They're just cutting everything because they want to make space for these tax cuts for their billionaire buddies. It's really disgraceful. It's something that 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 under-staffing 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. You're fired. You're fired. You're fired. I don't get it. Good government is important. 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. Thank God for the judges that 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. It was right on the heels of some horrific accident that we all witnessed.
(12:37:32)
Now, over 90% of US airport terminal towers don't have enough air traffic controllers. Critical shortages remain for other aviation safety personnel as well, such as safety inspectors and mechanics because to make sure when we get on that plane, plane's ready to go. In New York, 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 US has experienced a substantial and alarming increase in the number of near misses. According to an 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.
(12:38:31)
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 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 are affected. And at least one of the employees fired worked for FAA's National Defense Program, which protects our airspace 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 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 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're doing on this issue.
(12:39:59)
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 asked these questions of the Secretary of Transportation in a letter on February 20th, over a month ago, and what was their 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 BS. They don't do the analysis first. They just make the cuts.
(12:41:02)
We need the secretary and the acting FAA Administrator to responsive to Congress's 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.
(12:41:30)
So Senator Booker, the question I really want to ask you is for your state, for New Jerseyans, 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's 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 under staff forever. So they're lying about the purpose. What is the purpose? What is the purpose? What are they going to do with that money, Senator Booker? I'd like to know.
Senator Cory Booker (12:42:32):
I appreciate this more than, and 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, department of Education, which they can't legally do. The USAID, they can't legally do. We created that. It's the Article I 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're 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 customer service, that 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.
(12:43:41)
And so the FAA, it 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 is extraordinary. And so your question though brings up a lot of national security issues. I'm going to bridge to that because you and I both were really, really incensed that we weren't getting enough information when we had these incursions.
(12:44:32)
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. You're outrage. Your hurt. Your fears. They have value.
Kirsten Gillibrand (12:44:57):
I have another question before you start your letters, Senator Booker, if you'd like to entertain another question, if you'll yield.
Senator Cory Booker (12:45:01):
I will yield a question while retaining the floor.
Kirsten Gillibrand (12:45:03):
Okay. Because you're going into the national security section, and I want to give you a couple of questions to pepper your answers. I sit on the special committee on intelligence in the Senate. I also sit on the Armed Services Committee. And so national security 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 what we should be doing. And 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 incursions.
(12:45:40)
And just to give a little more context for New Yorkers who might be listening to this debate, we've had drone incursions over sensitive military sites for quite some time now, and it's something that I've been working on on a bipartisan basis on through the intelligence committee. And some of these incursions are every night over and over again, over sensitive military bases. There was one over Langley. We've had them over arsenals in New Jersey, over sensitive sites in New York. We've had them over military bases across the country. And I don't like it when the answer is, "Oh, we know where most of this is. This is mostly FAA traffic." And I don't like it when I hear it from this administration or any administration because it's not true. Some of the drone sightings are planes in the air, helicopters, maybe weather balloons, maybe enthusiasts. But they do not know if all are.
(12:46:45)
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 them. They do not know the purpose of these drones. These drones could easily be spying. They could be planning attacks, they could be doing 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 am very incensed about it. It does not leave our personnel as safe and does not leave our secrets safe. So drones is one issue.
(12:47:18)
The second issue, if you could address on the national security side is cyber security. 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 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 about fraud. This is not about good government. This is about making massive cuts for tax breaks for billionaires, because that is where they want to spend your tax dollars. New Yorker's tax dollars and New Jerseyans tax dollars, they want to take it and give it to tax breaks to the billionaires. Okay. So this is the question.
(12:48:21)
These cuts. They have cut all the personnel or the main personnel at an organization called CISA that were supposed to be doing election security. The people who actually were working with the states to make sure 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 crossed the board members from the joint Chiefs of staff just fired them. For what reason? I don't know. No substantive reason was ever given. But these are the senior personnel who actually keep us from wars who have the judgment and the experience to advise the president, to advise Congress, to advise us on how to keep us safe. And then the last group they cut were the lawyers. Do you remember that Shakespeare play? The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers. Well, the context in which that was given was in order to have a coup.
(12:49:23)
So Shakespeare, hundreds of years ago said, "If you want to have a coup, the first thing you do is kill all the lawyers." Well, they fired all the lawyers, the senior lawyers at the Department of Defense. They fire the generals who actually know how to keep us safe. And then they fire 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 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.
(12:50:12)
What do you think Senator Booker about any of the topics that I raised, specifically the drones, the firing of the election protection personnel at CISA, the firing of the generals, the firing of the senior lawyers at the Department of Defense, firing of the FBI personnel, also expert at election interfering? These are the smartest, most capable, the most sophisticated senior personnel that are there to help us keep this country safe. I really want to hear what you're hearing for your state and what you're thinking about this reckless, reckless approach to national security.
Senator Cory Booker (12:50:50):
I'm so grateful for the questions from my colleague, from 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 who were our first responders to get their healthcare, to fight, to support the military, empower the military, but to fight against sexual assault in the military. She's one of these phenomenal people. And a lot of her questions we're going to get to including that question that was obviously painful about national security is that like, 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.
(12:51:50)
And the Trump administration pulled away a lot of the people in the DOJ and elsewhere that their sole purpose was to fight against foreign election interference. And so how can we have a nation where the president's in charge of national security is not doing things to address the issues that were in your questions.
(12:52:07)
And I want to start by reading a couple of constituent letters. I know we want to step back and talk a little bit about immigration because my colleague and my friend and my partner in leadership in the Senate, Tina Smith is here. But 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. And so this is coming from someone from New Jersey.
(12:52:36)
And they're writing, "Dear Senator Booker, I'm writing to express my deep concern regarding the current state of our nation and the lack of response to the looming constitutional crisis. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the actions of a president who routinely lies and makes outrageous proposals such as annexing Greenland, Mexico, and Panama, or even renaming 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 press room simply referring to the Gulf of Mexico rather than the Gulf of America. A clear sign that the president's disregard for free speech and free press presses 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
Senator Cory Booker (12:53:39):
"… 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 example of how our democratic systems are being systematically weakened. Additionally, his reckless and irresponsible approach to foreign policy is making the world more dangerous. His insistence on blaming Ukraine for Russia's invasion and ongoing war is not only historically inaccurate, but also deeply damaging to our allies and global stability. Even worse, his administration has entertained so-called "peace settlements" that exclude Ukraine from the process entirely, effectively allowing Russia to dictate terms without any Ukrainian input. Such actions to portray our commitments to sovereignty and democracy and embolden authoritarian regimes worldwide.
(12:54:41)
Domestically, his agenda is destructive. His administration has pursued the withdrawal from USAID, the gutting of critical global humanitarian and development efforts that have long served U.S. interest abroad. At home, he's 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 jeopardized critical medical research and public health initiatives undermining scientific progress for purely ideological reasons. Beyond these threats, his treatment of our closest allies is both reckless and embarrassing. His taunting of Canada, whether through inflammatory rhetoric or deliberate policy, snubs weakens our diplomatic ties and disregards the importance of maintaining strong relationships 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.
(12:55:46)
My greatest frustration, however, is 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 troubled by the absence of pushback. I'm troubled by 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. Unfortunately, his response was a threat to her political future. 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.
(12:56:34)
Please let me know how you are responding to this 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 from hearing from you soon." I hope at this early morning hour at almost eight o'clock that maybe 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 in good trouble, get in necessary trouble. I want to read another constituent. I just want to see where this person's from. I'm not trying to violate the privacy as my staff doesn't want me to do. What's that?
(12:57:23)
We know Wisconsin's 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 Josie. "I wrote to ask you to do all you can to resolve funding for the National Institute of Health and USAID. I work in information technology at Princeton University and I've seen firsthand the destructive termination of funds is causing to e-research and education. We are losing the momentum of research and causing deep and lasting loss of educational resources.
(12:58:14)
The NIH and the National 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, the 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, Kenya, and elsewhere will be disrupted due to lack of funding. Thank you for your leadership as our Senator. I'm 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."
(12:59:11)
Let me go with two more and then turn to my colleague. This is a short one. "I'm 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 under the authority from the President to be called criminal After putting your life at risk in the service of America's interest 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.
(13:00:24)
He did the same thing years ago by canceling participation in the Pacific Free Trade Pact, forfeiting our power and our goodwill, making China the largest player in the region. I saw the goodwill in the eyes of passersby from the Philippines to Georgia to Tajikistan. Now I hear it turned to hostility. Think of sports fans in Canada booing our national anthem. Think also of the infants that will now die from AIDS because of USAID's treatment program was abruptly stopped along with vaccination programs and programs for stopping diseases such as Ebola, monkeypox, hemorrhagic fever. These diseases will come home. With even a 90-day pause in workers in these programs, we will lose jobs and rent and some never will return.
(13:01:21)
Refrigeration of medicines will be at risk. Clinics and offices will be 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, please. I hope Trump will lose his majority. Thank you for your attention. I will be of service in any way possible to right these wrongs." I love when constituents don't only point out what's wrong, but stand up and say, "I will be in service. 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 the floor.
Speaker 1 (13:02:25):
Mr. President.
Speaker 2 (13:02:30):
The Senator from Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (13:02:32):
Thank you Mr. President and thank you to my colleague from New Jersey for yielding for a question. And I want to just start by thanking my colleague, one of my dearest friends in the Senate for using his voice in such a powerful way over the many, many hours that you've been holding the Senate floor. And I know you well enough to know that 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 the voices that you've been amplifying all through the night and your belief of the importance that the millions of Americans who are so frightened and concerned and horrified by what they see this administration doing and wanting to feel like there is somebody here that is fighting for them and that is listening to them.
(13:03:26)
And the way in which you are reading these letters today and all through the night, Senator Booker, I think is a tribute to your respect for all of those Americans. And so I'm so grateful for that. And I wanted to take a moment if I could, to ask you to yield for a question related to what you've been talking about. And I certainly agree with you that these are not normal times in our nation and as elected officials, it is our duty to speak up and to fight back against the abuses and the overreach of this administration and to raise up our voices, raise up the voices of our constituents who, as I said, are both frightened and furious about what's happening. So my question to you, Senator Booker, is about some of the Trump administration's recent actions regarding immigration. And my question is in three parts.
(13:04:21)
First, I think that we can all agree that our current immigration system in this country is broken. It is not working well for anyone. It's not working well for American businesses that depend on a global talent pool. 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 asked 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.
(13:05:45)
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 this 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 is an issue that 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 is 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's just one example. In recent weeks, we've seen a number of international students targeted for arrest and deportation merely on the basis of their pro-Palestinian advocacy. Now these are young people who played by all the rules. They've entered this country with permission in order to further their educations and have not been accused of or charged of any criminal activity. Their views on the war and Gaza may differ sharply from mine or others, but I believe that the First Amendment guarantees them the right to express those views without facing punishment or reprisal from our government. Nonetheless, the Trump administration has admitted that they're doing exactly that, seeking to punish lawfully present immigrants, in some cases, even green card holders, because of the political views that they've expressed. The Secretary of State has invoked a rarely used section of statute that allows him to unilaterally designate for removal any alien who may cause, "Potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences", and if that's not enough, many of these arrests have been carried out in a manner that seems calculated to maximize fear and intimidation in immigrant and activist communities. Here's an example to my colleague for him to respond to. I want to take the case of the recent arrest of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University who was studying the relationship between child development and our social media saturated globally connected world.
(13:09:01)
She is here on a valid student visa. She is not accused of any crime and by all accounts, she is a loved and valued member of the Tufts community. Her only purported offense was being one of four co-authors of an op-ed in the student newspaper that urged the administration of Tufts to engage with student calls to divest from businesses with ties to Israel and the IDF. And for that offense, her visa was revoked with no notice and she was arrested on the street and 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.
(13:09:56)
She is surrounded by officers in plain clothes with no visible insignia, no markings at all on their clothing. She has handled roughly, her belongings are taken away from her hands are cuffed before being loaded into an unmarked car. It is no exaggeration that her arrest looks like a kidnapping one that you might expect to see in Moscow rather than in 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 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.
(13:10:59)
So I would like to ask my colleague, to you, does this seem normal or appropriate for federal law enforcement officers of the United States to conduct routine arrests in plain clothes with unmarked cars and with this overwhelming show of force for individuals who pose no obvious physical threat to those law enforcement? Furthermore, is this not exactly the sort of operation that you would order if your goal is to intimidate and dissuade immigrant and activists communities from exercising their constitutional rights to free speech? Does punishing people for their political speech seem consistent with American democratic values? I can't believe that we 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.
Senator Cory Booker (13:11:56):
I want respond deeply. I just want to thank my colleague for being here in the morning. She's one of my colleagues I confided in when I told her I 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's 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, Bergen County, there's a family, the Alexanders, whose son Iran is an American who is being 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.
(13:12:53)
I had a friend give me this recently, a young man who was driving me around this ribbon that I will often use, just keep in my pocket and remind me of him and our determination to bring him home, to bring him home. I want his family to know that stays center in my thoughts. And I also feel because of so many New Jerseyans who are affected by this crisis, who have lost family members and that region that we must bring peace. And then my friend Senator Smith asked this question, 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 it says that no matter how reprehensible your speech is, this document says you have the right to say it.
(13:14:01)
I remember the controversy over a NFL player who kneeled and one of the voices, it just sticks into my hand, is a man who, a white guy from the military who just 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 7th, and I have very hurt, strong feelings about what's going on over there and urgent desires to end the nightmare to bring people like Iran home to end the nightmare for so many Israelis and Palestinians. And I find some of the things people are saying so unhelpful to the crisis and to the moral truths that I believe in but I will fight for people's rights.
(13:15:14)
And so here is a situation where you see video and it just doesn't seem like who we are. If you're revoking somebody's visa, make a phone call, tell them that you have 30 days to leave. But there should be due process and you should have to prove your claims in court if this person is somehow lying with some kind of enemy, prove it. But what I saw there doesn't reflect the highest ideals. God, if this constitution was easy, it wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on. And so I love my friend because she wades into some difficult waters, but she's guided by the oath that she took to defend the Constitution. And in these complex and difficult times, she's standing up. And I tell you, when we were in the immigration section last night, or earlier I should say, we read the most painful stories.
(13:16:17)
My brother over on the other side of me. I've got some of my 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 systems that should never be there. Horrible stories, painful voices. I've read about folks who were caught up in a system and 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 that she realized that these people every day I am there, they get profit. They're not incentivized by justice, they're incentivized by profit. I read stories, Senator Smith of people that were sent to that horrible jail in El Salvador that the government admitted they made a mistake. They disappeared someone who has American family members.
(13:17:48)
Story after story I read that just are such a betrayal, not of democratic values, but of 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'll neither be safe nor morally strong. The true leaders on both sides of the aisle that I've heard over the years talk on these issues say, we can do both. We can make our country safe and we can abide by our values. And in a complex world where country after country disappears people, when authoritarian countries disappear their political enemies, their political adversaries, disappear people who say things they politically disagree with, 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 could be that city on a hill, but we are up high and folks are going to look to us for what is the world order going to be? What is democracy globally going to look like? Are we going to defend democracy and democratic principles or will we behave like the authoritarians that we should be against? So this is a fundamental question you ask and it has been resonating all 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 our oaths, 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.
(13:20:24)
Is it just to disappear a human being with no due process? I quoted Antonin Scalia this conservative that was sitting on a stage where somebody had a lot of affection for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And the moderator asked them, "Does somebody in our country have the rights of this document?" And he said, "Yes." Especially the 14th amendment that doesn't say any citizen that says no person, nobody. And 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, 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? So 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."
(13:21:57)
And 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 Japanese Americans, something so shameful to put them in concentration camps here in America. He wants to take power from our Congress and the thing that is killing me, that is actually breaking my heart, brother Warnock, the thing that's actually breaking my heart 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 that they approved, it's hard to do bipartisan things here." God bless Patty Murray and Susan Collins coming together and getting, spending bills, hard work, hard done.
(13:23:05)
Lord knows I sometimes play a little Motown in here, Ain't Too Proud To Beg. I go to the appropriations leader and say, Hey, my New Jerseyans in this county, need this and this county. We work on all this. I fight for programs with Lindsey Graham and USAID, with the now Secretary of State, Marco Rubio programs that he approved. The Department of Education. I've worked with Republicans to put things in, the Department of Education. There are people here that worked in a bipartisan way to try to simplify the FAFSA forms. I could go through all the work. We've done that. Now, this body, the article one branch of Constitution right under the mandate of the United States of America, as Tina Smith is telling us right after we the people of the United States, in order to form a perfect union, established Justice as the Senator, my friend. And so that's why we're here. That's why now the Senate is filling up. Its 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.
(13:24:25)
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 healthcare. 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. And so I thank you for that question. It brings up very emotional things for me. I'll be honest. It brings up pain and frustration and hurt. It brings for me the pain of so many New Jerseyans that have reached out, the Palestinian doctors in my state who've 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, but 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 of the KKK, all these difficult points where the values of this constitution were tested, where we were being measured.
(13:25:35)
But I have to say what this President is doing with Alien Insurrection Act, what this President is doing 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 things should be obvious to this institution, to the Senate, that that's wrong. That they have unelected the biggest campaign donor, unelected who's getting our personal information and there's no transparency. Nobody in this body can say they know what confidential information Elon Musk has and knows what they do it because they never brought him here to answer for it. So I thank my colleague for the question, and I know Reverend Warnock is going to ask me one. I just want to take a couple pages into this for a second.
(13:26:28)
The American people alone, our approach to foreign policy practiced by the President, what the President has done is left our allies feeling abandoned, feeling degraded and insulted that he's left our adversaries feeling emboldened and has done things that has hurt our national security that has made Americans left safe. In the short time, President Trump has been in office for a second term, Americans have already 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 obsequious point, the obsequiousness to Donald Trump over the expertise when it comes to some of the most important national security jobs. And it has sidelined dedicated professionals who've devoted their lives to keeping our country safe. This administration has also demonstrated an inability to distinguish between America's adversaries and America's allies and a disturbing failure to understand how America's partnerships and investments abroad protect and benefit communities here.
(13:27:40)
I'm reminded of General Mattis to say, if you're cutting things like the USAID or the State Department, buy me more bullets. But this is something that folks on the floor have talked about. I see one of my friends and somebody I really look up to. I see Tim Kaine, who sits a little bit higher up on the dice than me on the Foreign Relations Committee. Somebody I've turned to many times, and he was astonished by this, and I know he like me, has had private conversations with our Republican colleagues about this. But this body has not called for one hearing or one investigation. No accountability. What am I talking about? It's when last week we learned Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, Trump's National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and several other high ranking officials in the Trump administration discussed attack plans
Senator Cory Booker (13:28:39):
…against the Houthis in Yemen in a group chat over the commercial messaging app Signal. We learned of this because the president's national security advisor mistakenly invited the editor and chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, on the text chain. And after Jeffrey Goldberg published a story describing this jaw dropping national security failure where they could have broken at least two laws that 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, this cabinet, the members didn't step up and say, "We made mistakes," didn't step up and say, "this is clearly abjectly wrong." Didn't step up and say, "there will be accountability." Didn't step up and say, "we'll take actions." No. What they decided to do when they were exposed is actually target the reporter with a barrage of insults and not acknowledging any wrongdoing.
(13:29:54)
Unsurprisingly, the Trump team's response led Jeffrey Goldberg to publish the rest of the Signal chat messages, which expose more administration lies. We're going to go into that, but I really want to turn to my brother, and I said earlier about Senator Murphy's speech, one of my favorite I've ever heard when I was in the Senate, Brother Warnock gave a speech that's one of my favorite in the Senate too, when he talked about difference between January 5th America and then that fateful day, January 6th. He has been a friend of mine for a long time, and I think he might be the only person in this body, I started this talk 13 hours ago by talking about getting into good trouble. I think he might be the only person in this body that was arrested in this building for protesting before you came to serve in this building as the United States Senator.
(13:30:50)
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.
Reverend Warnock (13:31:01):
Will the senator from New Jersey yield for a question?
Senator Cory Booker (13:31:03):
Why yes, I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Reverend Warnock (13:31:08):
Well, good morning. And let me just say, Cory Booker, how very, very proud I am of you. It's a real honor to 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. That 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. And so Cory Booker, I want to thank you for holding vigil.
(13:32:25)
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 Heschel said that when he marched without the king, he felt like his legs were 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 AM, 2 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. And we need spiritual healing. We need moral healing. But literally, there are people all across our country who need healing, who need healthcare.
(13:33:46)
And so that's why I was so proud to come to the 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 healthcare 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 the 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 healthcare 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 healthcare would grow by 3.8 million people in just one year if the premium subsidies were allowed to expire.
(13:35:35)
Forgive me for my phone ringing. My 8-year-old and 6-year-old are calling me. They're not impressed with what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (13:35:40):
That's an important call.
Reverend Warnock (13:35:42):
They're not impressed. But we know that this impact, this would impact thousands of Jordans who've only recently been able to receive healthcare. So we pass in that American Rescue Plan these tax credits, which put healthcare 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.
(13:36:19)
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 healthcare 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 healthcare coverage and not having healthcare 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 healthcare on the Affordable Care Act marketplace until the premium tax credit brought healthcare 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 healthcare, she could have been in financial ruin.
(13:38:06)
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 on the 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?
Senator Cory Booker (13:38:37):
My easiest colleague question I've gotten over these 13 hours. Yes, they should. I was talking in the healthcare 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. To give them 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 had children with disabilities, who had elder parents living with them. So many people telling them, not 880 billion they were [inaudible 01:55:45], that their whole financial wellbeing was hanging on a thread in just cutting the transportation programs involved. But I said while all that was going on, the Trump administration was still doing other things to attack ACA enrollment, to attack the tax credits that people are relying on, doing other things to drive up costs. I know some of my colleagues were on the floor, like Amy Klobuchar. We've centered the lowering of prescription drug costs and he is doing things to drive out pocket costs up. There's a cruelty in that.
(13:40:02)
And 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, I 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, but-
Reverend Warnock (13:40:34):
Bald headed caucus.
Senator Cory Booker (13:40:36):
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.
Reverend Warnock (13:41:01):
Right. I'm a Matthew 25 Christian.
Senator Cory Booker (13:41:04):
You and I both. That's what we hold in common.
Reverend Warnock (13:41:06):
And it's a long chapter, but the section we're talking about-
Senator Cory Booker (13:41:10):
Yes.
Reverend Warnock (13:41:11):
…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.
Senator Cory Booker (13:41:27):
What were you?
Reverend Warnock (13:41:28):
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?
Senator Cory Booker (13:41:39):
Yes.
Reverend Warnock (13:41:41):
And the answer comes in as much 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 for me. The scripture says that the one who gives to the poor lend this to the Lord. This is holy work.
Senator Cory Booker (13:42:01):
Sir, my friend. I don't understand how a nation could allow a president to be so cruel that he would take away healthcare from people struggling with children that are facing the worst of health challenges. People who have a spouse like the person who wrote me, no, it wasn't the spouse. She wrote me herself. She had Parkinson's. I got upset because that's how my father died. And I watched for year after year after year how it affected my family, how it demanded from my mother, how it cost thousands of dollars for his care. And thank God we had the privilege, but this person was writing because they were afraid and they didn't. Of what the costs would be. How can our country say that kind of cruelty, how can a nation with a majority of its people are people of faith, be they Muslims or Jane or Bahai or Hindu or Jewish, how can the central precept of our country founded on principles that are reflected in the good book, how could we say that we should cut healthcare from the sick and the needy to give bigger tax cuts to Elon Musk?
Reverend Warnock (13:43:09):
Will, the senator from New Jersey…
Senator Cory Booker (13:43:09):
I will yield to you, my brother, while retaining the floor.
Reverend Warnock (13:43:13):
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. And some folk ask, "Well, why do you continue to lead Ebenezer Church?" I return to my pulpit every Sunday because, not withstanding wonderful people like you, I don't want to spend all my time talking to politicians, I'm afraid I might accidentally become one. And so I want to connect and check in with ordinary folks. Because I was focused on this healthcare issue long before I came to the Congress. Dr. King said that of all the injustices, inequality in healthcare he said is the most shocking and the most inhumane.
Senator Cory Booker (13:43:56):
I read that last night night, pastor. I read that last night.
Reverend Warnock (13:43:59):
The most shocking and the most humane 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?
Senator Cory Booker (13:44:19):
I came after.
Reverend Warnock (13:44:20):
You came Right after that. I got arrested in the governor's office in Georgia fighting for healthcare.
Senator Cory Booker (13:44:32):
I didn't know you were a two time arrestee, man.
Reverend Warnock (13:44:34):
I got a long record brother. But all for good trouble, good trouble.
Senator Cory Booker (13:44:38):
All for good trouble.
Reverend Warnock (13:44:38):
Good trouble.
Senator Cory Booker (13:44:39):
Good trouble.
Reverend Warnock (13:44:40):
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.
Senator Cory Booker (13:44:57):
Yes, I remember that.
Reverend Warnock (13:44:58):
We had passed the Affordable Care Act here, but Georgia was digging in its heels and saying, "No, 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-
Senator Cory Booker (13:45:23):
Yes.
Reverend Warnock (13:45:25):
…and I said, look, Georgia. And about 9, then 10 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 non-expansion states, which includes $2 billion just for Georgia to incentivize Medicaid expansion. Why? So that working people in the gap, people who literally go to work every day, can get healthcare. Georgia has left that $2 billion sitting on the table and almost 600,000 Georgians in the gap. The governor's plan has literally enrolled a whopping 6,500 people in healthcare. But we've got nearly 600,000 people in the gap.
(13:46:23)
And this is not theoretical stuff. 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. Heather worked throughout Covid as an ER and labor and delivery nurse. Yet often she did not have healthcare coverage herself because she fell into the healthcare coverage gap. Sometimes she had health insurance coverage, sometimes she didn't. She made too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but the only coverage options available to her were unaffordable, costing anywhere between $500 and a thousand a month.
(13:47:09)
And so about two and a half years ago, Heather Payne, a traveling nurse, noticed that something was wrong in her body. And even though she noticed that something was wrong, Senator Klobuchar, she literally had to wait for months before she could 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 cannot work as an ER nurse anymore and is still waiting to get approved for disability so she can get Medicaid coverage.
(13:47:59)
And so this nurse who has spent her whole life healing other people can't get healthcare. I think it's wrong that in the richest country on earth, we don't want to lower the cost of healthcare for people who are working hard in our communities every day, literally keeping us healthy. I'm going to ask you another softball question, Senator Booker. Should people like my friend Heather Payne have access to affordable healthcare?
Senator Cory Booker (13:48:29):
Yes.
Reverend Warnock (13:48:33):
In the first few months of the Trump administration it's been clear that this administration is not working for ordinary people-
Senator Cory Booker (13:48:38):
I'm going to just say this, just to try to stay in the parliamentary loan. I yield for a question while retaining the floor. I yield for another question while retaining the floor.
Reverend Warnock (13:48:49):
The administration is working for billionaires, they're working for people like Elon Musk. Healthcare is a human right. Healthcare 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." I got news for Russell Vought. The people who staff our VA hospitals are not villains. The people who keep our food safe and our water clean are not villains. The people who keep our military bases operating are not villains. And so we stand with them in this moment because they are indeed keeping all of us healthy.
(13:50:04)
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 here, brother, by holding this floor. You are literally holding vigil for our nation.
(13:50:27)
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 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 that they've got all the answers. And so we saw this in this last cycle. We're seeing it in this moment in our country, the politics of us and them. And sadly, hardworking working class people are waking up this morning and they're discovering that 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.
(13:51:45)
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 the 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've been working here for years and they need a dignified path to citizenship. We've got to hold vigil for each other.
(13:52:25)
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 moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy. So thank you for praying for this nation with your lips and with your legs. I'm going to ask you one last question. Do you intend to keep praying?
Senator Cory Booker (13:53:02):
Amen. Hallelujah. Yes, I do. Thank you for that question. I know there's been a question coming to me. I just want to say, pray Isaiah 40:31 for me. I think you know what that is.
Reverend Warnock (13:53:13):
Got it. I'm going to ordain this man.
Senator Cory Booker (13:53:17):
All right. The article, I was going to start reading.
Senator Klobuchar (13:53:32):
Senator Booker?
Senator Cory Booker (13:53:35):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor. If the senator has a question, I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator Klobuchar (13:53:41):
So you'll yield for a question?
Senator Cory Booker (13:53:42):
Yes. While retaining the floor, yes.
Senator Klobuchar (13:53:44):
Very good. I want to, first of all, thank you. Thank you for waking us up this morning, literally. All night, as Reverend Warnock would tell you, I know you were in here doing your work, but it was raining, there was thunder, it was really bad. And then when we woke up this morning, you were still talking. You were still talking, and the sun was 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 that's going on. This is actually happening. And people are stepping up. They're fighting it 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 service members at risk. People stood up, Democrats stood up. They asked the tough questions.
(13:54:57)
And one of the things that bothers me is that it is so hard to see your way out of it. And a lot of people feel like we're just wallowing right now. But what you're telling us today is there is another way. Because if we just wallow, these guys are going to continue to cut kids' cancer treatment. If we just wallow, they're going to cut Medicaid when one out of two seniors in my state who are in assisted living are on Medicaid. Or they're going to continue to mess around with these tariffs, which really are national sales tax, something like $2,500 for every single family. They are going to continue to be callous. I had someone say to me last night, "Do they care when those US aid 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?"
(13:56:01)
And one of the things that we have done, the Democrats, have done has stood up. And what is coming upon us in these next few weeks is this tax bill that basically will give 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 thing, check show up at his door? He's trying to do the right thing. He calls, he gets put on hold. He sends an email, no one writes him back. He drives into Brainerd, Minnesota, 30 mile drive. He's like 80 years old. He drives in there and then they finally help him. Then he gets back, then something else goes wrong. Then he tries to call again. He finally ends up at our door, at our office and we figure it out for him. There's 70 some million people that that's going to happen to these guys don't get their act together. So it's a real good question, do they care? But when we have this tax bill coming up in front of us in these next few weeks, I think people got to understand what's going on. They have to understand that even in the short… the thing, the house budget that came out, that'll be the subject of this, it's over 2 trillion tax cuts for people making over $400,000 a year like Elon Musk that don't need it. And so there's actually a way to stop it that's in the hands of the Republicans right now. If just 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.
(13:58:01)
We're all in, but let's not do it on the backs of regular people. Let's not do it on the backs of kids that are in cancer research or veterans who are trying to simply get their well-earned benefits because they put their lives on the line in the battlefield. Or let's not do it on the backs of farmers in Minnesota and Georgia who simply have these small farms and they're trying to get by. And then suddenly, wham, Donald Trump decides shock and awe, let's do a tariff and let's get mad at all our allies across the country like Canada. Oh, that's a good idea.
(13:58:33)
Those are the things that they're doing. So my question of you is how many people need to stand up in the US Senate to make this happen? Because I know Democrats are united. I know we're all standing up, but tell me how many people can stand up on the other side. If they stood up and joined you, what a difference it would make.
Senator Cory Booker (13:58:52):
So I want to thank the senator for the question. And when I think of people who stand in adversity, I still see you standing in a snowstorm. And the strength that you've had as you've stood up to fight for affordable healthcare, stood up and fought for affordable prescription drugs, stood up and fought for farmers and for police officers and for communities. You are that kind of person that gives me strength, that I've learned so much from. And you have brought this issue up. What you just said on the floor to let you know this is not performative for her, she has brought this up in our small meetings with Chuck Schumer. She has brought this up in our caucus meetings. I've seen her talk about it in her own state. This question of what will it take?
(13:59:33)
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 appointee is not the most qualified person you could find to lead this cabinet position. Or maybe it's wrong to cut this agency that we together created in Congress." There are people who are asking those questions, but we have seen them get dragged through X, mob attacked when it comes to their virtual presence and threatened to be primaried.
(14:00:14)
But we know, because you're somebody that works on both sides of the aisle, that there are really good people of conscience on both sides of the isle. And as the great pastor said, there are enough sins in this body to go around for all of us. But this is not a partisan 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 are [inaudible 02:17:11] housing prices go up.
