also asked his immigration folks, his homeland security folks to do a 90-day review about the insurrection act of 1907. i had to look up what the alien enemies act was, so let me tell folks what the inrecreation act that our president on his first day in office, of all the things a president has toshgsd he turned to the secretaries of defense and the secretary of homeland security to initiate a 90-day review of the insurrection act. america, what is the insurrection act of 1807? it's among the president's most powerful authorities that he can

deploy the u.s. armed forces and militia during a national emergency. he can declare a national emergency. this president has already wrongfully declared a national emergency. declared a national emergency on energy, senator kaine talked about the outrageousness of someone declaring a national emergency when we are at the highest level of petrochemical extraction in our country's history. until he started rolling back what we were doing on wind and solar, we had an all-of-the above strategy. nobody drilled, baby, drilled more than joe biden. the insurrection act gives the ability of the president to declare a national emergency to suppress insurrections, to quell civil unrest or domestic violence and enforce the law

when he believes it's being instructed. when can the president invoke the insurrection act? well, nothing in the text of the law defines insurrection, rebellion or domestic violence. those are the prerequisites for deployment but they don't define those things. one of trump's first executive orders signed the evening he took office on january 020 was titled "declaring a national emergency at the southern border of the united states." in that order he said, america's sovereignty is under attack. he has already declared a national emergency. neither congress nor the courts played a role in deciding what constitutes an obstruction or a rebellion. if trump does unlawfully invoke the insurrection act, he can conceivably use our military to carry out his deportation agenda within our country's borders. all while any due process or opportunity to prove that their

presence in the u.s. is lawful or even that they are a citizen. trump himself said he wants to deport american citizens to foreign countries many. -- to foreign countries. trump himself has said, i want to deport american citizens to foreign countries. on february 4, he said, and i quote, i'm just saying, if we had a legal right to do it, i would do it in a heartbeat. i don't know if we do or not. we're looking at it the right now. this is what he has asked his secretary of defense and secretary of homeland security to say, can i invoke -- can i invoke the insurrection act? so don't be mistaken. this is not just about immigrants. this is not just denying imgrand

juries the due process that antonin scalia said that immigrants have a right to so you don't disappear the wrong people like the trump administration has done. that you don't wildly disagree with what a citizen is saying and use this as a pretext to disappear them. he is creating the pretext to invoke that 1800 law -- 18007 law, the insurrection act. and if he does that when they came for the immigrants and denied them due process, he's trying to get us to surrender our commitment to the constitutional guarantees that americans have. he has said he would invoke -- he would deport americans if he could. when the president denies due process to some in america, it threatens the due process of

all. let's see what happens on april 20. this president who's already invoked the alien enemies act, follows through and invokes the inrecreation act. but why wait for april 20? raise your voice now. stand up now. cause some good trouble now. let this president know that if he does ever do that, there will be a rising up of people's voices, a rising up of good truckers as john lewis would say, to say not in my country. this is unacceptable. mr. durbin: will the senator yield for a question? mr. booker: to senator dick durbin, somebody who's been my mentor and friend, i will yield for a question while retaining the floor. mr. durbin: thank you. i first want to acknowledge this extraordinary moment in the history of the senate. i believe you have been holding the floor now for more than ten

hours and perhaps will go on even longer and you've been joined by your colleague and friend, senator murphy, of connecticut. i am sorry to take the early morning chicago. but i didn't want to miss this morning in history, not just for the historic nature of it, but for the substance of of it as well. i just remind my colleague and fellow member of the senate judiciary committee, it was only three, maybe four weeks ago that we had witnesses before the judiciary committee, and i asked a question, and one of them is pending on the calendar -- the executive calendar on the floor. his name is dean sauer of missouri. and he's seeking the position of solicitor general of the united states. along with him was the lady aspiring to be the assistant deputy attorney general for civil rights, harmeet dhillon,

and aaron reitz who has been approved by the senate for a legal policy position. the questioning went to the basics of our constitution, which you have noted here today. and that is, what is the check and balance on a president? what is the accountability of a president under the constitution? as i read it -- and i don't profess to be an expert; i am still learning -- as i read it, the accountability of the president is in article 2. in article 3, i'm sorry. article 3, the judiciary. the president can be held accountable by impeachment in congress or by decision of court that some of the orders that he is promulgating are inconsistent with the constitution. the question that was asked of the witnesses who were seeking positions in the department of

justice, does a public official, can a public official defy a court order? it seems so fundamental and basic. the answer is no, of course. but these three witnesses all equivocated in their own ways. which raises the question, if this president is not held accountable by a court order, what then can control a president who misuses their office to the detriment of the nation? of the people who live here and that i thought was a fundamental question. it was interesting to note -- you may remember -- that one of our republican colleagues on the senate judiciary committee, senator john kennedy of louisiana, after hearing these witnesses equivocate on whether a public official can defy a court order, came to the committee and basically said what are you saying?

the answer is obvious. you can criticize a decision of the court within the bounds of propriety as a member of the bar. you can p appeal a decision of the court. but if that doesn't satisfy you, your recourse is to quit, resign, leave. the constitution has the last word, the courts have the last word. i think that's the question you're raising today. where is the accountability of the president of the united states when he misuses a power of office. and in cases that you've mentioned, the alien enemies act, it's a law that's been around since, i think, 1807 or somewhere in that time, i think it's clear. unless you have declared a war or unless you are invaded, you cannot invoke the alien enemies act as this president has done. and he's being challenged in that regard. yesterday our friend, senator grassley, who chairs the

judiciary committee -- and i say friend. some people back home say don't say that anymore. we don't talk to those people. they're wrong. this is a body where we do talk to one another, and we should for good reason. he raised a question yesterday, why is president trump being challenged so often in court? he has issued 102 executive orders. i don't know if that's a record but i'll bet it is, 102 executive orders questioning something as basic as birthright sovereignty, birthright citizenship. the point i'm getting to is in obvious situations here where president trump has gone too far, where is the accountability. it's not going to to be an impeachment. we're realists. we know that the republican house of representatives is not likely to ever consider that. it could be in the courts. and if it goes to the courts, the question is will this president follow a court order if if goes against his policy? and if he won't follow that

court order, where is the accountability? where is the check and balance? where is the constitutional framework which is supposed to be at the foundation of this democracy? i think you're raising important questions, and the insurrection act, the use of our military for political purposes is a frightening prospect. it's something we have avoided throughout our history and should continue to. and i just commend you for raising this point because i believe it's timely. it's as timely as the questions that we asked of these department of justice nominees about the enforceability of court orders. and the question is now will the american people speak up. i'm counting on some of our republican friends to speak up too. throughout history there have been moments when the party other than the president's party showed extreme courage, political courage and spoke up. we need that kind of voice now. i thank you for raising that on the floor this morning. my question to you is at this moment in time, as we ask these

nominees whether they would follow a court order or defy a court order, doesn't that get to the basics of our constitutional democracy? mr. booker: yes, yes, yes it does. up put forth this litany where we have to ask ourselves is at what point do my colleagues in the house of the senate and the republican party say enough. enough. god bless john kennedy for like calling out the absolute absurd. i was in that hearing where you have nominees for some of the highest positions in the administration failing to say that they will abide by a court order. i mean, that is something we haven't heard people on either side of nominees just say so bluntly now, not yes, i will follow the orders of a court. they're equivocating. and god bless one of my colleagues, john kennedy, who said that's absurd.

you either obey the order or you resign, because we have a constitution. and so when is it enough? when is it enough? this is the week, this is the month of passover, and there's a wonderful song i love singing. it would have been enough is the song, if god delivered us from egypt. it would have been enough if he parted the seas. it would have been enough. this is a kind of twisted version of that. when is it enough when the president of the united states starts a meme coin on his first day, violating the emoluments clause immediately and enriching himself. when is it enough when he takes an agency that is on the front lines of stopping infectious diseases like ebola or drug resistant tuberculosis from coming here. is that enough when we created that in congress and ep has no

right to stop that agency? would that have been enough? when is it enough for him to issue executive orders that trample on the highest ideals of this land, when he mocks members of the court so badly that even the current chief justice admonishes him? when is it enough, when elon musk is indiscriminately firing people and then realizes, we need the faa safety folks? when is it enough when you say i'll call them in and have a hearing to create some transparency in what he's doing? when is it enough when he activates the alien enemies act and starts disappearing human beings without due process? when is it enough? well, it's enough for me. it's enough for me. 12 hours now i'm standing, and i'm still going strong because this president is wrong.

and he's violating principles that we hold dear and principles in this document that are so clear and plain. the powers of the article 1 branch are spelled out, and he is violating them. don't take my word for it. republican-appointed judges, democrat-appointed judges are saying it and stopping him and then he mall lines the judge -- maligns the judge that did that. when is it enough for people to speak out and not fall out and put patriotism over the person that's in the white house? to your question, sir, to my friend -- and i'm sorry to get a little animated at this early morning hour, but i am so frustrated and not just because of that. but i'm reading the stories, we're going into the next section which is national security, and i'm reading the stories of our citizens of this country. not just l new jerseyans. there's a lot we've had read in

these 12 hours. but people from all over the country are reaching out to my office. i know they are yours. you're the second-highest rank democrat in here. you're a man that stands for justice. i know they're reaching out because you're one of these outposts for sanity in a congress that has been foo complicit for an executive that has overstepped his authority and violating the constitution and hurting people who rely on health care and social security. i'm reading these stories, sir, because the voices of the americans that don't have the privilege that the 100 of us don't get to stand here, but i believe the power of the people is greater than the people in power. that's the ideals of our democracy and our constitution. so i'm rip roaring and ready. i'm wide-awake. i'm going to stand here for as many hours as i can, 12 hours,

and i recognize that my other friend, another person i consider more than a friend, like a sister to me, from the state of new york, my nei neighbor -- mrs. gillibrand: senator booker, would you yield for a question? mr. booker: sister for you, i would yield for a question while retaining the floor. mrs. gi mrs. gillibrand: senator booker, i've been listening to this debate all night and you're on fire. you're on fire because the american people are very, very anning relationship with -- very angry to what is happening. it's contrary to what was promised, contrary to what was expected. i know we're going to talk about national security in a few minutes, but can i ask a question about one of the topics you talked about last night because it was exactly what my constituents were talking to me about yesterday. so i was in new york yesterday, and we talked about these cuts to social security.

i have to say i was stopped by the gentleman who worked at amtrak and said, madam senator, madam senator, i just want to thank you for protecting my social security. that has never happened to me be before, never happened at amtrak to be stopped by someone who worked there to thank me for one thing i had done that day. but i'm telling you, senator booker, when elon musk starts firing people at social security and tells the social security administration you cannot answer the phone, what are are our mothers and fathers and grandmothers and grandfathers supposed to do? many of them are not readily available to be on a computer. many of them can't ask their question online. and, worse, elon musk is expecting them to show up in person at a social security office. how many of our older americans are not able to drive anymore or

are uncomfortable driving? how many of our older americans feel uncomfortable getting in a subway to get to a social security administration because there are stairs or because the lighting is not good enough? these are the challenges that our older americans have. so i just want to talk about the things you told us last night, about the risk to social security. social security is our seniors' money. it's not the government's money. it's their money. so what happens when you make it hard for a senior to call and make sure their check's on the way or their check never showed up and they can't find it? for a lot of older americans, that social security check is the only money they have for that month. it pays for food, right. it pays for heating bills. it pays for their medicine. it pays for their rent.

it pays for everything they need to survive. and elon musk's office doesn't believe anybody should be answering the phones. who is he to tell america how to run its social security administration when our seniors need those checks? they've crippled the phone service, even though -- get this one. can't answer the phone, crippled the phone service. you can only make an appointment on the phone. so how are you supposed to make an appointment if you are going to go in? that's absurd. they plan to cut 7,000 staff. that's a lot of staff. 7,000 staff, even though the social security administration staffing is already at a 50-year low. so they are lying when they are saying this is about efficiency. they just want the money. and what do they want the money for? tax cuts for billionaire buddies

of elon musk. it is an obscenity, it is an absurdity, it is an outrage, and everyone in america should be concerned. hands off our social security, elon musk and president trump. hands off. they are rallying all across the country to say hands off my social security. hands off my medicare. hands off my medicaid. it's an outrage, and i don't think people should stand for it. because your social security check is your hard-earned money. it is not for elon musk to play with, to shift around, or send it to tax breaks for his billionaire friends. now i have to say my office has been working closely with one senior. she's a new yorker with a disability, and she was told that she had to call a specific representative's extension by the end of march.