(14:00:51)
Farmers in my state too. It's our fourth-largest industry. I've had farmers though come to me as far away as Texas and tell me that they're clawing back these contracts that we've already 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 are a national figure. So I know they're coming to your office. And they're saying things to me like, "I'm a veteran, I could go do 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. I've heard you say it in public. I know it irks you. Because you're one of these sort of balanced people. Okay, we have a big deficit that is 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 been pointing out in our private phone calls over and over again, Senator Klobuchar. And so 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 unyieldingly. Why are we hurting Americans? From our farmers, we just talked about rural hospitals here for about 20, 30 minutes and what the threats are 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 wealthiest Americans, who you and I are not those people that demonize wealth. We don't demonize success. I want more people to start businesses. I want more people dream of moving on up like the Jeffersons. I want more people to have that vision. I am not one of those people that are going to be mad at you because you're very successful. I'm going to be one of those people that says you don't need more tax cuts.
(14:03:15)
And 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 them to help them get equipment to protect themselves. This country cannot do
Senator Cory Booker (14:03:39):
… 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 named Massie? And I watched it. I had to smile and laugh because he said the quiet part out loud. He's sitting there looking at something, I saw him in an interview, and he says, "By their own numbers, this doesn't add up. They're adding to our deficit by the trillions." He stayed true to his principles. What happened to all those mighty deficit hawks in the House of Representatives on the Republican side that caved to the pressure of a President?
Senator Klobuchar (14:04:14):
Will the Senator yield?
Senator Cory Booker (14:04:15):
I'm so happy you asked it in the right fashion as I'm… I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator Klobuchar (14:04:24):
Very good. That was perfect. So I think one of the things you talked about was just this deficit and what's happening and what we seeing with their proposal right now, that's going to come right before us. By some estimates it's going to add $37 trillion, 37 trillion, in 30 years as we go ahead. I mean, I literally cannot believe that when in fact we could step back now and we could say, "What things can we do? What things can we do on the Tax Code?" Because there's a whole lots of things we can do to strengthen Social Security, strengthen what we have in our government.
(14:05:01)
And what really when you step back and look at the economy… And 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 did around the world. We're ready. Inflation was at least steady and it was starting to come down here. And now all of a sudden we see chaos is up, corruption is up, and yes, costs are up. Ask anyone at the grocery store. And one of the problems when you look at what we could be doing to address the debt is that the proposals out there are just going to make it worse. That means more interest payments. That means… Or more interest payments on the backs regular people. And that means less we can do to help them, as we look at what's happening right now.
(14:05:48)
And one of the things you raised, Senator Booker, which I appreciate how much you know about this, is just this prescription drug negotiation and Medicare. So what do we finally do? So 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 and they actually baked in so that they didn't have to negotiate prices for 73 million people and anything. They could just charge whatever they wanted for these prescription drugs. What happens? Well, guess what happens. Suddenly the drugs for our seniors are two to one what they are in places like Canada, our neighbor, our friend. Two to one what they are over there. You got people driving up to Canada from Minnesota because we can see Canada from our porch and they are going up there trying to get less expensive drugs. And then they [inaudible 02:23:02], "What's going on?" So a whole bunch of people started to say, "Let's look at this."
(14:06:44)
It took years to get this done. Finally, finally, we passed a bill. It said they've got to negotiate and we took the first 10 drugs. And the last administration got to pick those drugs and they picked blockbuster drugs, drugs like Eliquis, drugs like Xarelto, drugs like Januvia, Jardiance. I memorized them because I can't always find people that take them. I don't make them raise their hand, say they take them. But these are blockbuster drugs and they reduced the price by like 70% for our seniors. That's going to kick in soon. But not if this administration messes it up. And for we have seen from everything from giving Signal lines about 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 how about when they said, "Okay. We want to do something about avian flu but we're going to fire all the people that work at… Oh. No. We're going to hire them back."? That's what's been going on right now.
(14:07:44)
So when I look at this really complicated prescription drug negotiation where you're taking on some of the biggest companies in the world, I look at, I say to myself, "Okay. So our Secretary of Health, Kennedy, he won't even agree when he's 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. Meanwhile, we've got put in place a $2,000 cap for a seniors out-of-pocket on drug costs under Medicare. That's really good. We put in place that insulin limit on 35 bucks a month. And we thank Reverend Warnock and we thank you Senator, Booker, Senator Murphy, everyone that worked on that. We got that in place.
(14:08:24)
So now we got the big thing, which is the negotiation of all these drugs because 15 more drugs are coming their way for negotiation. Again, blockbuster drugs, Ozempic, blockbuster drugs. Those drugs are coming their way for negotiation. But they have not committed to do that. They have not committed to do that. And even if they did commit to do it, do they even have the people to negotiate to take on these major companies?
(14:08:48)
So my question of you, Senator Booker, after being up all night, after getting us through the storm of last night and into the bright sunshine of today, after holding the floor all this time, I can't even imagine how much your feet must hurt, but those feet hurting is nothing compared, which is why you're doing it, to how the rest of the people in this country right now feel and how they're hurting, my question is, how can they move forward without trying to save money for the people of this country? Because what I see happening, and there's so many signs, you see it every single day, when they are getting rid of some of these people that work on it, then you're not going to be able to get the Social Security for my friend that I met from Cross Lake, Minnesota, then you're not going to be able to get that stuff done.
(14:09:31)
But I think as we look at those cuts, it's not just the word cut, what effect does it have on real people when they can't get their services, when our veterans who also have complex ways that 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 actually done the work? So my question here is, for people that like translate this into the real world, is what is all this going to mean for people in the real world what they're doing right now?
Senator Cory Booker (14:10:01):
Thank you for the question, Senator Klobuchar. I love that you're bringing back to real people and what effect it's having. And what you're spelling out is something that's really important. There's a strategy that they have expressly said. They want to overwhelm you, not us. They want to overwhelm the American people. They want to flood the zone. And so I see a whole bunch of trying doing things 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, 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.
(14:10:57)
But you are pointing something even more insidious is that big things going on. They actually 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 that are helping people that are in the ACA get resources to help with their healthcare costs. They're going after these things. Here's one that you know really well. They're going after… As we talk about all of these parents struggling with children and family members with chronic diseases, we know one of the things that help people with chronic diseases is having access to fresh, healthy foods. But they're cutting access to that for our 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 of people's 401(k)s with the stock market going down, it's not only bringing economic chaos, but they are already hurting people on their basic delivery of their services, from taking thousands of jobs off Social Security, making harder for people who have some problem to get it solved to the VA to the ACA.
Senator Klobuchar (14:12:16):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Senator Cory Booker (14:12:18):
I will definitely yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator Klobuchar (14:12:23):
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 and did the unexpected. He went in here. He 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. And my issue is that we all have those moments where we have to make decisions about what we think is right.
(14:13:03)
And I think about Donald Trump and he is… Just now, just this week, he said he wanted to violate the Constitution, which he says practically every single hour, but he said that he would try to serve another term, that he would do this, he would do that. He is literally treating this presidency like he's the king. And I guess Elon Musk is thus the court jester at his side or the White House IT guy. But the point is that he's treating this like a king.
(14:13:33)
And 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. And 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 doesn't respect that democracy. I remember when we all gathered for the inauguration and I had the four minutes, because of my job with the Rules Committee, to address those gathered in that rotunda. And I noted that our democracy can be a hot mess right now, but it's still the best form of government that 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 that 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 who is…
Senator Cory Booker (14:14:40):
Is that your question?
Senator Klobuchar (14:14:40):
You yield for a question from me? Yes-
Senator Cory Booker (14:14:43):
I will answer that question by avoiding it because in New Jersey there are so many great patron saints from the great Bon Jovi to the great Bruce Springsteen to the incredible Queen Latifah, the chairman of the board from New Jersey, the great Frank Sinatra. So I'm not going to pick. We have so many great singers, rappers like Red Man. We are just a thriving state of… Count Basie. There's just too many. I would not force you to do that. Of course it's Prince, I think, from your state. Prince-
Senator Klobuchar (14:15:15):
You mean Prince and Bob Dylan, but that aside, I am very impressed, Senator Booker, that after what? 12 hours now? 13 hours? That you still are able to make sure that you mention every songwriter. But that aside, Bob Dylan once had that great line, "Shelter in the storm. Our democracy shelter the storm." And then I noted that day that in some countries' presidential inaugurations, they're held in gilded palaces. Not in the United States of America. United States of America, it's held in the People's House. That's what you're doing right now, Senator Booker, 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 into Donald Trump thinking he's king, the power of that rotunda didn't come from the people in there. It came from outside, came from the people. So that's why you see the people standing up right now.
(14:16:10)
Our constituents going to these town halls, standing up, breaking the phone lines in the US Senate, sending in the emails with their stories that we are able, that you've 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. So the question that I ask of you is just tell me what you think people can do when you've got a President in there that he 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 what every rule the people depend on, that they depend on to be able to vote, to be able to participate and have their case made. Tell me what you think.
Senator Cory Booker (14:16:54):
Thank you. Thank you-
Senator Klobuchar (14:16:54):
What's the answer to that?
Senator Cory Booker (14:16:56):
Thank you, Senator. I'll answer that. And I see Ron Wyden has come to the floor who's, for both Amy and I, one of the chair people of, or this point, ranking members of one of the great 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 afraid. Stand up. Speak up, Senator. I'm so angry. Stand up. Speak up, Senator. The services for my disabled child are threatened. Stand up. Speak up." So 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, but, like you, the hundreds and hundreds of people that are calling us from other states.
(14:17:51)
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 went wrong then, which is the same thing here, that we do need to make our country better. We do need to have a bolder vision for healthcare, a bolder vision for Social Security. We need to make them work for the people. But we're not doing it here in this body. And this man who's not acting like a President but is trashing our constitutional traditions, is 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 badly that the Supreme Court itself finds that it has to go out and tell him to stop it.
(14:19:08)
What stopped healthcare 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 hearts, telling them of their pain and their fear. It was people coming here and marching, people coming and flooding the calls, like like they're doing now. People writing letters. People marching people in their states from all political spectrums coming in and saying, "This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong." And so if you're asking me what we can do, I know what we can do, but we've got to, as the great song.
(14:20:29)
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. It's the letters from the Birmingham Jail, Langston Hughes, something by Harper Lee, Emma Lazarus. But here's one. Here's the answer in a poem. And forgive me for reading this. I wanted to do it at some point today and this is perfect. And I see my Senator here, he may have a question, but I… I love this poem. It was written and put to song by a man named James Weldon Johnson. He was an educator, a poet, a diplomat, a civil rights activist, was born in the great State of Florida.
(14:21:26)
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 has taught us, sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of a new day begun, let us march on, let us march on, let us march on, until victory is won." It doesn't ignore the wretchedness of our history. It speaks to the truth and the excitement and the hope about that past and the virtues that our ancestors gave us.
(14:22:13)
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 father's sighed. We have come over away 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 gleam 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, thou who has by thy might let us into the night, keep us forever in the path we pray lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee. Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget thee. Shadow beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to our God and true to our," to this, to this native land.
(14:23:18)
What can we do? Is 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 Obergefell case at the Supreme Court recognizing the humanity, the dignity and the equal rights of LGBTQ Americans to have love and marry. We've seen fights in this time that we've been here where we've seen victories on healthcare 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.
(14:24:07)
You think we got suffrage because a bunch of men on the Senate floor said, "Okay, guys. Come on. Put your hands in here. Ready? Give women the right to vote on three. Ready. Break."? That's not how it happened. It's not how it happened. It happened 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… You 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.
(14:24:45)
And 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 that doesn't respect this document. And how do we stop them? I'm sorry to say we hold powerful positions. We are elected by great states, but we're the minority right now. And you spelled it out at the beginning of your questions to me. It will take three people of conscience on that side. It will take four here.
(14:25:57)
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. Excuse me. A US Senator from Maine, a Republican. When a demagogue had 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've been tired. Her heart might've been hurt. She might've been afraid of the consequences to stand up to people preaching the Red Scare.
(14:26:51)
But this woman in this body, rare thing in those years, this woman in this body who are our founders, those imperfect geniuses that wrote this Constitution, the 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 communists, the fear of labor unions, the fear of the future, the fear of progress. I think it's high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold 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."
(14:28:08)
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 if you have beliefs that I find contemptible, it doesn't mean that I can disappear you from a city street."
(14:28:57)
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.
(14:29:46)
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 fascist 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 a Signal chat to see how unqualified he is.
(14:30:28)
Margaret Chase Smith continues, "As a Republicans. 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 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 the party which unrelentingly fought loose spending and loose programs, I doubt if the Republican Party simply could do so 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 the Republican Party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people," she says. Surely it would be ultimately be suicide for the Republican Party and the two party system itself that has protected American liberties from the dictatorship of a one party system."
(14:31:45)
You ask me, Amy Klobuchar, what do we need to 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 disproportionately go to the wealthiest? How can you in good conscience, if you're a fiscal hawk, if you're a Christian conservative, how could you hurt the weak to benefit the rich and powerful?" That is the answer to your question. 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. I'm a veteran. I'm a police officer. I'm a firefighter. I'm a teacher. Not in America. We won't allow this. We won't allow this. We won't allow this."
Speaker 4 (14:32:41):
Will the Senator yield… The Senator from New Jersey yield for question?
Senator Cory Booker (14:32:45):
I will yield for a question while while retaining the floor.
Speaker 4 (14:32:49):
I thank my colleague and I have been listening to this and a Herculean presentation for hours and hours. And 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 1,100 of them. And since Donald Trump took office what we have seen in these town hall meetings is fear and terror and I might add record turnouts. I was in a small town in central Oregon recently, Sisters. We had almost 1,400 people here. And what people asked about, and you've touched on this morning, is of course Medicaid and Social Security because these are programs involving healthcare 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.
(14:34:16)
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 and help prevent fire in Oregon. I organize this meeting. They too are terrified. They've 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 1,100 of them, 10 of them so far this year. Seems to me that's refusing the answer to constituents. And you've been here all night and you're setting a very clear example about what it means to push back against authoritarianism.
(14:35:26)
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 tele-town 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. So 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 his brow today, trying to stay on his feet, making the case for the urgency of our time. What are you hearing?
Senator Cory Booker (14:36:23):
Thank you, Senator. I'm hearing a lot of fear, a lot of anger. I'm hearing head of hospitals say that this is outrageous, the threats to our hospitals in New Jersey. I'm hearing heads of critical health services tell me what the Medicaid cuts will mean to their organizations. I'm hearing from Catholic priests that are doing extraordinary things in service of their communities. 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… The deteriorating service to seniors. I've 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.
(14:37:25)
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 in the 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 to tell the stories that my constituents 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 pointed out, Social Security section on healthcare or section on education and the Department of Education and that work that it does. I've been going point by point through. This is the agenda. I didn't know how much I can get through, but we laid it out. We have binders for each one of these issues. Immigration, we went through. We have housing,
Senator Cory Booker (14:38:39):
The environment, farmers and food, veterans, the corruption that's been normalized by this president, the rule of law, public safety, all of the ways that we know that there is a crisis in our country and we as a nation need to be more tuned to it and doing more to meet this crisis, to rise up and defend our country, defend our well-being. And all 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.
(14:39:19)
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's going to affect prices that are going to continue to go up for Americans as inflations continue to go up for Americans, as the stock market has continued to go down, as people's 401Ks have lost so 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.
(14:39:58)
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 healthcare is under attack. They're losing their 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 am trying to get my head wrapped around these wacky parliamentary things that even the podcasts I listen to in morning to inform me. They even spoke about this years and years ago, but they said, "Oh, this is too crazy. We can't do this."
(14:40:45)
To try to tell the American people somehow that the trillions of dollars of tax cuts that we're going to give disproportionately to the wealthiest people of all, oh, there's nothing to see here. That has a zero impact on the budget so we can do it through reconciliation. That is the biggest hocus pocus, manufactured artifice that I've ever seen to obscure the truth in America. That what the Republicans are trying to do is cut massively into healthcare for Americans in order to give tax cuts to the wealthiest, disproportionately to the wealthiest who don't need it and to drive up the deficits, making our children and our children's children have a more dangerous economy and higher and higher debt payments to make.
(14:41:33)
Debt payments that will skyrocket higher than any expense the government makes. We are literally about to see something go through reconciliation that threatens to sacrifice our children's future so that the richest of the rich can get richer. And so I know there's a lot of people who are angry, who are worried, who are feeling overwhelmed, who are struggling to make ends meet, but I know of only one way to do this and I'm trying to do it myself, is to do things differently, to stand up, to speak up, to not act like this is just normal in our country.
(14:42:12)
There's not a president from Eisenhower to Reagan to Bush on the Republican side that could ever imagine a day where in a UN 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 the world order and now we're turning our back on it. We designed the rules-based world order and we're turning our back on those organizations, from trashing NATO to getting out of the World Health Organization to getting out of the group of countries coming together to deal with 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.
(14:43:22)
Generations of Americans all know one thing: Russia is our adversary. This principle was reinforced after Russia's brutal unprovoked 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 strike on a children's hospital during the supposed ceasefire negotiations just a few weeks ago. Russian forces have raped and assaulted Ukrainian civilians and Russia has tortured prisoners of war.
(14:44:05)
One would think given all the horrors inflicted by Russia, that the United States would continue to treat Russia as the adversary and the pariah that other Western democracies treat it. But that's not what Trump has done. He's done the opposite. On the third anniversary of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the Trump administration joined Russia and North Korea in voting against a UN resolution condemning the invasion that has killed over 12,000 Ukrainian civilians and injured 30,000. Imagine that. I had the foreign minister of a great ally in NATO in my office looking at me and saying, basically, "W, what the heck?"
(14:44:49)
My friend Chris Murphy on the floor, we sit close to each other. He's further up the dais than me and foreign relations and this stuff is insanity. Here's NBC News. "President Donald Trump has said Ukraine, not Russia, started the war. He called Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky, not Vladimir Putin. He called Zelensky a dictator. Meanwhile, Trump's administration is standing down on a suite of tough anti-Kremlin policies. In just over a month, Trump has executed a startling realignment of American foreign policy, effectively throwing US support behind Moscow and rejecting the title alliance with Kiev, cultivated by former president Joe Biden. The extraordinary pivot has upended decades of hawkish foreign policy towards Russia that provided a rare area of bipartisan consensus in an increasingly divided nation."
(14:45:46)
"Trump's recent moves have drawn international attention, unsettling US alliances and thrilling conservative populists who favor a turn away from Zelensky. The new posture was put in stark relief on Friday during a tense Oval Office meeting," we all remember this, "between Trump and Zelensky. The leaders clashed in front of the press raising questions about the future of American support for Kiev."
(14:46:17)
Alliances and partners around the world are our biggest strength against any US adversary or competitor, from China to Russia to Iran, to North Korea. We are 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 that article that 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.
(14:47:20)
Since then, 20 more countries have joined NATO through 10 rounds of enlargement bringing the total number 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 because 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. Collective defense means an attack on one ally is considered an attack against all allies.
(14:48:08)
A strong NATO has made America safer and stronger and more prosperous. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle have recognized 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 lean on, people like Chris Murphy, leaned on people like John McCain, leaned on people like Lindsey Graham. Leaned 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 US Congress with the input of the American people."
(14:49:09)
Two weeks ago though on March 19th 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 signaled their oppositions in an extraordinarily joint statement warning to Donald Trump that that change would 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 to keep America strong and stronger and safer and more prosperous.
(14:50:00)
The EU's top diplomat said the free world needs a new leader. Think about that. Think about that. The EU's top diplomat has said in response to Donald Trump that now the free world needs a 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 for 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."
(14:51:05)
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 Plan and now Europe is saying it is clear that the Americas, 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 in with the other people on both sides of the aisle.
(14:52:03)
God bless you, Roger Wicker for standing with the understanding that America is 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.
(14:52:57)
Here is former Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin's speech to NATO and the Atlantic Council. "On April 4th, 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 vowed 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 in attack against all.
(14:53:48)
Now, that commitment was enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. It was the foundation 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 1990s, NATO used air power to stop ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo and the day after September 11th, 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.
Senator 1 (14:54:48):
Will the senator yield for a question?
Senator Cory Booker (14:54:48):
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 ever know. I yield to the guy who 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 of more that saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
(14:55:42)
You are 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 that you've affected with your strength on foreign policy. Dear God, my friend, I yield the floor for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator 1 (14:55:59):
I asked my friend.
Senator Cory Booker (14:55:59):
Excuse me, I'm going to say that correctly. I yield for a question while retaining the floor. I do not yield the floor.
Senator 1 (14:56:05):
I asked my friend and colleague from New Jersey if he is familiar with Psalm 30 verse five.
Senator Cory Booker (14:56:13):
Not at this moment.
Senator 1 (14:56:15):
I offered to repeat it because I think it speaks to this moment. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. This is a holy month. It is the month of Lent, 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 in engaged in in these days. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. 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 you 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?
Senator Cory Booker (14:57:25):
I have not read the paper this day, but I-
Senator 1 (14:57:28):
I had suspected that 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 earthquake rubble in Myanmar. It did not hurt my heart that there are Chinese nationals providing emergency relief, 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 US Armed forces. Whether a tsunami, a tornado, wildfires or an earthquake, we had world leading humanitarian response capabilities and I think it is a tragedy that we have not…
(14:58:48)
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 impacted my state and I suspect yours as well.
Senator Cory Booker (14:59:31):
Well, first of all, I want to say, Mr. Flynn, when you asked me to yield for a question, I want to say a yield for a question while retaining the floor, and I want to say to the colleague, I'm familiar with some of this, but as a part of a question to me and not anything resembling a colloquy, I will yield for a question while retaining the floor if you have another question.
Senator 1 (14:59:53):
To my colleague, are you familiar with an article "USDA halts millions of dollars worth of deliveries to food banks"?
Senator Cory Booker (15:00:01):
I'm pretty sure I am. I am.
Senator 1 (15:00:05):
I will simply then ask my colleague a question.
Senator Cory Booker (15:00:09):
Therefore, if you were going to ask me a question, I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator 1 (15:00:13):
To my colleague, I ask the question, are you familiar with the cuts that have been imposed to the US Department of Agriculture suspending hundreds of millions of meals to Americans in need and the justification for that being offered?
Senator Cory Booker (15:00:32):
I am familiar. I've mentioned it earlier in this last 15 hours, so thank you.
Senator 1 (15:00:40):
Last question.
Senator Cory Booker (15:00:40):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator 1 (15:00:46):
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.
Senator Cory Booker (15:01:17):
I am very familiar with that. It haunts me that when America was in crisis, I live 11 miles from ground zero.
Senator 1 (15:01:30):
And to my colleague, are you aware which of our European NATO allies lost per capita the highest number of their soldiers in combat serving alongside American service members? A nation I visited, a nation whose service members I visited. A nation that is today aggrieved by comments made recently. Are you familiar with our trusted ally, Denmark?
Senator Cory Booker (15:01:56):
Yes, I am. That country that has shed more blood than any of our allies side by side fighting with America is Canada. Is Canada.
Senator 1 (15:02:08):
Denmark.
Senator Cory Booker (15:02:09):
Oh, it's Denmark?
Senator 1 (15:02:10):
Denmark lost per capita, I believe… Excuse me. Let me simply ask of my colleague one more question.
Senator Cory Booker (15:02:18):
Thank you very much. I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator 1 (15:02:22):
Is my colleague aware that broadly distributed across our NATO allies is service and sacrifice, including the loss of their troops in combat and that every single loss in combat was a loss of great service and sacrifice by our NATO allies?
Senator Cory Booker (15:02:38):
Yes, I am familiar and I'm grateful for you making those points as we threaten Greenland and Denmark and try to bully them in a way that, with a rhetoric that fashions more after the behavior of Vladimir Putin's threatening before the Ukrainian invasion, as opposed to what allies do who are grateful for shared sacrifice, who are grateful for shared honor, who are grateful for shared prosperity. What is happening right now to me is shameful. How we're treating our allies is unacceptable and the tariffs that will be imposed will indeed hurt Canada and other NATO allies, but they will hurt us in the long run more, not only in the immediacy of the driving up of prices for Americans, what the president is doing as he turns his back on Republican traditions and American and democratic traditions. It's going to hurt us more as a nation in the long run as other countries look to other places for leadership of the free world.
Senator 1 (15:03:44):
Will my colleague yield for another question?
Senator Cory Booker (15:03:46):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator 1 (15:03:50):
Is my colleague familiar with the testimony of General Jim Mattis, a decorated four-star Marine Corps general who served as Secretary of Defense in the previous Trump administration, who testified about what the consequences would be if we were to defund development and diplomacy?
Senator Cory Booker (15:04:10):
I hope that the colleague of mine, who again has been a mentor or friend on all things foreign policy, my belief is that he's referring to when General Mattis sat before the United States Senate and said very pointedly if you cut the foreign aid, if you cut organizations like USAID, if you cut the programs of the State Department, then buy me more bullets.
Senator 1 (15:04:41):
Will my colleague yield for a final question?
Senator Cory Booker (15:04:43):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator 1 (15:04:47):
Does my colleague have an opinion about whether it strengthens or harms America in our national security to have an earned reputation as a nation of compassion, a nation that comes to the aid of those suffering through humanitarian disasters, a nation of compassion that provides healthcare and access for retirement and decency, a nation that cares for the least of these on the margins of the world and that has a just and inclusive society at home? Does my colleague have an opinion about whether it strengthens or weakens our nation at home and abroad to earn a reputation for compassion and reliability, or instead to deserve a reputation for unreliability and cruelty?
Senator Cory Booker (15:05:35):
So this is the powerful thing about my friend who I went with on my first trip to the continent of Africa as a senator. And I remember flying in to Zimbabwe, the leader of that country had passed away. And you always correct me on my pronunciation, so I'm going to try my best. "Emengagwa".
Senator 1 (15:05:59):
Mnangagwa, yes.
Senator Cory Booker (15:06:02):
Mnangagwa, thank you sir. The alligator was his reputation, had taken over as his leadership. And we, this bipartisan merry group of senators, were going there to sit in a unified bipartisan way and say to this new leader, "You need to honor democratic principles. You need to honor free and fair elections. That we want to be your partner. We want to be your friend, but it's time for a new, peaceful, democratic Zimbabwe." And as we landed, I don't know if you remember, he was landing too in the airport and he was coming from China. He was coming from China, who has different values than we have. In fact, you and I both see now all over the continent of Africa a competition. We come with USAID, we come with PEPFAR, we come with a program called AGOA, helping with economic development. We come with scientists that stand in the breach against the worst infectious diseases.
(15:07:20)
One of the most courageous things I saw Chris Coons do in my life was when the Ebola scare was happening about eight years ago and was starting to show up on our shores, you did something that people were afraid to do. You went to Africa to visit with the people from our country that are there fighting Ebola. You had to come and quarantine when you came back to make sure you didn't have it. It was amazing because you were going there to say to the world, "I, Chris Coons, senator for Delaware here, but America is here."
(15:07:56)
America knows that an infectious disease anywhere is a threat to public health everywhere. America knows that when it comes to the globe, Martin Luther King was right in his spiritual proclamation in the letters from the Birmingham jail, that we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a common garment of destiny. That injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. I have been to where you've been, from Kenza and Tanzania to traveling with you to Ouagadougou. You used to make me smile when I used to say the capital of Burkino Faso. Ouagadougou, my friend. There's a word I learned from a language, the Bantu language. It basically roughly translates into this: I am because we are. I am because we are. America has learned the power of soft power. General Mattis knew much cheaper investment, much more success. String of successes that we've had in the last 25 years have been with our soft power, not with our 20-year wars in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. General Mattis knew that. He gave wisdom. He said, "Do not cut the State Department. Do not cut USAID. They are making a invaluable contribution to fighting terrorism, to fighting instability, to spreading democracy, to fighting infectious diseases where we go and stand." But now we're shrinking, we're retreating, we're pulling back, we're cutting aid. And when crises are happening like we're seeing in Myanmar right now, we don't even have the personnel to be there to help people.
(15:09:51)
But you know who does? China. And they show up and they leverage influence. You and I know this in the continent of Africa. "Here, take our money, take our money. Be in debt to us now, and we have control. By the way, we want a military port here." Like they have right next to us in Djibouti. The Chinese are playing a long game and Trump is playing into their hands and weakening our nation, not just against infectious diseases, not just against the global fight against climate change, not just against the economic opportunities that we're missing out on in the continent in Africa. And guess what? If you don't know this, by 2051 one out of every four people on the planet Earth will live on the continent of Africa. One of every three working age people on the planet Earth will be on the continent of Africa. China's playing the long game, not only critical rare earth minerals, but the economic power of the most populous continent on the planet. And what are we doing with Trump? We're doing Michael Jackson. We're moonwalking away from that continent saying, "China, go ahead."
(15:10:58)
I love you, Chris Coons. I am the ranking member of this subcommittee inspired by you, Chris Coons. And the work that you and me and Lindsey Graham and John McCain did over the last 10 years is being swept away as our allies are saying frightening things that they have to look elsewhere for leadership and not to the people that save the free world. It is a shame that we're doing to my grandparents' generation. With my grandmother, with her war bonds and her victory garden and my grandfather building bombers at the Willow Run Bomber plant in Michigan. All the country came together and sacrificed for the war effort. We saved Europe, we bled and died on that European continent.
(15:11:45)
There are, and you've seen them, these fields of crosses, and you see some stars of David and you see some Muslim graves, you see it all. Our American boys died, and yet we still invested in that continent. We still invested with the Marshall Plan. We still invested with the Berlin Airlift. We still stood up to communism. And a great Republican president, a great Republican president stood up in front of a Russian autocratic leader and said, "Gorbachev, tear down this wall." And what is Trump going to be remembered for? "I really love Vladimir Putin. Zelensky is a dictator. You're my friend."
(15:12:36)
You and I both visit VA halls and occasionally we meet a World War II veteran. In my state, there are some incredible men that still wear their hat. And if they can, they stand with pride. They are called the greatest generation. And what are we doing to their legacy? What are we doing to their legacy, Chris Coons? I'm going to keep talking unless somebody wants to say, "Will the Senator yield for a question."
Senator Ed Markey (15:13:07):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Senator Cory Booker (15:13:09):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator Ed Markey (15:13:14):
First of all, thank you so much for what you are doing, Senator Booker. You are drawing our nation's attention to what Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Doge are seeking to do to our country, especially the most vulnerable in our society.
Senator Ed Markey (15:13:39):
And you, Senator Booker, you have been a champion for the poor, for the sick, for the disabled, for those most in need throughout your entire life. That is who you are. You are absolutely a champion for those who need help the most. So as we look at what Donald Trump is proposing, to destroy the Department of Education, just to level it, knowing that Title I money goes to the poorest children in Newark, in Boston, so that they can have as close to an equal footing as possible so that they too can compete, to ensure they enjoy the American dream; to gut Medicaid, knowing that there's 338,000 people just in Massachusetts alone who are on disabilities, who need Medicaid in order to deal with those afflictions which their families need a little bit of help to deal with; to begin a process of saying that social security is a Ponzi scheme.
Senator Cory Booker (15:15:02):
Yes.
Senator Ed Markey (15:15:05):
Knowing that ultimately they need the billions of dollars for the tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. And they have to get it out of education, they have to get it out of Medicaid, they have to get it out of veterans benefits. They have to get it out of Social Security. We know what their plot is. The plot is to get $2 trillion out of the programs that affect ordinary people in order to have tax breaks for the wealthiest people in our nation. And most of it will come out of healthcare. It'll come out of Medicaid, ultimately out of Medicare, out of the Affordable Care Act, out of veterans benefits. Healthcare, healthcare, healthcare, healthcare for every family, for the wealthiest in our society who don't need a tax break.
(15:15:47)
That one thing they don't need right now is a tax break. Especially when Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and Jeff Zuckerberg now control more wealth than the bottom 50% of our nation combined. Did they really need a tax break? I know the President put him right behind him at his inauguration, but oh my God, the Cabinet sits behind billionaires? The Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves thinking about how they've inverted what is supposed to be the way in which our government, our country works.
(15:16:26)
So I thank you for your incredible leadership. You are putting the spotlight on what is going wrong in this country right now, this oligarchy seeking to take over our nation. So I thank the Senator for what he's doing. It is just so consistent with his whole life, what he stands for, what he stands for on the floor of the Senate today, a conscience, a conscience for the nation. So can the Senator tell the Senate today, the nation, what this could mean if we continue down this path of Donald Trump and Elon Musk and DOGE for those families who need help the most in our society?
Senator Cory Booker (15:17:14):
I so appreciate the Senator, and I want to tell folks, when I wrote my book, I thought I knew this man here. But I did a lot about environmental justice in my book, I did about a lot of these toxic chemicals out there that are threatening our people. And I came to the office, to the office of Senate one day, so humbled because I told him, "I knew you as my colleague. We both got here around the same time. But I had no idea of the kind of things you did in the United States House of Representatives, how many bills that made a difference for people's lives in Boston and Newark and Camden and Passaic." You are one of the people that after a few years here, I discovered in 2015 writing my book how amazing your career is. And now having served in the Senate about the same amount of time, I'm so grateful for you. And you have been so consistent in why you came here and not forgetting the people you've been fighting for your whole career. And so, your question is right aligned with that point.
(15:18:16)
It was said earlier about this humanity's biggest fight, humanity's biggest consistent theme, us versus them or just us. I don't like when we pit one group in this country against another group. It's not us versus the billionaires or us versus the Republicans. It's understanding what is best for We, the People. How can we create a more perfect union?
(15:18:40)
And I will tell you this right now, we are a union in trouble compared to our global peers. We have higher disease rates, higher diabetes rates, higher cancer rates, higher maternal mortality rates, higher premature birth rates, higher infant mortality rates. There are so many things going on in this country that should not go on. But yet, we are a nation of utter abundance. We are a nation of incredible wealth and resources. And we've proven in our past to be a nation of incredible vision, and that's why I don't understand why we are playing so small, why we have a president that is playing so small.
(15:19:27)
It's not coming here like presidents of the past and saying, "We together." From Reagan to Clinton to Obama, there's a big challenge, America. We together are going to get into the room and do sausage-making, Republicans and Democrats, and we're going to find a way to write great legislation. Whatever you want to say about Joe Biden, he was a big president because he didn't try to do things by executive fiat or as a quote of Donald Trump's I put here, "The primacy of the executive," ignoring our constitution.
(15:19:59)
You know how many bipartisan bills were hammered out here? I see another dear friend of mine, Mark Warner. You know how many bipartisan bills Mark Warner was at the table for, my senior Senator who is Chairman of Intelligence? We did bipartisan Infrastructure Act when Trump in his first term had infrastructure week every other week. We did a CHIPS and Science bill. He's trying to claw back with the money, but we together, I still remember that skiff, that classified skiff where the whole Senate was there and our National Security Team and Gina Raimondo put forward the crisis in our country, the vulnerabilities. And we came out of that room, we got into our rooms, and we hammered out a great CHIPS and Science bill.
(15:20:47)
Decades went by in this body with doing nothing on gun violence, decades. And courageous people on the Republican side, friends of mine that surprised me that stood up like Senator Cornyn and said, "We're going to do something. I've got my lines. You've got your lines, but let's find the space in the middle." And we did programs that if you come to New Jersey, the Community Violence Intervention money is lowering murder rates in places like Newark by over 50% helping to get it done along with our great law enforcement officers. And the incredible thing about that now is Trump is trying to claw back that money, violating the separation of powers, because we decide how we're spending money in America, not the executive. Read the Constitution.
(15:21:28)
And so, you and I both know that a big president would come to here and say, "Let's do some legislation." And I read it in the middle of the night, but John McCain, it's really important, John McCain, I won't read it but I'll tell it, voted against the healthcare last time, the taking away of healthcare for millions of Americans, and said, "That's because of the dysfunction of this body, that we don't come together and do something bigger and bolder to provide better healthcare, to bring the ideas from both sides and expand the opportunities for Americans and replace the imperfections of the Affordable Care Act with smarter and better things."
(15:22:14)
Not Donald Trump. He's repeating the mistakes, but not with the ACA, which affects tens of millions of Americans, with Medicaid that affects 70 to 100 million Americans. Why? You ask why? Well, we know why. There's two things that this will achieve, two things. One, as you said it, it is because he wants to not just renew the Trump tax cuts, but expand them that have disproportionate benefits to the wealthiest. And I wish the wealthiest in the country, names that we know, people like Elon Musk would say, "I don't want a tax cut." I wish he would say the truth. "I don't need a tax cut." But no, that's one of the reasons he wants to renew a program that gave disproportionate money.
(15:23:03)
But that's not the only reason. There's a cruelty in what he's doing. It's so offensive. He seems to have no respect for people with disabilities. He made fun of a journalist with a disability once. He seems to have no respect for people who are working hard and struggling, but still can't make ends meet. No respect for people that are afraid of his language, of his threats. They think that what he's doing to Social Security might mean they don't have it; that what he's saying to Medicare and Medicaid are lies because he's got more registered lies than any president of my lifetime. They don't think they can trust this President not to hurt them because he already is.
(15:23:46)
And so, I was told by my parents, "What defines you as a person is not what happens to you, but how you choose to respond." What happens to us as a nation is not what happens to us. They can bomb us from Pearl Harbor to attack us at 9/11. The American character was defined by how we responded to those crises. And yes, there have been major political crises before, but we responded by bending the arc of our nation more towards justice, taking care of more and more people saying that we belong to each other in America. It is we, the people. It is we, the people. I see the standing of my friend, Mark Warner. I don't know if he has a question, but I know what I'm told to say. If he asks me to yield for a question.
Senator 1 (15:24:48):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Senator Cory Booker (15:24:50):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator 1 (15:24:55):
Well, Mr. President, let me join my friend and colleague from Massachusetts, one to celebrate the Senator from New Jersey's endurance, his willingness to continue to make this case in as clear terms as possible. Not having been here last night at 6:30, I do wonder when he started this speech-athon at 6:30 whether the bob and the weave and the move was quite as strong, or was he firmly attached to the podium? The fact that you are going on more than 12 hours now and look like you've got hours ahead and hours before you sleep, and knowing that there are other members that have got a question, including the Majority Leader.
(15:25:55)
I just want to be brief with mine. You've talked a lot with great passion about the damage done domestically. As Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, now vice Chairman, I have been aghast at the sloppiness of this administration time after time after time in terms of their treatment of classified information. The first two weeks of the administration, strangely, a couple hundred CIA agents' identities were revealed on a non-classified chain. These probationary employees, it means new employees, the American government had spent a couple hundred thousand dollars on each of them. You've got to get a security clearance, you've got to get them trained. Unfortunately, these folks can't deploy abroad. They can't deploy undercover because their names were carelessly put on an unsecured channel.
(15:26:57)
If you say, "Well, that went just a one-off." Well, what about a week or so later, the DOGE boys, they print a whole list of federal properties that should be for sale. They quickly take it down a few hours later realizing they once again have screwed up. But in putting up that list, they put on classified dark sites that the American government again spends millions of dollars to protect. Or more recently as well, the DOGE boys, either ignorantly or maliciously, either one just plain stupid, put out the list of a classified agency, its budget, total headcount. Again, all classified information.
(15:27:49)
And Senator, one thing I can tell you, and I know you know this as well, if this had happened to a line intelligence officer or a line military officer, there'd be no question. Your butt would be fired. Matter of fact, we got information yesterday there had been a DHS employee who had inadvertently, inadvertently put a journalist on a chat line. Guess what happened? The guy is fired.
(15:28:21)
So when it came to this incident now called Signalgate or Signalgate Fiasco, where you've got the leading members of this administration debating where and how we should bomb the Houthis, including specific information of who will be hit and when, Senator Booker, I was down in Hampton Roads this weekend, these were the communities that surround the Norfolk Naval Station. Norfolk Naval Station is where the Truman, the aircraft carrier, has been deployed from. It is the aircraft carrier that the flights that attacked the Houthis flew off of. I can tell you one thing, Senator Booker, these people were pissed off that there'd been this level of carelessness about their loved ones, that if it had gotten in the wrong hands would've cost American lives.
(15:29:25)
So Senator Booker, as you put down the litanies of all of the challenges that have been raised by this administration, I'll ask you a simple question. Do you agree that this pattern, not one-off, pattern of sloppiness, endangers our national security?
Senator Cory Booker (15:29:48):
Yes, absolutely, yes. I love that you gave that litany, Senator. I have benefited from your leadership on the Intel Committee. You are one of the people that when things go down on the planet Earth, you're one of the small handful of people with the highest security clearance here. You know before rank-and-file senators do. And we've had so many conversations about threat matrixes and what our enemies are doing. You've sent me to the skiff and say, "I can't talk to you about this. Go down to the skiff and ask for the information" to help me to fill out my understanding of national security threats.
(15:30:23)
I am stunned by this President, all that I've read in the skiffs about what Russia is doing to this country. I am stunned and angry by this President and what he is doing to us by cozying up to Putin and turning his back on our allies. But the sloppiness, the unqualified leaders that he's put in place, it has caused us to be more at risk.
(15:30:48)
And the Signalgate, you said it, if that had happened under any other president, Republican or Democrat, whoever controlled the Senate would have hearings. They would want know was this pattern in practice? Did these signal conversations happen before and we only know about this one because somehow you pulled in a journalist? Well, that's a violation of a law, because they're disappearing messages, were destroying government documents that the executive branch has a legal obligation. And the classified materials, putting it out there first saying, "Oh, there was nothing classified about that," lying. And then, they put out the actual, said, "Okay, if there's nothing classified," they release the whole thing. And to the wisdom of people like you, and again, more wisdom and experience at Intel than me, it's clearly that that was sensitive, probably classified, but we should be having hearings and accountability.
(15:31:44)
I keep going back to how this document is being undermined and attacked by this President. And one of the powers and responsibilities that we swore to uphold, every one of us swore to uphold this, was that we are to be a check on the administration.
(15:32:05)
Before I yield to the next question from Senator Schumer, I want to talk about Senator Schumer. I just want to say something, get it off my chest. Senator Murphy, we've passed the 15-hour mark. I want to thank Senator Murphy in particular because he's been with me the whole night. He hasn't left my side. And in some ways the debt's repaid. We passed 15 hours. Because we called Chuck Schumer nine years ago, nine years ago. I remember exactly where I was standing when we, three of us were on the phone, and we asked Chuck to help us for you to take the floor right down there and do a filibuster. We didn't know how long it was going to last, but I committed to you that I would be your aide-de-camp. 15 hours you've stood, Chris Murphy, saying that this nation shouldn't do business and usual for the Pulse massacre. And the leader of the Senate nine years ago said, "I support you guys. Go ahead."
(15:33:01)
And so, one of the first people I called, Senator Schumer, and talked to about this actually was Murphy. And he did full circle for me and has been with me the whole 15 hours. His debt is paid, but I've got fuel in the tank, man. And the only reason you stopped wasn't because you couldn't go on anymore. It was because we got a concession from Mitch McConnell. We got his concession to get two votes on common sense gun safety that Republicans had put forward, like universal background checks in the past. But we lost that vote. But in both occasions, nine years apart, once where Murphy was the principal and now here we have a leader that said, "Yeah, how can I help?" And so, I want to thank Senator Schumer before I suspect he might ask me to yield for a question, for being a friend, a partner, and one of the first people I turned to with this idea and that encouraged me to go for it. To go for it, Corey. And so, thank you, Chuck Schumer.
Reverend Warnock (15:33:56):
Would the senator yield for a question?
Senator Cory Booker (15:33:57):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Reverend Warnock (15:34:01):
And I have two questions, frankly, one on Medicaid cuts which we talked about last night and one on tariffs. But first, let me say before I get to this question, your strength, your fortitude, your clarity has just been nothing short of amazing. And all of America is paying attention to what you're saying. All of America needs to know there's so many problems, the disastrous actions of this administration in terms of how they're helping only the billionaires and hurting average families. You have brought that forth with such clarity. People from one end of America to the other admire you. Our whole caucus is behind you, and we admire your stamina, your strength, your passion, your intelligence. The list of adjectives could go on.
(15:34:49)
My question first relates to the Medicaid cuts. As we talked about last night, I visited three Republican districts, one in Staten Island, one right on the border of two Republican districts in Long Island yesterday to talk about Medicaid cuts. I went to nursing homes, and it was clear that the Medicaid cuts that are proposed in this proposal, $880 billion in the House, would be devastating. On Staten Island, the nursing home we visited, they love it, Silver Lake nursing home, would close. 300 people would lose their jobs, hundreds would be thrown out. And most of them said their children can't take care of them. Their needs are more advanced. And even some who said their children might be able to take care of them, didn't have room in the house, etc.
(15:35:51)
So it's affecting Staten Island's middle class, voted for Trump. But we made a plea to their Congresswoman to not vote for any bill that had these Medicaid cuts and the tax breaks for billionaires. And a lot of the people there, it was bipartisan. There were both parties there. We estimated that about 18,000 people total would lose their jobs with these Medicaid cuts, creating a recession on Staten Island. We estimated the harm that would've caused. And so, this was devastating. Same thing on Long Island. Again, Republican areas with Republican congresspeople who hold the balance.
(15:36:42)
If those three congresspeople alone would say, "I'm not voting for a bill that cuts Medicaid to give tax breaks for the billionaires," the bill would fail. And I know that you in New Jersey and my colleagues in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and elsewhere are doing the same thing, Congressmen and Senators. And I've talked to Leader Jeffries, he's doing the same with his folks. So my question to you is very simple. If these people in New Jersey, in New York, across America are kicked out of nursing homes, of assisted living facilities, of healthcare facilities, what would they do? And how does the Senator, with his passion and everything else, feel when the only reason they're doing this is to give tax breaks to the wealthiest of Americans? Would you please answer my question, sir?
Senator Cory Booker (15:37:42):
Yes, I will, Leader Schumer. Late last night, I read dozens and dozens and dozens of letters from terrified people. The stories were heartbreaking as people rendered their pride and gave us insights into the more painful aspects of their lives. I got emotional over one about a person talking about being diagnosed with Parkinson's and know that the disease would get more and more debilitating like I saw with my father and demand more and more help. And she was paranoid that the burden on our family, that they couldn't afford it. I had this is one amazing letter about a person that said they were the sandwich generation, two 90-something year old parents they were taking care of and two adult men, children with disabilities.
(15:38:30)
And for all of these people, like you saw in the nursing homes, Medicaid wasn't a plus or some kind of abundance heaped upon their lives. It helped them keep the fragile financial world they were living in stable. And then, not just an $880 billion cut, Senator Schumer, but even just half of that or a quarter of that would cut services that would pull apart their whole lives, their ability to care for their loved ones, their ability to still work.
(15:39:03)
One person just said, "Just the transportation we get through Medicaid for my disabled child is the link that holds it all together." And callously and cruelly, they're talking about this not in any kind of insightful way, not any kind of, "Well, here's we can make it more efficient and actually help to keep some…" None of that kind of thought or logic of bringing in experts, because we read page after page after page of rural hospital leaders, of urban hospital leaders, and more and more and more.
(15:39:33)
So your question is clearly that it is this crazy scheme right now to expand the Trump tax cuts that overwhelmingly disproportionately go to the wealthiest of us in America who need not our help; that would still yet expand the deficit by trillions of dollars, which means your children and I know how proud of grandfather you are, your grandchildren would have to pay for that debt. They're stealing from your grandchildren so that the wealthiest amongst us could get bigger tax cuts, and at the same time taking away medical coverage from the most vulnerable.
(15:40:18)
What is that? It's not who we are. It's not who we are, America. And as much as people, thousands descended on this to save the ACA, Medicaid affects millions and millions of more people. Wake up. They're coming after a vital program for American expectant mothers, for American children, for American disabled, for the seniors like the ones you visited.
Reverend Warnock (15:40:44):
I thank my colleague.
Senator Cory Booker (15:40:45):
No, I have one more thing to get off my chest, sir.
Reverend Warnock (15:40:47):
Please.
Senator Cory Booker (15:40:47):
This is a little lighter. You heaped so many kind things on me. I don't know if you realize that never before in the history of a America has a man from Brooklyn said so many complimentary things about a man from Newark.
Reverend Warnock (15:41:01):
But I would remind my colleague that we are both New York Giants fans.
Senator Cory Booker (15:41:06):
Who play where? In New Jersey. This is not a colloquy. I hold the floor. I do not yield. Brooklyn stole the Nets, it's an injustice, from Newark. They stole the Nets. I do not yield the floor for a rebuttal. And the Giants and the Jets play in New Jersey. There's only one football team in New York, and that's the Bills. I do not yield, but I do love and respect. But when I've got the floor, I don't have to yield. This is the one time in my life I get the last word with my much more senior, much wiser friend and Senator who supports me.
Reverend Warnock (15:41:44):
My colleague, I do have another question.
Senator Cory Booker (15:41:46):
Oh, okay.
Reverend Warnock (15:41:46):
Unrelated subjects.
Senator Cory Booker (15:41:48):
On a different subject.
Reverend Warnock (15:41:49):
On an unrelated subject.
Senator Cory Booker (15:41:50):
Okay. Unrelated.
Reverend Warnock (15:41:51):
But I will say, go Bills.
Senator Cory Booker (15:41:52):
As long as he gives me that commitment, I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Reverend Warnock (15:41:57):
First, let me say before I ask my question, go Bills. Second, given the 15 hours which you've shown such amazing strength of an All-American athlete who could probably, given what you've shown tonight, be a star on our Giants. So I will not even try to rebut-
Senator Cory Booker (15:42:19):
Thank you, sir.
Reverend Warnock (15:42:19):
… where the Giants are. But I will ask you this question second. And just going back, before I get to tariffs, one of the leading hospitals in New York told me if there were only a 20% cut at Medicaid, less deep than they show, that they would close. They're the only cancer care place in the Bronx, 1.3 million people. And they give great care. They're the only one. They would close. So the devastation of these cuts, the American people should realize is just enormous from one end of the country to the other, in middle class communities, in upper middle class communities like Long Island, middle class like Staten Island, poor communities like the Bronx.
(15:43:00)
But on tariffs, let me ask a question. So here we are, right on the edge of April 2nd. Today is April Fool's Day, but the tariffs that the President is proposing unfortunately are not part of an April Fool's trick. They're real and they're devastating. And my question to my colleague, with these tariffs, which is estimated would cost the American family $6,000 more on average, would raise costs on everything across the board and would throw devastation into our economy. Look at the stock-
Senator Schumer (15:43:35):
… his costs on everything across the board and would throw devastation into our economy. Look at the stock market, it goes down when Trump's serious about tariffs and it goes up when he says, well, maybe he's not so serious. And with the chaos that is caused, so businesses which love certainty, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, large businesses need certainty. So my questions are these, does the great senator and great Giants fan from New Jersey agree that prices could go way up, all the way up to as much as $6,000?
(15:44:14)
And does he agree that the chaos from Trump's tariffs is discombobulating the economy in very serious ways? And again, does he agree that the reason that they seem to be doing this, they count the revenues. This guy Navarro seems to have no sense of reality and yet he seems to be in charge. And they count the revenues to help them get more tax cuts for the wealthy. Almost everything they do, including tariffs, it seems to me, is aimed at getting those tax cuts for the wealthy. Which, God bless the wealthy, as I've heard you say last night when we spoke, we're not against people who make a lot of money, God bless them, but they don't need a tax break.
Cory Booker (15:44:56):
No, they don't.
Senator Schumer (15:44:58):
They should realize the beauty of America helped them become or stay billionaires. The money we invested in education and roads and schools and helping kids get food makes a better workforce. So my question to my colleague on these tariffs, A, does he agree that it could raise the price on an average family thousands of dollars? It's estimated $6,000. Does he agree that the chaos caused by Trump's on again, off again, this country, that country, this much, that much, this product, that product is hurting the economy and hurting business people do their jobs? And does he agree that it seems the motivation is tax breaks for the wealthiest people? Will you please answer my question?
Cory Booker (15:45:51):
I will, Senator Schumer.
Senator Schumer (15:45:52):
And I yield back to him.
Cory Booker (15:45:53):
I will. So you and I both know that in 72 days now, it's the next day, the 72 days that Trump has been in office, he has caused havoc on the American economy, especially given the economy he inherited. Inflation is up, prices are up, consumer confidence is down, the stock market and people's 401(k)s and retirement plans are down. He continues to do things to rattle confidence, to raise prices and to hurt, not the billionaires, the people that can afford these things, to hurt average Americans who find housing prices too high and it difficult to make ends meet. Every time, and I've looked at the tariffs throughout history, in fact, one of my friends sent me this really funny clip, I hope somebody will put up for me, from I think it was Ferris Bueller's Day Off where he was talking about tariffs and was like, "Bueller, Bueller, the reality is…" Or maybe it was another movie, I'm mixing it up. It shows my pop. What's that?
Senator Schumer (15:46:58):
Entitled after [inaudible 00:03:24].
Cory Booker (15:46:59):
Thank you right now. But the tariffs haven't worked out for Republican presidents who tried them during the depression. The evidence is here, learn from our history.
Senator Schumer (15:47:13):
Does my colleague remember the names of Smoot and Hawley?
Cory Booker (15:47:16):
Smoot and Hawley? Yes, sir. I definitely remember those names from high school history. God bless you, Mr. Al Gore and Ms. Saru. So yes, what he's going to do tomorrow is going to rattle the markets. What he's going to do tomorrow is raise prices for Americans. What he's going to do tomorrow is lie to folks and say that this is something that China will pay or whomever will pay, when actually it's the American consumers that will pay with higher prices and more economic insecurity. I'll tell you this quote that Frederick Douglass once said, this I do remember. He said, "The limits of tyranny is prescribed by the endurance of those who are oppressed."
(15:47:57)
How much more will we take of this? How much more will we as America say, cut our Medicaid to give tax cuts to the billionaires, take the Affordable Care Act and take away tax credits, take away enrollment support? Hey, come after Social Security, cut thousands of people, make customer service get worse, as said The Wall Street Journal. How much more of these indignities will we take as he turns his back on our allies? How much more of a person that is doing tyrannical things as he takes our Constitution and continues to trash it as he's running into judge after judge, after judge that's trying to stop him.
(15:48:40)
But we've already seen that he wants to ignore judges or if he gets real rulings he doesn't like, he trashes the judges. And even the Chief Justice appointed by a Republican says to him, "No, this is not right. This is not who we are. This is not how we do things in America." How much more can we endure before we in a collective chorus of conviction in our country say, enough is enough? Enough is enough. You're not going to get away with this.
Senator Schumer (15:49:06):
I thank the gentleman for his fortitude, his strength, and the crystalline brilliance by which he has shown the American people the huge dangers that face them with this Trump, DOGE, Musk administration. I yield the floor back to my colleague in New Jersey.
Cory Booker (15:49:22):
Thank you.
Senator Warren (15:49:23):
Mr. President.
Speaker 1 (15:49:27):
I recognize the Senator from Massachusetts, but I think you have to ask him for a question.
Senator Warren (15:49:33):
Mr. President, will the senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (15:49:36):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator Warren (15:49:41):
Thank you. I am very grateful to the Senator from New Jersey for coming to the floor for such an extended period of time to give voice to all of those around this country whose voices evidently are not heard by the Republicans in the United States Congress. And I wanted to ask a question for the 73 million people who are beneficiaries of the Social Security system and for their families, for the people whose grandma is getting Social Security, for the people whose cousin, whose dad died, who is getting Social Security benefits, about what's happening right now between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, our current co-presidents, and what they're trying to do to the Social Security system.
(15:50:33)
So I start this question with just a basic observation. Social Security is not charity. It is not something we give away to those who are less fortunate and we do this out of the goodness of our hearts. Social Security is a contract that people who work in America pay into the system for all of their working lives. And when the time comes that they retire or something happens to them and they are not able to do that work, that they can count on the Social Security system and the payments that they are legally entitled to. I want to underscore here, legally. Now, if America wanted to change that contract, the place they have to go is right here to Congress. They have to come to the United States Senate or they have to go to the House of Representatives and they have to say, "We actually want to change benefits for Social Security recipients."
(15:51:34)
And by the way, that has happened dozens and dozens of times in our history, up through the late 1980s, where we made adjustments in the Social Security benefits. For example, for the fact that people lived longer, for the fact that people worked longer. And so we made minor adjustments in the system. We also made adjustments to make sure that there were cost of living changes in how much Social Security would pay out. So anyone who wants to change the benefits that people are legally entitled to has to come here to Congress and make that happen. But it appears that Elon Musk and Donald Trump have tried to figure out an end run. And the end run is to say, okay, we can't directly change benefits, but what we can do is we can effectively cut off benefits.
(15:52:29)
Now how can they do that? Well, one way is fire all the people who help people get their Social Security benefits. And think of it this way, someone who wants to collect Social Security, let's just say, at age 66, they decide, okay, I'm ready. It's time for me to retire, I can't do this anymore. I want to collect my Social Security benefits. And they try to fill out the form, it turns out it gets rejected. There's a number off somewhere in the system. Somebody's got a confusion over what the name is or where somebody worked or an employer from decades back failed to fill out the right form. So now there's a problem in the system. So what does a person do? Well, first they might try calling. But if you fire the people who answered the phones, that's not going to work.
(15:53:19)
Okay, so what's the next thing you do? You go to your local Social Security office. Oh, but if they've closed the Social Security office near you, that's not going to work. So what do you do? You go to the Social Security office that you can find two hours away, three hours away, four hours away. Finally get to that Social Security office and when you get there, if they fired most of the people, you may encounter, what? Two people working the desk to help straighten out problems and a line that's 50 people long.
(15:53:51)
By the way, these come from real stories. People are telling what's happening out there. So by the time the day is over, our example here hasn't even made it to the front of the line. So doesn't get the question answered, doesn't get the problem resolved. Has to go back home again, has to find somebody who can maybe take him to the Social Security office that's hours away and start this process over and over and over. If this person, let's just say for example, takes three months to get this problem ultimately resolved by the Social Security Administration, they don't get the money, that money is lost, it just simply is gone. They do not get the money they are legally entitled to and they have no right to go back and collect it. Even pointing out that it was Social Security's error. So failure to correct these errors or to give people an opportunity to correct these errors is effectively the same as having cut their benefits.
(15:54:55)
And you do that for 1% of the people, drive up your error rate, you do that for 5% of the people, you do that for 10% of the folks who are getting Social Security. And man, those cuts really start to add up. They really start to add up for the people whose benefits are cut, they really start to add up for Donald Trump and for Elon Musk. But let's look at another possibility here, and that is just simply delay. Checks don't go out on time. When checks don't go out on time, then the promise that people relied on, that that check would come on the third of the month. That's what they count on for rent, that's what they count on to put groceries on the table, that's what they count on to support themselves. It's gone.
(15:55:44)
So maybe they'll get their check next month. Another billionaire Republican Howard Lutnick said, "Don't worry about it." His mother-in-law would simply count on the fact that they'd straighten the problem out and maybe next month she would get her payment. I suppose if your son-in-law is a billionaire, you can count on the fact that somebody will make sure your rent gets covered and groceries are on the table. But for the 70 million Americans relying on that check coming in every month, not so clear what you're going to do. So what do you do? Do you borrow money to make rent? Do you call on relatives if you've got them? Who do you go to be able to make it to the end of this month, and if the problem persists to the next month and the next month? Where do you go?
(15:56:38)
That is, in my view, as much a benefit cut as Congress having voted to say, we're just going to give a 10% across the board cut to everyone who receives Social Security benefits. There are a lot of ways to cut benefits and breaking your promise to 73 million Americans is a benefit cut. It is not a legal benefit cut, but it is an effective benefit cut. And I admire the Senator from New Jersey for being here today to speak out for those Americans who face these kinds of cuts and have no recourse. I admire him for standing up and saying to the Republicans who won't go do town halls, who won't go out and meet with these people and listen to them, listen to their concerns, listen to their fears, listen to their stories about what happens as thousands and thousands more Social Security employees are fired and correcting problems, straightening out your benefits, gets harder and more out of reach for more and more Americans.
(15:57:52)
That is what we face right now. So the question that I want to pose to the Senator from New Jersey is this, at a time when Donald Trump and Elon Musk are looking for an indirect way to cut Social Security benefits… And let's just pause here if I can to say why. Why go out of your way to cut Social Security benefits? Come on now. 73 million Americans rely on this. This has been the backbone of America's promise to its own people, that you did the work, you put in the money and now you are entitled to the benefit on the other side.
(15:58:37)
Why are they doing this? Because they want to reduce the amount of money that is available for Social Security and instead take that money over so that they can advance tax cuts for billionaires and billionaire corporations. They're just trying to grease the skids here for the billionaires to get even richer and ask the 73 million Americans who rely on Social Security to pay for it out of their own hides. So the question I have for the Senator from New Jersey is when Elon Musk and Donald Trump are determined to try to use a backdoor way to cut Social Security benefits, A, are they acting legally? And B, how do we put a stop to this?
Cory Booker (15:59:35):
Amen. Reverend Warnock was here earlier and was preaching and quoting scripture, but you are preaching a gospel of the truth, my friend, from a civic gospel that speaks to the cares and the concerns of the American Hope and the American Dream and the American Constitution because you and I both know the answer to the question. I have to say for folks who are watching, she's a great Senator from Massachusetts, but she used to be a professor in New Jersey. She was a Rutgers professor. I was listening to her way before I got to the Senate when she was fighting for the CFPB, when she was fighting so people would not be taken advantage. It was establishing the first ever agency whose sole purpose is to stand up to big banks, to big corporate powers and defend people.
(16:00:31)
An institution that got billions and billions of dollars back into the pockets of the American consumer. And what did Donald Trump and DOGE do to an institution that we set up in Congress in a bipartisan way? They did something that is against the Constitution and went after to hack it to pieces so that it's no more. But add insult to injury, down here we just had a vote on overdraft fees. That was stunning to me because there was just no defense of it. It was a clear thing. Some of the big banks said, "You know what? We don't need those usury fees. It's actually wrong." Some of the big banks just stood up and they did the right thing, but a handful of others were still taking advantage of people and this Senate got to vote, which side are you on? And we failed.
(16:01:22)
So your question is right. You detail what is right, how people are getting hurt already, how the benefits of Social Security are already being affected, how rural Social Security offices are being closed already. And the question of why? Under the guise of efficiency, but you're hurting our elders who deserve dignity in their retirement. It's stunning to me, Senator Warren, stunning to me that we're actually even having this discussion and having this debate when there's been not one congressional hearing about what Elon Musk is doing. The letters I read earlier about Social Security were painful because people wanted to know what was being done with their most confidential and private information.
(16:02:16)
I want to continue because we were working through national security. And given the time, I want to rush to just read some stories of voices. I wanted to come to the floor and read people's voices, elevate voices. And so here's a voice, a statement from Julia Hurley from Bergen County, New Jersey. Thank you, Julia. I see you. "My family's roots are deep in New Jersey all the way back to my great-grandparents, with my mom's side from Bogota, Fair Lawn, and Upper Saddle River. And my dad's side from Spring Lake and Wall Township. I have north and south roots. My grandfather started a manufacturing company that my cousin still runs and my other grandfather ran a trucking company based in New Jersey."
(16:03:14)
"I was born and raised in Park Ridge and learned from a very young age about the importance of serving and community. Both of my grandfathers served in World War II." What a family. "My family was always involved in charity and/or churches. And ever since I can remember, I wanted to help people, doing my first fundraiser for homeless people in Bergen County when I was maybe eight or nine. The passion for service took an international bend after I went abroad for the first time during an exchange trip to Germany with Park Ridge Junior Senior High School in 2001 and fell in love with travel. Shortly after that, September 11th happened. Seven people from my little town were killed in the Towers and we could see the smoke from ground zero from a hill in the next town over."
(16:04:10)
For those of you who don't know, Park Ridge is very close to where I grew up and my childhood best friend died in the Towers. "This was when I learned how my little suburban bubble could be impacted by things worlds away. I became obsessed with trying to help and wanting to drive a career that would be in service to my country and people elsewhere, so those people would be more inclined to work with us than against us. I went on to study diplomacy and international relations at Seton Hall University, graduating magna cum laude and determined to work for the State Department at some point."
(16:04:53)
"My 15-year winding career path after that took me into the advocacy space and onto humanitarian and peace-building work in Gaza with the UN as well as in Tunisia and Egypt. In 2022, after a year as a policy advisor with the International Committee of the Red Cross, I was recruited to join USAID. And I couldn't have been more excited. This was a dream job. An opportunity to serve my country and impact policy in a real way, sharing what I had learned from working abroad and at home to shape US foreign policy and efforts to advance development and humanitarian assistance on the ground."
(16:05:39)
"I was eventually promoted to a senior policy advisor role in USAID's Office of Policy where I was developing policy that was shaping the way USAID worked, trying to break down silos across the agency to be more effective and efficient in our response to some of the toughest crises in the world. I got the opportunity to not only prepare talking points for high-level events and for our leadership, but even brief the administrator a couple of times. That all came crashing down around January 28th as my colleagues began being terminated and furloughed. I went into the Trump administration like any other bureaucrat, ready to engage and help because I want every administration to succeed and lean on us as experts to help advance American policy."