well, that was yesterday. and if she didn't get this person, her application could be denied. she's called every day, sometimes more than once a day. she has been on hold for four to five hours just to reach this representative. as of yesterday when we reached out to her, she had still not reached the representative. so americans across the country are panicked. they are stressed. they are worried that they won't get their hard-earned money back, their retirement to pay for the things that they need. this is the money they spent their entire careers paying into. every time you get a paycheck, senator booker, there's a line that says social security because that money has been taken out of your paycheck and put into social security, so it's there for you when you retire. it's your retirement. the pages sitting here right here, you are paying into your social security. i imagine this is your first paycheck, isn't it?

i bet it is your first paycheck. your first paycheck, you're putting in dollars that you want saved so that when you -- you can't even imagine what it's going to be like to be 65. but the day you're working here, the fact that you spent all night here supporting senator booker, that's your retirement. wouldn't you be pissed off if elon musk took your retirement money? you should be. he doesn't have any right to it and what he's doing it is he's doing it by cutting staff. so if you need help because your social security didn't arrive, how are you supposed to get that check? they can't issue you a new one unless they know that it didn't show up in the mail like it's supposed to. ultimately cutting individuals from social security doesn't just affect them, it affects the entire economy. so you can imagine if all our seniors are getting this social security benefit, you can't go then buy your groceries. you're not going to be able to then go buy whatever you need

for your home. those stores will get less money and that means there will be less resources in the economy. social security if you didn't know it, it's our country's largest antipoverty program. it keeps people out of poverty. that's what it does. when we designed social security, however many decades ago, it was so that our seniors don't die in poverty. because they were dying. about half of seniors at that time were dying in poverty. they didn't have enough food to live. and so we created social security. it's one of the most popular programs, one of the most effective programs. so reducing access to this key program, senator booker, is an outrage. it's harmful. it's cruel. it's hurtful. so i know that this is something that you've really spent a lot of time on last night but don't you think it's cruel to not allow phone service? don't you think it's wrong to

make it harder for people to get access to their hard-earned money? don't you think this is something that america did not sign up for in this election? mr. booker: i read last night -- thank you for the question, my friend. i read last night some of the most painful letters of people over and over again from throughout my state and throughout other states who are living in fear, who use words like terrified and told stories that they couldn't sleep because of the rhetoric of this president, the rhetoric of elon musk calling it a ponzi scheme, telling lice during a joint -- telling lies during a joint address. and then i read stories of people who work in social security. they're talking about not having desks and the waiting lines and the inefficiencies that this has created and the horrible deteriorating customer service. and i've been trying as much as i can during this last 12 hours

to read the stories of repub republicans, to read editorials from the "wall street journal" to just show that this isn't a partisan thing. this isn't about left or right. it's about right or wrong. it's about will we as a country honor our commitments that we made and then i read independent folks that are saying this is crazy, that this program is even in jeopardy mrs. gillibrand: i know you have another question because i know you want to move on to national security issues this morning. mr. booker: i will yield to a question weil retaining the floor -- while retaining the floor mrs. gillibrand: thank you, senator booker. the other thing i talked about this weekend with my constituents is air safety. they are very, very stressed out about these cuts to the faa. you know, there was a plane crash not too far from here, helicopter crash. everyone on the helicopter

perished. we've been reading about stories across the country about flight safety and the fact that there are near collisions all the time. we had a horrible crash in new york, in buffalo, the colgan air crash. i have gotten to know the families over the last several years because they worked together for legislation to make sure we have pilot safety. but what i've been watching in terms of this administration is they don't seem to care. they just have made up this idea that cuts across the board are necessary to get rid of fraud and waste in the budget. and i agree we can make government more efficient, but the way you do that is at least learn what each of these agencies do. study what's happening in them and how to make them more efficient.

make sure the right number of ■ personnel are hired. make sure the right training is offered. make sure there's no wasteful programs. that is good government. that is not what elone musk -- elon musk and his doge boys are doing. that's not what they're doing. they're just cutting everything so they can make way for their billionaire buddies. it's disgraceful. it's something i don't quite understand. so over the past two months, just the past two months, we've seen horrifying accidents and near misses at airports all across the country. and there was another close call just this past friday, again at dca. many of these accidents have been a result of chronic understaffing and antiquated technologies at the faa. but instead of fixing those problems, the first thing that trump administration did when it came to power was fire people. i think he's kind of stuck in

the loop of the apprentice of the you're fired. you're fired. you're fired. i don't get it. like good government is important and i support efficiency. that's not what they're doing. it's like they're on a power trip and they just want to fire everybody across the board. just fire them all. so while a court forced the faa to rehire workers, thank god for the courts vp thank god for the judges who are doing their jobs and looking at these lawsuits appropriately. many federal workers have simply moved on and found new jobs. because these are highly skilled, highly sought after employees, people that we really want working in the federal government to keep our country safe. now, just weeks after the horrific plane crash here with 67 people getting killed in washington, the administration fired hundreds of federal

aviation administration employees jeopardizing the public safety and threatening our national security. so that made no sense. like it was right on the heels of some horrific accident that we all witnessed. now, over 90% of u.s. airport terminal towers don't have enough air traffic controllers. critical shortages remain for other aviation safety personnel as well. so the safety inspectors and mechanics to make sure when we get on that plane, the plane is ready to go. in work, nearly 40% of positions are unfilled at two facilities on long island that direct air traffic for newark, our shared airport, jfk, and laguardia. as a result, over these past few years the u.s. has experienced a substantial and alarming increase in the number of near misses. according to analysis from "the new york times," in 2023, close calls involving commercial airlines occurred on average

multiple times each week. and a number of significant air traffic control lapses increased 65% over the previous year. what did they cite as the major reason behind the increase? a shortage of air traffic controllers. while the trump administration claims no air traffic controllers are critical -- or critical safety personnel were fired, we know that many of those who were let go played an essential role in maintaining those and maintaining our air traffic control infrastructure. others were responsible for maintaining navigational, landing and radar systems. we also know that safety inspectors, systems specialists, maintenance mechanics are among workers who were affected, and at least one of the employees fired worked for faa's national defense program which protects

our air space from enemy drones, missiles, aircraft, and used as weapons. i want to talk about those missiles and drones as well. i really want to talk to you about what you're -- what your thinking is here that we don't have a plan. you had the incursions in new jersey, incursions in new york at the same time. and we don't have assurance that those drones aren't being operated by china or russia or iran or other -- another adversary for a nefarious purpose. we have to get to the bottom of this. and that's something that senator booker, you and i have been at the forefront on when questioning the administration about what they are doing on this issue. so the question i have is why did the administration fire these workers and so easily part with them? who will perform these duties going forward? what risk analysis was performed to ensure this won't make flying less safe? now, i ask these questions of the secretary of transportation in a letter on february 20, over

a month ago. and what was the response? we don't know. they haven't answered my letter. they're not willing to engage the senate in actually policy and decisions that keep our state safe. what's worse is that we don't know if this is where it ends or if more reductions are coming and more reductions that allow for safety for our faa. now, doge's so-called workforce optimization initiative, it's b.s. they don't do the analysis first. they just make the cuts. we need the secretary and the acting faa administrator to respond to congress' questions and oversight. the american people deserve to have a federal aviation agency that is dedicated to actually doing the job of protecting us, protecting this country.

the trump administration needs to take immediate steps to address faa staffing shortages across the entire agency, not just air traffic controllers. so senator booker, the question i really want to ask you is for your state, for new jerseyians, what are they thinking? how do they receive this information? what do they say when they read about drone incursions over one of your arsenals, over one of your sensitive military bases? what do they think about cutting staff to the faa when they watch all this information about crashes? i know my constituents are pretty stressed out about it. they don't understand why someone is making these cuts. again, the why is the most important question. it's not for efficiency. it's not to get rid of the fat. it's not to get rid of the fraud. never heard an allegation there's fraud in the faa. never heard an allegation

there's fat in the faa. they've been understaffed forever. so they're lying about the purpose. so what is the purpose? what is the purpose? what are they going to do with that money, senator booker. i'd like to know. mr. booker: i appreciate this more than you know. there's a line threaded throughout your entire question about the way they're going about doing this. from so many agencies. first they're trying to kill certain agencies. the department of education which they can't legally do. the usaid, they can't legally do. we created that. it's the article 1 branch of government. but on some of these other agencies like social security where you started, we know it's ready, fire, aim, and actually the aim part never happens. they are savagely cutting personnel and organization after organization, seniors, thousands of them are already writing in about the undermining of

service. the "wall street journal" article we read last night said that the service -- the customer service at social security is going from bad to worse. and painted horrific pictures that are putting seniors in crisis. not to mention the closing of social security centers in rural areas where people have to now drive hours and hours and hours. so the faa was one of the early outrages that they hired people that they then realized they needed and tried to find some way to pull some of them back. and you and i both know that the way they talk about government workers, a large percentage of them are veterans. the way they demean and degrade them, the way they accuse them of being parts of corruption, fraud, or fat. when the stories we've been reading of what some of these folks do sex -- folks do is

extraordinary. your question brings up a lot of national security issues and i'm going to bridge to that because we both were really, really incensed that we weren't getting enough information when we had these incursions. and i want to start what i've been doing in other sections is just reading -- elevating on this floor the voices of people from our country, trying to elevate more of the voices to let people know we see you. we hear you, your outrage, your hurt, your fears. they have value. mrs. gillibrand: i have another question before you start your letter, senator booker, if you'd like to entertain another question if you'll yield. mr. booker: i'll retain for a question while -- i will yield for a kwee while retaining the floor mrs. gillibrand: i want to give you a couple of questions. i sit on a special committee on intelligence in the senate. i also sit on the armed services committee. so national court is an area

where new yorkers care a deep amount about. and i've been spending the last 15 years focused on how we keep this country safe and would we should be doing. so i get a lot of questions from new yorkers about this issue. so i want you to address the drone issue for sure because that is something you and i have been working on continuously since we've seen these inskurgss. -- inkurkeses. just -- incursions. just to give a little more context for new yorkers who may be listening to this debate. we've had incursion, over military sites for quite some time. it's something i've been worked on on a bipartisan basis in the committee. some of these inkurkes, are overnight over and over again over sensitive military bases. there was one over langley. we had them over arsenals in new jersey, over sensitive sites in new york. we've had them over military bases across the country. and, you know, i don't like it when the answer is oh, we know

where most of this is. this is mostly if a traffic. and i don't like it when i hear from this administration or any administration because it is true. some of the drone sitings are planes in the air, helicopters, you know, maybe weather balloons, maybe enthusiasts. but they do not know if all are. and in these specific incursions, they do not know the origin of them. they do not know whose they are. they do not know who is operating thechlt they do not know the purpose of these drones. these drones could easily be spying, they could be planning attacks, anything nefarious. we have no basis to say it is all known and we are not concerned. and so this is something we are going to get to the bottom of. i'm very incensed about t it does not leave our personnel as safe. it does not leave our secrets safe. so drones is one issue. the second issue, if you could

address on the national security side, is cybersecurity. i think that -- and election security. one of the cuts that the doge boys made, which i literally cannot understand why they would ever do this. this is making us weaker. it is a making us less safe. it is not good for america. and it shows how ill-advised this process is and how uninformed this process is and how we can see through these cuts how insincere this process is. this is not about waste. this is not fraud. this is nood government. this is about making massive cuts for tax breaks for billionaires because that is where they want to spend your tax dollars, new yorkers' tax dollars and new jerseyans' tax

dollars. okay, so this is the question -- these cuts, they have cut all the personnel or the main personnel at an organization called cisa that we're supposed to be doing election security. the people who actually were working with the states to makessures our election system can't be hacked. they fired those people. they fired the senior personnel at the department of defense. our most experienced generals across the board, members from the joint chiefs of staff, just fired them. for what reason, i don't know. no substantive reason was ever give many. but these are the senior personnel who keep us from wars, who have the judgment and experience to advise the president, to advise congress, to advise us on how to keep us safe. and so -- and then the last group they cut were the lawyers. do you remember that shakespeare lakers the first thing we do is kill all the lawyers? well, the context in which that