(16:06:35)
"I worked with our team and I briefed our political appointee director who started on inauguration day and hoped to see what I could do to continue building on the reform work I had been doing for a year at that point. Instead, everything quickly unraveled. Elon Musk called USAID, 'A criminal organization that should die,' he said. And the President of the United States deemed us radical left lunatics. I was terrified, afraid of what people might do when two of the most powerful men in the world were saying things like that. Our jobs were then in question and the USAID offices were quickly closed with our belongings still in them. We were left not knowing what our fate would be for weeks. As DOGE dismantled USAID, I watched in horror as the programs shut down, the people we served suffered and friends, and colleagues from the agency and our partner organizations lost their livelihoods and their mission-driven careers. On March 14th, I was finally terminated."
(16:07:54)
"I've been heartbroken since, shifting between deep depressions and rage. Because of the sledgehammer approach that DOGE took, the entire foreign assistant architecture was broken. Organizations I would have gone on to work for are going bankrupt, cutting staff and definitely not hiring. I spent 15 years building up this career that I loved beyond words. Every time I would leave my late father while he was dying in a hospital in 2012, he would tell me to, 'Go save the world.' This wasn't just a career, it was a calling to serve. I have no idea what I will do next. In some ways, I feel lucky because I got married last May," God bless you, "and I am on my husband's health insurance." Thank God. "But he also works for the government and he could be riffed with a moment's notice. I also have a supportive family who will help me if it really gets bad. But the uncertainty has probably been one of the most painful parts of all of this. Not knowing what will come next and just fearing it will be worse than the day before. All we wanted to do was serve."
(16:09:19)
I want to say thank you to Julia Hurley from Bergen County, my home county in New Jersey. Thank you for your voice. Thank you for laying your pain plain and your anger, making it real in my heart as I know it's in yours. I stand for you today. Personal statement from Katherine Baker from Neptune, New Jersey. "I have been furloughed from my job at my USAID implementing partner since February 14th 2025. I have 13 years experience supporting USAID contractors in business development and recruitment efforts, mostly in conflict and post-conflict settings. The following is how I got here today. I was born in Neptune and raised there until I went to college. My father is a lifelong Neptune resident, whose Jersey roots date all the way back to the early 1700s when my Scottish ancestors came here in search of religious freedom and economic opportunity to help build much of what is Gloucester and Mercer Counties."
(16:10:28)
"My mother is an immigrant, born in Coro, Venezuela to refugees escaping fascism bombs and economic ruin in Spain and Sicily. Every summer, my mom and I traveled to Venezuela to see her mother, my aunts and uncles and countless cousins. Coro, the capital of Venezuela's state responsible for most of oil refining, sits on the Caribbean coast and is about 15 minutes plane ride from Aruba, surrounded by sand dunes. Our family friends lived in homes with dirt floors, corrugated aluminum roofs, and a hose out back you would use to shower while fending off the chickens that roamed freely."
(16:11:08)
"Coro is a city in constant drought. We would get water every other day and you'd use a trash bin filled with water and a ladle to shower on your non-water days. Coro, as you can imagine, couldn't be more different from Neptune, New Jersey. I went to St. James Elementary and Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank from kindergarten through 12th grade. If 13 years of Catholic school teaches you anything, it's the importance of taking care of one another, especially those that are suffering from poverty, famine, and disease."
(16:11:50)
"I remember being given small cartons when we were tasked with filling with spare change so that we could ship them off to some faraway place where we were told stories of children just like us who were facing unimaginable hardships. I was so moved by the notion that a child, not so different from myself, didn't have enough to eat or had lost their parents in a conflict I couldn't begin to understand. My senior year at RBC, I took a class called Globalization and Social Justice. The class was taught by a long time family friend, Mary Logan, herself a former nun. Ms. Logan taught us about the Rwandan genocide and had us watch Hotel Rwanda as a class. She made sure we knew the reasons why this happened, understood how dehumanization and hatred can lead to mass torture and executions. And critiqued the international response to the genocide that led to nearly 1 million deaths in 100 days."
(16:12:55)
"That year, Ms. Logan took us to Kean University to see Nick Kristof speak about Darfur and made sure we knew the signs of genocide when we saw it. 'How can we let this happen again?' We asked her. I wore my Save Darfur green rubber bracelet and t-shirt everywhere I went. What could I, a kid living at the Jersey Shore, do to help? During this period of enlightenment led by Ms. Logan, the Maryknoll Missionaries funded school in Kibera, Kenya that we were supporting was threatened by electoral violence. In December of 2007, we received letters from nuns there who were Ms. Logan's personal friends about how the fires nearly reached the school and the children who were already living in Africa's largest slum stood poised to lose the little they had, including their lives."
(16:13:57)
"Upon returning from Christmas break, Maryknoll Affiliates Club sprang into action. We raised awareness and funds and proudly sent money from bake sales and door knocking to our friends in Kenya. We received media attention from WCBS in New York and our story got picked up by other channels and newspapers. I was amazed that my efforts in Monmouth County were having such meaningful and real impact on a crisis happening thousands of miles away. I was passionate about this work. I was seemingly good at it or as good as an 18-year- old could be. Could I actually turn this into a career? Could I help even more people across the world?"
(16:14:40)
"I'd like to think I did that. I'd like to think I did that. And I'm crying as I write this because I wonder if I ever will do it again. The past 10 years, I've focused on conflict prevention, stabilization, preventing, countering violent extremism and citizen security in conflict or post-conflict areas. Not only did I conduct desk research and analyze problem sets from behind a desk, but I got to travel to those countries and meet with local governments, civil society organizations and advocacy groups to hear from them about the issues and discuss solutions."
(16:15:29)
"I spoke with survivors of the devastating 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka and Tamils whose fathers and brothers disappeared during the Civil War and are likely burned in unmarked graves somewhere on the island. I worked closely with a woman my age whose family fled Kosovo to the United States during the war when we were about nine years old and returned as soon as she could to her home country to promote continued peace between Albanians and Serbs. My recent trips to Kosovo were so illuminating, not because of the pain or struggle of these people, but because of the respect and admiration and gratitude they had towards the United States of America. Anyone who has been to Pristina knows of the Bill Clinton and Bob Dole statues." I didn't know about that. "As well as the Hillary Boutique."
(16:16:26)
"A few years ago when I was negotiating an employment offer with a Ghanaian candidate for a USAID funded Preventing Violent Extremism program, I couldn't meet his salary expectations. He said to me, 'That's okay. I will take whatever you can give me. If the United States will make sacrifices for the people of Ghana in support of this program, I'm willing to make a sacrifice too with a pay cut.' He proudly accepted the offer. The recognition of these funds could be spent elsewhere was not lost on him. Generosity and kindness are always more greatly appreciated by those who have less. All but one of my company's USAID contracts, which totaled nearly $400 million, were terminated almost overnight by DOGE. Over 80% of our Virginian based office was laid off or furloughed. I bought my first condo last year, a milestone we all strive for, but too few people my age are able to achieve."
(16:17:36)
"I applied to 60 jobs in one month, all of which I'm qualified for. I have received two interview requests. This after being a sought-after professional in my industry with a strong network cultivated through years of hard work. This has ruined me. My mortgage payment isn't what makes me cry, though. It's our local staff and partners that come to mind every night as I say my prayers. My colleague, a Sudanese refugee living in Kampala, working on a terminated USAID peace-building program from Sudan, texts me every week to ask how I'm doing. He called me to make me smile because he knew I was crying. He now calls me Sad Eyes and has made it his mission to never see tears fall from these lashes again. I obviously lie to him and say, 'Mission accomplished," but it will never be true. Not
Cory Booker (16:18:35):
… only is the United States not stronger, not safer, not more prosperous, but the beacon of our democracy grows dim across the globe. Without leadership, other countries hostile to the United States will step in and innocent people will continue dying. When I close my eyes, the specter of very real people from my travels and projects appear, and I hear the echoes of suffering they shared with me. Suffering they were sure to note was alleviated, however temporally by the United States of America, through USAID. And wherever they could, they would thank me. Whatever they could, they would thank me and America, they would thank me and America for it. Thank you, Catherine Baker from Neptune, New Jersey. And Catherine, I see you. I see you. Catherine, I hear you. I stand for you, but I want to share something with you. One of the most extraordinary trips I've had as a United States senator was to Chad, to go up to the border of Chad and Sudan, and see the horrors.
(16:19:49)
I've been to refugee camps all around the globe, but see the horrors of what was happening again in Sudan, you wore that save Darfur T-shirt in your earlier days, but the ethnic cleansing is going on right now. I've never seen so many malnourished babies, barely able to hold up their heads. People fleeing tyranny and they fled across the border to meet Americans, because we were there. With less than 1% of the American budget, we were there. Standing for our values, our highest ideals, our faith traditions, the understanding that when we are out there making the world safer, responding to crises, not only were people seeing the help they need, but they saw the light and the beacon of this democracy.
(16:20:41)
And it pains me that Chris Coons comes down here and shares the headlines from today's newspaper that in Myanmar in this horrific earthquake, the agency that used to respond to that tragedy, that human tragedy doesn't have the resources. America's not there. It's a void. And then, Chris Coons says in the article, I'm surely to read today or tomorrow, whenever I can't stand anymore. He says, "Who fills that vacuum? Who showed up? But the PRC. China showed up." Less than 1% of our budget, less than 1% of our budget. And people like the folks I read, whose whole life, all they wanted to do was to be the light of the American torch of freedom and hope to the world. And they had the rug pulled out from under them. But here's what's worse, because we've had Chris Murphy, we've had meetings with some of the people behind the scenes that are savagely cutting and the stories are horrible. People in dangerous places that we sent there, having their emails cut, having their phones turned off, pregnant women who don't know how they're going to get out of those areas. And James Mattis, as we discussed, said, "If you cut these kind of programs, buy me more bullets, because there'll be more instability. There'll be more political democracies being overthrown. There'll be more terrorism, there'll be more violence."
(16:22:23)
And we are old enough as a nation in 250 years to know that if we don't meet these terrorists abroad, they will visit us at home. As Chuck Schumer said, "I was there watching the towers come down."
(16:22:41)
And in the Sahel, in the Sahel before, I do this in Africa, that's the threat in Togo and Ghana, in Benin, the northern parts of their country, they're fighting terrorism.
Chris Murphy (16:22:54):
Gentleman, yield for a question?
Cory Booker (16:22:55):
Oh God, yes, I will. I yield for a question while retaining the floor. Chris Murphy.
Chris Murphy (16:22:59):
We have a few more colleagues who are going to join us before the top of the hour, but I just wanted you to round this out and ask you the question this way. Often when we talk about the withdrawal of USAID from the world, the withdrawal of the United States from international bodies like the WHO, the beneficiary is China. But I think you were hinting as you talked about the African continent, that the threat is much broader than that, because USAID is not just doing counter China programming, it's also doing counter extremism programming. In Lebanon, for instance, it's doing the primary work to push back against Hezbollah's political influence there. It's doing work to counter Russian influence around its periphery. And so, isn't it the case, Senator Booker, that as USAID has pulled off the playing field for reasons we still don't understand, that it is all of our adversaries, state adversaries and non-state adversaries, who are tragically celebrating at this opening that we have given them to gain additional influence?
Cory Booker (16:24:12):
Senator Murphy, that is correct. You've been one of the most articulate voices for this decision. I shouldn't even call it decision. This reckless trashing of USAID, this vilification of the proud men and women that stand in Ebola outbreak, that stand against terrorism, that stand against hardships and ethnic cleansing, that stand against malnutrition. You're so good at pointing out that those are American interests and that not to do that makes this a more dangerous and unsafe world. A world where countries like ours want to lob missiles into Yemen post-facto of crises. So I hear you, Chris Murphy, and I answer your question with a simple understanding that what you're saying is right. And I'm going to tell you that I've got so many other to read, but we are way behind the schedule of where we wanted to be at this point. We're way behind at about 16 hours and 24 minutes.
(16:25:31)
And so, to obey my staff, as senators are told to do, I want to move quickly to just the housing issues. I'm sorry, unless of course. So I want to move quickly to housing and start really with the theme of affordable housing. Again, we keep returning to the economy and how the Trump administration is making things worse in every area, especially for people struggling. And so, let me be clear that for decades under Democrat and Republican presidents, it's become increasingly difficult for working-class Americans to afford a home. In recent years, this nationwide housing afford affordability crisis for so many Americans has nearly reached a breaking point. The crisis now impacts nearly all Americans shared across all demographics, regardless of partisan identification, race, age, gender, education, or whether you own or rent your home, we in America are in a housing crisis. According to the Center for American Progress, 80% of Americans living in rural communities believe housing affordability is getting worse.
(16:26:48)
While 72% of residents in urban areas feel the same way. In October 2024, the Center for American Progress found no matter your zip code, the goal of homeownership in America's drifting further out of reach all across the country. Over the past two decades, housing costs have dramatically outpaced income growth in the United States, increasing the rent burden, heightening barriers for homeownership. The housing price index, a gauge of house selling prices for single-family homes have changed over time was more than 50% higher in July 2024 than it was in July 2019.
(16:27:27)
According to the Brookings Institution, the US housing market was short 4.9 million housing units in 2023 relative to the mid-2000s. Decades of policy at the federal, state, and local level have all contributed to this reality. Let's not blame some rank partisanship. It's been decades in the making. There are far too homes in the United States and there are far too homes being built in the United States. The cost of housing keeps rising, rents continue to skyrocket. Median home prices are on the rise, which makes it harder and harder for families to make ends meet. The vast majority of young Americans are hard-pressed to save for the chance of one day having enough for a down payment to buy a home. Almost half of all renters in America struggle to pay their rent. Almost half of all renters are struggling to pay the rent, devoting more than one third of their income to housing costs.
(16:28:29)
Since the pandemic, rents have jumped more than 12% year over year, hidden rental fees and other expenses on already cost burdened tenants continue to amount, as landlords assume more and more power and leverage leaving tenants and prospective home buyers with nowhere to turn. Last year, NPR methodically walked through the supply shortage that's impacting our country. But before I read this article, I see that my colleague, my friend, extraordinary leader from Maryland is here and I think he has a question for me first.
Chris Van Hollen (16:29:04):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (16:29:06):
I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Chris Van Hollen (16:29:11):
Well, I want to thank my friend and I want to start by thanking the senator from New Jersey, the senior Senator of New Jersey for shining a spotlight on what is happening in our country at this moment and specifically what is going to be happening here in the United States Senate later this week or next. And I have a question for the senator, but I want to take some of the threads of what you've been saying as I put this to you because you are shining a light on the great betrayal, and that is candidate Trump went all over the country saying that he was going to be a president for the forgotten Americans, that he was going to be a president that looked out for working people. And he said he was going to focus on bringing costs down and prices down in the United States of America. And yet ever since he was sworn in, he has done just the opposite.
(16:30:18)
Prices are going up, including as the senator was talking about, housing prices. Affordable housing is a crisis in this country, and yet we see Elon Musk and his DOGE cronies cutting deeply into affordable housing programs over at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We see also, and tomorrow he calls it Liberation Day. It's actually going to be Sales Tax Increase Day. There was testimony that we've got in the Banking and Housing Committee that when you increase these tariffs on Canada as he's proposed to do, not in a targeted way, but in across-the-board way, according to the National Association of Home Builders, that will increase housing prices for Americans up to 10% more, at a time we're already facing an affordable housing crisis. And of course, the folks who benefit the most are those billionaires who are part of his cabinet and others in the hedge fund industry, who are going out and buying up a lot of houses, not because they need the house for their family, but because they want to flip it at a big profit, making it even less affordable to the American people.
(16:31:40)
So the housing crisis is one part of what is getting even worse, because of the actions of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. And it's part of this greater theme of the great betrayal. And later this week, Republicans here in the Senate say they're planning to bring the floor, what we call a budget resolution, which is a framework that will be providing for very big tax cuts for the ultra-rich Americans, tax cuts for big corporations, some of which are offshoring all of their profits. Senator Wyden and I were on the floor just last week talking about how Pfizer has half of its sales revenues here in the United States, but books none of its profits here. And therefore by this scheme called round-tripping, where you sort of push your money around the world, they lower their taxes, which means the American people get short-changed. So all of this is part of a scheme to provide tax cuts for the very wealthy at everybody else's expense.
(16:32:53)
And the senator from New Jersey has been shining the light on what it means when we say this will come at the expense of other Americans, that this tax cut for the very rich and big corporations will come at the expense of the rest of America. So I want to amplify that as I do a wind-up to the Senator. Number one, it's Elon Musk and the DOGE operation. Let me be very clear that this is part of the most corrupt bargain we've seen in American history. Elon Musk spent $280 million to help elect Donald Trump president, and Donald Trump has turned the keys to the federal government over to Elon Musk. Not for efficiency, but to rig the government in favor of people like Elon Musk. That's why they want to get rid of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This is a bureau that has returned billions of dollars to Americans who were cheated by scam artists and they are coming in to dismantle the CFPB, because they want to be on the side of the scam artists and deny American consumers the benefit of getting their dollars back when they've been cheated.
(16:34:14)
So this has nothing to do with government efficiency. It has to do both with rigging the government for people like Elon Musk and trying to lay the groundwork, claiming lots of cuts that they will then use to pay for, they say, tax cuts for the very rich. So who's being cut by Elon Musk? I don't know, Senator, just if you saw the other day in the sort of spin room at the White House, did you catch that, where Elon Musk and some of his folks were explaining the work they did? They said, "We're really doing this with a scalpel."
(16:34:52)
Well, the reason that's especially interesting is it was just weeks earlier that Elon Musk brandished a chainsaw at CPAC, which is actually they met over here in my state of Maryland. That's what they're doing. They're taking a chainsaw and they're taking a chainsaw to departments that help our veterans. These are people who care for our veterans and our veterans are being especially hard hit, including when they did these firings, arbitrary firings of probationary employees and veterans were saying, "Why are we being hit so hard?"
(16:35:30)
And the White House spokesperson said, and I'm quoting, "Perhaps they're not fit to have a job at the moment."
(16:35:40)
That was the response from one of the White House spokespersons, as if individuals who'd served our country in the military were not fit to serve our government as civilians. That's the kind of attitude we've got. We just learned today that the rifts, the reductions in force letters were received by folks in the Department of Health and Human Services. So these are people who help with the public health of all Americans and they do important work at the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, right? They make sure that the foods that we eat and the medicines we take are safe and that they do what they say they're going to do in the case of medicines. They do work at NIH, the National Institutes of Health to develop cures and treatments for diseases that hit every American family. And they're cutting there. They're cutting in these places not for government efficiency, but to create what they believe is the space for tax cuts for the very rich. We talked about what they're doing over the Department of Health, Department of Housing, Urban Development. At the Social Security Administration, which by the way has its headquarters in my state of Maryland, we have thousands of workers who are there to deliver hard-earned benefits to the American people.
(16:37:15)
And the reality is that the Social Security Administration operates incredibly efficiently. The former commissioner for Social Security, Martin O'Malley, reminds us that Allstate, insurance company, operates at an 11% overhead. Liberty Mutual operates at a 23% overhead, the Social Security Administration 0.5% overhead. The Social Security Administration workforce is now at a very low level in terms of personnel compared to what it was years ago. And yet they're serving a record number of Americans, 73 million Americans, and they've never missed a payment. Never missed a payment. So this talk about going after social Security and they're going to somehow make it more efficient. And of course, Elon Musk called it a Ponzi scheme, when the Senator and I know it's not a Ponzi scheme, it's a promise to the American people. So first they discontinued telephone service, as if all the seniors could somehow just connect by WiFi or whatever it may be.
(16:38:40)
A lot of people, of course, rely on telephones. So they cut that. They said, "Well, if you have trouble, go to one of the local regional social security offices."
(16:38:48)
Well, they're cutting regional social security offices, lots of them. And then, when you go there and you don't find many people there, well, whoops, we just cut 7,000 people from Social Security. So a benefit isn't meaningless if you can't actually access the benefit. And what they're doing is making it harder for Americans to get those benefits. So when we hear about the Musk DOGE operation, make no mistake. Not about efficiency. It's about trying to put together some kind of savings that they then want to use to at least partially pay for tax cuts for the very rich. Another way they're doing that, we've heard a lot about that, Senator has spoken about it, is cutting Medicaid and food nutrition programs.
(16:39:40)
In fact, I think we recall a number of weeks ago, we had a couple of amendments here on the floor of the Senate saying, "Okay, if you're going to do these tax cuts, at least don't cut Medicaid or Medicare, or food and nutrition programs."
(16:39:58)
Every Republican senator voted against those amendments. In other words, not to protect those programs, meaning they're fair game for big cuts to pay for tax cuts for the very wealthy. So that's another area where they're very focused, which is cutting important programs that benefit millions and millions of Americans. There's another way they're doing it. And Senator from New Jersey, and again, thank you for shining a light on all this, has talked about it, which is these across-the-board tariffs.
(16:40:34)
So I think all of us know that strategically targeted tariffs, they can be useful, certain points in time, to protect strategic American industries. I'm for those. But across-the-board tariffs, and across-the-board tariffs on a friend and ally like Canada or Mexico? All that is a tax increase on the American people. Let's be clear. So these are the areas where Donald Trump having said that he was going to be there for working people, is doing the opposite, right? These across-the-board tariff cuts are going to increase costs and prices for the American people. Cutting Medicaid and food nutrition programs is going to hurt the very people that Donald Trump on the campaign trail said he was fighting for. And the DOGE Musk operation is taking a chainsaw to important services and important consumer protections that benefit all Americans in order to claim that they're providing some savings for tax cuts for the rich.
(16:41:58)
So it wasn't that long ago that just down the hall here, Donald Trump was sworn in as president and I remember what he said. He said, "This is going to be a golden age for America."
(16:42:16)
And who was sitting right behind him? Elon Musk, richest person in the world, and other billionaires in the Trump cabinet, including one who just said not that long ago that Americans on Social Security wouldn't miss one of their social security checks. Only the fraudsters would notice that. Say that to the 73 million people who get social security. But that's the attitude of the billionaires in this Trump cabinet, the people he's really looking out for. And so, when he says a golden age for America, that's who he means. He means Elon Musk and the billionaires, Elon Musk who's rigging the government for the billionaires, and all the others in the cabinet who don't think Americans would miss a social security payment that they earned.
(16:43:09)
So my question to you, and I want to again thank the senator from New Jersey. I know it's been a long day's journey into the night, but it's important that we address these issues in the courts and the courts are upholding the rule of law, that we address these issues and fight them in Congress, and that we do so in communities across the country and people need to understand what's happening. So the core issue here, is it not, my friend, that Donald Trump really is betraying the people he said he was going to fight for. And at the end of the day, and we're going to see that later this week in the Senate, the goal is to provide these big tax breaks to wealthy people at the expense of everybody else in America. That is the big betrayal. So if you could just zero in once again on the central narrative that we're seeing play out during the Trump administration.
Cory Booker (16:44:11):
Well, you are putting it right. Donald Trump made commitments to America. We have quotes of him rally after rally. I'm going to bring your, he used to, "Oh, grocery, that's a really great word," I think he said. "I'm going to bring down grocery prices."
(16:44:25)
Well, grocery prices are up dramatically. The American dream, and many of us see that as owning a home. Well, you said it, home prices are already up, but with these tariffs, they could go upwards of 10% more. You can be sure that Canadian lumber coming down here is going to be expensive. You can see Donald Trump making it more difficult to access healthcare. And this massive Reconciliation is going to be a direct attack on working class healthcare, on healthcare of expected mothers, on healthcare of Americans with disabilities, on healthcare of the majority of seniors in nursing homes.
(16:45:03)
I'm got to go, my next chapter is all going to be about how Trump is rolling back common-sense protections for clean air and water. And Elizabeth Warren said it very powerfully. He's reducing services, which is a service cut to people with social security. In so many ways, Americans should see these crises looming, these attacks. But ask yourself one economic question. With the stock market who just had its worst quarter in years and people's retirement savings, if they have it in 401Ks is going down, ask yourself this question. I ask America to please ask yourself this financial question, am I better off than I was 71 days ago? Am I better off or worse off? And this is before he's even gotten going, because we see what's about to happen with this whole sham reconciliation process. They're already trying to change the rules to obscure what they're doing. This is what they're doing.
(16:46:01)
Three things you should take home. Are we going to let them again, like they did with the ACA, with the Affordable Care Act, come after healthcare for 70 plus millions Americans by doing their proposed $880 billion cuts? Or are we going to allow them to blow a hole so big in the trillions of dollars, they're going to push it out for over 10 years? Are they going to create such a deficit in our country that our children's children, they're stealing from our children's children and putting on a deficit that they're going to have to pay for? And number three, are they going to let them do all of that to renew tax cuts that the Congressional budget office at every independent agency says very clearly would give trillions of dollars of tax cuts that go disproportionately to the wealthiest in our nation. That's the addition.
(16:46:52)
That's what we know. And it doesn't account for the things that he's doing to our allies. It doesn't account for how he's turning his back on NATO. It doesn't account for how he's praising Putin and calling Zelensky a dictator. It doesn't account for how he's giving advantage to China around the world from the region in Southeast Asia all the way to Africa. It doesn't account for how he's already made it harder to enroll for the Affordable Care Act. It doesn't account for all the other things he's doing that we wake up and hear every day. Not to mention trying to threaten Greenland, trying to threaten Panama, trying to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. All these things he didn't tell us he was going to do, didn't promise. He promised to lower your grocery prices. They're higher.
(16:47:39)
He promised I'll be a better steward of the economy. It's worse than when inherited. Over and over, he's breaking promises and doing outrageous things, like disappearing people off of American streets, violating fundamental principles of this document, invoking the Alien Enemies Act from the 1700s that was last used to put Japanese Americans in internment camps. Do we see what's happening? How much is enough? That we have to stand and do something different, not just in this body. In America. Because you know this, how we stopped him in his last term was the American people rose up, spoke up, stood up, rose up, and the most extraordinary nonviolent demonstrations and demands. So thank you.
Chris Van Hollen (16:48:33):
Will the Senator yield for another question?
Cory Booker (16:48:37):
Yes, I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Chris Van Hollen (16:48:41):
And I see that my friend and colleague, Senator Alsobrooks from the great state of Maryland is on the floor. So I'm going to be very brief with this question. And I want to thank you for reminding us of course, of the other great betrayal that's been going on over the last 70 plus days. There's the betrayal against the American people and working people here at home, but then there're the betrayal of our allies, like the Ukrainians who Donald Trump is throwing under the bus as we speak, and other close partners and allies around the world. And I have to depart here for a moment, because we have a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and I'm privileged to serve on that committee with the gentleman from New Jersey and one of the people before the committee is their nominee to be our ambassador to Turkey.
(16:49:32)
Now of course, Erdogan just locked up his major opponent, the popular mayor of Istanbul. We've not heard a peep from the Trump administration about the question of how this undermines democracy. But I want to close on the point that you just raised. It's kind of hard for Donald Trump to complain about Erdogan disappearing people, when right here in the United States of America, you had a Turkish student at Tufts disappeared by people who showed up without any identification, some with hoods on, and sent her apparently to Louisiana, because she spoke out on an important issue of national concern. And the First Amendment is pretty clear. You can engage in controversial speech that someone may like or dislike, but you're protected. And that includes everybody here in America, because that's an important value to us. Apparently it's not an important value to Donald Trump, who like Erdogan, essentially wants to whisk away anybody who disagrees with them. I thank again the senator from New Jersey and just ask him to elaborate on that. But I also see my friend and colleague, the senator from Maryland.
Cory Booker (16:50:56):
Answer to your question, which is the irony, the irony that this president is remaining quiet about folks that are violating international law in many ways. So I think it's absurd, and you're right, it's another betrayal.
Angela Alsobrooks (16:51:16):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (16:51:19):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Angela Alsobrooks (16:51:23):
First, I'd like to commend my colleague. I want to thank you, first of all, for your spiritual obedience. Want to thank you so much as well for your commitment and your dedication, and want to thank you as well for your courageous leadership. I want to thank you also, Senator Booker, for your recognition of the times that we are living in. These are times that we will recount, our children will recount. And I think all of those of good conscience who watch during this time and say nothing will also be held to account. As the senator has eloquently remarked, these are not normal times. We're watching an administration that is drunk with vengeance, hatred, and surrounded by incompetent people who are taking callous actions, who are inhumane, and because of their incompetence are making costly mistakes that will harm the American people and denigrate the hardworking people of this country by proposing tax cuts.
(16:52:26)
And these tax cuts are not designed to help the average American person. They are designed to help billionaires, and they're doing so by firing thousands of middle-class workers and more. What we are seeing before our eyes is not only unconscionable, we know as well that it is deeply immoral, that it is inhumane, it is wicked. We are seeing with glee the actions of people who are so happy to tear down. But I am watching and waiting to see what it is they intend to build in this country. And in your remarks over these hours, you have made that plain for the American people to see. You've uplifted the stories of everyday people. And what we recognize is we hear about the firings and we hear about the devastation and chaos, is we're not talking about numbers, we're talking about humans, about people. These are our friends, these are our family members, these are our neighbors, these are our church friends, these are our colleagues who this administration has harmed. And so, my question today centers around the topic of housing.
Angela Alsobrooks (16:53:35):
We have a housing crisis in this country, that's no secret. And in fact, we recognize that through the actions of this administration, what is harmful will be exacerbated. Maryland is nearly 100,000, thousand housing units short, and, as you know, it is both about an affordability and a supply problem. We need to make home ownership, which is part of the American dream, and how the average American builds wealth in this country, accessible to more Americans.
(16:54:04)
I think about my parents, Mr. Senator, who married at 21 and 22 years old. And at the time that they married, although my father was a car salesman and selling newspapers, and my mother was a receptionist, five years into their marriage they could afford to buy a home. This is no longer the expectation of the average American family. My own 19-year-old daughter doesn't have the realistic hope that she can follow even her grandparents.
(16:54:32)
This problem affects red states and it affects blue states, which is the theme that you have hit on in all of these hours of speaking. When this president acts against the interest of the middle class, we recognize that he is not just harming Democrats, as he intends, but unfortunately his actions harm everyday Americans.
(16:54:54)
It affects those who voted for him, it affects those who didn't vote for him, and it affects those who did not vote at all. He's harming Republicans too. He's harming Americans. And so this administration is slashing funding and personnel at the very agencies that are tasked with addressing this crisis. He is illegally firing HUD employees. And this administration has stalled millions of dollars in previously allocated funding intended to help those who need affordable housing. And again, his actions are so indiscriminate, so immoral, so callous, so heartless, that he is impacting the very people who supported him, as well as those who didn't.
(16:55:39)
And this administration has effectively ended enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, one of the most important American civil rights laws. This administration is considering privatizing the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which guarantees over half of the US mortgage market. And to make matters worse, this administration is proposing sweeping tariffs on our allies, driving up the cost of home construction. And let's be clear, absolutely none of this will help to build homes. None of this will make home ownership more accessible to Marylanders or Americans. And in fact, we understand that it is not the intention of this administration to do so, it's for the billionaires to be able to afford their tax cuts.
(16:56:25)
And so I've heard from people all across my state, blue areas, red areas, purple areas, every area, who are concerned about this. And so I have a question for you. And I want to thank you as I ask the question for sacrificing your own body today to bring attention to this. What are you seeing in the state of New Jersey about how this administration's unconscionable actions are making housing less affordable and home ownership less accessible?
Cory Booker (16:56:59):
The senator, I want to thank her for the question. I want to thank her for being my colleague. But more important than even being my friend, she is a spiritual sister of mine. And was very kind to me when I was telling her that I was going to do this. And gave me so much encouragement and prayer. And I just love you and I'm grateful.
(16:57:21)
And you read the litany of things. I had a whole section, whole binder that my staff told me to skip and go to this one, about all the things. Going in deep, in depth to all the things the Trump administration is doing to make housing more unaffordable, more inaccessible, more expensive, more discrimination in housing, which we know is still a problem, more challenges, more pain heaped upon rural areas, and more complications and problems for building affordable housing in all areas.
(16:57:51)
It is so frustrating to me that this is a problem. We cannot lay the crisis of housing at one administration in the United States, we need to have bold visions and ideas to address this. I am so excited about this next generation of Americans that are rising up with bold visions. And I want to give a shout-out to Ezra Klein, his book is a must-read, Abundance. This is a vision of doing great things again, of building housing, of redeeming the American dream.