was given was an in order to have a coup. so shakespeare hundreds of years ago said, if you want to have a coup, the first thing do you is kill all the lawyers. well, they fired all the lawyers. the senior lawyers at the department of defense. they fired the generals who actually know how to keep us safe. and then they fired the personnel at cisa who are responsible for election interference. they fired the people at the fbi, who are also responsible for election interference. so, again, these firings make no sense. i don't think they're making us -- i don't think they're making us more safe. i think they're making us less safe. when you fire the people who know what they're doing and are dedicated to keeping us safe, doesn't make us safer. what do you think, senator booker, about any of the topics that i raise, the firing of the

election personnel at sis, is as the firing of the generals, the senior lawyers at department of defense, the firing of the fbi personnel also expert at election interfering? these are the smartest, most capable, most sophisticated senior personnel that are there to help us keep this country safe. i really want to hear what you're hearing from your state and what you're thinking about this reckless, reckless approach to national security. mr. booker: i'm so grateful for the questions from my colleague, my friend. i want folks to know that probably the best dinner i had when i came here was with the senator from new york, who really gave me a quick rundown on how to get things done in this body. i've watched her work on both sides of the aisle relentlessly to get things over the finish line, to help people in our region, from 9/11 folks who were

first responders to get their health care, to fight, to support the military, empower the military, but to fight against sexual assault in the military. she is one of these phenomenal people. a lot of her questions we're going to get to, including that question that was obviously painful about national security. hey, one of the strategies of russia, we know this, is to attack elections of other democracies, to try to sow discord, to try to undermine the very voting process and the trump administration pulled away a lot of the people in the doj and elsewhere that their sole purpose was to fight against southern election -- election interference. i'm going to start by reading a couple constituent letters. i know we want to step back and talk a little bit on imgra imgraduation -- immigration because my colleague and partner, tina smith, is here.

i with a watt to get -- i want to get into some of these letters because i said over 12 hours ago that we were going to continue to elevate the voices of people out there. this one is coming from someone from new jersey. and they're writing, dear senator booker, i am writing to express my deep concern regarding the state of our nation and the lack of response to the looming constitutional crisis. it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the actions of our president who routinely lies and makes outrageous proposals such as annexing greenland, mexico, and panama or even rename ago the gulf of mexico. those proposals not only undermine our international standing but also disrespect the foundations of our country. furthermore, i'm alarmed by the growing threat to press freedom. recently, for example, the associated press was barred from the white house pressroom simply for referring to the gulf of mexico rather than gulf of

america. a clear sign of the president's disregard for free speech and free press's role in holding power to account. the president is actively trampling on the constitution and blatantly ignoring the rule of law, as senator gillibrand was saying. he has taken steps to slash vital federal agencies and disaster relief programs, undermining our nation's capacity to respond to crises. his decision to appoint unqualified individuals, to high positions for the purpose of following his will, is another will of how our democratic systems are being systematically weakened. additionally, his reckless approach to foreign policy is make the world more dangerous. his insistence for blaming ukraine for russia's invasion and ongoing war is not only inaccurate but also deeply damaging to our allies and global stability. even worse, his administration

has entertained so-called, in quotes, peace settlements that exclude ukraine from the process entirely. effectively allowing russia to dictate terms without any ukrainian input. such actions betray our commitments to sovereignty and democracy and embolden authoritarian regimes worldwide. domestically his agenda is destructive. his administration has pursued the withdrawal from usaid, the gutting of critical humanitarian and development efforts that have long served u.s. interests abroad. at home, he is enabling tech billionaires like elon musk to take a chainsaw to government agencies, arbitrarily dismantling institutions that provide essential public services. his attacks on the nih and its funding jeopardize critical medical research and public health initiatives undermining progress for purely ideological reasons. beyond this, his treatment of

our closest allies is both reckless and impair acing. his taunting of canada, whether through inflammatory rhetoric or deliberate policy snubs, weakens our diplomatic ties and disregards the importance of maintaining strong with our neighbors. this petty, shortsighted approach to international relations is isolating the u.s. at a time when global cooperation is more critical than ever. my greatest frustration, however, senior senator the lack of action from our representatives and governors. too many are cowering in fear of the president's authoritarian tactics. i am troubled by the absence of pushback. i am troubledably the absence of pushback. we are witnessing the erosion of checks and balances and the consequences could be dire. i was heartened by governor janet mills of maine standing up to the president's orders. his response was a threat to her

political future you further evidence of the intimidation tactics being employed. i implore you, senator booker, to show some moral courage and take meaningful action to stand up to this growing threat to our democracy. please let me know how you are responding to the situation and what steps you, senator booker, are taking to defend our constitution and the rule of law. thank you for your time. and i look forward to hearing from you soon. i hope at this early morning hour that maybe youer listening because i -- that you are listening because i hear you, i see you. and i'm standing here because, in part, of letters like yours. this is not normal. these are not normal times. we must begin to do as john lewis says, get to in good trouble. get in necessary trouble. i want to read from another constituent. just want to see where this person is from. i'm not trying to violate the

privacy. what's that? we know wisconsin is getting a lot of love here. i know my colleague -- i kept seeing folks from two towns and one in your state and one in the great state of pennsylvania. but this person, alas, is from new jersey. i wrote to ask you to do all you can to resolve funding for the national i national institutes of health and u.said. i've seen firsthand the destruction -- the destructive termination of funds. it's causing research in education. we are losing the momentum in research and causing deep and lasting loss of educational resources. the nih and the national science foundation provide funds for

basic research as well as applied topics. the benefits of this research will be long-lasting and the cost of disruption will be very high. similarly circumthe disruption of usaid is tragic. my daughter works for an organization working with usaid on climate mitigation and adaptation. she has lost job security as a result of the trump administration's actions. work she has built on in ethiopia and kenya and elsewhere will be disrupted. i am proud to be represented by you as well as our new senator, andy kim. the promise of our country is great, but we must redefine our purpose and imagine a new future. your experience and knowledge will be critical to our country's success. let me go to two more and then turn to our colleague. this is a short one. i am writing to express my

concerns about the chaos and lawlessness coming out of the white house. usaid must be restored. please use powers to restore democracy to the united states of america. this is not what democracy looks like. thank you. somebody from new jersey. and one more, one more, one more voice. as a parent of a usaid foreign service officer recently in ukraine, now in kenya, i am outraged and horrified by the coup now being staged by elon musk your honor the authority of the president,er to be called criminal after putting your life at risk is itself to be a victim of criminal-like behavior. i have seen the beautiful roads and railroads in africa built by

chinese. in one fell swoop, trump has given that continent to the chinese and the russians. he did the same thing years ago by cancelling participation in the pacific free trade pact, forfeiting our power and good will, making china the largest player in the republican. i saw -- in the region. i saw the good will in the eyes of passersby from the philippines to georgia to tadzhikistan. now i hear a turn to haas stilts. think of sports fans in canada booing our national anthem. think also of the infants these diseases will come ohm with even a 90-day pause of workers in these programs, we will lose jobs and rent and some never will return.

refrigeration of medicines will be at risk. clinics and offices will become unavailable. humpty dumpty will not be quickly put back together again. some of what trump wants to do will ultimately need approval of congress. i urge you to fight every one of his proposals and appointments. slow the legislative process as much as you can. let me know how i can help. your voice is helping tonight. speaking to these issues is helping tonight. i know my senate colleague is here. if she has a question, i will

yield while retaining -- i will yield while retaining the floor. ms. smith: mr. president. ms. smith: i want to thank myms enough to know you are not doing this because of your belief in the power of your voice. you are doing this because of your belief in the power of all voices that you have been amplifying all through the night. and your belief of the importance of the millions of americans mo are -- who are so frightened and concerned and horrified by what they see this administration doing.

and wanting to feel like there is somebody here fighting for them. and that is listening to them. the way in which you're reading these letters today, and all through the night, senator booker, i think is a tribute to your respect for all of those americans. so, i'm so very grateful for that. i wanted to take a moment, if i co could, to ask you to yield for a question related to what you've been talking about. i certainly agree with you that these are not normal times in our nation. as elected officials, it is our duty to speak up and fight back against the abuses and overreach of this administration, and to raise up our voices, raise up the voices of our constituents, who are both frightened and furious about what's happening. my question to you, senator booker, is about some of the fre trump administration's recent

actions regarding immigration i think that we all can agree that our current immigration system is broken. it is not working well for anyone, it is not working well for american businesses, it is not working well for families who want to reunite with their loved ones and it is not working well at all for those who seek refuge from persecution and believe in the promises that are carved into the statue of liberty. and to my colleague, i ask these questions and i think about these issues about the shortcomings of our immigration system as the senator from minnesota where our meat processing sector relies so much on immigrant labor, where the university of minnesota is a beacon for international students studying science and technology and agriculture,

where the resorts in minnesota rely on folks from all over the country to come and make them work. the little mom and pop 12-cabin operations up on lakes in northern minnesota, and the manufacturers who rely on as i said the best and the brightest from all over the world coming to serve in our state and serving our economy. and i think we know my colleague from new jersey that there have been real and serious bipartisan attempts at comprehensive immigration reform debated in in body. and while i might not have agreed with everything in these proposals, i suspect you might not as well, i think we both, i'm sure strongly believe that immigration merits real debate and real policy solutions. our colleague who is here on the floor with us this morning, senator murphy, from connecticut has worked so hard to find real

bipartisan solutions. and i believe that comprehensive immigration reform needs to ensure our national security. it needs to provide a fair and workable path for immigrants who want to come and contribute to the american dream, which is what truly makes this country great, but here's the rub. the trump administration's recent actions show that they are not interested in serious policy reforms that would make americans safer or make our immigration system work more efficiently and fairly, instead what i think we can see, this president has prioritized using our immigration system as a tool to restrict first amendment freedoms, to subvert due process and to further weaken america's global standing with our allies and our regional partners as he seeks to emulate the authoritarian regimes that he so openly admires. there is one example in recent

weeks, we've seen a number of international students targeted for arrest and deportation merely on the basis of pro palestinian advocacy. they played by all the rules, and entered into this country with permission and have not been charged of any criminal activity. their views on the war in gaza may differ sharply from yours or mine, but i believe the first amendment guarantees the right to express those views without facing punishment or reprisal from our government. nonetheless, the trump administration has admitted they are doing exactly that, seeking to punish lawfully present immigrants, in some cases even green card holders because of the political views they've expressed. the secretary of state has invoked a rarely used section of statute that allows him to unilaterally did heing nature for removal -- designate for

removal any alien for any adverse foreign policy consequences. many of these arrests have been cared out in a manner that seem calculated for fear to immigrant communities. here's an example to my colleague for him to respond to. i want to take the case of the recent arrest of remisa, a turkish graduate student at tufts, who was studying a globally connected world. she is here on a valid visa, and by all accounts she is a beloved member of the tufts community. her only reported offense was being one of four coauthors in

an op-ed that urged the administration of tufts to engage in tufts to divest f from -- her visa was revoked with no notice and was spirited more than 1500 miles away, which is likely a violation of a judge's order to await her probable deportation. and i'm sure many of my colleagues, including my colleague from new jersey, has seen the video of her arrest, which was captured by a neighbor's security camera, and it is utterly chilling. she is surrounded by officers in plain cloths with no visible insignia, with no markings on their can clothing, she is handled roughly, her belongings are taken away and her hands are cuffed before being escorted to a car. her arrest looks like a

kidnapping, something you would see in moscow rather than the streets of boston. and of course the terror of what she experienced is horrible to think about. but i also think about the thousands and thousands and thousands of other students here with a student visa or other, you know, other lawful means who see this and think to themselves, this could happen to me, this could be something that happens to my roommate or my student or anybody. it seems like such a breakdown in the rule of law and the way that our country should operate. so i would like to ask my colleague -- does this seem to you -- does this seem normal or appropriate for federal law enforcement officers of the united states to conduct routine arrests in plain cloths with unmarked cars and with this

overwhelming show of force for individuals that show no obvious threat. is this not the sort of operation you would order if your goal is to intimidate and dissuade immigrant and activist communities from using their rights of free speech. does this seem consistent with american democratic values. i can't believe that woe would think that it would be consistent, and i wonder if my colleague from new jersey would like to respond in any way to this. mr. booker: i'm going to respond to and thank my colleague for being here in the morning. she's one of my colleagues i confided in when i told her sort of enough was enough for me, i needed to do something different and she readily encouraged me to be here on the floor for what is now about 13 hours, and she has

encouraged me. she has encouraged my heart and is just one of my dear friends and i'm just so grateful to see her this morning. i want to say something before i begin answering her question. in my home county, the one i grew up in, there's a family, the alexanders whose son edon, who is an american held by hamas, and he is being likely tortured and in trauma and in pain. he's a u.s. citizen, he's an american. i had a friend give me this recently, a man who was driving me around, a ribbon that i often use i keep in my pocket to remind me of him and our determination to bring him home i. want his family to know that he stays centered in my thoughts and i also feel because of so many new jerseyans who are

affected by this crisis that we must bring peace. and then my friend senator smith asked this question about, which is a real test because when you disagree with someone's statements so much, but the very nature of the first amendment, what makes this document so precious is that is says that no matter how reprehensible your speech is, this document says you have the right to say it. i remember the controversy over nfl -- an nfl player who kneeled and one of the voices who sticks in my head is a white guy from the military who said i

fought battles, i think it was afghanistan, and i am offended by his staking a knee, but the very reason i fought was so that he would have the freedom to do it. and so i came back. i was there on october 7, and i have very hurt, strong feelings about what's going on other there and urgent desires to enthe nightmare, to -- to enthe nightmare and end the nightmare for so many israelis and palestinians, and i find some of the things people are saying so unhelpful to the crisis it on the moral truths that i believe in, but i will fight for people's rights. and so here is a situation where you see video and it just seem like who we are.

if you're revoking somebody's visa, make a phone call, tell them you have 30 days to leave, but there should be due process, you should have to make, prove your claims in court if they are aligning with some kind of enemy, prove it, but what i saw doesn't reflect the highest ideals. if this test. constitution was easy, it wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on. i love my friend because she wades into some difficult w waters, but she's guided by the oath she took to defend the constitution. and in these complex and difficult times, she's standing up. i tell you, when we were in the immigration section last night, we -- or earlier, i should say, we read the most painful st stories. my brother, over on the other

side of me g really dear friends on the floor right now -- senator murphy, senator warnock, senator smith -- my brother senator warnock knows that we are a nation that is paying hundreds of millions of dollars over the years of the trump administration to fund private prisons that are being paid, incentivized, to take away people's liberties. we read stories in the immigration section about people that got trapped in those sys systems, that should never be there. horrible stories, painful voices i've read about folks caught up in a system. i just loved that one article from that canadian that was for weeks put in a private prison, and suddenly when she heard the lies of the people, who found ways to keep her there, the aha

moment she realized, these people, every day i'm there they get profit, they're not incentivized by justice, they're incent incentivized by profit. i read stories, senator smith, of people sent to that horrible jail in el salvador that the government admitted they made a m mistake. they disappeared someone who has american family members. story after story, just a betrayal, not of democratic values, but american values. because we all in this body know we need to do more to protect our borders, to keep us safe, to arrest criminals, be they undocumented or documented. that's an urgency we all feel. but when you sacrifice your core values, you sacrifice them to a

demagogue who says this is all about your safety, when you sacrifice your core principles for your safety, you will achieve neither. you will neither be safe nor morally strong. the true leaders on both sides of the aisle that i've heard over the years say we can do both. we can make our comfort safe, and we can abide by our values, and in a complex world, where country after country disappears people, when authoritarian countries dispolitical enemies, political -- disappear their political enemies, those countries are looking to us. did you know when donald trump started using that phrase fake news, fake news, fake news, that in turkey erdogan started arresting people on charges of

fake news? because we are looked to. i believe, like reagan said, we can be that city on the hill, but we are up high and folks look to us for what is the world order going to be? what is democracy going to look like? are we going to defend democracy and democratic principles, or will you behave like the authoritarians we should be against? this has been resonating these 13 hours. we keep coming back to the constitution, because so many of the things the trump administration are doing, from the separation of powers to violating the very first words of our constitution, the very first words, this commitment we make when we swear oates, all of us, we the people of the united states of america, this is our mandate, in order to form a more perfect union establish justice. it comes really quick.

it comes really quick. is it just to disappear a human being with no due process? i quoted anton scalia, this conservative sitting on a stage, somebody he had a lot of affection for, ruth bader ginsburg, the moderator asked does somebody in our country have the rights of this document? he said yes, especially the 14th amendment that doesn't say any citizen, it says no person, no body. so where do we stand? when our founders, those imperfect geniuses, say we the people, in order to form a more perfect union, we the people of the united states, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote

the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity? what nation are we turning over to the next president, to the next congress, when this congress is sacrificing the powers that are given right underneath that preamble, it's article 1, which spells out all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in the congress of the united states, which shall consist of the senate and the house of representatives. then it goes on to talk about what we have the power to do. we set the laws. this president is invoking emergency powers like the alien insurrection act. a 1780-something law that the last time was used in world war ii to detain japan americans,

something so shameful, to put them in concentration camps here in america. he wants to take power from our congress. the thing that is killing me, that is actually breaking my heart, brother warnock, is that we're letting them. that we're letting him take our power. if elon musk was a democrat, and joe biden said, hey, go after the spending power of congress, all the things they approved, it's hard to do bipartisan things here, god bless patty murray, susan collins coming together, and getting spending bills, hard work, hard done lord knows i sometimes play a little motown in here, ain't too proud to beg. i say my new jerseyans need this, and this.

i fight for programs with lindsey graham and usaid with the now secretary of state marco rubio, pro grams that he approved -- programs that he approved. the department of education. i've worked with republicans to put things in department of education. there are people here that worked in a bipartisan way to try to simplify the fassa forms. i could go through all the work we've done that now this body, the article 1 branch of constitution right under the mandate of the united states of america. tina smith is telling us, right after we the people of the united states in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, the senator, my friend. and so that's why we're here. that's why now the senate is filling up with friends galore. we got amy klobuchar now on the

floor. that's why we're here. no business as usual. no business as usual. we're not doing the usual order. we're talking about these things. we're making the case. we talked about immigration. we talked about medicaid. we talked about medicare. we talked about health care. we talked about medical research. we talked about social security. we're marching through. we're marching through. 13 hours. i got more in the tank. so, i thank you for that question. it brings up very emotional things for me. it brings up pain and frustration and hurt. it brings up the pain of so many new jerseyans that reached out, the palestinian doctors in my state who worked with my office to get palestinian babies into america for care. it brings up the hurt of being there and seeing the worst slaughter of jews since the holocaust. so many things are painful. if we sacrifice our values, it reminds me of the mosque being

built 9/11, it reminds me of all these difficult points, the marchers in skokie with the kkk, all these difficult points where the values of this constitution were tested. where we were being measured. i have to say, what this president is doing, with alien insurrection act, with no due process, what this president is doing with flushing the department of education, with getting rid of the usaid, with attacking thousands of people that serve our veterans, that serve our social security, those should be obvious to this institution, to the senate, that that's wrong, that they have unelected the biggest campaign donor unelected, getting our personal information, and there's no transparency. nobody there this body can -- nobody can say they know what elon musk has, because they never brought him here to answer for it.

so, i thank my colleague for the question. i know reverend warnock is going to ask me one. i want to take a couple pages into this for a second. the american people alone, our approach to foreign policy, practiced by the president, what the president has done has left our allies feeling abandoned, degraded and insulted. he's left our adversaries feeling emboldened, and has done things that hurt our national security, that made americans less safe. in the short time president trump has been in office for a second term americans have been put in harm's way because of the reckless approach of the administration. it all begins, in fact, with his extremely poor judgment. this administration has prioritized the sequisness to donald trump over some of the

most important national security jobs, and sidelined dedicated officials to keep our country safe. this administration demonstrated an inability to distinguish between america's adversaries and allies. the disturbing failure to understand how america's partnerships and investments abroad protect and benefit communities here. i'm reminded of general mat us, to say if you're -- general mattis, if you're cutting the state department or usaid, buy me more bullets. i see one of my friends, somebody i really look up to, i see tim kaine, who sits a little higher up on the dais on me on the foreign relations committee. somebody i turned to many times. i know he like me has had private conversations with republican colleagues about this. but this body has not called for one hearing, no accountability. what am i talking about? it's when last week we gender

vice president jd vance, secretary of defense pete hegseth, secretary of state marco rubio, director of national intelligence, tulsi gabbard, director of cia, john ratcliffe, national security advisor, mike waltz, steve witkoff and several other officials in the trump administration discussed attack plans against the houthis and yemen in the commercial messaging app signal. we learned of this because the president's national security advisor mistakenly invited the editor in chief of "the atlantic" jeffrey goldberg on the text chain. after jeffrey goldberg published the story describing this jaw-dropping national security failure, where they could have broken at least two laws i'm aware of, just by doing that, from the preservation of public records all the way to

disclosing national security, highly classified information, the president and cabinet members didn't step up and say we made mistakes, dins step up and say -- didn't step up and say this is clearly wrong or say there will be accountability or we'll take actions. no, when exposed they actually decided to target the reporter with a barrage of insults, not acknowledging any wrongdoing. unsurprisingly the trump team's response led jeffrey goldberg to publish the rest of the signal chat messages which exposed more administration lies. we're going to go into that, but i really want to turn to my brother, i said earlier about senator murphy's speech, one of my favorite i've ever heard when

i was on the senate, brother warnock is -- gave a speech that is one of my favorite in the senate too, when he talked about difference between january 5 america and that fateful day january 6. he's been a friend of mine for a long time. i started 13 hours ago talking about getting into good trouble, you might be the only person in this body arrested in this building for protesting before you came to serve as a united states senator. i'm going to stick to what i'm told to say. if you ask me, that you'd like to speak, you have to say it, i'd like to ask you a question. i think that's how this goes. ing mr. warnock: will the senator from new jersey yield for a question? mr. booker: why, yes, i will yield for the question while retaining the floor. mr. warnock: good morning. let me just say, cory booker, how very, very proud i am of

you. it's a real honor to be serve in this body. i know that all of my colleagues who are here agree, that it's an honor for the people of your state to say that when we take stock of all the issues that we wrestle with, as we look into the eyes of our children and consider what we want for them, and in the eyes of our aging parents as they deal with the blessings and the burdens of getting older. and since all of us can't go to washington, we're going to send you. and we're going to trust that in rooms of power, where decisions are being made, that you're going to center the people and not yourself. you're going to be thinking about ordinary people. so, cory booker, i want to thank

you for holding vigil. as i prepare to ask you a question, i just want to thank you for holding vigil for this country all night. rabbi abraham joshua heshel said that when he marched with dr. king, he felt like his legs were pra praying. and so in a very real sense your legs have been praying as you've been standing on this floor all night. and thank you for praying not just with your lips, but with your legs. for a nation in need of healing. i just got off a prayer call that i do every tuesday morning at 7:14 a.m., second chronicles 7:14, if my people who are called by my name would humble

themselves and pray, if they would seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then i will hear from heaven. i will forgive their sins and heal the land. the nation needs healing. p and we need spiritual healing, we need moral healing. but literally there are people all across our country who need healing, who need health care. and so that's why i was so proud to come to this senate after being arrested in the rotunda a few years before that, proud to join you in the senate, proud that we were able to pass just a couple months after i got here, the american rescue plan which did so much incredible work. in that american rescue plan, there was the expanded child tax

credit which literally cut child poverty more than 40% in our country. i wish we could get it extended. but one of the other things we did was we lowered georgians and americans' health care premiums by hundreds of dollars on average. we passed a tax cut, and that's so relevant in this moment because that's what this body is prepared to do right now, i guess, in the next few days. pass a tax cut, but that tax cut is literally going to be for the richest of the rich. the wealthiest among us. but we passed a tax cut that brought health care into reach for tens of thousands of georgians and millions of americans in the american rescue plan. these tax credits are so critical that the nonpartisan congressional budget office said that the number of americans without health care would grow

by 3.8 million people in just one year if the premium subsidies were allowed to expire. forgive me for my phone ringing. my eight-year-old and six-year-old are calling me. they're not impressed by what i'm doing. they're not impressed. but we know that this impact, this would impact thousands of georgians who have only recently been able to receive health care. we passed in that american rescue plan these tax credits which put health care in reach. and now they're set to expire if we don't do our work. and that's why what you're doing, cory booker, is holy work. it's within a political context, but this is holy work.