(16:58:17)
But to have a president that is dead set on for the next four years to do the kind of things that you made a litany of, and now tomorrow is going to bring tariffs that are going to raise the price even more of housing is outrageous. Where are his promises to make this country more affordable and more accessible?
(16:58:38)
And you heard the data that I read, about we have so many millions of Americans, close to the majority of renters now spend more than a third of their income on rent. Which is the very definition our government has of housing insecurity. So it should anger people in this country. Even if you own your home, have paid off your mortgage, you should be angry about what they're doing to the American dream. And that there's no bold ideas coming from this administration to help. In fact, they're hurting. They're hurting.
(16:59:10)
So thank you very much to my colleague. Thank you for giving me strength, as you did in prayer. And I just thank you for the question that should anger people, that should inspire people, that should activate people, that should engage people, that should demand from us that we take our country away from those who want to do so much harm. I want to start by reading until someone… I know, the prayer, I'm going to keep going. I want to talk about environmental protections and how this country is becoming less safe for people with emphysema or with asthma, because Donald Trump is rolling back common sense environmental protections, threatening our children's future and hurting our nation's economy.
(17:00:04)
Energy costs in America are continuing to rise, making it harder and harder for working families to pay their bills. And at a time that we should be investing in clean energy, this administration is canceling projects that would create more jobs for Americans and lower energy prices. He claims he supports an all of the above strategy, but that's clearly not what we're seeing.
(17:00:25)
And there's too much silence about it. All Americans, regardless of where you're born, we deserve safe drinking water, clean air, and an equal opportunity for a healthy and fulfilling life.
(17:00:38)
President Trump promised America the cleanest air and the cleanest water, but on entering office he immediately instructed the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, to cut a long list of common sense environmental protections. This administration is rolling back efforts to reduce emissions from power plants. He's letting polluters pollute our air more, that affects the health of Americans. It drives up, aggravating the rates of asthma and emphysema. Weakening rules that keep our rivers and our water systems clean as well.
Speaker 2 (17:01:16):
Pursuant to the order of February 29th 1960, the hour of 12 noon having arrived, the Senate having been in continuous session since yesterday, the Senate will suspend for a prayer by the Senate Chaplain.
Senator Alex Padilla (17:01:38):
Let us pray. Lord of hosts, you have done great things for us, filling our hearts with determination to do your will. You protect us from unseen dangers, supply us with wisdom and direct our steps. Today we are grateful for the efforts of the floor staff, the capitol police, the stenographers, the pages, and all those who have worked through the night. We pray you give them the strength they need for this day.
(17:02:30)
Today, give our senators the assurance of your presence. Inspire them with a calm faith, a steady peace, and a firm resolve to do your will. Let no weapon formed against them prosper.
(17:02:53)
We pray in your omnipotent name. Amen.
Cory Booker (17:03:03):
I'm going to continue.
Speaker 2 (17:03:06):
The senator from New Jersey is recognized.
Cory Booker (17:03:08):
Thank you. I'm going to continue until one of my colleagues asks me a question.
Speaker 3 (17:03:15):
Senator, yield for a question?
Cory Booker (17:03:20):
One of my heroes in the Senate. A living legend. My partner on some bills that I'm so passionate about, about expanding IVF. Someone that is just freaking awesome. I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 3 (17:03:35):
Thank you, Senator Booker, for taking this important stand and for doing so much to make it clear how much pain Donald Trump and Elon Musk are inflicting on the American people in every sector of our society.
(17:03:47)
I'm going to be asking you a question about what you've heard from agricultural businesses in your state, about the damage that this administration is doing, and the jobs that either have been or will be lost as a result. But I thought I would give you some background on what I'm hearing as well.
(17:04:01)
I want to focus this body's attention on our nation's farmers and ranchers, who seem to be getting punched day after day, week after week by the Trump-Musk oligarchy. Whether it's their harmful tariffs that hurt our soy and corn farmers, canceling and freezing more than $1 billion in funding for schools and food banks who purchase food from local farmers, or halting reimbursement and contract payments that our farmers are already owed.
(17:04:28)
The senator from New Jersey and I are both working together to undo some of the most harmful impacts of these disastrous decisions, including joining forces on to push his Honor Farmer Contracts Act forward.
(17:04:39)
We're also starting to hear reports from farmers about just how damaging the Musk-Trump dismantling of USAID is to jobs and businesses right here in America. For example, I don't know if this senator has heard, but in North Carolina they had 2.2 billion in USAID awards, including for 27 large-scale farmers who were fulfilling orders for humanitarian food assistance, and four universities who were receiving agricultural research funding. More than 300 North Carolina workers have lost their jobs as a result of this freeze.
(17:05:11)
In Georgia, they had over $389 million in USAID awards, including nine large-scale farmers fulfilling orders for humanitarian food assistance, and six universities receiving agricultural research funding.
(17:05:24)
Arkansas had over $210 million in USAID awards, including purchases of rice, grain and beans from our farmers.
(17:05:34)
Florida has lost $91 million in USAID awards, including 38 million to the University of Florida to improve livestock productivity and food security in developing countries.
(17:05:45)
Texas lost over $48 million in USAID awards, including nine large-scale farmers, fulfilling orders for humanitarian food assistance, and eight universities receiving agricultural research funding. The list goes on and on.
(17:06:00)
My neighbors in Iowa over time now have lost over $4 million in USDA food commodity sales. They had a total of over $149 million in purchases through USDA and other programs for USAID. Illinois has lost $245 million in farm income that would go towards USAID and aid programs.
(17:06:31)
I think that our farmers have been hit with body blow after body blow from this administration, an administration that in their first term and even in the second term promised that they would look out for America. But I have to say to my friend from New Jersey, I don't think that this administration has lived up to their promises to farmers.
(17:06:49)
Remember that a nation that cannot feed itself, if we lose those family farms, if we lose our ag sector, we cannot lead the free world if we cannot feed ourselves. And frankly, farmers have been hit over and over again. These incoming tariffs are going to be disastrous for our farmers.
(17:07:06)
I was just in south central and southern Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from Missouri, talking to our farmers in St. Clair County, Illinois. And you know what they tell me? They tell me that the tariffs are going to affect their products being sold overseas. Our top products in Illinois, corn, soybean, pork. We're also the largest grower of pumpkins, so if you get that Libby can of pumpkins at Halloween time and Christmastime and Thanksgiving, that's thanks to Illinois. If you ever want to come, I'll just take you out to the pumpkin fields. The best pumpkins in the country.
(17:07:38)
But frankly, they're being hurt over and over and over again. And so they're going to see the prices on their commodities affected. They can't sell their products overseas to the top countries that purchase their products.
(17:07:50)
At the same time, their inputs, the fertilizer, the equipment that they need will be more expensive. The tariffs against Canada in terms of steel and aluminum is affecting John Deere. John Deere, hundreds of years old, an American company founded in the heartland of this great nation, is laying off people.
(17:08:08)
And so we have to do better by our farmers. And our farmers have been betrayed time and time again by this Trump administration. They promise big things, but then they come in, and by cutting programs like USAID, they are hurting our farmers, their bottom line.
(17:08:22)
I sat down and I met with farmers who were seventh generation, eighth generation, watching the teenage son of the farmer. And they're afraid that they're not going to have a farm there anymore. Their products, their margins are so tiny that they don't think they're going to make it.
(17:08:37)
So my question to my colleague from New Jersey is what are you hearing from farmers? And why do you think this administration is taking so many actions that hurt them and hurt American jobs?
Cory Booker (17:08:50):
I love my colleague. I love my colleague. I love how she's been standing up quite figuratively time and time again on issues. She's really inspired me. I've told folks that on social media I have been celebrating elevating, liking her content. She is truly fierce and is a voice that gives me strength.
(17:09:12)
And today she's asking me about one of my favorite subjects. A lot of people were surprised, my staff knows this story well, that I'm on the ag committee. And when one of my staffers, a guy sitting over here, Adam Zipkin, who's been with me since 1998, came to me and said, "You should go on the farm committee. This is going to get me in trouble." I laughed at him, committees I loved. And what's that old saying? At first they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then they finally accept it. He told me all the issues I care about intersect with our farm and food system. That our farmers are such vital part of America, they need more people standing up and fighting for them, because the American farmers are getting screwed. We're losing thousands of farms in this country. Family farmers are going belly up. The math doesn't work for them.
(17:10:01)
And this president, as you've pointed out, oh gosh, President Trump is causing an unprecedented amount of chaos, instability, and harm for farmers. Farmers already deal with so much uncertainty from prices, weather, pests and more, they should not have to deal with uncertainty that our government won't follow through, as you said, on contracts. On contracts.
(17:10:22)
I've had farmers from New Jersey to Texas coming to my office about this president freezing contracts that we approved in a bipartisan manner. Putting them in financial crisis. One of the first things that Trump and Musk did is freeze thousands of contracts and agreements that have been already made with our farmers. Farmers applied to grant programs and were selected on their merits. They made legally binding contracts. Yet, starting in late January, farmers found themselves not getting reimbursed, sometimes reading in the news that a particular grant was frozen, or sometimes no information at all other than that they were not getting their payments processed.
Speaker 3 (17:11:03):
Would the senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (17:11:05):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 3 (17:11:09):
Thank you. I think the issue of contracts is especially important, because so much of these cuts are claimed to cut waste in government spending. But we have a law in the books that says that if we don't make payments according to existing contracts, then we have to pay the interest on those payments that we are late in providing.
(17:11:32)
And so if we, for example, freeze funding payment on $2 billion in contracts, as we did with USAID, that means that we're going to have to pay, say, 2% interest rates, $60 million in interest. I don't see where that is a savings for taxpayers. That is a waste of taxpayer dollars. I think that that is something that we should be talking about.
(17:11:58)
And I also think that, as you were mentioning, the issue with our farmers, they are important to our national security. The SNAP program is a good example of it. That program was instituted after World War II. We had the very famous example of Audie Murphy, who was the most highly decorated soldier coming out of World War II. He could not pass the initial test to enlist into the army during World War II because he didn't weigh enough, due to malnutrition post the Great Depression.
(17:12:32)
And so we created the SNAP program to make sure that America's young people were fed or no longer malnourished, so that they could get food in our schools while they were going to school. Because it was good for the United States military to have a workforce that could enlist in the military and meet the standards. That is the origin of the SNAP program, and that has been a program that has sustained our farmers over time. And I think that we are losing sight of that.
(17:12:57)
And so my question to the senator from New Jersey is to hear a little bit more. Have you heard about the SNAP program? And also the work that the farmers in New Jersey have been doing in terms of organic and sustainable farming, which is really where the beginning of the organic and sustainable farming movement has begun in this country?
Cory Booker (17:13:16):
Yeah, I'm aware of another one of my colleagues. I just want to say, yes, I'm aware of that. The way that Trump, I'm just going to summarize, contract freezes. This is one of the ways Trump and Musk are causing havoc, program cuts. They've eliminated programs, as you said, that support local food systems, including those that connect farmers with food banks and schools, and promote regenerative practices. It's stunning.
(17:13:45)
USDA destabilization, Trump and Musk have laid off USDA employees, closed USDA offices, hindering the agency's ability to provide essential services to farmers.
(17:13:57)
Tariff policies. Trump's tariff policies, implemented without consultation or support from farmers, will increase farmer costs and consumer food prices.
(17:14:08)
And finally, general chaos, which seems to be something, as you're pointing out, that they're very good at. Farmers already deal with so much uncertainty from prices, weather, pests and more. They should not have to deal with uncertainty from Donald Trump's administration that will undermine everything that they do.
Speaker 3 (17:14:25):
[inaudible 01:30:51] the question for the senator from New Jersey.
Cory Booker (17:14:27):
I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 3 (17:14:31):
I would like to ask the senator from New Jersey a question pertaining to the farm bill.
(17:14:36)
You speak to uncertainty. One of the things that I've heard from my agricultural sector and my farmers are farm rural in Illinois is the desperate need for this body to pass a farm bill, especially when it comes to crop insurance, the crop insurance program as well as, again, retaining SNAP benefits.
(17:14:58)
I do think that crop insurance is something that our farmers care deeply about. It is a tool that they use to make sure that they are able to survive when there are bad crop years, whether that is through disease, whether that is through drought or floods. Our farmers, certainly this is a program for them to sustain themselves and be able to look out for themselves. So it is a personal responsibility on the part of farmers.
(17:15:25)
It is especially important for young farmers who are just starting out. Those margins are so tiny. And when you take away the commodity program and the USAID, when you take away SNAP program, and then you don't provide them with crop insurance, you're going to lose those family farms.
(17:15:40)
And what is going to happen? Large agribusinesses are going to take over. And they don't have the wellbeing of the American people at their heart.
(17:15:48)
And so I would love to hear from the senator from New Jersey, is would you agree that what we should be doing right now is not attacking farmers and cutting commodity programs, and cutting and freezing funding for USAID that it provides a market for farm products, but instead we should be working on passing a farm bill?
Cory Booker (17:16:05):
Yeah. I love you, I love you, I love you for bringing these things to poin. And by the way, with Adam Zipkin, we did a farm tour. And we were in southern Illinois meeting with Republican farmers. This is now before the pandemic. And you see that we have so much common cause, as they're trying desperately to hold onto their farms.
(17:16:25)
And so the crop insurance program, we need to reimagine it so it's more accessible to independent family farmers, not just big agribusinesses. We need to be visionary about our farm building, to create a food system that the farmers want that help them to be better stewards of the land.
(17:16:40)
The oversubscribed programs for regenerative farming and cover crops and environmental practices, they want those things. To preserve their soil, reduce their dependence on chemicals, they want those things. They want a farm bill that works for them. And we should be delivering that in a bipartisan way.
(17:16:57)
So you are right on point. But do you hear that from the White House? Not at all. Not at all.
Speaker 4 (17:17:03):
Would the senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (17:17:11):
I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 4 (17:17:14):
Well, Senator Booker, I have a question for you about Medicaid and Medicaid expansion. But I want to start with a little bit of background.
Cory Booker (17:17:22):
Please.
Speaker 4 (17:17:23):
As you may recall, with the Affordable Care Act, the program Medicaid expansion became an option for my state. And I worked with people of both political parties to make sure that the people of New Hampshire could actually get the benefit of Medicaid expansion.
(17:17:41)
Expanded Medicaid meant that, for the first time, working adults who couldn't earn enough money to actually buy insurance themselves, but who were working and single could actually get healthcare coverage. Medicaid expansion meant that people with mental illness who wouldn't be covered by traditional Medicaid actually could get healthcare and could get coverage. People with substance use disorder, with addiction could finally get Medicaid coverage and get better.
(17:18:17)
And we worked across party lines, took a few tries, but we got Medicaid expansion done in New Hampshire. And today Medicaid covers more than 180,000 people in my state, including more than 90,000 children, more than 15,000 people with disabilities and nearly 10,000 seniors.
(17:18:39)
And here's another number that people don't always think about, it covers 10,000 people who are getting addiction treatment. My state, as you know, has been very, very hard hit by the fentanyl crisis. And just when the president gave his joint address in March, I brought a woman from New Hampshire with me who had been suffering from addiction.
(17:19:03)
Medicaid expansion, covered her treatment. She got into recovery. She's now working in the private sector, but also offering counseling and peer recovery services to people who are trying to get their addiction treated through Medicaid expansion. And She is now on private insurance.
(17:19:22)
I remember talking to another Granite stater while we were working to pass Medicaid expansion. She had been laid off from her job as part of the great recession. She had an ongoing chronic stomach condition. So as she got laid off, her health insurance went away too. And she couldn't afford the COBRA fee to keep her health insurance, so she couldn't get healthcare. So she got sicker and sicker, so she couldn't go to work. But because she was a single adult, she couldn't get Medicaid coverage.
(17:19:52)
So here's somebody who has been working, wants to work, has a chronic illness, can't get to work. We passed Medicaid expansion, she got coverage, she got treatment and she got back to work. The other great benefit of Medicaid expansion covering people with addiction in New Hampshire has been that as people have gotten better, as more and more physicians have learned to integrate addiction care into primary care, we have a lot more people in recovery. And like many of our states, we also have a workforce shortage.
(17:20:26)
What's been happening now, New Hampshire is a leader in recovery-friendly workplaces. So that people who got this Medicaid expansion coverage, got their addiction treated, got better, can go to work in the private sector and get private insurance. That's some of the benefit of Medicaid expansion.
(17:20:45)
But of course what we are hearing about now from the House and Senate Republicans is their desire to make massive cuts to Medicaid, including Medicaid expansion. And they're doing it. They want to rip away healthcare from millions of Americans, so that they can pay for big tax breaks for billionaires and corporate special interests.
(17:21:08)
So the Republicans have proposed cutting up to a third of federal funding for Medicaid. If those cuts go into effect, that could mean 30,000 children in my state will lose their healthcare coverage. That means one in five seniors in New Hampshire could lose their nursing home care. And all told, that could mean 60,000 people cut off for Medicaid.
(17:21:30)
Including, for instance, a young man whose parents I just met at the airport actually who has autism. And Medicaid pays for his healthcare, but he could be cut off too.
(17:21:43)
So if Republicans continue with this plan, I am really, really concerned about what is going to happen to millions of Americans who currently get their healthcare through Medicaid.
(17:21:56)
So Senator Booker, can you address the ways in which Medicaid helps provide healthcare for Americans, and the disastrous impact it would have if Republicans proceed with their plan to take coverage away from up to 25 million Americans? Just so that they can pay for big tax breaks, by the way, for people who are already billionaires.
Cory Booker (17:22:20):
So before I answer the senator's question, I just want anybody who's watching to know that, I'll put it bluntly, this is one of the baddest-ass human beings serving here in the Senate. You have been a governor of a state with all the challenges. You are beloved. I've spent a lot of time in New Hampshire, folks. After New Jersey, it's one of my favorite new states. No disrespect to New Mexico over here on my right. But I love your state, I love the people of your state, and they love you.
(17:22:51)
You are an extraordinary governor. You are a trailblazer, a glass ceiling breaker, a name-taker. You are a badass. And to have served with you as my colleague, you have the kind of leadership in the Senate that is needed more of. Somebody that stands in the middle and draws people together to common sense and pragmatism.
(17:23:12)
I started on healthcare some 16 so hours ago. And I read, you would be proud of me, because she's one of these voices that comes to me and says, "Hey Corey, let's bring people together. I know that the presiding officer, who's new here, but he has the same spirit of trying to bring people together." And this might be the third time I've seen him in the chair over the last hours. 17 hours. Thank you, sir.
(17:23:48)
But you whisper in my ear all the time, we've got to find a way to do this together. We've got to find a way to put more indivisible into this one nation under God.
(17:23:56)
And so I hope that you would be proud, because I told my staff who prepared, days, days preparing all these sections from farming to environment, all the ways that Donald Trump is betraying his promises, betraying America, driving up costs, wrecking our economy, endangering us globally and here at home, and turning us back on a lot of our values, all while disrespecting this document more than any president that I've seen.
(17:24:21)
But I wanted to make sure, I told the instructions to my staff, "Pull from all the Republicans you can. We want to use the Wall Street Journal. We want to use the Cato Institute. We want to bring this together." Because what we're standing up here is not to talk about left or right, we're talking about what is right or wrong.
(17:24:38)
I do not want to talk about this being a democratic moment, it is a moral moment. And you are the perfect senator to be asking these questions about healthcare to me because of what you stand for you. When you got elected as governor, twice I think, when you got elected to the Senate here, you had to get votes from Democrats, independents and Republicans or you can't win in New Hampshire. I've been in your state. I've met the people. And god, you have a very participatory democracy up there.
(17:25:06)
If people feel like if you're not going north to south house parties, you have to engage directly with the people. They don't care what party you ascribe to, they want to feel you, see you. They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. That's why I think you're such a badass leader.
(17:25:22)
And so you would've been proud of me when I did the healthcare section, because I read from Republican governors and Democratic governors. 40 states expanded Medicaid, and all of these governors, all of these voices said exactly what you're intimating here, is do not let Donald Trump cut $180 billion out of Medicaid. It will crush rural hospitals. It'll crush level one trauma care centers. It'll crush organizations that deal with beautiful disabled children. It'll crush people who are struggling for healthcare. It'll crush nursing homes. It'll hurt red counties and blue counties. It will hurt America. Republican voices were saying that.
(17:26:09)
And to have a bipartisan senator who embodies the spirit this place should ascribe to more to say these things is affirming the truth. Why are they rushing to cut $180 billion which voice after voice that I read said it would do so much damage to people's lives, so much damage to healthcare providers, so much damage to hospitals?
(17:26:31)
Why? The only two things that will result from that is that they'll extend the Trump tax cuts, where the disproportionate benefits went to the wealthiest among us who are doing better than they've ever done in this country. They don't need it. Taking money from struggling folks and giving it to them is not the answer.
(17:26:53)
And then the other thing to a person who, like me, when we were executives, you were a governor, I was a mighty mayor, we had to balance our budgets. But they're not balancing the budget. They're not lowering the deficit, they're increasing it by trillions of dollars.
(17:27:07)
This makes no sense to a pragmatic person who has balanced budgets, who expanded healthcare access, who made her Senate state work, who has love and respect and votes, frankly, from Democrats and Republicans. You know this makes no sense.
(17:27:22)
And so if you're standing up and colleagues of mine further to the left of me, then why aren't other people? Why did only one Republican in the house vote against it? He told the truth. Massie. I see some of my Republican colleagues here. He's a fiscal hawk, he told the truth, "This budget is going to explode the American national debt stealing from future generations. I can't vote for this." He was not bullied, like other people in the house, into doing what dear leader Donald Trump says.
(17:27:54)
And so my colleague, you are on the money. I have internalized your voice. There's only a few people's voices I've internalized. One of them is my mother, but you're more my peer. You are one of those voices in America right now that we need that does not slip into a partisan argument, but makes the pragmatic argument that what Donald Trump is trying to do with the aiding and abetting of Congressional Republicans is wrong.
(17:28:22)
It is fiscally wrong. It is morally wrong. It will hurt Americans. It is not for the common welfare. It's not for the common defense. Read the start of the Constitution,
Cory Booker (17:28:35):
Please, I beg of you, we all swore to uphold it. How do our founders begin? 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 best blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity.
(17:29:00)
Trillions of dollars of deficit doesn't secure the blessing of liberties. It endangers our country. The common welfare is this idea that everybody should have access to what makes us free. What makes us free is not having medical debt. What makes us free is not being chained to uncertainty and security that if someone in my family gets sick, I will not be afford it. Still the majority or close to the majority of bankruptcies in the United States of America are people who can't afford their healthcare bills. We need to find better ways to expand access and not cut more people off.
(17:29:33)
You know this, former governor. There are a number of states that have these things called triggers, automatic triggers that if the funding for Medicaid reduces to covering 90% of the costs, what happens in those states? Boom, Medicare expansion goes offline. So if you don't even cut it 880 billion, maybe you say, "We'll just do 250 billion of an ax," states are going to lose their expansion, people are going to suffer and get hurt. Why? You've said it, you've said it and you've said it.
(17:30:02)
You and I are the two people that want to see entrepreneurs make money. You and I want to see small business people thrive. We don't hate rich people. We think that's great. It's often, not always, Donald Trump, it's often a sign of people in America using the ingenuity, applying it and being successful. But you and I both know that the richest people in this country don't need more tax cuts. It is morally wrong. It is fiscally wrong. It is wrong in the name of God and America. How could we be doing this to ourselves?
Speaker 4 (17:30:33):
Will the senator yield for another question?
Cory Booker (17:30:36):
I can't call you one of the baddest-ass people I've ever worked with and not yield to your questions, but I have to read the words. I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 4 (17:30:48):
Well, thank you for yielding for a question while retaining the floor, and thank you for the very nice compliments. I do have a question for you about Social Security and then I think another colleague of mine has additional questions. But look, as you know, you just talked about my wonderful state, New Hampshire. You also just talked about your mother and I should just also let you know that my mother always made me memorize the preamble to the United States Constitution. So as I listened to you read it-
Cory Booker (17:31:20):
Shots fired on the Senate floor. Where's the parliamentarian?
Speaker 4 (17:31:24):
I hope my mom is watching right now.
Cory Booker (17:31:24):
Rule 19 her.
Speaker 4 (17:31:27):
But here's my question and just by way of background. As you know, New Hampshire's a small state. It's a very rural state, and recently the Trump-Musk forces have announced that they want to close a social security office in Littleton, New Hampshire. Now Littleton, New Hampshire, that Social Security office, which takes applications and provides technical assistance for people who need Social Security or need Medicare or who have questions about their current coverage, it is the northernmost office in New Hampshire.
(17:32:01)
So they closed that office and now my folks in the north country, and there are about 334,000 people in New Hampshire with Social Security, right, my people in the north country will have to drive as far as 100 miles to go to another New Hampshire Social Security office. And meanwhile, of course, they're laying off people from Social Security offices and they're making it harder to get assistance via the telephone, which as you know, many people who are on Social Security find the telephone the easiest way to make a connection, get technical assistance.
(17:32:39)
Elon Musk has called Social Security a Ponzi scheme. He says he wants to cut $700 billion from Social Security and Medicare. So my question to you as we're looking at an administration that says that it wants to make things more efficient but is actually laying people off, closing offices, making it harder for people to actually connect with the Social Security office, my concerns of course are that this is just going to delay claims, delay coverage, make it harder for people to get on Social Security because actually Trump and Musk want to cut Social Security. Trump said, of course, that he was going to protect it when he was running for office, but now he's letting Musk do his cuts.
(17:33:33)
So Senator Booker, can you speak to the ways in which seniors across the country count on Social Security benefits that they have paid into? This is not charity. People pay into the Social Security system. They earn the benefit. And can you talk about the disastrous impacts if this administration takes benefits, Social Security, Medicare, away from our seniors?
Cory Booker (17:34:02):
Earlier or last night, I had a whole chapter on Social Security outlining not just what you said, my colleague, my friend, but stories from seniors and some of them really got to me. They were hard to read through. I have to say I had prepped this by reading a lot of them, but somehow on the floor when I read about the woman who had Parkinson's, when I read about the person taking care of their elderly parents, a spouse with dementia, children with special needs, and Social Security, it helps a lot of folks.
(17:34:42)
But here's the craziness, the craziness of the Trump attacks on the Social Security administration. First, he makes people insecure about it. My mom lives in this amazing senior home Las Ventanas in Las Vegas, Nevada. Most of the people there, first of all, I love them all for who they are, not their party affiliation, but it's more Republicans than Democrats. And the stories my mom tells me about just the worry that they or other people in their family have because of Elon Musk calling it a Ponzi scheme, of Donald Trump talking about utter lies from the highest post in the land during a joint address, savaging Social Security with lies that everybody from conservative papers to democratic papers to left-leaning papers have all called out, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.
(17:35:38)
There are not millions of people receiving false payments. They've insinuated so much insecurity that people were writing me letters talking about they're losing sleep, they have so much anxiety because they only live on their Social Security check. And brother Howard Lutnick, who I know, and I don't know what he was thinking when he said it, a billionaire talking about his mother-in-law, I don't know what you were thinking, Howard. I just don't understand it how you're saying if she misses a payment, she's okay, but if people complain, they're probably fraudsters. Do you understand how many millions of Americans only have that as their only protection between poverty and destitution, that if they miss a payment, they can't make their rent, they can't buy food?
(17:36:27)
And so they've created so much insecurity, so much fear, and I compared it, Governor, I compared it to the difference between an FDR and a Donald Trump. FDR knew people were suffering. They knew people were afraid and he stood before the American public and didn't lie to them, didn't attack people, didn't demean people, didn't degrade people. He comforted people. He allayed their fears. He inspired them. "You have nothing to fear but fear itself." What an opposite in leadership.
(17:37:08)
And so yeah, there are a lot of people who right now don't know, but then my colleague from Massachusetts comes in and makes the very clear point, the professor we have in our caucus, she makes a very clear point. They've already done benefit cuts because when you close offices in rural areas that that person who is missing a check or has an issue, now they have to drive, how many miles?
Speaker 4 (17:37:34):
100 miles.
Cory Booker (17:37:35):
100 miles. Now, what is that hardship to a senior? I heard from people in their 90s. They already are having benefit cuts. The Wall Street Journal, I told you, I was trying to make you proud, I wanted to get as many sources from anybody that was more centered or right, and I read from the Wall Street Journal and said the customer service in Social Security is going from bad to worse. That was the title of the article. So they're already doing cuts. They're already launching heaping insecurity on our seniors, heaping inconvenience on our seniors, heaping fear upon our seniors, heaping insecurity, making people lose sleep. This is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. This is not a model of leadership. It's a model of cruelty and mean-spiritedness and hurting people.
(17:38:24)
When is it enough, America? When is it enough that we say it may not be my grandmother that depends on that Social Security check, but I love America and you cannot love Americans, you cannot love America, you cannot call yourself a patriot… please listen to me… you cannot say you love this country and you're a patriot because patriotism is love of country, but you can't love your country unless you love your country men and women. And love means that if somebody, some mother or grandmother is hurting, is afraid, that I'm going to stand up and do what I can to comfort them and fight for them, because today it might be your grandmother, it might be your family with a disabled child. This is not right or left, it is right or wrong. This is not a partisan moment, it is a moral moment. Where do you stand?
(17:39:16)
We started this by talking about John Lewis. It is time for good trouble, necessary trouble. Thank you. Thank you, my friend, even though you made fun of me for in my tired state not remembering the very important preamble to the Constitution.
Speaker 4 (17:39:31):
You're very welcome.
Cory Booker (17:39:33):
Thank you very much. That actually means… I take your compliments because you don't give them abundantly or overly well, so thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (17:39:44):
Senator, yield for a question.
Cory Booker (17:39:46):
Heck no. Not to you, not to you, not to you. Let me tell you, I have something to get off my chest about you. I woke up this morning, or this morning. I woke up yesterday morning and the first thing I did, now this shirt's all wrinkled and a little ripe, but the first thing I did is grab a gift from you. People don't get upset ethics-wise. We're allowed to give each other gifts. This was like, I don't know how much it costs, but you gave me… I was talking to you about traveling and how we have to pack bags and go all the time, and you told me, "I travel with a steamer," and I pulled out this little steamer for this shirt that I'm wearing right now.
(17:40:24)
You are one of the kindest, sweetest people I know. You're one of my closest friends here in the United States Senate, and I want to say something about you because in this moment if people are watching, I want people to go there. We had a conversation. You came to my office. It's always a sign of respect when you come to the senator's office and you came to my office and we were talking about social media and I was encouraging you. You were a little resistant, if you don't mind me outing you, to open up and get more on the platform. We were talking about ideas and talking about Social Security, talking about Medicare, Medicaid.
(17:41:01)
You opened up to me, and I hope I'm not betraying confidences, and I asked you just like, "What do you do?" You are such an amazing human being. You're one of the kindest people I know. I asked you, "What do you do on your weekends? What do you do for fun? Let people see it." And then you kind of made me pause when you said, "Well, my mother's getting kind of old, is getting older. I love her so much," and you said that, "My brothers, my siblings and I, we alternate weekends just spending time with our mother." It was one of the sweetest things I heard.
(17:41:32)
And then I said to you, "What do you do with your mom?" And then you brightened up and you choked me up, you jerk, because you said, "What I love to do with my mom is to dance with her in the kitchen. When we're in the kitchen making food or something, I just love sometimes to put on a song and we dance." I don't know why it struck me as beautiful, and this is what I hope people will do right now. I said, "Well, why don't you record that?" And I didn't think you would do it, you would ask her if you could do it, but you then put up one of the most beautiful videos I've ever seen from one of my colleagues of you and your mom in the kitchen. I think it's on your Instagram page. And I have looked at that… I'm probably all the views right now of my colleague, this big United States senator loving his mother so much.
(17:42:22)
And we are talking about that. I've talked about this on the floor. Great nations respect their elders. They take care of them. One of my colleagues, when they asked me a question about Social Security, they reminded me of what it was, the greatest anti-poverty program in the history of America, that Social Security rescued millions of Americans from being in poverty. It virtually ended poverty, although the checks now have becoming meager and meager as prices are going up more and getting lower and lower towards poverty, and people who live on those checks live very austerely.