if these tax credits are allowed to expire a 45-year-old in georgia with $62,000 annual income would see premiums go up by $1,414 a year. a 60-year-old couple in georgia with an $82,000 annual income would see premiums go up by a staggering $18,157 a year. think about that. nearly one-third of americans have less than $500 in savings in their bank account. imagine the health care costs for a 60-year-old couple going up by more than $18,000. a health insurance premium hike like this would be more than an inconvenience. it wouldn't just be a nuisance.

it's literally the difference between having health care coverage and not having health care coverage. and so i'm thinking about people like that. and i'm thinking about my constituent cassie cox from bainbridge, georgia. she wasn't able to afford health care on the affordable care act marketplace until the premium tax credit brought health care into reach. and shortly after she became insured, she severely cut her hand which landed her in the emergency room with 35 stitches. and with insurance it still cost her about $300. had it not been for the tax credits that allowed her to get health care, she could have been in financial ruin. she's one of the hundreds of thousands of georgians at risk of losing their coverage if these tax credits are allowed to expire if we don't do our work. if we're more focused wealthiest

of the wealthy rather than the concerns of ordinary people. senator booker, should democrats and republicans come together to extend the premium tax credit for hardworking folk in new jersey and in georgia? what do you think? mr. booker: my easiest colleague question i've gotten over these 13 hours. yes, they should. i was talking in the health care section about while there's these big issues that we should be concerned about -- $880 billion from medicaid -- cutting all of that out to give the wealthiest, as you said, god bless them, they don't need our help. they don't need more tax cuts. and explode the deficit. this is literally taking from working americans. the letters we read, the voices of americans, the fear, the anguish, the hurt, the worry, people who were suffering from parkinson's, who he had children

with disabilities, who had elder parents living with them, so many people telling them not $880 billion, but their whole financial well-being was hitting them on the head. while all of that was going on the trump administration was doing other things to attack aca enrollment, attack the tax credit people were relying on, to do other things to drive up costs. some of my colleagues were on the floor, like amy klobuchar. we sent the lowering of prescription drug costs and he is doing things to drive out-of-pocket costs up. there's a cruelty in that. i tend to still be standing at noon when we have to pause in the senate for the pledge and the prayer. and, pastor, i want to talk to you in the way that you talked to me last night. i called my brother, called my friend and told him i was doing

this, and warnock shifts gears a lot in my life. sometimes he's my colleague, sometimes he's my brother, sometimes we talk about the state of two unmarried guys in the senate. i don't mean to put you on blast, sir. the bald-headed caucus. but the one time you shift those gears into being my pastor and my friend, we prayed together last night. and most americans identify in our faith, christian faith. and you and i know -- i would yield for you to ask a question, but i'm yielding just to have you talk about matthew 25. mr. warnock: i'm a matthew 25 christian. mr. booker: you and i both. that's what we have in common. mr. warnock: it's a long chapter but the section we're talking about in matthew 25, jesus says i was hungry and you fed me.

i was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. i was sick. mr. booker: what were you? mr. warnock: i was in prison and you came to visit me and someone asked, lord, when were you sick? when were you in prison? when were you an undocumented immigrant? and the answer comes inasmuch as you've done it to the least of these, you've done it also unto me. another part of that text says and when you don't do it for the least of these you don't do it to me. the scripture says the one giveth to the poor. this is holy work. mr. booker: i don't understand how a president of a nation could be so cruel that you doesn't give health care to people who have a spouse, like the person who wrote me -- it wasn't the spouse.

she wrote me herself. she has parkinson's and i got upset because that's how my father died and i watched how it affected my family, how it cost thousands of dollars for his car care. thank god we had it. how can a country say that kind of cruelty, how can a nation with the majority of its people are people of faith, be they muslims or b'hai or hindu. how the country that is reflected on principles in the good book, how can we say we should cut health care from the sick and the needy to give bigger tax cuts to elon musk? mr. warnock: will the senator from new jersey yield? mr. booker: i would yield while retaining the floor. mr. warnock: this is the reason why every sunday and every weekend when i leave here, i

return not only to georgia, but i return to my pulpit. some folks ask why do you continue to lead ebenezer church? i return to my pulpit every sunday because notwithstanding wonderful people like you, i don't want to spend all my time talking to politicians. i was focused on this health care issue long before i came to the congress. dr. king said that of all the injustices, inguatemala and health care, he -- inequality and health care is the most shocking and the most inhumane. and it's the reason why as a pastor inspired by dr. king, leading the congregation that dr. king led, way back in 2014, when the affordable care act was passed, were you here?

you came after? mr. booker: i came after. mr. warnock: you came right after that. i got arrested in the governor's office in georgia fighting for health care. mr. booker: i didn't know you were a two-time arrestee, man. mr. warnock: i've got a long record, trouble. but all for good trouble. and we had a 1960 sit-in in the governor's office. waves of us got arrested. they arrested one wave and then another wave came and another wave came. and we were trying to get georgia to expand medicaid. mr. booker: yes, i remember that. mr. warnock: we passed the affordable care act here but p georgia was digging in its heels and said we're not going to expand medicaid. and so when i got here, senator klobuchar, i made it a priority of mine to get incentives for

georgia to expand medicaid. and you remember i went to our caucus, and i said, look, georgia and about nine, then ten other states have not expanded. they should have done it a long time ago. let's see if we can make it even easier for them. and as a freshman senator, i was able to convince our caucus to give $14.5 billion for nonexpansion states which includes $2 billion just for georgia to be -- why? so people who go to work every day can get health care. georgia left $2 billion sitting on the table and almost 600,000 georgians in the gap. the governor's plan has enrolled a whopping 6500 people in health

care. but we've got nearly 600,000 people in the gap. this is not theoretical stuff. let me -- every time i talk about this, i have to talk about heather payne because heather payne is a resident of dalton, georgia, she spent her career taking care of others, she's a traveling nurse. she worked as an e.r. labor and delivery nurse during covid, but often did not have health care coverage because she fell in the health care coverage gap. sometimes she had it, sometimes she didn't. she made too much money to qualify for medicaid, but the only coverage options were unaffordable costing between $ -- $500.

heather payne noticed something was wrong in her body and even though she noticed something was wrong, she had to wait for months to see a doctor to save up the money. and then she finally went and saw a neurologist who said, you know what, you've actually had a series of small strokes. and even after getting that diagnosis, she had to put off serious medical procedures because she could not work as an e.r. nurse anymore and is still waiting to get approved for disable so she can get medicaid coverage. and so this nurse who has spent her whole life healing other people can't get health care. i think it's wrong in the richest country on earth, we don't want to lower the cost of health care for people working hard in our communities every

day, literally keeping us healthy. i'm going to ask you another soft ball question, senator booker. should people like my friend who have pain -- like heather payne have access to affordable health care? mr. booker: yes. mr. warnock: it is clear -- mr. booker: just to stay in the parliamentary -- i yield for a question while retaining the floor. mr. warnock: the administration is working for billionaires. they're working for people like elon musk. health care is a human right. health care is basic. and while we're speaking about health, we've got to cheer on our federal workers who are keeping us healthy. and there are folks in this

administration who say that they want to make them the villains. that's what russell vought said. that when they wake up in the morning, we want them to not go to work, our federal workers, because they are increasingly viewed, he said, as villains. the people who staff our v.a. hospitals are not villains, the people who keep our food safe and water clean are not villains, the people who keep our military bases operating are not villains. and so we stand with them in in moment -- in this moment because they are, indeed, keeping all of us healthy. and so in closing, and nobody believes a baptist preacher when he says in closing, let me say that, again, you're doing holy work, brother, by holding this

floor. you are literally holding vigil for our nation. we are beset by the politics of fear. the scripture tells us that perfect love casts out all fear. we are witnessing again this ugly game, the politics of us and them. and there are a lot of folk who because of so much of what has been going on in our nation across republican and democratic administrations, let's be honest, has not been working for ordinary people. and the gap between the haves and the have-nots has gotten larger and larger, and when people are vulnerable, sometimes they give in to the politics of fear, somebody telling them they've got all the answers. and so we saw it in the last cycle, we're seeing it in this

moment of this country, the politics of us and them, and, sadly, hardworking, working-class people are waking up this morning and they're discovering that they -- they thought they were in the us, and they're discovering that they're in the them. that the them is larger than they thought. and so we've got to hold vigil for each other, for workers, for women, for immigrants, for immigrant families, for our sisters and our brothers, red, yellow, brown, black, and white, for those aging who need social security, for the working poor who need medicaid, for those who are seeking asylum and they just need a dignified path, for those who have been working here for years and they need a dignified

path to citizenship we've got to hold vigil for each other. and so thank you for this work. this is not the end but the beginning. the struggle continues. dr. king said that the true measure of a person is not where he stands in moment of comfort and convenience but where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy. soty for praying for -- so thank you for praying for this nation. do you intend to keep praying? mr. booker: amen, hallelujah, yes i do. i know -- pray isiah 4:31 for me. mr. warnock: god it. i'm going to ordain this man.

mr. booker: all right. the article i was going to start reading ms. klobucher: senator booker. mr. booker: i yield for a question while retaining the floor. ms. klobucher: you'll yield for a question? mr. booker: while retaining the floor, yes. ms. klobucher: thank you -- thank you for waking us up this morning, literally. all night as reverend warnock will tell you, i they you were in here doing your work, but it was raining, it was thunder, and it was really bad. when we woke up, you were still talking and the sun is out and you're giving people hope. when i think about what you're doing, you're like an alarm clock right now for this country. and slowly but surely we've seen

people realize this isn't just a bunch of campaign rhetoric going on, this is actually happening and people are stepping up. they're fighting in the courts. they're fighting it in congress with what you're doing today, with what, as you know last week when we got the horrible news that the defense secretary of the united states was using an unauthorized line to just talk with his friends like he was spiking a football, about putting the lives of our servicemembers at risk, people stood up. democrats stood up. they asked the tough questions. and one of the things that bothers me is that it is so hard to see your way out of it. a lot of people feel like we're just wall ying right now. -- wallowing right now. if woe just wallow, they will cut kids' cancer treatment, if

we just wallow, they will cut medicaid, one out of two seniors in my state are on medicaid, they will continue to mess around the tariffs which is really a national sales tax, something like $2,500 for every family. they will continue to be callous. i had someone say to me last night, do they care? do they care when those usaid workers who devoted their lives to feeding the hungry around the world, when they have to stand outside their building and watch them literally take the name of their life's work off the brick on that building, do they care? and one of the things that we have done, that democrats have don't have stood up. and what is coming upon us in these next few weeks is this tax bill that basically will give billion nails tax cuts -- billionaires tax cuts on the

backs of regular people, ransacking the government, firing veterans, messing around with social security. i had a guy tell me that he spent three days after his wife died in minnesota, reverend, three days just trying to figure out how he gets the death benefit. why did this check show up at his door. he calls, he gets put on hold, he sends an e-mail, no one rights back, he drives 30 miles, he's like 80 years old, he drives in there and they finally help him. then he gets back and something else with goes wrong, and he calls back again and finally ends up at our door and we figure it out for him. there's 70-some million people that will happen to if they don't get their act together. that is a good question, do they care? when we have this tax bill coming up in front of us in these next few weeks, i think people have to understand what's

going on. they have to understand that even in -- the house budget that came out that will be the subject of this, it's over $2 trillion in tax cuts for people over $400,000 a year, like elon musk, that don't need it. there's actually a way to stop it that's in the hands of the republicans right now. it's two or three of them stood up on the house floor and did what you did. senator booker, who they said no, and if four of them in the united states senate -- four of them stood up, four senators stood up, then we could have the discussion about, okay, let's make government work better, we're all in, let's not do it on the backs of regular people, let not do it on the backs of kids in cancer research or veterans who are trying to get their well-earned benefits because they put their lives on the line in the battlefield. let's not do it on the backs of