(17:43:00)
But you're just this amazing guy that turns your own lived experience into greater and greater urgencies to fight for the people of New Mexico. So I did not want to yield for a question. So getting that off my chest, you are my friend, you are my colleague, you are my brother. And more than you know it, you're my inspiration. So yes, I yield for a question while retaining the floor now. I feel like I have so much power here to yield to. My colleagues are often more eloquent. I'm afraid of Whitehouse because he's one of the brainiest people in the Senate, but I now have the control, but for you, now that I've gotten this off my chest and hopefully embarrassed you, but maybe added a few more views to my favorite video, I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 5 (17:43:46):
Well, Senator Booker, thank you. I won't be surprised if mom's watching right now, so you're probably going to get some messages from her. But I want to thank my friend and colleague from the great state of New Jersey. You've been holding this space for the American people now for while over 17 hours. While we represent different parts of the country, Senator Booker, we have the same values. I learned from you the importance of treating people with respect and dignity. That's what we should all be talking about here today, every day. I've also learned a lot about grace from you.
(17:44:26)
Now, I come to the floor to ask you a question about farmers. You and I both appreciate the long hours that farmers put in to take care of that soil, their families, the planning that goes into this, sowing seeds. Sometimes you have to do a little weeding to make sure that we're going to all benefit from the fruits of their labor. Now, having fresh fruit in a grocery store is not something that can be taken for granted. And for a lot of our constituents, I've had these conversations with nominees that have come before us when they ask me, "Well, why is someone just eating potato chips or Doritos from that local store?" I'll educate them by saying, "That's the only store around."
Cory Booker (17:45:16):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:45:16):
There's food deserts everywhere, but we could do something about that. We have programs in place that recognize the importance of getting someone a meal that needs that meal, supporting our farmers out there to sow those seeds, to help them with their planting. But what I'm seeing right now, Senator Booker, is our farmers have been on the receiving end of these federal funds being taken away from the United States Department of Agriculture, these reckless tariffs that are hurting farmers and ranchers just as much as they're hurting anyone in America. Outbreaks, bird flu. People know what the cost of eggs are at the store now. And then they look into what's going on here. There's this bird flu that's going around and my constituents ask, "Why did the United States Department of Agriculture under Donald Trump fire the people, epidemiologists that are responsible for containing this thing" It didn't make any sense to folks.
(17:46:14)
I was in the ag committee earlier today, Senator Booker, and I was asking some questions to USDA and I learned that on March 7th, 2025, under the Trump administration, the United States Department of Agriculture terminated the Local Food in Schools program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, and then they went further and they also notified grant applicants on March 24th that the fiscal year 2025 competition for the Patrick Leahy Farm to School grant program was canceled.
(17:46:46)
Why does this matter to farmers and ranchers and people back home? These programs allow food banks and schools and others to purchase food from our local farmers. Now, our local farmers aren't just making a decision on what seeds are going to be planted so they can sell the lettuce next week. They start this a year going back. So when the United States Department of Agriculture a year ago started talking to these farmers and ranchers about what programs were going to be in place, and then these farmers responsibly went and found customers to sell their food, food banks, different groups around the country, they planned the rest of the year to be able to get that nutritious food into the bellies of people that need it most. That sounds like respect and dignity. What's not respectful is when the Trump administration gives them a few days notice and pulls the rug from under them and cancels the program that's going to allow the food bank, their customer, to buy their food. What do the farmers have to do now across America?
(17:47:48)
Now, it gets worse and worse. I won't go into all of it, Senator Booker, but here's one of the dirty little secrets. All of these programs that are being taken away from the American people, it's to find an extra dollar for this tax policy under Donald Trump that my constituents started calling back in 2017 the Trump tax scam. Well, why are you calling it that? And they said, well, everyone promised me… I'm making less than the median income, making less than $80,000, which is a lot of money in New Mexico. Across America, the median income there is a little lower. I was told that we were going to get the brunt of this tax cut recognizing that we're hardworking and how hard it is to make ends meet. But that's not what happened. Most of this went to families and folks making over $2.8 million. I don't have anything against those families. I wish them well. I want them to make more, 10 million next year, but they don't need a tax cut. That should be going to those hardworking families that were told that they were being prioritized, but they're the ones that told us, told me anyway, that this was a Trump tax scam. That's the secret. That's where all this money's going.
(17:49:04)
So Senator Booker, whether I'm in a grocery store and I'm chatting with constituents, we're out there looking at egg prices or whatever it may be, they're concerned about what's going on here and all they're asking for me to share with my colleagues here is just tell them to tell us the truth.
Cory Booker (17:49:21):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:49:22):
If they're going to vote to take these programs away, they have the votes by Republican colleagues. Just be honest. Treat my constituents with the respect and dignity so that they can plan, so that a single mom that has a child that whose Medicaid may get ripped away, but that child has cancer, how are they going to plan for care in six months, so that farmer who started planting seeds recently but was planning over a year on what to do so they could find another customer, so that they're not going to lose that farm as well.
(17:49:55)
Now, before I ask you this question, sir, I want to end with this. Senator Booker, you often share a story of Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address, his second, and the man whose review mattered most to the 16th President of the United States.
Cory Booker (17:50:21):
One of my favorite stories.
Speaker 5 (17:50:24):
When asked his opinion of Lincoln's performance, former slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas replied, "It was a sacred effort." Let me be the first to say this is a sacred effort, Senator Booker, and I'm proud to stand alongside you. So Senator Booker, the question that my constituents and I have for you is can the farmers and ranchers of America afford to pay for another Trump tax scam with all this nonsense that's going on? I mean, it's a question I get when I'm at church. I say not during church, but after church is okay, or at the grocery store. But when I'm visiting with folks back home, this is what they're asking me.
Cory Booker (17:51:04):
And thank you for the question. You said the same words that literally… I didn't write these words. My staff wrote this little paragraph here. "Trump is pulling the rug out from under producers that need stability and reliable markets," because you and I sit right by each other in the ag committee and we see this connection that you so beautifully say, this idea that we are separate from each other, the invisible lines that divide us in this country are bunk compared to the strong ties that bind us. That farmer producer in a rural neighborhood is deeply connected to the person in my community, and I live in inner city Newark, New Jersey. There is a powerful spiritual connection.
(17:51:46)
And you talk to that farmer and they've got pride that they're feeding America and they have pride in the ground. You described it so beautifully. They have pride in their soil. They want to be stewards of the land and they want to create a vibrant American food system and they rely on people that empower them in that process and don't pull the rug out from under them, drag back contracts, cut programming, especially not those programs that help them get fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy foods to food banks.
(17:52:22)
You talk to the food banks, they'll attest that families how grateful they are for that fresh fruits and vegetables. You said it right. Parents want the best quality food for their kids, but this food system is killing them. And when I heard the new Secretary of HHS talk about, "Hey, we need to get greater access to fresh, healthy foods, food is medicine," things I've been saying for years, and what do they do when they get in there? They cut the very programs that help our farmers and get fresh fruits and vegetables to kids to deal with chronic disease. How could you say out of one side of your mouth, Trump, "Oh, I'm going to let the Maha people go their way," and then the first thing you do is cut the programs that help kids get healthy, nutritious foods? It makes no sense. It makes no economic sense. It hurts our farmers. It hurts our farm workers. It hurts our end users. It's not fair, and I appreciate your question, sir. Thank you.
Chris Van Hollen (17:53:22):
Will the senator from New Jersey yield for a question?
Cory Booker (17:53:26):
Let me think about this for a second.
Chris Van Hollen (17:53:29):
You take your time thinking about it, sir.
Cory Booker (17:53:31):
I want to thank Senator Whitehouse. He's been a colleague and a friend for a long time and he stands right there at that desk for very long speeches. I think I'm trying to go a long time. You go a consistency of times and you've talked about the climate crisis. You've talked about the Supreme Court scams. You've not only educated members in this body on these issues, you've educated America. You are a YouTube star now, and I learn from you every time I hear you speak. So I'm a little worried right now, but I'm going to step out on faith and yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Chris Van Hollen (17:54:09):
So first question, it's been 17 hours. How are you doing?
Cory Booker (17:54:18):
I shall not complain. I shall not complain. But thank you for checking in on me, my friend.
Chris Van Hollen (17:54:23):
Yeah, well thank you for what you're doing. Second question, if you would yield for a second question without yielding the floor.
Cory Booker (17:54:28):
Yes, I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Chris Van Hollen (17:54:31):
One of the ways in which I try to discuss what's going on in this country when people are horrified, anxious, astonished, whatever, is to describe it as the rule of the looters and the polluters. The looters are the creepy billionaires coming to government trying to figure out how to get even more for themselves. It used to be that people thought that there was a thing, too rich to steal. That doesn't seem to be a thing for these creepy billionaires. They're more than happy to wreck Social Security so that they can send in their tech bros and their private equity folks to put right what they have broken. And the looting goes on across the entire face of government, scarred and disfigured by Musk and his little Musk rats, I like to call them.
(17:55:34)
And then of course you've got the polluters who are doing a similar thing, which is to steal from the public, only instead of stealing through government, they're stealing by dumping their pollution into our common air, into our common climate future, into our waters, into our lands, and defending through political influence and clout and power and dark money in this building their privilege to pollute for free. And the end point of both of those is regular Americans who are getting, to put it bluntly, pretty hosed so that people on the other side of that, the creepy billionaires who are behind the climate denial scheme, who are out to wreck the American government so that it can't regulate their conduct or make them behave like honest bankers and investors or insurers or whatever, react for a moment, if you would, to that framing of our beautiful country now being subject to the really malevolent whims of the big looters and the big polluters.
Cory Booker (17:56:52):
Well, first of all, I will say to you that I meet wealthy people like a group called the Patriotic Millionaires who advocate for progressive tax policy and are the first to say and speak out against this tax scam. Again, to me, what does patriotism mean to you? Patriotism by definition means love of country. If you don't love your fellow country men and women, how do you love your country? So what would you do… I actually know what you would do, I don't even have to answer to this question… if somehow you would came into a billion or more dollars? You would not be asking for more. You would literally say, " Wait a minute, Republican Congress, wait a minute, Donald Trump, what you're trying to do is take away healthcare from expectant mothers, from disabled children, from seniors in order to give me more tax credit?" I would think that the patriotic thing to do that, the thing in love, in love, you would say, "Donald Trump, go screw yourself."
Chris Van Hollen (17:57:57):
If the Senator would yield for another question while retaining the floor.
Cory Booker (17:58:01):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Chris Van Hollen (17:58:04):
I would add to your comment and request your response to the observation that not only is this an appalling manifestation of greed by people who already have more money than they're able to spend in their entire lifetimes, but the manner in which they are accomplishing their purpose is pretty loathsome in and of itself because the manner in which they are accomplishing their selfish purposes is to corrupt and degrade this great American democracy that we are all here to defend.
Cory Booker (17:58:54):
Yes.
Chris Van Hollen (17:58:55):
And they do it by taking their billions and running it through phony front groups so it pops up as dark money in elections and of course the beneficiary of the dark money, the candidate figures out exactly who's behind the big dark money contribution that ends up in the super PAC that is supporting them, and of course the big donor knows that they gave the money, so the deal between the creepy billionaire and the in hoc to them political candidate is made. But because it's dark money, because it's secret, because it goes through front groups and into the super PAC and ultimately into the campaign, courts don't know, public doesn't know, voters don't know. Everybody else is left out of the joke.
Cory Booker (17:59:43):
Yes.
Chris Van Hollen (17:59:44):
And so bad enough that they're here arguing for excess benefits for themselves compared to regular Americans. Worse, they're using dark money corruption to get there. So how is that patriotic?
Cory Booker (18:00:00):
I want to answer this question so badly, but the crazy thing is the person best to answer this question is the person who asked it. You've sat here and given this detailed analysis to show how this group of very wealthy billionaires in this country are so perverting our system by creating these front groups that then interfere in our democracy in the most disgusting of ways. Even if you are like me and you that can't stand the decision of Citizens United, even in Citizens United, the majority opinion really projected that we should do the Disclose Act, which we have tried to bring to this floor and get passed that says no more dark money. How do we have a political system that is so corrupted by billionaires who so with all of their money drown out the voices and politics of other Americans? A great example of that is they're getting so reckless that many billionaires aren't even hiding it anymore, i.e. Elon Musk.
Chris Van Hollen (18:00:57):
Elon Musk.
Cory Booker (18:00:58):
He's saying, "Hey, I'm going to roll up into a Supreme Court case up in one of our best Great Lakes states, and I'm just going to dump a hundred million dollars there and then give away as if to insult our democracy million dollar checks as part of my effort to influence an election with my overwhelming flood the zone amount of billions of dollars. And by the way, hey, it's a pretty good investment, right? Donald Trump's biggest campaign contributor, and as soon as he gets elected, a lot of my stock goes up," although Tesla stock isn't doing so great right now.
(18:01:33)
The reality is we live in a country right now that we are giving more and more ability to use their wealth to rig the system and then get more wealth as a result of that. It is so corrupt and so corrupting to this. We have been talking about this, as you said, for 18 hours now, this big unchecked corporate contributions, billionaire dollars, dark money in front organizations that nobody in the Senate has outlined better than you is corrupting our Constitution. And even the bad case, Citizens United, even they said this shouldn't happen. You all should write laws in this place that force people to disclose where that money's coming from. But how many years has it been since Citizens United? Many. And how many times have we failed? 15?
(18:02:30)
Guys, I don't know, and I'm so grateful for this man because all my colleagues who were assembled here know doggedly and determinately, you have stood right there with charts and graphs. You've outlined it ad nauseam. They've attacked you because your truth is so threatening to them that more people will know about how big money is corrupting democracy. And so how many assaults are we going to have to watch in 71 days when we now have a president that can create a meme coin? Isn't there something here, my great constitutional scholar, a big word called emoluments? This president has basically created a meme coin where we now know, hard to trace this, that millions of dollars have been put into his pocket. I have my team reading about it right now, foreign countries, Russian oligarchs, incredible Arab wealth. You want to pay off
Cory Booker (18:03:35):
… after Donald Trump because his government is being run like this. It's not JFK. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. You've seen how he's behaved? It's ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for Donald Trump. That's how he does business. How do we know that? Look at the evidence of the last 71 days. If you are a law firm that comes to him and offers him $40 million of pro bono work, God, how many people I love in Newark who had that kind of legal representation, pro bono. He is beating you up, threatening to ruin your business until you come to him and tell him what you're going to do for him. We're seeing it. You want a merger? What do you do? Give a million dollars to his his inaugural committee and then find ways to get money to him, through his mean coin, kowtowed to him in any way possible.
(18:04:44)
Senator Whitehouse, nobody has outlined this more than you have. And I encourage people. I feel like now I'm advertising everybody's social media. Go to his YouTube. I call him a YouTube star. I'm not joking. You have on YouTube, I know, just great details and outline about how the corruption of money in politics is getting worse and worse and worse in this era of billionaires like Elon Musk who have no shame anymore. And I'm going to say it on the Senate floor. There are so many reports and stories of him threatening elected leaders threatening to put a hundred million dollars in a primary challenge if they don't kowtow to what the great leader is telling them to do.
(18:05:29)
You use the word all the time, and I'm going to say it over and over. This is corrupting to our democracy and amounts to another assault on our constitution. How much will we take America until we say enough, until we say no more, until we say pass the disclose act? Bring back the dark money, put light on it. Shine the light of truth on this web of dark money lies. How long will we endure this? I hope that you and I are in the Senate when you no longer have to give that speech because we took action on the Senate floor to end this nightmare of billionaires trying to outsize influence our democracy.
Patty Murray (18:06:09):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (18:06:12):
Not immediately. I just want to say to Patty Murray, thank you. You are a co-conspirator in my life of trying to cause good trouble. You are one of the most powerful people in the United States Senate, yet you have never lost your compassion and your care for people. You're like somebody else I talked about in the Senate, two of my favorite people who lives this ideal that I may be a United States Senator, I may be head of appropriations, I may be president pro tempore of the Senate, but I will never lose my connection to the people I represent and to the convictions that brought me to this place. You are such an honorable soul. You're such a great American and you've been such a dear friend to me. This Congress, I savor the times where you let me come to your a lot more seniority than me. You've got a great hideaway with with a view, one day maybe.
(18:07:07)
But I just want to say thank you Patty Murray for being so kind to me and you're showing up right now. Gives me a lot of strength, puts more fuel in my tank. Now, I feel all this power. Now, you outrank me in every imaginable way here and you're the head of our Democrat appropriation. So I am obligated by the state of New Jersey to be very obsequious to you. I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Patty Murray (18:07:34):
Well, I thank the Senator from New Jersey. Thank you for your kind words. And I would just say the country is so grateful for what you are doing right now because so many people are so frightened, worried, scared and angry about what is happening to the basic values of this country that so many people have just thought would be there. That their kids would be able to go to school and get an education and not have to worry that the Department of Education was going to be gone and there wasn't a watchdog anymore or somebody to help them, or that the research at NIH was going to be dismantled. Perhaps they had a family member who was in the middle of some scientific experiment that is now being dismantled, what happens to their hope?
(18:08:21)
I hear from people on so many topics, seniors who are waiting on hold for hours and then getting hung up on because there's nobody to answer the phone anymore. These are basic values that we have as a country, that we care for other human beings and we're there as a country for them. And you are showing that fight today and inspiring so many people. And I will ask you a question in a minute, but I wanted to personally thank you for what you are doing today. It is so important. You are the voice of so many people today and I so appreciate it.
(18:08:54)
Now, I want to change the dynamic a little bit. I wanted to come today, you have talked about the impact in so many areas in our country, but I wanted to come and ask you about something really personal to me and that is the impact on our veterans today. The senator may not know this, but when I came to the Senate many years ago, I asked to be on the Veterans Affairs Committee. I was the first woman ever to ask to be on the Veterans Committee. And the reason for me was very personal. As you may know, my dad was a World War II veteran and my family relied on his VA care when he was diagnosed with sclerosis.
(18:09:32)
But I also, when I was in college during the Vietnam War, many of my friends and colleagues were on the streets demonstrating and my heart was out to them. But I was thinking about those men and women my age who were going over to Vietnam and coming back and injured in many different ways. So I actually did my college internship. I asked to be at the Seattle VA. And I went to the Seattle VA during the Vietnam War and served on what was the psychiatric ward at the time. And I sat and worked with young men and women who were my age, in college age, who'd been sent there and came back with severe mental health impacts. Now, today we call that PTSD, but at the time we didn't know it.
(18:10:20)
And I was looking at these men and women who volunteered to go over or sometimes their number came up at the time and came home and were going to be impacted the rest of their lives. And I learned firsthand what it means when somebody says, "I will go for my country to fight for all of you so that you have that America that you've been talking about here for you when you get home." And our promise to each and every one of them was, if you serve your country in the military, we will take care of you when you get home. That is a promise I hold near and dear to my heart, which is why I asked to be on the Veterans Committee when I first came here, first woman ever.
(18:11:03)
And I will tell you, I've seen the impact time and time again. I go home and I hold town halls when I was newly here and there'd be a lot of veterans who'd come and talk to me and tell me what's going on, what needed to be fixed. But always at that time, I will share with my colleagues, women never said anything. There were a few always in the back of the room and it wasn't until the regular meeting was over and they'd come up quietly to me and say, "I need to tell you what's happening to women veterans. I need to share with you sexual assault. I need to share with you that there's not the facilities. I go to the VA and it's a men's only place. There's no OB OBGYNs. There's nobody to do mammographies. And I often don't feel comfortable sitting in that waiting room with a whole lot of people after I have had the experiences that I've had. And there's no place for women to go."
(18:11:55)
So we've worked really hard to make sure the VA works for women. We've worked really hard to make sure the VA addresses the issues of today, the PACT Act that we worked so hard to make sure that men and women who were victims of toxic exposure overseas got the services they need. I could speak for two hours here about all the things we've done, but then I see what this administration is doing to those men and women who we asked as a country to serve overseas or to here at home in service of all of us and the promises we've made them. And I think what are they doing? They're undermining the very value that all of us have given to Americans who serve above and beyond.
(18:12:42)
So when I hear of 2,000 layoffs a few weeks ago, I go, "Wow. Where's that coming from?" Well, I know because I'm getting the phone calls like I'm sure you are from a VA research who has been taken off the job, fired, unexplained, told he wasn't doing a good enough job somehow. Doing research on basic things like prosthetics or doing basic research on PTSD, or doing basic research on the kinds of things that our men and women who serve overseas are subjected to and need to come home and have the specialized service and resources that they need. Or I hear from veterans who can't get the services that they've been asked for. So now when we are hearing this administration is about to cut 80,000, you didn't hear me wrong. 80,000 more people from the VA. A vast majority of themselves are veterans. I wanted to ask the senator, how does that hit you? How do you feel about that?
Cory Booker (18:13:39):
I'm so grateful you brought this up, and especially all the work we had to do when I got elected 12, 13 years ago, one of the earliest things I did is meet with women and veterans in my state and heard these awful stories about how long it took to get gynecological care, the weights that they had to do, the indignities they had to endure. And I'm glad we've made so many strides in part thanks to your leadership in New Jersey with special dedicated facilities to our women veterans with shortening those wait times, with prioritizing them. But you're now right. Their proposal is to cut 83,000 positions from the VA. And you said it, this just years ago. This governing body passed the PACT Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. It was signed by President Biden in August of 2022, the largest healthcare and benefit expansion in VA history. You were one of the leaders increasing disability compensation and extending eligibility for VA care.
(18:14:39)
To meet this increased demand, the VA added 61,000 employees in 2023. These new hires included claim processors, physicians, nursing staffs, medical support assistance, food service workers and housekeeping staff. And now the progress this body made is in jeopardy by this president. We added 61,000 just to keep up with the demands and the needs, and now he's cutting 83,000. This is an article, if you don't want me to yield. DAV urges Veteran Affairs to be more transparent about vet care amid layoffs and budget costs. Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins says Veterans care won't be impacted. We saw the expansion of VA healthcare benefits in a generation under the PACK Act. Collins attended DA's recent midwinter conference where he came from behind the podium, walked into the audience and told attendees that vet care and benefits would not be impacted by the Trump administration.
(18:15:46)
In recent appearances on CBSI on Veterans podcast, DAV Communications Chief and Air Force Veteran Dan Clare said the VA has not demonstrated how it's going to keep its promise. They have not demonstrated it. DAV also does not have a lot of information about what's planned, he said. Can you imagine that? Leaving all these veterans with insecurity and uncertainty. Now, we're hearing about the 83,000 people losing their jobs. 20,000 or so folks might be veterans themselves. We're concerned about how we're going to be able to cut that many people and maintain care and benefits.
(18:16:22)
The VA hired thousands of staffers since 2022 in response to the PACT Act, which brought 800,000 new enrollees into its systems. Columns has said cutting the VA workforce by 83,000 would bring it back down to its 2019 level. Before we did all those expansions to help women's vets, Claire said he has not heard about specific performance problems with those who've been laid off. Well, you haven't heard about it. Veterans' needs have not changed and they remain great. The people who are sick from the burn pits didn't necessarily get better overnight. And some of these folks are going to have a long road to hoe when it comes to their health. DAV is getting calls frequently from veterans who are scared, angry, and don't understand what's going on and how it's going to affect them.
(18:17:12)
Claire was one of the first whistleblowers on burn pits in Iraq, which eventually inspired the fight to pass the PACT Act to help veterans who became sick or even died from their toxic exposures. When we started talking about dioxin, Vietnam veterans heard that they immediately thought of Agent Orange. And that's probably what this is. Our generations Agent Orange. There's a lot of decisions being made behind closed doors. He continued. We want to know what the plan is. We want to know what the plan is. We're not against efficiency of government. We're not against even removing VA employees who may not be fit performers. A veteran has a unique understanding of another veteran's needs, Claire continued. When you lose those folks out of the VA, the veterans, you lose an institutional capacity to understand veterans. It is also unclear how these cuts will impact VA research, which Claire also stretch, has helped veterans deal with complex issues that are service connected such as traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress.
(18:18:13)
In addition to being concerned about how recent budget cuts and staff reductions will impact veterans care and caregivers, Claire said DAV is also concerned about the impact on veteran-owned small businesses. DAV is asking veteran business owners whose contracts have been recently canceled, or who have been fired from their VA jobs to reach out here. DAV is actively keeping a list of veterans negatively affected by the Trump administration's cuts and plans on fighting for them in the weeks and months come. And those lists that they're keeping are getting longer and longer and longer of people affected by this.
(18:18:51)
So to answer your question, it's absurd. It is offensive. It's ready, fire, aim. Tens of thousands of veterans laid off, veterans who do business and work in contracts, contracts ended. Why is this another group that the President of the United States is scaring frightened veterans, angry veterans? I'm hearing from them. My state. I know you're hearing them from yours. What's the plan? What's the plan? What's the plan? They have no answer for us. All they're doing is cutting social security staff, undermining the delivery of those services, the cutting the VA services. And why, by the way? Is it creating efficiency or effectiveness? No. Is it to create savings, because we got to create savings to give more of those tax cuts to billionaires like Elon Musk. It is not fair. It is not right. When we send people off into the most dangerous environments on the planet earth and ask them to put their lives on the lines for us, the least we can do as a nation is not penny pinch on their backs of the service that they deserve.
Patty Murray (18:20:06):
For one additional question.
Cory Booker (18:20:08):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Patty Murray (18:20:11):
The senator's right. So many veterans are afraid right now, and I had a veteran tell me that he was one of those people that got the letter, "You haven't performed well." He worked for the National Park Service actually. And he said, "I've been saving lives. I've been cleaning trails. I've been making sure that the national parks are safe for all of you." And then he said to me, "I'm a veteran. I served in the war and I served my country there because I wanted to serve my country and my fellow Americans. And I came home and worked for the National Park Service to do the same. And now as a veteran, my country's not there for me."
(18:20:52)
And I would just say to my colleague and to everyone who's listening, these men and women that we make a promise to that we say we will be there for you when you come home, that does not mean slamming a door in your face. It doesn't mean that you have to wait for hours to get the services that you earned. It doesn't mean that you'll be mistreated. It means that we will honor you. And I would thank the Senator for his response and just say to him again, do you think we're treating men and women in this country ask great Americans by the actions that are being taken by this administration?
Cory Booker (18:21:28):
Thank you for the question. No. And I'm just going to read another article that's going to make even clearer the point you just laid that's so strong and so important. This is from Axios, how White House firings are hurting veterans. The Trump administration's big cuts to the federal government are hitting one group particularly hard, the country's veterans. Why it matters? Many of those who served in the military derive a sense of purpose and belonging from their government work, viewing it as a way to serve their country and help their peers outside of act as duty, the big picture. It's not clear yet how many vets have been fired or will be. Last year veterans made up 28% of the federal workforce. 28% per federal data, a far bigger share than the 5% in the private sector.
(18:22:14)
About 36% of the vets working in civil service, more than 200,000 in total are disabled or have serious health conditions per federal data. 36% of the vets working in civil service are disabled vets. This is the largest attacks on veteran employment in our lifetime, says William Attig, executive director of the Union Veterans Council, a large group that represents many of these workers. Attig who was deployed in Iraq from 2003 to 2009, has been talking to newly unemployed members trying to get a tally of everyone whose job was lost.
(18:22:55)
Zoom in now. Some veterans still holding on to their jobs for now are waiting for the hammer to drop. We're being smeared as leeches, but I just want to serve my country and provide for my family, an employee at the Department of Defense who's a disabled veteran and requested anonymity because he didn't want to put his job at risk. Talk about free speech. "We're being smeared as leeches," says a disabled veteran who stood for us. He was thrilled to land his job, he said a few months ago, but it is anxiously waiting to see if he'll be one of the more than 5,000 workers that the Pentagon said it would fire next week.
(18:23:44)
Privately now, GOP lawmakers are growing uneasy with the cuts to veterans. I know this because I know the heart of so many of my Republican colleagues. Political reports adding that vets have been disproportionately affected by firings. And again, GOP lawmakers are growing uneasy about it. The White House did not say how many veterans have been fired. At least one department, the Department of Interior has rapidly carved out an exception for them. "President Trump has consistently stood up for our brave men and women delivering crucial reforms that improve VA healthcare," said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly in an email.
(18:24:19)
There are a few reasons government attracts vets. The federal government has a veteran's preference put simply when deciding among a group of qualified candidates, they're first in line. I think that's right. You'd have to jump through a lot of hoops to not hire a veterans at a former official. With more veterans working in government more feel welcome to work among people who understand them. Others are drawn to their retirement veterans benefits. Years of military service counts towards your federal pension. Plus, though many of these folks feel drawn to mission-driven employment. Most veterans feel like they're putting on another uniform when they go work and other federal agencies. These jobs are a crucial piece of the puzzle in most military life, he says. Adding that is also a key part of suicide prevention for this at-risk group. One of the most important things you can do for a veteran is help them with a job.
(18:25:17)
How can we expect to maintain what is in America an all volunteer force if we fail to show those folks willing to serve, how we care for our service members when they come home? Slashing more than 83,000 jobs from the VA alone, it's clear that these cuts are going to have a disproportionate impact on veterans, veteran contractors and the services they receive. I'm angry about these cuts, but most of all, it should make all Americans feel a sense of sadness. We ask our veterans to sacrifice so much, and we all know who know veterans. It's not just the veterans. It's also veteran families that make that sacrifice, that share in that service, that share in that commitment. And these veterans, some of the more talented, dedicated leaders I know, they're not doing it for the money. They're doing it because they're called to serve.
(18:26:22)
You know how many people jumped into service after 9/11? Friends of mine rushed to join the military to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan and now they're home. Many of them with invisible wounds, many of them with visible wounds, and the services they rely on for their healthcare, the services they rely on as lifelines, the services that they rely on often that give them hope and opportunity, not compounding their trauma. This is now being attacked by a president who's not keeping his promises. He says he values veterans, but the facts are different. She devoted her life to serving the US then DOGE targeted her. It has been six days since Joy Marver was locked out of her office at the US Department of Veteran Affairs, five days since she checked herself into hospital for emergency psychiatric care. And two days since she sent a letter to her supervisors, "Please, I'm confused. Can you help me understand?" Now, she followed her wife into the storage room of their house outside of Minneapolis, searching for answers no one could give her.
(18:27:37)
A half dozen bins held the remnants of 22 years spent in service to the US government. First as a sergeant, first class in Iraq, then as a disabled veteran, and finally as a VA support specialist in logistics. She devoted her career to a system that had always made sense to her, but now nobody seemed to know whether she had officially been laid off or for how long, or even why. "Are you sure you never got an email? Asked her wife, Mickey Joe Carlson, 49. "How would I know?" Asked Marver, 45. "They deleted my account. Maybe it's because you were still probationary. My boss said I was exempt, "Marver said, "I was supposed to be essential."
(18:28:28)
And the last few months, more than 30,000 people across the country were fired by President Trump's new initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency. Historic reduction of the federal workforce that has been all the more disruptive because of its chaotic execution. Entire agency divisions have been cut without explanation or mistakenly fired and then rapidly rehired, resulting in several lawsuits and mass confusion among civil workers. After a court ruled last week that many of the firings were illegal, the government began reinstating workers, even as the Trump administration appealed the decision and promised more layoffs. The VA alone said it planned to cut about 80,000 more jobs this year, including tens of thousands of veterans.
(18:29:17)
And for Marver, the shock of losing her job was eclipsed by the disorientation of being repeatedly dismissed and belittled by the government she served. She had watched on TV as Trump's billionaire advisor, Elon Musk, took to the stage at a political conference wielding a chainsaw to the beat of rock music, slicing apart the air with what he called his chainsaw for bureaucracy. She had listened to Trump's aids and allies derived federal employees for being lazy, parasitic, unaccountable, and essentially wasting taxpayer money in their "fake jobs."
(18:29:56)
In Marver's case, that job had meant helping to retrain soldiers for civilian work and coordinating veteran burials while earning a salary of $53,000 a year. "Here's the note I got a little while after I was hired," Marver told Carlson pulling a form letter from the government. "You represent the best of who we are as Americans," it read, "You could have chosen to do anything with your talents, but you chose public service. Boilerplate, but it's nice," Carlson said.
Speaker 5 (18:30:35):
Senator Booker.
Cory Booker (18:30:35):
Madam Chair.
Speaker 5 (18:30:36):
Senator Booker, will you yield for a question?
Cory Booker (18:30:39):
Before I yield, I just want to acknowledge my friend in the chair and she's tracking a tight whip. So I appreciate you following the rules here. I got to read this now and then I'm eager to get your question because you are one of the few people I knew before I got to the Senate.
Speaker 5 (18:30:52):
That is what I wanted to talk about.
Cory Booker (18:30:54):
Well, I'm sorry. I didn't yield for a question. I still can't say anything, sir, the parliamentarian will jump all over you. I have the floor. So much power. It's going to my head.