farmers in minnesota or georgia who have the small farms and getting by and then trump decides let's do a tariff and let's get mad at all our allies across the country like canada. that's a good idea. so my question of you is, how many people need to stand up in the u.s. senate to make this happen. i know democrats are united. i know we're all standing up. how many people will stand up on the other side if they stood up and joined you, what a difference it would make. mr. booker: i want to thank the senator for the question. and when i think of people who stand in adversity, i see you standing in a snowstorm as you stood up and fought for health care, stood up and fought for farmers and police officers and for communities. you are that kind of pesh that gives -- person that gives me strength that i learned so much from. and you have brought in issue up

which you said on the floor, which to know, this is not performative for her, she has brought this up in in meetings with senator schumer, this question of what will it take. and here's something that pains me to hear, that elon musk is calling republicans up and saying, if you take this stand, i'm going to put $100 million in a primary against you. that they are bullying people who dare to stand up and say maybe this amoneyee is not -- appointee is not the most qualified person to lead this cabinet position, or maybe it's wrong to cut this agency that we created together in congress. there are people asking this question and we saw them dragged through x, mob attacked when it comes to their personal presence and threatened in the primary. we know, because you're somebody who works on both sides of the aisle, that there are really

good people of conscience on both sides of the aisle. as the great pastor said, there are great sins to go around for all of us. this is not a policy moment, it is a moral moment. this is not a left or right moment, it is a right or wrong moment. we have a president that is shredding the very agencies that americans who are struggling are relying on, working people that over the last 71 days are finding higher prices, that have housing prices going up. farmers in my state, yours too, our fourth largest industry, come to he me as far away as texas, tell me they're clawing back these contracts we relied on to buy things already, and now you're putting me in a situation where i might lose my farm. you see veterans who come to our offices. i know they come to your office, senator klobuchar. you're a senator from minnesota,

but you're a national figure, so i know they're coming to your office. they're saying to me i'm a veteran, i could go to other jobs. i wanted to work on suicide prevention and mental health issues, and i'm being fired? and you said it right, i've heard you say it in private and public, i know it irks you, we have a big deficit, that's a real problem, maybe they're trying to lower the deficit. but they're not. that's the irony. they're not. they're about to explode trillions of dollars, most of which disproportionately will go to the wealthiest people, as you've pointed out in our private phone calls, over and over again, senator klobuchar. your question to me is spot on. it's spot on, and it's why i am standing here right now at the top of another hour, because of

what you are saying relentlessly, persistently, and unyi unyieldingly -- why are we hurting americans from our farmers, we just talked about rural hospitals for 20, 30 minutes, and the threats to them. we talked about rural social security centers and the threats that are to them. we talked about communities all over our country who are being hurt. and your question, why? to give tax breaks that will disproportionately go to the we wealthiest americans. you and i are not people who demonize success or wealth. i want more people to start businesses and to dream of moving on up like the jeffersons. i want more people to have that vision. i am not going to be mad at you because you're very successful. i'm going to be one of the people that says you don't need more tax cuts. we as a society have an obligation to each other to

those farmers, to those rural folks, to the cops i stood with at the funeral of one of their colleagues in newark two weeks ago. we have an obligation to help them get equipment, to protect them themselves. this country cannot do something that is so monumentally fiscally irresponsible. who was the one person in the house that voted, a republican that voted against it, a guy names massie? i had to smile and laugh. he said the quiet part out loud. i saw him in an interview, he said by their own numbers, this doesn't add up. they're adding to our deficit by the trillions. he's staying true to his principles. what happened to all those mighty deficit hawks in the house of representatives on the republican side? they caved to the pressure of a president. i'm so happy you asked it in the right fashion. i yield for a question while

retaining the floor. ms. klobuchar: very good. that was perfect. so, one of the things you talked about was just this deficit and what's happening, what we're seeing with their proposal right now, that's going to come right before us. by some estimates, it's going to add $37 trillion in 30 years if we go ahead. i literally cannot believe that. when, in fact, we can step back now and say what things can we do, what things can we do on the tax code? there's a lot of things we can do to strengthen social security, strengthen what we have in our government. really, when you step back and look at the economy, i heard this the other day on a business channel, just about a month or two ago, man, we were coming out strong. we are a country that came out of the pandemic in a stronger way than so many other countries around the world. we're ready.

inflation was at least steady, starting to come down here. all of a sudden, we see chaos is up, corruption is up, and yes, costs are up, ask anyone at the grocery store. one of the problems when you look what we could do to address the debt is that the proposals out there are just going to make it worse. that means more interest payments. that means more interest payments on the backs of regular people. that means less we can do to help them as we look at what's happening right now. one of the things you raised, which i appreciate how much you know about this, is just this prescription drug negotiation and medicare. decades before you or senator murphy or senator warnock got here, before i got to this place, they made a sweetheart deal with the pharmaceutical companies. they actually baked in so they didn't have to negotiate prices for 73 million people. anything. they could charge whatever they

wanted for these prescription drugs. guess what happened -- suddenly, the drugs for seniors are two to one in places like canada, our neighbor, our friend. two to one what they are over there. you have people driving up to canada from minnesota, because we can see canada from our poach. they are trying to get less expensive drugs. then what's going on? a bunch of people started to say let's look at this. it took years to get this bill. finally, finally we passed a bill that said they've got to negotiate and we took the first ten drugs. the last administration got to pick those drugs, they picked blockbuster drugs, like eliquis, like xarelto, januvia, i memorize them. i don't make people raise their hands and say they take them. they reduced the price 70% for seniors. that kicks in soon, but not if this administration men'ses it up -- messit up.

we've seen everything from giving signal lines to secret battle plans to reporters to deciding they're going to shut down people that worked on protecting our nuclear facilities, and oops, we made a mistake. or they said they want to do something about avian flu, but we're going to fire all the people working on that. no, we'll hire them back. i look at this really complicated prescription drug negotiation where you take on some of the biggest companies in the world, i say, our secretary of health, kennedy, he won't even agree when asked under oath if he's going to keep this up. they fired a bunch of people that would work on it. they haven't shown they're going to keep this negotiation going. we've got put in place a $2,000 cap for seniors out of pocket on drug costs under medicare. that's good. we put in place the insulin limit of $35 a month.

we thank senator warnock, you, senator booker and murphy. now we got the big thing, the negotiation of all these drugs, because 15 more drugs are coming up for negotiation. again, blockbuster drugs, ozempic. those are coming their way for negotiation. but they have not committed to doing that. they have not committed to doing that. even if they did commit, do they have the people to negotiate to take on these major companies? my question of you, after being up all night, after getting us through the storm of last night and into the bright sunshine of to today, after holding the floor all this time, i can't even imagine how much your feet must hurt, but that's nothing compared why you're doing it, to how the rest of the people in this country feel and they're hurting. my question is, how can they move forward without trying to save money for the people of this country? what i see happening, and there are so many signs, you see it

every day, when they are getting rid of these people that work on it, you're not going to get the social security for my friend that i met from cross lake, minnesota, you're not going to get that stuff done. i think as we look at those cuts, it's not just cuts, it's what effect does it have on real people when they can't get their services, when our veterans, who also have complex ways they've got to deal with the government, when they have no one answering the phone, when they've gotten rid of veterans who've done the work? my question is, for people that translate this into the real world, what is all this going to mean for people in the real world, what they're doing right now? mr. booker: thank you for the question, senator klobuchar. i love you're bringing it back to real people and what effect it's having. what you're spelling out is really important. there's a strategy they have expressly said. they want to overwhelm you. not us, they want to overwhelm the american people. they want to flood the zone.

i see a whole bunch of trying to distract us -- gulf of mexico, gulf of america. greenland. all these things to try to whip us up and not pay attention to what most americans are concerned with, which is can they make ends meet. even the big reconciliation bill that they're going to try to do, that we have to find a way to appeal to a small group of republican congress people to stop, of cutting $880 million out of medicaid. we went through in great detail at length last night why that's bad. you're pointing out something more insidious, they are cutting the support to get more people signed up with the aca. already happened. make it harder to sign up for the aca. they've already cut the tax credits helping people that are in the aca get resources to help with their health care costs. they're going after these

things. here's one you know really well, they're going after, as we talk about all these parents struggling with children and families with chronic diseases, we know one of the things that helps is access to fresh, healthy food, but they're cutting access to that for kids going to school. this administration has not only overseen in 71 days a rise in inflation, a rise in the cost of groceries, lowering the people's 401-k's with the stock market going down, not only bringing economic chaos, but they are already hurting people on basic delivery of services, from taking thousands of jobs out of social security, making it harder for people with a problem to get it solved, to the v.a., to the aca. i will definitely yield for a

question while retaining the floor. ms. klobuchar: i was thinking as you talked about the affordable care act and all the work that went into it and what came out of it. i was remembering the constant attempts to repeal that bill. i was remembering when senator john mccain, i think you were here for this, came in, kind of did the unexpected, right? he went in here, bucked his party, and he said no. he didn't agree with donald trump about this. he didn't agree with his leaders on this. he did what he thought was right. my issue is that we all have those moments where we have to make decisions about what we think is right, and i think about donald trump and he is -- that's just now, just this week, he said he wanted to violate the constitution, which he says practically every hour, but he said he would try to serve another term, he would do this, do that, he is literally

treating this presidency like he's the king. i guess elon musk is thus the court jester at his side, or the white house i.t. guy. but the point is that he's treating this like a king. you serve on the judiciary committee. you are a student of history. you're also a scholar in terms of understanding this government and how it works. i think one of the things that's most unsettling for people, that they just don't understand, is how you could have a president in place that adopt respect that -- that doesn't respect that democracy. i remember we all gathered for the inauguration, and i had four minutes, because of my jobs with the rules committee, to address those gathered in that rotunda. i noted that our democracy can be a hot mess right now, but it's still the best form of government we've got, that our democracy is truly our shelter

in the storm. it's our shelter in the storm, to quote a great songwriter from the state of minnesota. that the reason we don't have, i know you may have a few songwriters from there, if the senator could yield for one question, who is your best songwriter and singer from the state of new jersey, just to make clear? would you yield for a question? mr. booker: i will answer that question by avoiding it, because in new jersey there are so many great patron saints, from the great bon jovi, bruce springsteen, queen latiffah, the chairman of the board, frank sinatra. i'm not going to pick. so many great singers, rappers like redman. we're a thriving state of count b bassie. of course, it's prince from your state. ms. klobuchar: that aside, i am very impressed, senator booker,

that after what, 12 hours, 13 hours, that you still are able to make sure that you mention every songwriter. that aside, bob dylan had that great line, shelter in the storm, our democracy is a shelter in the storm. i noted that day in some countries, presidential inaugurations, they're held in gilded palaces. not in the united states of america. here it's in the people's house. that's what you're doing right now, because the people's house is where the action should be. that's article 1. and the constitution specifically says here we have equal branches of government and the final thing is that the power in that rotunda that day and this is where we get p into donald trump thinking he's king. the power came from outside, came from the people. that's why you see the people standing up right now, our constituents going to these town halls, standing up, breaking the phone lines in the u.s. senate, sending in the e-mails with

their stories that we are able, that you heard the senators and you have read on the senate floor about things that have happened to your constituents. so that's the power from the outside. the question that i ask of you is just tell me what you think people can do when you've got a president that thinks he is king, and he thinks that a democracy is just something that he can just shove aside and say whatever he wants and break every rule that people depend on, depend on to be able to vote, to participate. mr. booker: thank you, senator. i see ron wyden has come to the floor who for both amy and i are one of the chair people or at this point ranking member of one of the committees. to amy klobuchar's question, i read a lot of angry letters, people who were demanding of me to do something to stop them, do

something different. stand up, speak up, senator. i'm ape frayed. stand up -- i'm ape frayed. stand up, speak up, senator. the services for my disabled child are threatened. stand up, speak up. it's one of the reasons why i'm doing this, why my staff and i talked about this for so many days to do something to show, to let our constituents know, to elevate their voices on the floor, to read their letters, to read their statements. not just new jerseyans, by like you, the hundreds and hundreds of people calling us from other states. but i am most moved by the letters who tell me about their pain or their challenges or their fears, but they end that question with your question. but i am here to help. tell me how i can help. i am here to help. tell me how i can help. and you said it, senator. i read the letter of john mccain last night. his letter explaining his vote. it was so beautiful, it was tough like he was, it was hard on the whole body, but he called

to principles -- senator schumer was here when i read it. it was eerie because he was describing what was wrong then. we have a bolder vision for health care, bolder vision for social security. we need to make them work for the people, but p we're not doing it here in this body. and this man who is not acting like a president but is trashing our constitutional traditions, violating our laws as he's getting tied up in court but ignoring court orders and when he gets a decision he doesn't like, he trashes, he trashes the judges so bad ly that the supree court itself finds that it has to go out and tell him to stop it. what stopped health care from being taken away in the last time wasn't the persuasive powers of anybody in this side of the political aisle in the senate convincing anybody over

there. i would like to think it was my eloquence with lisa murkowski. i would like to think it was my high-minded intellect that somehow it was damaged playing too much football, but that somehow i got a right argument to susan collins. that wasn't it. i'd like to think it was my ability to stand up to john mccain himself. no. none of that. it was the people. it was the people. you remember the little lobbyists in their wheelchairs rolling up to senators and speaking their heart, telling them of their pain and their fear. it was people coming here and marching, people coming and flooding the calls like they're doing now.peeople marching, people in their states from all political spectrums coming in and saying this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong. and so you're asking me what we can do. i know what we can do.