Speaker 5 (18:31:07):
Sir, will you yield for a question?
Cory Booker (18:31:09):
Man, known you for 25 years. I wanted to talk about you, but you're being so insistent. I reward your insistence and say, I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 5 (18:31:22):
And let me ask you, Senator Booker, I can't ask you now, through the chair, may you directly how long a question you would like, would you have… I'm happy to provide you with a five-minute question or a five-hour question. It depends entirely on how you feel.
Cory Booker (18:31:43):
I actually believe that you would go a five-hour question to try to help me power through. Senator, we've been at this for-
Speaker 5 (18:31:52):
My wife Susan, would-
Cory Booker (18:31:55):
I love you and your wife Susan, but I love your children more. Your girls are-
Speaker 5 (18:31:57):
Well, that's why I came down here. I remember-
Cory Booker (18:32:02):
Is this a question? Because I yield for the question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 5 (18:32:05):
This is a question, please.
Cory Booker (18:32:06):
Okay. Let's make it a seven-minute question.
Speaker 5 (18:32:08):
This is a question. And I would say to the senator from New Jersey and to the presiding officer, thank you very much for being here and for enduring this. When I started here, I was sitting in the chair all the way to the right of where you are today, Senator Booker. And I can remember the day you walked in to be sworn in. You came through those doors right there. And I had a huge smile on my face because I knew when you were walking through those doors, when you were walking into this chamber, you would bring with you the kids they used to work for in Newark, New Jersey.
(18:32:42)
And the reason I knew that was that when you were working for the kids in Newark, New Jersey, as the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, I was working for the kids in Denver as the superintendent of the Denver Public Schools. And at that time in our country's history, we were engaged in a pretty profound effort to try to make better the schools in our respective communities. Not that everything was perfect, but we were trying to drive achievement for the kids at Newark and the kids Denver. And we talked about it over many years. And here you walked into this chamber, a place where it would be easy to imagine had the habit of treating America's kids like they're someone else's kids. Not like they're America's kids. I know that because if the kids were in America, were represented by the 100 deaths that are in the Senate, roughly 9 of them would be graduating with a college degree in our country. Nine of these deaths. If we thought about the rates of literacy, the failure in our country to be able to teach people how to read or do mathematics decade after decade after decade, the proficient students would consume just a few deaths in this place and everybody else would not be able to do basic levels of reading and basic levels of math. And here you are, somebody who understands that.
(18:34:23)
And one of the very first projects you and I worked on, this is coming to my question, was the Child Tax Credits. This was an effort to turn back 30 or 40 years of trickle down economics that said that what we're going to do is cut taxes for the richest people in the country and just have it trickle down to everybody else. Some people don't know what that means. And if I could, let me just say what that actually means.
(18:34:51)
For you to understand what that tax policy is, that tax policy that Donald Trump has pursued now twice, once when he was president before and now again, you have to imagine that there is a mayor in Newark or there is a mayor in Denver, or a mayor in San Diego or in Miami who is saying to the people that live in his community, "I have an idea. I'm going to go out and borrow more money than we have ever borrowed before as a community. I'm going to go out and borrow a ton of money and your constituent, my constituents to say, wait a minute, mayor, wait a minute, that makes me nervous. What are you borrowing all that money for? Because I'm worried about the fiscal condition of my city and my town."
(18:35:42)
This conversation would happen in every city, in every town in Colorado or New Jersey, whether they're Democratic or Republican mayors, you'd have to answer the question, what are you spending the money on? What are you going to borrow all this money for? Is it for our parks? No. Is it for our schools? No. Is it to give mental health services to kids who desperately need it? No. Is it for our roads and bridges, our infrastructure? No. Are you going to do something important for our water systems? No. What is the answer? What are you going to do with that money that you are borrowing, that you are mortgaging our kids' future? What is this important thing that you're going to do with it? The answer is, we're going to give it to the two richest neighborhoods in New Jersey or Newark or Denver, and we're going to expect that it's going to trickle down to everybody else.
(18:36:48)
That is the theory. That is what trickle down economics is. That is what the Trump tax plan is. And there's a reason why no mayor in America has ever done it because you would be run out on a rail because you couldn't explain it. You're going to borrow money from the kids of our police officers, our firefighters, our teachers, in order to cut taxes for the richest people in the community, in the hope that they'll buy a little bit of an extra, I don't know, luxury, and that that's going to somehow generate economic activity for everybody else. It is demonstrably true that that has never worked. And by the way, these tax cuts, I say they're presiding officer and everybody else within the sound of my voice have literally never, ever come close to paying for themselves. That is a complete lie. That's why the Congressional Budget Office says this is going to blow a $4.6 trillion hole in our deficit. And for what? To give tax cuts the richest people in America when they need them least, and when the income inequality is as great as it has been in our country since the 1920s. Which brings me to my question, my cherished colleague from New Jersey, what was it we were trying to do with the Child Tax Credits? There were a lot of people who believed that we couldn't even get it passed, that we couldn't even get the IRS to administer it. And then we did get it passed during part of the Biden administration, and lo and behold, more than 90% of the families in New Jersey got a tax cut. Lo and behold, more
Speaker 5 (18:38:35):
More than 90% of the families in Colorado got a tax cut. Not waiting for a trickle down from the wealthiest people, but they got a tax cut directly that did what? Cut in half, cut in half the childhood poverty rate in America. In the richest country in the world, for one moment, we said, we don't have to accept this level of childhood poverty as a permanent feature of our democracy or a permanent feature of our economy. We can do something different than that.
(18:39:10)
And Senator Booker, that is what you said when you were mayor of Newark. We don't have to accept these generational outcomes of poverty or of poor schools or of lead in the water. We can do something different, and that's what you've brought to the United States Senate as well. The tragedy from my perspective is… There are many tragedies about the election of Donald Trump. And by the way, I'll say again on this floor, I don't blame him for getting elected president. He ran and he won. Those of us that were trying to offer a different vision have something to explain about why we were not successful.
(18:39:58)
The one thing I am certain of is that the kids in Newark and the kids in Denver are completely invisible to our current president. That he is not concerned with their welfare or even loses a minute's sleep over the next generation. So I wonder if you could talk a little bit about… This isn't a numbers and sense question because I know even though you don't look tired, I'm sure you must be tired after all these hours and hours and hours.
(18:40:31)
But can you talk a little bit, Senator, about how a society should be judged with respect to how we treat the next generation of Americans? How a tax bill should be judged by how we treat the next generation of Americans. How almost nothing else matters except what we do with respect to the next generation of Americans.
(18:41:01)
I can tell you that my daughters, Caroline, Helena and Anne understand better than most your commitment to them and your commitment to their generation because you've been such an inspiration to them. Not just today. Not just today, but thank you for what you're doing, but for basically their entire lifetimes.
Cory Booker (18:41:26):
Well, thank you for the question. My long, long time friend, one of the folks I've known the longest, who I get to serve with and what you did for me when I came here is you and Sherrod Brown who sat right there by the door. You let Bennett and Brown become Bennett Brown Booker, three B's and joined together with some of the most extraordinary House members and brother Warnock and fight for the Child Tax Credit. And it took years, but we found our opening when we called Ron Klain together before the election was even settled and said, "Please, this is the best thing our country can do, is to expand the Child Tax Credit, make it fully refundable." Because we knew, as you said, it would give the overwhelming majority, between 80 and 93% depending on what state you are, the people in those states, if we expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, it would give them all a tax break.
(18:42:26)
It was unarguably one of the greatest tax cuts in the last 50 years and it cut child poverty in America nearly in half. And child poverty is a moral obscenity. Child poverty is violence against children. Violence. And here's the thing that you and I both know from the research. Every dollar you spend in raising a child above the poverty line, you return to society between five and $7 in economic growth and activity or in lesser costs. Because kids above the poverty line have, for example, less visits to the emergency room.
(18:43:15)
I just don't understand how we are a nation again, the wealthiest nation that has one of the highest child poverty rates. It makes no sense. Zero sense. When we proved once and for all with that one-year effort, because we couldn't make it permanent. We were short one vote in this body. We proved forever in America that child poverty is a policy choice, not an inevitable reality.
(18:43:43)
And so you asked the great, question why in a nation that was founded on men that studied virtue, the ideals of virtue, they were imperfect geniuses. They were imperfect geniuses, but they really struggled with moral philosophy. We have the power, we've proven it, to cut child poverty in half.
(18:44:09)
What's the argument against it? Wasteful spending? Come on. Come on. Giving trillions of dollars of tax cuts to the wealthiest in America, I'm sorry, it's wasteful spending, especially if it ends up blowing a hole. Those tax cuts don't pay for themselves. Trump won, tax cuts didn't. Renewing them won't. Doing the same thing over and over again and thinking you're going to get different results is the very definition of insanity. You are one of the most passionate… I remember a stem-winder of a speech you gave in this body. You were so angry. I love it when it's Bennet unchained. You were so angry when you started talking about the horrible policies of this nation that has eaten away the inheritance of children to come. Why you went off on the trillions of dollars spent on stupid foreign wars where our brave men and women fought for this country, but this country made bad mistakes in these long wars. You talked about the money we spent there and you talked about the first time in American history, common sacrifice, every war before that. Not just the men and women who are brave enough to go out and fight. You said the first time in American history that we said the only people that are going to bear a burden are the people that are going to go. The rest of you get tax cuts.
(18:45:29)
George Bush, first time ever, we went to war and we gave tax cuts. From the Civil War to the Revolutionary War to World War I to World War II, it was a common collective effort. My grandmother talked with pride about victory gardens and pride about war bonds. Everybody pitched in. And so here we are at another crossroads and is America going to tolerate… Is America going to tolerate this idea that we're going to give extraordinary tax cuts to the overwhelmingly disproportionately will accrue to the wealthiest amongst us? For what? If I was a mayor, I'd have to answer it.
(18:46:08)
So I appreciate your question, but I also appreciate your moral indignation. I really do. I keep saying over and over again, elevating the voices of Americans on this floor, elevating the point. I hope that we can't keep doing things like this as business as usual. These are real issues, not of right or left or right of wrong. This is a moral moment in America. And you point out a very clear choice we have when we talk about our tax policy. It should reflect our values. Thank you, sir.
Jack Reed (18:46:44):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (18:46:47):
For Jack Reed, I would do just about anything. So I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Jack Reed (18:46:54):
First, thank you for continuing to highlight the harm that's being done by the Trump administration on average Americans, working Americans. Flouting a law, withholding federal funds, illegally shutting federal agencies, ruining long-standing alliances, increasing prices, taxes on American consumers, it goes on and on and on.
(18:47:18)
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would fire 20,000 employees. Those cuts appear to be taking shape right now. Is the senator aware that there are reports that thousands of HHS staff have been locked out of their offices this morning?
Cory Booker (18:47:38):
To answer the Senator's question, I've been on the floor since last night. I haven't read any news reports. But when you say that am I aware of thousands and thousands of HHS employees who've been laid off of their jobs? I'm not aware of it. I'm not surprised. The question isn't is Donald Trump going to lay more people off? The question isn't is Donald Trump going to lay more disproportionately veterans off? The question is what are we going to do to stop it when it isn't thoughtful, reasonable cuts? When he talks about the people he's cutting as leeches, demeans and degrades their commitment to service and their noble obligations.
(18:48:25)
We were told that HHS would be about making America healthy again, and I haven't seen that. I've seen them cut services to give access to children to fresh and healthy foods. I've seen them cut regulations on polluters that make our air quality worse, which hurts people with emphysema, with asthma, with other respiratory diseases. In fact, a lot of the actuary will show more Americans die when polluters are allowed to go back to polluting more. I could go through the things they're doing that are not making our water healthier and safer, not making our air healthier and safer, not making more access to healthcare that stops and treats chronic disease, not giving access to healthy foods.
(18:49:08)
We're not making America healthy. And so these cuts, they don't surprise me, but they hurt me. They hurt me. These are Americans, these are disproportionately veterans and I thank you for speaking up for them today.
Jack Reed (18:49:24):
If the Senator would yield for another question.
Cory Booker (18:49:26):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Jack Reed (18:49:31):
President Trump and the Secretary of HHS, Secretary Kennedy, are, as I indicated and made you aware, they are firing a host of people today. But the critical staff functions will be undercut. For example, the Low Income Energy Assistance Program and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, they will focus on worker safety. LIHEAP, as you know, provides essential support to literally keep people warm in the winter and cool in the summer in our southern states. And with LIHEAP undercut like that, there will be effects. People will become unhealthy. In fact, possibly could even pass away and perish.
(18:50:31)
NIOSH on the other is an agency that looks after 164 million people in this country so they're safe. And we all know, we all remember back all those stories about the Gilded Age, which sometimes I think the administration wants to bring back, where children labored in shops, where garment workers were killed in fires because there was no way to get out. All the exits were sealed. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health prevents that. And work-related injuries and illnesses cost our economy about $250 billion annually. So that will double, triple, quadruple.
(18:51:21)
And we're seeing all sorts of reports about the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at CDC. They do critical work. They're under the gun. We're seeing reports that the director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products has been fired. We can see that President Trump and Secretary Kennedy would rather stand up for big tobacco than for young kids who get hooked on it and it ruins their health.
(18:51:50)
These are just a few of the cuts and I know you're aware of these. I know you're focused on these. They're going to destroy years of progress and basically, it's being shouldered by working Americans. Nobody who lives in Mar-a-Lago needs LIHEAP heating. Nobody who dines at Mar-a-Lago needs occupational health support, but the waiters do and the grounds people do. So Senator, just your comments and thoughts on this.
Cory Booker (18:52:33):
I so appreciate the question from my friend. I really think empathy is a superpower and you are Superman in that character because you're thinking about the people affected. We throw these acronyms down here and they sound like government programs, but you meet with the people.
(18:52:51)
I remember when I was starting out my political career in service in Newark and I had this dear friend named Kim, and she was one of these people that worked trying to sign people up for LIHEAP. And the stories that would affect her of people that that was a lifeline for them to have a little bit of resources. A little bit of resources to help them get their energy costs in a place where they could afford heat in the winter and some air in the summer. Stories of elders and vulnerable.
(18:53:29)
I don't understand how we can be a nation with so much wealth and abundance and we haven't figured out a way to design a system where when you invest in the well-being of people, people thrive. Kids growing up in quality housing with great public schools with clean air without lead in their water above the poverty line. You know what I love about young people in this country is their resiliency. I need these beautiful children with light in their eyes, that all they need is a little fertile ground and they go beyond our imagination and what they can achieve. And so here we are taking our national treasure, the resources being paid into, our taxes are our national treasure. And what do we invest in? What do we do with it? Well, we're running up more debt. We're not going to pay for these tax cuts that are overwhelmingly going to go to the wealthiest. But we're taking all these things that people rely on from our veterans to our seniors, to our disabled, to expectant moms. We're just taking as much as we can to defer as much of this gross tax cuts that go disproportionately to the wealthy.
(18:54:43)
And so again, I return to where I've been for closing in on 19 hours. I go back to what are we going to do about it? It can't be business as usual. There are too many things we've already covered that show that this is a moral moment in America. Where do we stand? It's time as John Lewis, as I keep repeating. He says, "It's time to get into good trouble." Necessary trouble to redeem the soul of our nation. And what you're talking about goes directly to the soul. What do we stand for? Who do we stand for? We should stand for each other. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 6 (18:55:20):
Will the senator from New Jersey yield for a question?
Cory Booker (18:55:24):
To my dear friend, I yield for a question while retaining the floor and I thank you for being here. I thank you for your leadership. I thank you for what you stand for and I look forward to your question.
Speaker 6 (18:55:36):
Well, I so appreciate the Senator from New Jersey trying to articulate the urgency of this moment. And I think that I know you've discussed many things in the last I don't know how many hours it is, but it's been many, many hours. And we just had a hearing this morning related to the markup of the Social Security nominee. And somebody we're just trying to find out because a whistleblower said that he was involved in helping DOGE. And we're here today trying to bring attention to the American public that people are trying to rearrange essential services, contractual obligations. Things like Social Security or Medicaid or even Medicare by basically saying well, we have this efficiency strategy. When in reality, they're over there with numbers just trying to carve something out of the budget. Billions of dollars out of Social Security efficiency or billions and billions and billions of dollars out of Medicaid, which would really come right out of our hospitals who are saying they don't even think they could stay open. But this notion of Social Security, I don't know if you've heard that not only are they closing offices and cutting jobs. They're asking people to re-register.
(18:56:56)
So my constituent, who they basically said was dead, was not dead. He wanted his Social Security. So not only did they not give him his check in January, they tried to claw back checks from the previous months out of his bank account. And even though this has got national press and attention, you would think that everybody on the other side would be like, no, that's not what we're trying to do. Even though the president in the State of the Union said all these people were getting Social Security checks when my constituent is standing in line with less and less staff trying to get his Social Security. And guess what? They're still at it. As of last Friday, they were still at not giving him his Social Security.
(18:57:40)
So what are we unleashing on America? What are we unleashing that even… And I don't know whether you address these Social Security issues in your statements. I so appreciate you emphasizing the urgency here because this is the dismantling of contractual agreements between the American people and the people's body that we're here to represent them and stand up for it. And people are acting like they don't care. So you are here in an extraordinary athletic achievement. Thank you. Makes your Stanford days look like nothing, right? You've achieved this great long effort to bring illumination to the American people that they're getting screwed over the fact that these cuts are not some efficient way to deliver better service. But in Social Security, they're undermining Social Security.
(18:58:31)
So have you heard of these cases, the whistleblower issue and others? And do you believe that that's what we should be paying attention to? That before we get a vote on Bisignano, that we should be finding out what whistleblowers are saying and his involvement related to DOGE and making sure that Social Security checks are protected?
Cory Booker (18:58:50):
I thank you for the question, my friend and my chairwoman. I did talk about this, but it is so worth repeating. At some point in the night, we covered Social Security and we read story after story after story of senior citizens that are frightened and afraid that the President of the United States would stand in a joint address and attack Social Security, make fun of it with lie after lie after lie, about millions and millions of people getting fraudulent checks. When the people who do the fact checking and even the Social Security folks themselves say that it's a minuscule amount of people getting checks and usually it's an overpayment.
(18:59:34)
But they didn't stop there. Elon Trump called it a Ponzi scheme. Elon Musk called it a Ponzi scheme. The richest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world, himself a billionaire, are the program that millions and millions of our senior citizens rely on.
(18:59:52)
I read letters of people that say, "Don't forget about the people who are disabled who rely on SSI." Begging us to remember and speak their names and tell their stories. A lot of fear, a lot of terror, a lot of insecurity. But we spoke about this on the floor that their benefits are already being cut. What do I mean by that? Well, if you are cutting Social Security offices, as one of our colleagues said from New Hampshire, in a rural area forcing people to have to drive 100 miles, if they have a problem, they can't talk on the phone with the waits on the phones. I read an article from the Wall Street Journal, no left-wing mag, from the Wall Street Journal talking about how the customer service is going downhill because of the cuts that they're making. And now you're forcing seniors…
(19:00:47)
We read letters from 85 year olds, 90 year olds, 93-year-old. They're going to drive 100 miles? I read letters from Social Security workers who now work in inadequate spaces with inadequate staff, unable to do their job that they love. They're not leeches. They're not people that should be demeaned or degraded by the most powerful people in our land. They are public servants who love their jobs and want to serve seniors, but now can't do it because they cut, cut, cut before they thought, thought, thought.
Speaker 6 (19:01:22):
Will the Senator yield for a question because I-
Cory Booker (19:01:27):
I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 6 (19:01:30):
I thank the Senator from New Jersey. The issue that I think is not being illuminated enough for the sheer numbers here in my state of Washington, 1.4 million people on Social Security, 1.8 million people on Medicaid. So you're talking about a big federal relationship.
(19:01:48)
Now, I know that some people in… I actually worked in the private sector. I could tell you one thing about the private sector, the bigger it gets, usually the more inefficient it gets. It just happens. Big organizations can be inefficient. So just because the federal government is the government doesn't mean that Social Security and Medicaid are fraught with fraud. In this case, my constituent's not even getting his check and no one is responding. And you would think with all this commotion that Social Security would want to jump right on it and fix it. But they're not.
(19:02:25)
And the question I have for the Senator of New Jersey is in my state, I have, as I said, nearly 1.8 million people who are on Medicaid. And the same problem is now where our colleagues are trying to say they're going to get $880 billion out of the energy and commerce budget of the House of Representatives. When in reality, 90% of that money is Medicare or Medicaid. And if Medicare is supposedly off the table, then the majority of that is going to come from Medicaid.
(19:02:54)
So in my state, I'm hearing from hospitals that that means they could close. That means essential Medicaid services that are used even in our jails or for fentanyl treatment or Medicaid that is used as a Obamacare expansion for healthcare that so many literally red Republican states, Republican governors have said we want that. The Governor of Idaho, yes, we want that. That's an expansion of Medicaid and it's successfully working at providing healthcare to millions of Americans.
(19:03:28)
But now our colleagues are entertaining a notion that they could cut this system. They're not really making it clear. So again, the illumination of you showing the urgency is like a big flag that we're trying to show to the American people. This is not a drill. This is now. This is happening. The beginnings of it are happening, and now this debate that's going to ensue is going to be a massive cut into those programs unless the American people wake up.
(19:03:55)
Now are your states, and are you hearing this in New Jersey about the Medicaid cuts, the impacts on hospitals, on the delivery system, on essential services?
Cory Booker (19:04:06):
I cannot emphasize to you strongly enough, we decided to start this whole thing at 7:00 PM last night with Medicaid. And we read story after story after story after story of people who are Medicaid beneficiaries, who are terrified, who are afraid. Who didn't say if they cut 880 billion. If they diminish that cuts in any way to their services, they're holding together their lives in this fragile financial equilibrium that one little tug of a transportation service, one little tug of a home healthcare giver, it all crumbles. They're terrified and afraid. Some of the Americans are dealing with the greatest challenges,. Not of their own making. Some of them working full-time jobs and getting an injury costs extraordinary amounts of chaos to their lives.
(19:04:55)
So yes, I read from the people who are recipients. I read from the people who run hospitals, from rural hospitals to urban hospitals to level one trauma centers who all said that if they cut hundreds of billions of dollars, that it'll affect them. I did something really important. I read from Republican governors and Democratic governors because I keep over and over America, this is not right or left. It's right or wrong. It's not a partisan moment. It's an American moment. It's a moral moment. I read voices from Republicans specifically, Republican governors in Medicaid expansion states. They have this trigger. You know this. Many states that the funding from the federal law of government over dips below 90%, boom, Medicare expansion is over, millions of people in financial crisis and healthcare crisis.
(19:05:52)
What is it going to take for us to say no? With such a firm voice, such a chorus of conviction, thousands, hundreds of thousands of Americans, red, white, and blue, every state saying do not do this for no good reason. But to give the majority of your tax cuts to billionaires like Elon Musk, it makes no sense. Who are we as a country? This is not normal times. This is not usual. We should be standing up because I read the stories of Republicans who run hospitals, Republicans who are governors, who are all saying don't do this. Don't do this.
Senator Alex Padilla (19:06:33):
Senator yield for a question.
Cory Booker (19:06:35):
Senator Padilla. I was teasing. I'm not yielding yet, Senator Padilla. I was teasing that man over there named Bennet that he and I had known each other for years, but you and I have known each other longer. I knew the senator from Washington before I got here. Mutual friends, so these are three people that were friends of mine before I met this institution. Had Coons here, I have all four. You though I knew longer than Bennet and longer than the great senator from Washington and the chairwoman. We met in 1998, '99 around then. We were both city council people and the dear friend, a beautiful man who introduced us, told me before we walked into your office that you were a rising star. You were a man of deep decency. That you were going to do extraordinary things in your career, and he did not overstate the fact. You are one of my close friends and I definitely yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Senator Alex Padilla (19:07:30):
Thank you. And let the record reflect that he said the exact same things, probably better things about you. And he was absolutely correct. But I couldn't help but interject right at the moment where I did because once again, your passion is coming through. Well, first of all, I tremendously admire what you've been doing here on the floor of this Senate today, starting with last night. And as I've been watching off and on, there's these moments where your empathy and your sympathy and your care and concern is coming through. You can't help it. It's who you are.
(19:08:11)
There's been other moments as you've been talking about some of the key issues and dynamics of this current political climate that we're in where your passion is coming through and at times, anger. I know it because I've seen it. I know it because we're getting calls in my office about this. I know it because if you monitor comments and commentary on social media about what my colleague is doing here on the Senate floor, some people have asked, "Why is he so angry?"
(19:08:48)
I'd like to say here right now that Senator Booker has every right to be angry because of what's going on. I know I'm angry with so much of what's going on, and the American people have every right to be angry with what's going on. Because none of what we're seeing come out of the Trump White House is normal. But every day, this approach of flooding the zone with more and more extreme actions runs the risk of making people grow numb to these attacks, and we certainly can't surrender to the feeling of just being overwhelmed by their tactics. And so I want to thank the senior senator from New Jersey for doing what he's doing to shake and awaken the conscience of our country.
(19:09:53)
Now as I listen to my colleague talk about the real dangers of the Trump administration, what it poses for our nation, I also reflect on what it means for our environment. Because I know it hits home for many folks, but especially in my home state of California. California, many of you have come to visit time and again, is home to some of those beautiful parks and natural wonders in the nation. But if you grew up in Southern California like I did, you also know there's a flip side to this climate discussion.
Cory Booker (19:10:31):
Definitely feeling it.
Senator Alex Padilla (19:10:31):
And we've seen, we lived through the real costs of climate inaction. Now growing up, I can tell you not just about the smell of diesel exhaust, which I'll never forget, sitting on a school bus, going to and from school. Or the regular days where school would be shut down early. We'd all be sent home because of the smog, toxic smog in the air in the greater Southern California area. These were concrete reminders of the real threats that emissions pose to our health. California also knows the dangers posed by extreme weather. We know the droughts, we know the floods and yes, all too often, we've come to know wildfires. Devastating wildfires like the ones we experienced in Los Angeles County at the beginning of this year.
(19:11:33)
Now, Senator Booker was kind enough to come visit a few weeks ago to tour Altadena, the epicenter, if you will, of the Eaton Fire that devastated so many. And I think we both agree and anybody who's visited the area to see for themselves would agree that you cannot see what happened in and around Altadena and come away unmoved. I go on and on with examples and reasons to say to you that this is exactly why California, for decades, has worked so hard against pollution and against the impacts of climate change. Everything from being aggressive on tailpipe emission standards to our ambitious conservation goals. The 30X30 goals set up by the Biden administration were modeled after the 30X30 goal set out by the state of California. California is also home to the very first Earth Day, which is now celebrated nationally each and every year.
(19:12:41)
But today, much of our progress is now at risk because just in the first two months of the second Trump administration, we've seen nothing but attacks on this progress of environmental protection. The Trump administration has sought to reverse the endangerment finding, which is the most basic finding of climate science. That yes, greenhouse gases harm public health. They've taken the steps of illegally freezing funding that this Congress, this Congress, had previously appropriated. I'm talking about the types of investments that keep our kids in our communities healthy.
(19:13:34)
Now,
Senator Alex Padilla (19:13:35):
Earlier this month, the EPA, Trump's EPA announced that they would be rolling back more than 30 environmental rules. By doing so, they're not just going to make Americans less healthy, they're also going to hurt our economy, and it's going to clear the way for China to become the world leader in green technology. So much for America first if they continue down that road.
(19:14:08)
But even while the Trump administration has refused to fight climate change, it's one thing to not be helpful, they've actually taken a number of steps that are actually harmful and hurtful, making it harder, for example, for states to respond to natural disasters. They've toyed with tying wildfire disaster assistance to political demands. They've proposed eliminating FEMA. They've implemented federal freezes on things like hazardous fuel removal and the hiring of federal firefighters. Things that we need to do in the winter months to prepare for the hot and dry summer months when the risk is greatest. They've even brazenly opened up dams and flooded portions of the Central Valley to pretend President Trump was helping with the Los Angeles wildfires when the fact is those fires were contained when they released this water, water that's no longer available in the hot, dry summer months.
(19:15:12)
So, they're not just refusing to act or to help. They're making matters worse for states like California and many others. So, that's what this fight is about. Our fight for the environment is about America's health and safety. It's about American jobs and it's about America's future. With all that being said, my question to Senator Booker is this, for the next generation of Americans, for the young people who are tuning in and wondering, "Well, what is it that I can do? Do I have a voice? Do I have any power?" What would you say to them? How can they take action?
Cory Booker (19:16:03):
I love you for that question, my friend. And I just want to talk about anger because I've been all over the place. I read these letters and they make me sad. I read these letters, they make me angry. I read these letters, they make me embarrassed that we are a country where people have to rend their pride and beg for help because of the little teeny modicum of support they get from a service like Medicaid.
(19:16:28)
But I've been saying over and over again, as I've tried to learn from my elders, as I've tried to learn from the heroes I revere, that I learned from my parents that anger is not a bad emotion. It's what you do with that emotion that's important. Does it consume you? Does it drive you to hate other people? Or do you allow it to fuel you? Because it was ferocious love that had ancestors of all of ours in this country make it through the insults, "No Irish need apply." The injuries of Japanese internments. It's what do you do with those feelings? You're not defined by what happens to you. You're defined by how you choose to respond. So, I tell people, if you're not angry, if you're not angry, let that fuel you.
(19:17:19)
Well, what about the heartbreak that I feel? Well, I get emotional sometimes because I read a letter and something in it makes me remember somebody I know or to feel the hurt of constituents begging for help. And it breaks my heart. But I tell you, if America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough, because there's so much heartbreak and fear and pain in a nation where people are seeing their economic hopes and dreams of maybe buying a home or having the money to help their kids with school, or to meet their basic needs, where so many Americans are one flat tire, one $400 hit to their account and they're suddenly doing payday loans or having to struggle to find a way through. There's so much heartbreak in this country. Great love means you make yourself vulnerable to having that heartbreak. But the heart's this powerful tool that even when it's broken, it still beats.
(19:18:27)
And what about people that are afraid? I get afraid sometimes. I think about this legislation if it goes through what's going to happen in my state. I know the hospitals, I know the recipients. But you are telling me, look at our history. Is there anybody in American history that you revere that didn't face extraordinarily fear? Because you cannot have great courage without great fear. Fear is a necessary precondition to courage.
(19:18:59)
And so, you ask me, my friend, what can people do? I want to remind people, as I've said before on this floor, to remember the truth that I heard before I came here. That change does not come from Washington, it comes to Washington by the people who demand it. I said this earlier, do you think that we got suffrage in this country because a bunch of men on this Senate floor right here put their hands in and said, "Hey, fellas, on the count of three, women get the right to vote. Ready? 1, 2, 3, go." No, that's not how it happened. It happened because of Alice Paul. She was a young, young person from New Jersey. She broke with the course of human events.
(19:19:40)
Alice Paul, one of my greatest heroes. You know what she did? She caused a heck of a lot of good trouble, necessary trouble. She's the first American ever, young American in her early 20s, the first American ever to protest in front of the White House. She broke with the older, more mature suffrage organizations and went to the White House and did what she called a silent protest. She held up signs quoting President Woodrow Wilson's own words about freedom and equality and say, "Aren't they true for me?" Like a great Black woman would later say, "Ain't I a woman? Don't I deserve rights?"
(19:20:27)
You don't think she was afraid? Let me tell you how afraid she was. Hundreds came out to jeer her, blocking the street, and then they arrested her for obstructing public passage. And then what do you do with a strong, powerful woman? You say that she's crazy and you throw her in the insane asylum before Gandhi. Sitting in jail, before Gandhi, Alice Paul, this young American from New Jersey goes on a hunger strike and they don't honor her hunger strike. They shove tubes down her throat, crack eggs into the tube, force-feeding her. And thank God for the First Amendment, which is under attack here in America, the freedom of the press under attack here in America. Look at them dragging the journalist Jeffrey Goldberg right now, for doing what? Getting the highest security officials in the land, just showing them the laws that they were breaking.
(19:21:24)
A journalist covered what Alice Paul did. She gets out of jail because of public outrage. She goes back to protesting in front of the White House and Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States, finally comes out and joins her in supporting suffrage. You don't think she was afraid, angry, heartbroken? But she did something different. She chose a new and unusual pathway to show that, "This is not the America I believe in." The poetry of Langston Hughes, "America never was America to me, but I swear this oath, America will be." The poetry of Langston Hughes, "There's a dream in this land with its back against the wall. To save a dream for one, we must save the dream for all." It's what you do with those emotions that matters. Does it call you to greater service? Does it call you to greater sacrifice? Does it call you to greater love?