we've got to, as the great s song -- senator klobuchar, i had my staff print a bunch of things i sent them. i sent them because i knew they were some of my favorite people from history. there's one here, webster, there's one by jefferson, letters from the birmingham jail, langston hughes, something by harper lee, emma lazarus. here's the answer in a poem. forgive me for reading this. i wanted to do it at some point today and this is perfect. i see my senator here. he may have a question. i love this poem. it was put, written and put to song by a man named james well done johnson. he was an educator, poet, a

civil rights activist. he was born in the great state of florida. and he said that this is what we have to do. lift every voice and sing. lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring ring with the harmonies of liberty. let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies. let it resound like the rolling sea. we must sing a song full of the faith that the dark past taught us. sing a song full of the hope the present brought us. facing the rising sun until day day has begun. let us march on, let us march on until victory is done. it speaks to the truth, excitement and the hope about that past and the virtues that our ancestors gave us. he goes on stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,

felt in the days when hope unborn had died. yet with a steady beat have not our weary feet come to the place for which our fathers side. we have come over a way which tears have been watered. we have come treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, out of the gloomy past till now we stand at last where the white glean of the bright stars is cast. the last stanza -- god of our weary years, god of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far on the way. lest our feet stray from the places our god where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world shall we forget thee. may we forever stand true to our god and true to this, this

native land. what can we do? do like our ancestors did. what can we do? do like the people who never gave up, who even when this country that they loved didn't love them back, they kept fighting and kept pushing. and we know that, senator klobuchar because we've witnessed that. in my time in the senate with you we've seen the most amazing shocking moments with the b bergerfeld case in the supreme court we've seen fights in this time we've been here we're we've seen victories on health care that made such a difference in people's lives. we've seen the fights while we've been here, some of the most painful moments where we've seen the arc of the moral universe bent not by the people here, not by the people in this body. you think we got sofrj because a -- got suffrage because men on the senate floor, let's give women the right to vote. ready, break.

that's not how it happened. it's because the power of the people is greater than the people in power. you think we got civil rights because one day strom thurmond after filibustering for 24 hours, we think we got civil rights because he came to the floor one day and said i've seen the light. let those negro people have the right to vote. no. we got civil rights because people marched for it, sweat for it, and john lewis bled for it. so i am scared too, but fear is a necessary precondition to courage. i am angry too, but my mom told me never let your anger consume you. channel it, fuel it so it can help your love be greater and stronger. amy klobuchar, that's what this moment needs. and our job in this body is to be truth tellers. our job, just as you said so brilliantly, is to elevate the voices of the people of the country because you're right, amy klobuchar, this is the people's house.

it's article 1 of the constitution and it's under assault. article 1 is under assault. our spending powers, our budgetary powers, the power to establish agencies like the department of education and usaid, it's under assault by a president who doesn't respect this document. and how do we stop them? i'm sorry to say we hold powerful positions, we were elected by great states but we're in the minority right now and you spelled it out in the beginning of your questions to me. it will take three people of conscience on that side. it will take four here. i'm going back to my book because there's somebody that you know. i don't know if my staff put it in at the last moment. yes, they did. margaret chase stevens, who you know, margaret chase smith, a u.s. senator from maine, a republican. when the democrats rose in the land exploiting people's fear,

deporting jews who were not citizens of this country because they were accusing them of being communists, at a time that this body was being twisted and contorted to the will of a demagogue, where nobody had the courage to stand up, it was a woman from the republican party that stood, i don't know, somewhere in this body. her feet might have been tired, her heart might have been hurt, she might have been afraid of the consequences to stand up to people preaching the red scare. but this woman in this body -- rare thing in those years -- this woman in this body who our founders, those imperfect geniuses who wrote this constitution, this woman in this body who wasn't imagined by our founders, thank god they called upon us to make a more perfect union and generations of activists finally made it real, that women could serve in this body. she had the courage, the audacity to call her own party

to task. i read her words. she said i don't believe that the republican party is any sense a party of fear, but i do believe that the republican party has made an alliance with the four horsemen of fear. the fear of communist, the fear of labor unions, the fear of the future, the fear of progress. i think it's high time that we remember that we have sworn to uphold p and defend the constitution, she continues. i think it's time that we remembered that the constitution as amended speaks not only of the freedom of speech, but also the freedom of trial by jury. this great senator, this great republican said whether it is criminal prosecutions in a court or character prosecution in the senate, there is little political distinction when the life of a person has been

ruined. those of us who shout the loudest about americanism in making character assassinations all too frequently, those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of what it means to be an american. the right to criticize, without thinking the president is going to drag you from the oval office for criticizing him. the right to hold unpopular beliefs, that i find contemptible it doesn't mean i can disappear you from a city street. she goes on, the right to protest, that just for assembling and speaking up, that's not a right to cut hundreds of millions of dollars to that university's science funding. the right to independent thought. the exercise of these rights should not cost one single

american citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood, nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs like a law firm that represents suing the president and now has their very firm, their very livelihoods, the legal secretaries and others come after them. margaret chase smith goes on to call her party to be a woman of conscience, to stand up and say i quote the american people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as communists or facists by their opponent. freedom of speech she says is not what it used to be in america. it has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others. so dear god, if i stand up in this body and say it is wrong to put pete hegseth in the cabinet

as secretary of defense because he's unqualified, he's unqualified, he's unqualified, look at signal chat to see how unqualified he is. margaret chase smith continues -- as a republican, i say to my colleagues on this side of the aisle that the republican party faces challenges today that is not unlike the challenges it faced by lincoln back p in the day. the republican party so successfully met that challenge that it emerged from the civil war as the champion of a united nation. in addition to being party that fought loose spending and loose programs. i doubt if the republican party could do simply because i do not believe the american people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above the national interests. surely we republicans are not so desperate for victory. i do not want to see the

republican party win that way. while it might be a fleeting victory for ot republican -- for the republican party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the american people, she's says. surely it would be ultimately suicide for the republican party and the two-party system itself that has protected american liberties from a dictatorship of a one-party system. you asked me, amy klobuchar, what do we need toe do? we need to call to the conscience of our comrades in the people's branch and say how could you go along with a reconciliation that will put trillions of dollars of debt on our children and our children's children? how could you go along with cutting $800 billion from medicaid only to give tax cuts to the wealthiest, to the -- disproportionately go to the wealthiest, how could you in good conscience if you're a

fiscal hawk, how could you hurt the weak for the rich and powerful. that is it the question to the people of the united states of america. all of us have to stand up and say, no, not on my watch, i'm a republican, iech a police officer, i'm -- i'm a police officer, i'm firefighter, iech a -- i'm a teacher. we won't allow this. mr. wyden: will the senator yield for a question? mr. booker: i will yield for a question while i retain the floor. mr. wyden: i thank my colleague and have been listening to this herculean presentation for hours and hours. your remarks reflect the urgency of our times, senator booker, and i thank you for it. let me frame the question this way. i hold open to all town hall meetings in every county in my state each year.

i've had more than 1100 of them. and since donald trump took office what we have seen in this town hall meetings is fear and terror and i might add record turnouts. you know, i was in a small town in central oregon recently, sisters, had almost 1400 people here and what people asked about and you touched on this morning is, of course, medicaid and social security. because these are programs involving health care and retirement that are really the connective tissue between the government and our people. and these programs make it possible for people to pay for essentials. they're not going to fancy places. they're buying groceries, they're paying rent, they're buying medicine. we had one separate town hall

meeting i say to my colleague, just with federal employees, whose goal is to get out in the woods to help prevent fire in oregon. i organized this meeting, they too are terrified. they dedicated their lives to trying to help. now, we serve the american people, and i'm telling you, i've seen service in action over the last few hours with your reflecting the urgency of our times. our salaries are paid for by taxpayers. and i'm particularly troubled by the fact that we're getting all these reports that many senators are saying i'm not going to do town hall meetings. they're on the other side of the aisle. as i said, i've had 1100 of them, 10 of them so far this year, seems to me that's refusing to answer to constituents. and you've been here all night, and you're setting a very clear

example what it means to push back against authoritarianism. so just like i have town hall meetings, my question to my friend from new jersey is, what are you hearing from home? pretty straightforward question, but it sure as heck is what the times are all about because people are saying, what are you doing back there? what's important to you? and i talk about town meetings. i had a teletown hall, i say to my friend, during the speech that was made on the floor of the house, i had 30,000 people participating. that's a lot for my small state. i know what i'm doing and i think the american people would like to hear a bit about what my colleague is hearing from his state and why it's so important that he's out here mopping hi brou today -- mopping hbrow.

what are you hearing? mr. booker: i'm hearing a lot of fear and anger. i'm hearing heads of hospitals that this is a threat to hospitals in new jersey. i'm hearing heads of critical health insurances what what this means. i'm hearing from citizens who are veterans who got fired from their jobs. i'm hearing from people, as i read letters from people who work in the social security agency and what the chaos that's been created and the lack of deteriorating service to seniors. i heard from seniors who are terrified about what's being done to social security and how it might affect their lives. i'm hearing demands from our constituents. people demanding, senator, that

we do something about the outrages they're seeing. and i think that when i hear new jerseyans by larger and larger numbers, and i'll be back in my state. i know we were planning meetings and a town hall and a lot more this weekend, but i have to say now more than ever we need more of it. we need more of it. and one of the reasons i'm here is because i want to elevate those voices of my constituents. i want toll the stories that my constituents are -- are writing in about and lift their voices and tell them that they're seen, they're heard. i've been going through section by section, as you pointedous,

social security section on -- as you pointed out, social security section, department of education and the work that it does. i've been going through point by point. this is the agenda. i don't know how much i can get through. we laid it out. we have immigration, we went through, we have housing, the environment, farmers and food, veterans, the corruption that's been normalized by this president, the rule of law, public safety. all the ways that we know that there is a crisis in our country and we, as a nation, need to be more attuned to it and doing more to meet this crisis to rise up and defend our country and defend our well-being, and all the while things are happening that you know. you're the chairman of the finance committee, and you have these insights. we've talked about them, about what's about to happen in this reconciliation process. i mean that's one of the most stunning things, it's almost

immediate on this floor. i think we're going to see about the tariffs tomorrow and see how far the president will go, but we do know whatever it is it is going to affect prices that are going to continue to go up for measures as inflation continues to go up for americans. as the stock markets continue to go down, as people's 401(k)'s have lost to much money, the uncertainty i'm hearing from businesses in new jersey, the chaos that they feel about the economy, the consumer confidence in this country has gone way down. if you ask the question, are you better off than you were 71 days ago, not many americans would say that they're better off. their costs are higher, their groceries are higher, they're soon to see everything from car prices to food go higher. their retirement security is under attack, their health care is under attack, they're losing the department of education, they're less safe from infectious diseases abroad. there are so many things that we

have to talk to and try to stop, and you're our leader on the finance committee and you know that the tax thing they're trying to run through this now, i'm trying to get my head wrapped around these wacky parliamentary things, even the podcasts i listened to said they spoke about this years and years ago and said, this is too crazy, we can't do this. to try to tell the american people that somehow the trillions of dollars of tax cuts that we're going to give disproportionately to the wealthiest people in the world to say there it is nothing to see here, to do it through reconciliation, that is the biggest hockey us hocus-pocus. what they are trying to do is cut massively in health care for americans in order to give tax

cuts to the wealthiest dis -- disproportionately to the wealthiest who don't need it and to drive up the deficits to make your children and children's children have a more dangerous economy and higher and higher debt payments to make, debt payments that will skyrocket higher than anything the government makesle we will see -- makes. we will he see this go through reconciliation to sacrifice our children's future so the richest of the rich can get richer. and so i know there are a lot of people who are angry, worried, who are feeling overwhelmed, strug to make en -- struggling to make ends meet. i know there is only one way to do things. is to do things differently. to stand up, to speak up. to act like this is not normal in our country. there is not a president from eisenhower to reagan to bush on the republican side that could

ever imagine a day where in a u.n. vote we side with russia and china against the western democracies that we saved in world war ii, that we stormed beaches of normandy for, that we did the berlin airlift for, that we did the marshall plan for. we designed for. we -- we designed the world order. we designed the rules based world order and we're turning our backs on that. from trashing nato to getting out of the world health organization to getting away from countries coming together for climate change. we're not leading the planet earth anymore. our allies are saying openly, they can't trust us. the quotes are unbelievable by our allies.

generations of americans all know one thing, russia is our adversary. this principle was reinforced after russia's brutal invasion of ukraine in february of 2022. the american public knows a lot about putin and his cronies and what they've done to the brave people of ukraine. russia has abducted over 19,000 children, taking them from their families and homeland. russia has targeted civilians, bombing hospitals and schools, including a bombing on a school, russian forces have raped ukrainian civilians and tortured criminals of war. one would think given all the horrors inflicted by russia, that the united states would continue to treat russia as the adve adversary that other western

democracy treat it. on the third anniversary of the invasion of ukraine, the united states joined russia and north korea condemning over 30,000 ukrainian citizens. i had the foreign minister of a great ally in nato in my office looking at me and saying basically, w., what the heck. my friend chris murphy on the floor, we sit close to each other, he is further up the dais on foreign relations and this stuff is insandtcy. here's nbc news, president trump said ukraine, not russia started the war. he called ukrainian president v vladimir zelenskyy a dictator. they are standing down on a suite of tough anti-kremlin

policies, trump was executed a startling realignment of american foreign policy, effectively throwing u.s. support behind moscow and rejecting the alliance about kyiv -- with kyiv. the extraordinary pivot has upended decades of hawkish policies against russia that had a bipartisan consensus. trump's recent moves have drawn international attention, unsettling u.s. alliances and thrilling populists who turn away from zelenskyy. the new posture was put in, the leaders clashed in front of the press raiding questions about the future of american support for kyiv. alliances and partners around the world are our biggest

strength against any u.s. adversary or competitor from china to russia to iran to north korea. we are the stoppingest nation on the -- strongest nation on the planet earth but our strength is multiplied and magnified when we stand in alliance with those nations that share our values and are bonded to us and are committed to us. in fact, the only time article 5 in the united nations, that article says that if one person in nato is attacked, everyone is attacked and they all join together, that one time it happened was 9/11. when our nato allies stood up with america. and so look at nato. it's been the bedrock of the international order for 80 years. it was created in 1949 by 12 countries, including the united states to provide collective security and in many ways to provide collective security

against the soviet union. since then 20 more countries have joined nato through ten rounds of enlargement bringing the total number of at a time toe -- of nato countries to 32. the most recent additions were sweden in 2024 and finland in 2023 who applied to join nato in 2022 after russia invaded ukraine. those countries are realizing that the authoritarian dictator that putin is, who threatens his smaller neighbors, those other nations have realized they should be standing with nato, that we have a principle of collective defense, as i said enshrined in article 5 of the north atlantic treaty. it means an attack on one ally is considered an attack against all allies. a strong nato has made america safer and stronger and more prosperous. my colleagues on both sides of the aisle recognize this. i've been in this body for 12 years. i've been told by people who

i've learned from about foreign policy. when i came here as a mayor and leaned on people like chris coons and leaned on people like chris murphy, leaned on people like john mccain, lindsey graham. lean on people like senator rubio. he helped pass a law that enshrined congressional action before the president can withdraw from nato. that law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 87 senators voted yes. senator rubio now secretary of state said, and i quote, nato serves as an essential military alliance that protects shared natural interests and enhances america's international presence. any decision to leave the alliance should be rigorously debated and considered by the u.s. congress with the input of the american people. two weeks ago, though, on march 19 in 2025 in response to news that the pentagon may give up the role of supreme allied

commander in europe, a position held by an american general since the nato alliance was formed in 1949, republican senator wicker and representative rogers signalled their oppositions in an extraordinarily joint statement warning to donald trump that that change would, quote, risk undermining american deterrence around the globe. i want to read some of the comments of nato partners about the damage that has been done in just the last 71 days of trump's leadership in upending the world order that has helped keep america stronger and safer and more prosperous. the effort u.'s top diplomat says the free world needs a new leader. think about that. think about that. the e.u.'s top diplomat has said in response to donald trump that now the free world need as new leader. every president of my lifetime

was seen as the leader of the free world and now the rest of the free world, its top diplomat is saying it's time foe that to change. the new german chancellor said my absolute priority will be to strengthen europe as quickly as possible so that step by step we can really achieve independence from the usa. he went on to say i never thought i would have to say something like this on a television program, but after donald trump's statements, it is clear that the americans at least this part of the americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of europe. our ancestors saved europe. our ancestors stormed beaches in normandy, paratrooped into europe, liberated concentration camps. our ancestors sacrificed blood

and treasure for europe. it turned germany from one of history's worst despotic states into a global economic power and a democracy. we were there at the berlin airlift. we were there for the marshall p plan. and now europe. is saying it's clear the america comes, at least that part of the americas, this administration are largely indifferent to the fate of europe. that is not true. that is not true. and as long as i have breath in my body and blood in my veins, i will join with the other people on the other side of the aisle, god bless you, senator wicker, for standing with america. we're the strongest nation in the world but our strength is multiplied and magnified when we stand with our allies from germany to japan, from australia to iceland, that when our

country stands up, we don't bully our neighbors like canada. we don't threaten our allies like iceland, like greenland. we don't threaten smaller, weaker nations like panama. we don't upend the world order. donald trump does not speak for me. he does not speak for the traditions of this body. he doesn't speak for the people that are buried, americans that are buried in fields in germany. and in france. and all over europe. here is former secretary of defense lloyd austin's speech at the atlantic council. on april 4, 1949, 12 democracies came together in the wake of two world wars and the dawn of a new cold war, and they all remembered as president truman put it then, the sickening blow of unprovoked aggression.

that's what truman said. they were coming together against the sickening blow of unprovoked aggression. you hear that, putin? and so they vow to stand together for their collective defense and to safeguard freedom and democracy across europe and north america. they made a solemn commitment declaring that an armed attack against one ally would be considered an attack against all. now, that commitment was enshrined in article 5 of the north atlantic treaty. it was the foundation of what nato -- of nato and it still is. and on that bedrock we have built the strongest and most successful defense alliance in all of human history, and i'll say one of the most prosperous blocks of democratic countries. throughout the cold war nato deterred soviet aggression against western europe and prevented a third world war. in the 1990's, nato used air

power to stop ethnic cleansing in bosnia and herzegovina and kosovo and the day after september 11, 2001, when al qaeda terrorists attacked our country, including slamming a plane into the pentagon not far from here, nato invoked article 5 for the first and only time in history. a senator: will the senator yield for a question? mr. booker: i yield for a question while retaining the floor. i yield to one of my best friends in the senate. i yield to one of the smartest guys i know. i yield to the guy who handed me the chairmanship of the committee that oversaw world public health in africa and still reminds me that he knows more swahili than i'll every know. i yield to the guy that when he speaks up in the senate, people on both sides of the aisle listen. i yield to my friend who has real friendships, who when i

came to and said we are seeing the worst famines on the planet earth, that joe biden didn't put enough money into the world feeding programs, he went to another appropriator over there, another friend of ours, lindsey graham and together we got billions of dollars that saved hundreds of thousands of lives. you a prince of a man. you are my friend. you are somebody that is a hero who folks don't know their name in the countries you affected with your strength on foreign policy. dear god, my friend, i yield the floor for a question while retaining the floor. a senator: i ask my friend -- mr. booker: i want to say that correctly. i yield for a question while retaining the floor. i do not yield the floor. a senator: i ask my friend and colleague from new jersey if he's familiar with psalm 30, verse 5? mr. booker: not at this moment. a senator: i offer to repeat it because i think it speaks to

this moment. may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. this is a holy month. it is the month of ramadan. it is the period of reflection preceding passover. and my question to my colleague is rooted in a scripture in the torah in the psalms, forgive me, known to both of us. one widely engaged in in these days. weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. mr. coons: this is a reminder both of the possibility of redemption, of the urgency of hope, and of your night-long sacrifice on this floor. let me ask if i might two more questions of my friend and colleague. to my colleague from new jersey, are you familiar with a front-page story on "the washington post" entitled trump's usaid cuts cripple

american response to myanmar earthquake, an article running today in "the washington post"? mr. booker: i have not read the paper this day. mr. coons: i had suspected that might be the case given that my colleague from new jersey has dedicated his night to standing tall and fighting hard to make sure that the people of the united states know what is going on. and i'll share with you just for a moment that it hurt my heart to watch the national evening news last night and see a chinese humanitarian emergency response team celebrated as they pulled survivors out of the earth quake rubble in myanmar. did not hurt my heart that there are chinese nationals providing emergency hurt but it hurt my heart that exactly those people who are the very best in the world at responding to humanitarian crises, exactly those people had just received termination letters and their work with usaid had just been suspended.

normally in every humanitarian crisis, i've known in my lifetime, the first in are the men and women of usaid and the u.s. armed forces, whether a tsunami, a tornado, wildfires or an earth kwashg -- earth quake, we had world leading humanitarian response capabilities. and i think it is a tragedy that we have not -- i think it is a tragedy and it is reflected in both this article that i've asked my colleague about and in the response of the world that we have created an enormous opening for the prc to come in and do what we previously did so well. let me ask another question, if i might, of my colleague. are you familiar with what has just happened to food banks all over our nation in terms of an announcement about impending deliveries of badly needed

surplus food? this i suspect will be the focus of your future comments on agriculture, but i mention it as something that has up packed my state and i suspect yours as well. mr. booker: first of all, when you ask me a question, to yield for a question. i say i yield for a question while retaining the floor. i want to say that the colleague, i'm familiar with some of this but if -- as a part of a question to me and not anything resembling the colloquy, i will yield for a question while retaining the floor if you have another question. mr. coons: to my colleague, are you familiar with a an cart -- with an article usaid halts deliveries. mr. booker: i'm pretty sure i am. i am. mr. coons: i would simply ask my colleague a question book 'you're going to ask me a question, i yield for a question while retaining the floor. mr. coons: to my colleague, i ask the question, are you familiar with the cuts that have been imposed to the u.s.

department of agriculture suspending hundreds of millions of meals to americans in need and the justification for that being offered? mr. booker: i have. i am familiar. i mentioned it earlier in this last 15 hours. so thank you. mr. coons: last question. mr. booker: i yield for a question while retaining the floor. mr. coons: to my colleague from new jersey, i ask the question, are you familiar with when, whether, and why nato has invoked article 5, and how the service and the sacrifice that followed reinforces exactly the point i believe my colleague was beginning to speak to, which is the common cause and the common purpose shown by all of our nato allies, in america's greatest moment of need in recent decades after the attacks of 9/11? mr. booker: i am very f