(19:22:17)
And let me say one more thing. As we were speaking, I just wanted to bring this up. You know I love history, and this is one of my favorite letters, Alex, my colleague, Senator Padilla. It's one of my favorite letters in all of American history because an obscure, unknown American, obscure and unknown, would never have been known, writes a letter to a powerful, powerful man. This obscure American woman that nobody know or would have heard of ever if somebody didn't hear about her story and write a book, she would be gone like most of the great heroes in American history that we don't know their names.
(19:23:01)
It reminded me of the last healthcare debate when Donald Trump tried to take away the ACA and how many amazing, heroic people, who I don't remember their names, but rose up and say, "No, no, no." They got three of my colleagues, McCain, Murkowski, and Collins, to change their vote on this floor and stop healthcare being stripped away from 20 million Americans.
(19:23:23)
Well, here is what I mean. It's not the powerful people with titles and celebrity and offices and billions of dollars that have ever shaped this country. What shapes this nation is hardworking, determined Americans who say, "I'm going to redeem the dream of America. I'm going to heal the soul of this country. I'm going to demand that we do better, that we rise higher, that we make change happen." What can you do, that you ask if you're a young person?
(19:23:51)
I love this letter. It's written by Frederick Douglass to an unknown person that would have never been heard of if it wasn't for this book. And he writes to his friend, "I'm glad to know that the story of your eventful life has been written by a kind lady, and the same is soon to be published. You ask for what you do not need from me," Frederick Douglass writes, "you call upon me for a word of commendation. I need such words from you far more than you could need them from me." He says to this unknown woman. "Especially where your superior labors and devotion to the cause of the lately enslaved of our land are known as I at least know them. The difference between us is very marked…" Says the great Frederick Douglass, one of the most known people. He was the most photographed man period in the 1800s.
(19:24:48)
"The difference between us is very marked," Frederick Douglass says, "most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been in public and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the other hand," he says to this woman, "you on the other hand have labored in private. I have wrought in the day, you in the night. I have had the applause of the crowd and the satisfaction that comes of being approved by the multitude. While the most you have done has been witnessed by a few trembling, scared, and foot-sore bondsmen and women whom you have led out of the house of bondage and whose heartfelt, 'God bless you,' has been your only reward.
(19:25:37)
The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and to heroism. Excepting of John Brown of much encouragement, excepting of John Brown of sacred memory, I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people that you have. Much of what you have done would seem improbable to those who do not know you as I know you. It is to me a great pleasure and a great privilege to bear testimony for your character and your works, and to say to those to whom may come that I regard you in every way truthful and trustworthy." He gave his legitimacy to this book project, Frederick Douglass, to then an unknown woman who did the most heroic things. Her name was Harriet Tubman. How did we get here, America, to this privileged place? Well, we got here because of that incredible infrastructure project that this place didn't fund called the Underground Railroad, where Black Americans and white Americans broke laws, did civil disobedience to stop slavery. How did we get here? We got here because young 20-somethings got up on a bridge named for a grand wizard of the KKK, named the Edmund Pettus Bridge. We got here because they marched. We got here because they were beaten. We got here because they bled. And I may know one or two of the people on that bridge, I may know one of the two of their names, but I am in this body because of them.
(19:27:19)
How did we get here, America? We got here because of people whose names I don't know who fought at Seneca Falls. How did we get here? Because of people whose names I don't know who stood at Stonewall. We got here because of people's names I don't know who were there at Selma. This is the answer to your question. This is an American moral moment. This is the question of where do we stand for healthcare? Where do we stand for Social Security? Where do we stand for VA benefits? Where do we stand for our American neighbor when the call and commandment of every faith in our land is to love your neighbor? What is the quality of our love, America?
(19:27:58)
Now is the time to get angry, but let that anger fuel you. Now is your time to get scared for what's happening to your neighbors and let that fear bring about your courage. Now is your time to stare at despair and say, "You will not have the last word because I'm going to stand up and at least I can give one person hope in this country. Can I give one person hope in this country?"
(19:28:20)
And so, what do I want from my fellow Americans? Do better than me, do better than we in this body. We are flawed and failed people. I see people showing up at our town halls yelling at us, Democrat and Republican, "Do more. How are you letting this happen?" Well, I hate to tell you we're doing all that I can think of. This is why I'm standing here to try to give voice to those people.
(19:28:45)
But what is more needed from now is less people sitting on the sidelines, less people being witnesses of American history, and more people determined to make it, to make history, to call to the conscience of this nation, to say, "I will not stand for another American to lose their healthcare for a billionaire. I will not stand for another veteran who's dedicated to stopping the suicide of other veterans to lose their job. I won't stand for the air quality in my community to be worse because we're letting polluters pollute more. I won't stand for the collective assaults on the Constitution by a man who even the highest judge in our land, a Republican appointed judge said, 'Stop threatening and bullying other branches of government.'"
(19:29:32)
When is it going to be enough? My voice is inadequate. My efforts today are inadequate to stop what they're trying to do. But we, the people, are powerful. We are strong. We have changed history. We have bent the arc of the moral universe. And now is that moral moment again, it's the moral moment again. God bless America. We need you now. God bless America. If you love her, if you love your neighbor, if you love this country, show your love. Stop them from doing what they're trying to doing.
(19:30:09)
For almost 20 hours we have laid out what they're trying to do. 20 hours. I want to stand more and I will, but I'm begging people, don't let this be another normal day in America. Please God, please God, don't let them take Medicaid away from 10, 20, 30 or 40 million Americans who desperately need it. Don't let them do it.
Speaker 7 (19:30:37):
Will the senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (19:30:38):
I will yield to my dear friend who I owe an apology, the last hours of your birthday, as I was preparing for this, I realized that we have a special bond. Before I yield, I want to tell this guy-
Speaker 7 (19:30:53):
The senator was discussing-
Cory Booker (19:30:55):
Hold on. I yield, but I retain the right to the floor. So, I yield, but I retain the right to the floor.
Speaker 7 (19:31:07):
I want to ask some questions about veterans in this country, but before I do so, you talked a lot about courage-
Cory Booker (19:31:13):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 7 (19:31:13):
… and how the world has been changed by people of courage. And I look down at my tie that I have on today, which has the signers of the Declaration of Independence. And we think of that as a sacred document, an important document in our history. But these people had the courage to put their lives on the line for a radical idea that people could govern themselves and that we could be independent of a monarch. And they were putting their lives on the line. That's courage.
(19:31:44)
And I'm afraid we have people around here, Senator, who won't put their jobs on the line for the idea of America, for our Constitution, for the guarantees that are provided in the Constitution, for the First Amendment, for the structure of the Constitution, for the independence and separation of powers, which is what provides the protection, the essential protection for our freedoms.
(19:32:08)
But let me ask a question about veterans. We had a hearing this morning in the Veterans Affairs Committee. We were hearing nominees. And I commented that here we are mostly voting on nominees in this extraordinary historic time as if everything is normal. What I said in the committee this morning was, "We're playing Nearer, My God, to Thee, on the deck of the Titanic. And we're talking about all these nominees and all these votes that we're having and not talking about what's happening to our country."
(19:32:44)
And in terms of veterans, here's what's happening. Number one, every time the guy with the chainsaw takes so much pleasure in firing people, if you hear about a thousand people fired in this government, chances are over 300 of them are veterans. 30% of the federal workforce are veterans. In the VA I suspect it's even a higher number. So, what's happening in the Veterans Administration? The first thing that happened was a hiring freeze. And the hiring freeze affected everybody in the Veterans Administration until somebody said, "Well, wait a minute, what about doctors and nurses? What about direct care workers?" And they said, "Oh, oh, wait a minute. We didn't mean for that." And that's sort of symbolic of the way this thing is going, because they're not thinking. It's ready, fire, aim, time after time.
(19:33:37)
And so, you have a hiring freeze. Then they say, "Oh, well wait a minute. There's this group we want to do." But then they leave the hiring freeze in place for the people that are working behind the scenes. I think the senator will agree that if nobody's there to answer the phone when a veteran calls to make a claim or make an appointment, that's a denial of benefits, just as if they've cut the benefits.
(19:34:01)
Okay. So, 2,400 people fired. And by the way, those people being fired are getting emails that say, "You're being fired for poor performance." There was no analysis of performance. There was no examination of how they were actually doing or what these people were contributing. It was random. It was people who were on probation. You know why? Because they're easier to fire under our laws. So, we've got people being fired ostensibly for poor performance. Think of that as somebody who's put their life on the line for their country because they're a veteran, and then they go to work in public service for the Veterans Administration and they're being told poor performance, when everybody knows that's a sham.
(19:34:47)
So, the next thing that happens is the Veterans Administration announces they're going to fire 83,000 people over the next six months. Now, they say, "We're going to return to the size of the Veterans Administration it was in 2019." Number one, that's an arbitrary number. Why not 2020 or 2016? It's an arbitrary number. It's not based on any analysis or deep thought.
(19:35:16)
Here's the problem, Senator, and I want you to be ready to respond to this. Here's the problem. There have been seven major pieces of legislation benefiting veterans since 2019. The biggest of which, of course, is the PACT Act, the largest expansion of veterans benefit program in probably the last 30 or 40 years. And you need people to administer that program. And instead, they're firing people. And the secretary of the Veterans Administration says, "Don't worry, it's not going to affect services at all." I don't think that statement passes the straight face test. And then we have a statement from the VA that says very proudly, "We've canceled 600 contracts." But they won't tell us what they are. I'm on the Veterans Affairs Committee. We don't know what they are. We don't know what the plan is for those 83,000 people that are going to be fired. And I guess my question is, what do you think of an organization that says to a veteran, "Thank you for your service. You're fired"?
Cory Booker (19:36:32):
Well, as we were talking earlier, the firings are adding up. It's going to be now about 80,000 people from the VA alone. A disproportionate number of them are veterans. And so, that is a rollback in service. We already know that veterans in all of the government agencies represent about 24% of the government workers we're talking about that are getting fired. And these are veterans, as I read their stories, that just want to keep serving their country from the national parks to serving their fellow veterans and helping them get healthcare. And we are seeing people that get exemplary reviews and then they're fired as probational workers under the only way they can, according to the law, is to say that they're a bad federal worker. And then they get insult on top of it when the highest or the most powerful man in the world and the richest man in the world, Trump and Musk, come together and call the guy making $45,000 serving other veterans, they call him a leech. They call him a parasite.
(19:37:32)
And so, I hear what you're saying. These are folks that I read their stories, they did things that few Americans would do. They went overseas and served in combat. We had one of our dear friends here who lost her legs in combat, but she stands taller than most all the people in this body. These are the people that are so ingrained in their bodies and minds and souls to serve America, to love America. This president calls somebody like John McCain a sucker. The guy who dodged the draft.
(19:38:13)
And so, I hear what you're saying and one of the things you're just saying is it makes no sense. Nobody came to the Veterans Committee in the Senate who actually approves the resources, establishes the agencies, and should have the say, according to this document, this vaunted, sacred, civically sacred text, our Constitution. And so, what are you going to say to them? If you don't even know what the plan is, you can't even explain to us what your plan to making the VA system more efficient.
(19:38:45)
Now here's the other thing. We passed in this body … Some of my favorite senators like John Tester, who I miss so much, maybe I even just miss bumping into the guy, because he was the only person in the Senate that let me run from one hallway all the way and hit him. I used to joke that it was this test to see what happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object. He is a void in this place. But he stood for that PACT Act. He gave some of the most fiery speeches and finally we got that bill passed. And we had to add tens of thousands of jobs because of the increased hundreds of thousands of people that were affected from these burn pits or from other challenges. And now we're cutting back 83,000 employees.
(19:39:27)
Patty Murray came down here and said something that affected me in my first weeks as a senator when I in New Jersey, sat down with women veterans and they told me how long they had to wait for gynecological care. And so, what is this administration doing in its 83,000 cuts? They're going to improve services to our female veterans? I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Show me I'm wrong. Because we have an Article 1 duty, oversight, checks and balances. Are we doing that right now?
(19:39:58)
One of the worst things I've seen happen in national security … And by the way, there are national security screw-ups on both parties. Nobody has a monopoly on this. Let's not be overly partisan here, but weeks ago, who are supposed to be the pros and set the example, our national security leadership was using a commercial app to communicate classified documents and they had it on disappearing messages. So, they're violating a law of the land called the Preserving Public Records Act.
(19:40:33)
Now, I've heard from Republicans and Democrats, "This is outrageous. There should be an investigation. We should be asking common sense questions. Was this a pattern and practice of communication? How many other things that are classified have you been communicating about? There's a lot of really important questions that they should have to answer to." But where are the hearings, folks?
(19:40:53)
I just wonder why this body is shrinking from the articulated duties that we all raised our hands and said we would defend and preserve this Constitution and what it says we should do, what it says our jobs should do. But you, you're a senator, I'm a senator. I can't tell you what the cut VA plan is. I can't tell you it. They haven't come in here and told us. Are we doing our job? I can't tell you are we preserving and fighting for national security after one of the biggest national security scandals I've seen since I've been here. They don't have a providence in a partisan way, but they should answer for it. Are we doing our constitutional duty?
(19:41:29)
What about the administration that is ending the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, ending that agency, ending the Department of Education? Do they have the right to do that according to this document? No. Are we saying, "Hey, we're going to stand up for the people and preserve this document?" No. Thank God for the Article 3 branch of government because they're being dragged into court and Republican appointed judges and Democratic appointed judges are saying, "You can't do it." But you know what Trump is doing? He's ignoring the courts and then he's demonizing the judges. You know that threats on judges in America, the threats have gone up 400%. You know that I had a federal judge, God bless her, where somebody thought they were going to her house. They did, but she wasn't home, and they murdered her son and shot her husband. And Trump is out there threatening judges, dragging them on Twitter or X or whatever he's calling it now.
(19:42:25)
This is America. I know people on both sides of the aisle. We believe in common decency. We believe in respect. We believe that the highest office in the land should represent the best of our values, not the worst. Not a guy that we wouldn't even let babysit our kids. And so, I don't know what's going on with veterans, but I'm not going to sit by and do nothing. That's why I'm standing here. That's why I read the voices of so many veterans. Let's elevate the voices of the Americans who are being hurt and harmed. Let's talk for them if they can't talk for themselves. Let's tell them that, "We see you, we love you, and that all of us, we're going to fight for you."
Speaker 8 (19:43:15):
Will the gentleman yield for a question?
Cory Booker (19:43:22):
From you, my friend, who doubled the number of vegans in the Senate?
Cory Booker (19:43:33):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor, and I thank you for being here.
Speaker 1 (19:43:38):
I thank you for being here. Senator Booker, I always knew you were a towering intellect and a phenomenal and passionate speaker and advocate, but I did not know your stamina until today. And I am delighted to join you on the floor and have this opportunity to engage in a dialogue with you.
Cory Booker (19:44:01):
You can't engage in a dialogue. The parliamentarian is going to stare me down. You can ask me questions.
Speaker 1 (19:44:06):
I stand corrected. I'm happy not to engage in a dialogue with you but to ask you a question.
Cory Booker (19:44:11):
And I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 1 (19:44:14):
And let me ask the question this way. I was in the airport yesterday when someone handed me a note that said, "Please save our country." Please save our country, and I think the genesis of the note was her profound concern over the direction of this country, over the increasingly authoritarian direction of this country and what is happening to the rule of law in America. We look at institution after institution and we see the guardrails of our democracy coming down, we see an assault on the rule of law unlike anything we have seen in modern history, maybe in the entire history of the United States of America, each and every institution. And why? Because they can. Because they feel they can.
(19:45:13)
So they're going after the colleges and universities. They're going after the institutions of higher learning. This was an attack that was presaged by JD Vance years ago in a speech where he talked about the professors are the enemy. They have to go after the seat of learning, so they're going after the universities and they're using an enormous cudgel. "We'll cut off your funds. We'll cut off hundreds of millions in your funds if you do things, if you say things that we in the administration don't like. If you irritate the personal predilection of the president, you'll have your funding cut." It is unlawful, it is illegal, and yet they're doing it because they can.
(19:45:53)
They're going after major American law firms because these law firms had the audacity, the unmitigated temerity to hire lawyers or have lawyers who would take on causes inimicable to the president's personal interests. So they're going after these firms and their threatening the livelihood of these firms. "We'll close the courthouse doors. We'll cut your clients off from contracts unless you kiss the ring." And of course, it's not just the firms or what they represent. It's everyone who is in need of a lawyer who now needs to know that if they run afoul of the policy preferences of the administration, they may never get a lawyer. And why are they doing this to law firms? Because they can.
(19:46:49)
And they're going after judges. They're calling for the impeachment of judges. The latest is Judge Boasberg in a case involving the administration grabbing a bunch of people, designating them as part of a Venezuelan gang, and without any due process, without any process at all, taking them to some maximum security prison in El Salvador. And in fact, it would appear doing so even against the court order when the judge said, "Turn those planes around."
(19:47:22)
Now why are they, are they encouraging the impeachment of a judge? Well, I impeached a judge here. I was a lead manager before there was an impeachment of Donald Trump or two of them. I led an impeachment of a corrupt judge. It's the same standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. It is not a high crime or a misdemeanor to disagree in a case brought before a federal district court, to disagree with the flawed reasoning of the government. Why are they doing this to judges? Because they can. Because they can.
(19:47:54)
They're going after the press. They're going after the press and saying, "If you don't call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, we're going to prevent you from attending press events at the White House or on Air Force One." And why are they doing this to the press? This party that claims to be against censorship, why are they doing this to the press? Because they can, and they will continue to do so as long as they believe that they can, until we, and not just we in this body, but we in this country, stand up to them and tell them, "No, you can't. No, you can't."
(19:48:34)
If the slogan years ago was, "Yes, we can," today it has to be "No, you can't. No, you can't." No, you can't trample the rights of the American people. No, you can't censor our speech. No, you can't bring the weight of the Justice Department down on the American people. No, you can't, because we're going to stand together. We universities are not going to let you pick one of us off. We're going to band together. No, we're not going to let you go after the law firms. We're going to band together. No, we're not going to let you go after the press organizations. We're going to demand free speech. Until we come together, until we mobilize in a massive way together to say, "No, you can't. No, you can't," they'll continue to believe that yes, they can violate the law with impunity.
(19:49:28)
So my question, Senator Booker, is how do we tell them, "No, you can't. Not with our country. No. You can't violate the law, violate our values. Violate our interests. No, you can't." How do we tell the administration no?
Cory Booker (19:49:53):
My friend and colleague, I'm hoping that we could figure out thousands of ignition points where Americans can stand up and do that, call to their fellow Americans to do more. I'm not upset at the folks that have been saying to democratic senators and house members and me and challenging me. I've talked to so many of my constituents who've said, "You've got to do more," and all of us have to interrogate ourselves. Because like I said at the very beginning of this, at 7:00 PM on Monday night, I said we have to say to history where we stood, where we stood when they were coming after our constitutional principles, where we stood when they were threatening judges to impeach them for making just decisions. Where we stood when they were taking law firms and threatening their business, unless they came and kowtow to the leader. Where we stood when they were disappearing people from America with the due process that even Anton Scalia said they should have.
(19:50:58)
Where were you when they came after the healthcare of the disabled, the healthcare of the children, the healthcare of the expectant mothers, the healthcare of seniors? Where were you when they attacked veterans, laying them off for no justifiable reason and attacking the VA services that they rely on? Where were you when we turned our back on Ukraine? Where were you when we turned our back on our alliances? Where were you when they took the economy down with tariffs? When they took the economy down by threatening it so consumer confidence drops, where were you? How many things are going on? Before we answer the question. As it says in Hebrew, "Hineni, hineni. Behold, Lord, here I am."
(19:51:51)
And so I confess that I have been imperfect. I confess that I've been inadequate to the moment. I confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that have given lane to this demagogue. I confess we all must look in the mirror and say, "We will do better." And it's not just defining ourselves what we're against. We, the next generation, as the Baby Boomers are leaving the stage, the last Baby Boomer president, we have to say that we are going to redeem the dream. We're going to dream America anew. We're going to start talking about bold things that don't divide people, that unite people. Bold things that excite the moral imagination of a country to do better, to go higher, that call us together. This is the time where new leaders in our country must emerge. I'm not talking about senators, I'm talking about citizens.
(19:52:43)
This time of despair and darkness doesn't demand more darkness. We don't need to demean and degrade people who disagree with us. This is a time for us to do something bigger than that. Do you think Martin Luther King in Birmingham hated Bull Connor, or said, "I'm going to defeat this guy by bringing bigger dogs and bigger fire hoses"? No, but he did say we're going to be so creative, we're going to inspire the moral imagination of the nation. We're going to call to the conscience of the country. We're going to excite them about who we could be. When he went to the march on Washington, he didn't stand there and complain about the demagogues. Listen to his speech. He didn't stand there and demean and degrade the governor of Alabama. He didn't stand there and talk down to Bull Connor. No. He stood before the American people and said, "It's not what you're against. It's what you're for. I have a dream."
(19:53:43)
And now it's our generation. We have to redeem the dream. We have to excite people again. He in the highest office of our land wants to divide us against ourselves, wants to make us afraid, wants to make us fear so much that we're willing to violate people's fundamental rights. We're willing to go after the speech on college campuses. We're willing to go after law firms, go after the freedom of the press. Don't let them do that. Don't become like him. Be an American that says, "I look to the future and I'm excited." Yes, things are tough right now. They're hard, they're scary, they're hurting, but we can overcome this. Our American history, if it's nothing else, American history, if it's nothing else, it is a perpetual testimony to the achievement of impossible things against impossible odds.
(19:54:32)
We are a nation that is great not because of the people that are trying to whitewash our history, to remove great people, Native Americans, Black people and women from our military websites. I don't want a Disneyfication of our history. I don't want to whitewashed history. I don't want to homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America because that speaks to our greatness. And so what do I want people to do? It starts with us, man, and you're doing it. I've seen courage of my colleagues. We're doing it, but we have to do more. And I'm sorry, I'm not going to be a politician that's going to say we are going to do more for you. I'm going to be a politician, I'm going to be a leader that demands more from America.
Speaker 1 (19:55:18):
Will the Senator yield for one last question?
Cory Booker (19:55:20):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 1 (19:55:25):
Well, this gets to exactly Senator Booker, your point. I'm optimistic about this country. Not withstanding this deep, difficult, dark period we are in, I'm optimistic about this country, and I'm optimistic because of something that Alexis de Tocqueville might have said. There is some dispute about whether he actually said this. The mere fact that you can quote Alexis de Tocqueville, you got me. You have me. I would like to believe he said this. "America is a great country because America is a good country."
Cory Booker (19:55:58):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (19:55:59):
If he didn't say it, he should have said it, because it is true of this country. It is what makes me an optimist. There are wonderful, beautiful, patriotic people in every state of the Union, and they will see us through this, but it does, I think, require all of us to be reminded every now and then of the better angels of our nature. Now, I remember standing in that well during the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
Cory Booker (19:56:29):
I remember sitting right here in this seat watching you.
Speaker 1 (19:56:31):
And I'll tell you, I had approached that case as a prosecutor would approach a case, that I just needed to prove the president guilty of what he was charged with. But it became apparent very quickly that that was not enough, that notwithstanding the abundant evidence of his guilt, I needed to show something more. I needed to show that it was dangerous to keep him in office. Well, tragically events since have proven my point, but I made a different argument at that point of the trial which I think gets us to the present moment, which is that truth should matter to us. What's right should matter to us, and even if it doesn't matter to the President, it should matter to us that we are decent as Americans.
(19:57:26)
We are decent, we are good and decent people. As Americans, that's who we are. We don't believe that when someone is needing medical help, that they should be turned away. We don't believe that we should turn our back on our neighbor. We believe in extending our hand. We believe we should be able to disagree with each other without it becoming a personal hatred or antagonism. We're Americans, this is who we are. I do think sometimes we forget, and we have to remind ourselves that as Elijah Cummings used to say, we're better than this. We are better than this.
Cory Booker (19:58:17):
Yes. I miss Elijah.
Speaker 1 (19:58:18):
And you remind us of this all the time, Senator Booker, you really do.
(19:58:23)
You also remind us that we're not defined by what we're against, we are defined by what we're for, and I am fully on the same page with you that we haven't lived up to our responsibility as a party and what we're for. I think our democracy is in trouble because our economy has been in trouble, and I think our economy has been in trouble because it's not like after the Depression or during the Depression or the Great Recession when people are out of work.
(19:58:55)
The problem today is not that people are out of work. The problem today is that people are working. They are working and they still can't get by. And you have too many millions of Americans who see their quality of life and they look at what their parents had and see it as better, and they look at the future for their kids and see it as worse. And amidst that economic difficulty, they're ready to embrace anyone who offers something different, any demagogue who comes along and promises they alone can fix it. And while this demagogue is not going to fix it, and indeed, he's made their lot much worse, it is not going to fix itself. It falls on us to come up with those big ideas.
(19:59:41)
Now, some of those big ideas are not new. Medicare for All, which I support, is a big idea that would expand healthcare access for millions of people, and make sure parents can go to work and understand that if they get sick or their kid gets sick, that they will have access to healthcare. We haven't kept pace with changes in the nature of work, changes that are going to accelerate with artificial intelligence. Changes which have meant that over the last several decades as the country's become more productive, that productivity and prosperity has simply not been shared with the people who made it possible. And I think this economic anxiety which is felt all over the world with these global changes in the marketplace have put great stress on the whole democratic experiment.
(20:00:34)
If democracy is not working for people, they will flirt with other models like authoritarianism. But we are here to tell folks that is not the direction we want to go in, but it's still incumbent on us to offer bold ideas for how we can make the economy work for people again. But I do think that what has led people into such bitter antagonisms with each other has been a lot of this uncertainty, the feeling that they are only a car payment or a health problem away from failure, and it's up to us to address that.
(20:01:16)
And so I join you, Senator Booker, in your optimism about the American people. I join you in the call on all of us really in both parties, but if they're not going to do it, it falls on us to put forward the big, bold economic plans that will ensure that we can answer the central question of our time, which is if you're working hard in America, can you still earn a good living?
Cory Booker (20:01:43):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (20:01:44):
We need to be able to answer that question, yes, you can. And right now, what we are seeing with this tax cut for billionaires and large corporations is just going to make the problem so much worse. But I want to thank you, Senator Booker, for your irrepressible optimism about the country, which I share. I want to thank you for seizing the helm today and every day to put forward that positive vision for our country. And my question is, where do you find the energy, my friend?
Cory Booker (20:02:31):
I don't know. I'm finding it for my colleagues right now. I'm finding it from my friends. I'm finding it from their heart and their commitment, and I'm finding it from the people whose names and stories we're reading. And more than you know, I appreciate your friendship. I'm so happy you're my colleague now, and I believe that our future, our tomorrows, as bad as things seem, I still believe that our tomorrows are better than our yesterdays. Thank you, and I know you share that.
Speaker 1 (20:03:00):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (20:03:05):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (20:03:10):
Before I yield to you, I just want you to know, I love you my friend, and thanks. We're doing some good things recently, you and I. We're trying to solve some big problems, and I appreciate that. So I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 2 (20:03:26):
Thank you, Senator. Unlike Senator Schiff who said that he didn't know of your stamina before now, I knew well the stamina of Corey Booker, and I've always admired it. Not just physical stamina, but moral stamina, the courage of conviction, the stamina to stand up and speak truth to power, which has become now one of the most common phrases that is used in public life. But Cory Booker has epitomized it throughout his career, not only in this body, but as mayor of Newark and as a leader in sports when he was an All-American athlete at Stanford. That physical stamina was matched by a moral stamina that is invaluable in life today, because Americans have come to prize above all, integrity, authenticity, genuineness, which Cory Booker epitomizes.
(20:04:41)
And so it's not just his eloquence today on the floor and the soaring rhetoric that we have heard from him. It's his understanding and his sense of real life impacts of what we do here on everyday Americans, and what everyday Americans are doing right now as we speak here on the floor. Everyday Americans are in the grocery stores where they're seeing higher and higher prices. Everyday Americans are at the VA hospital where their doctors and nurses and clinicians and schedulers and counselors may be out of a job because they may be among the tens of thousands targeted for dismissal. Everyday Americans are in schools, K through 12 and higher education, where the resources available for their teachers in the classrooms right now in real time are going to be cut. In fact, the workforce at the Department of Education will be cut by one half as we speak, and funds will be no longer available to teach everyday Americans.
(20:06:06)
And of course, everyday Americans right now are in hospitals and clinics. They're undergoing treatment for life-threatening diseases. Right now, they are lying on a hospital bed with needles in their arms, or receiving other kinds of treatment that have been made available, lifesaving treatments by the research at NIH that will be crippled because of the cuts that we're seeing.
(20:06:40)
And of course, everyday Americans are receiving social security checks, and social security will be cut by this administration. Medicaid that provides for those everyday Americans who are in doctors' offices right now in America. Even as we engage in this kind of soaring rhetoric, everyday Americans are contending with the real life problems of living in America.
(20:07:14)
We live in a country that has never been so unequal in terms of wealth and pay. And if we look back to our own history, we see that that inequality is a danger to all of us. The stock market crashed and depression occurred after the Gilded Age when inequality became so drastic that the middle class was in danger.
(20:07:42)
And of course, everyday Americans who are right now in the military are experiencing anger, disgust, fear, because the secrets about what they are doing, even as they engage in operations around the world, like those pilots who are going to bomb the Houthis, engaged in that top secret mission, have learned that the details of that mission, the time of their launch, the targets, the timing of their strikes, the weather, the identity of their targets, all were being discussed over a non-secure channel by a careless, reckless Secretary of Defense.
(20:08:30)
And I don't need to go into the details of what was discussed except to say our allies are reacting with that same disgust, anger and fear, and they are having doubts about sharing intelligence with us. The Israelis are outraged by what they've seen. The intel communities of other countries are aghast and appalled, and we have yet to explore fully all of the potential ramifications, like what other conversations may have been on that unsecured kind of platform? Who else knew about them, what the motives were? There needs to be a criminal investigation. I've called for it, and everyday Americans have a right to be fearful and angry, just as those pilots should be, and our allies and intelligence communities all around the world.
(20:09:34)
So we need not only an investigation, we need action to hold accountable the individuals, beginning with the Secretary of Defense, who should resign, the National Security Advisor, who should resign, but a criminal investigation launched by the FBI National Security Division to hold accountable anyone responsible for this breakdown of security, to meet the standard of public service that Senator Booker has outlined as what we should demand of ourselves, and the responsibility that the American people have a right to deserve.
(20:10:19)
So my question really is about the standard of public service that we should expect of our leaders, and whether there is something we can do. I'm asked so often, Senator Booker, as I go back to Connecticut, and I'm sure you are in New Jersey, what can we do? What can we do? You are leading us on the floor of the Senate by showing what we should be doing. Fighting back, sounding the alarm for everyday Americans who are in the grocery store, in their schools, at the VA Clinics, social security offices. What can we do?
Cory Booker (20:11:20):
I'm going to answer your question. I just first want to say thank you. There's been so many Congress people coming onto the floor from the House of Representatives. It reminds me of some other times where big things were happening and people would come to the floor, but this is a lot more, and I just want to express thank you for their kindness. Also, I called the chairwoman of the CBC last night and then texted her, and the force of the CBC, which has been giving me spirit and strength for a long time, is really one of the best parts of my time here as a United States Senator, and the fact that they have come through constantly means a lot to me.
(20:11:57)
I'm grateful that my cousin, Pam, has been here the entire time, just like Chris Murphy, the entire time in the gallery and I'm so grateful for her. I love her and she's sitting now next to my brother, and I'm just thankful for that. I want to answer your question because I get it all the time, and I'm not sure how to answer it all the time. I read letters and it actually got me emotional in the middle of the night where somebody would detail all their challenges. They would render personal information to me in letters about their struggles with healthcare, about their conditions, about their pain, about their hurt, just sending it out to their government official that they've never probably met, hoping that they might just listen to you and be activated by your voice, but then many of them ended the letter with that question.
(20:12:46)
I am here to help you in any way. It really moves me because I believe in the deep decency of our country, and so I just want to try to answer that question more with me trying to think creatively about more that I can do as a leader. Because as I've said before, I think we as Democratic leaders have to start thinking more creatively, because obviously we don't control the Senate, we don't control the House, but we have positions that were given to us in trust by the people we represent. And moments like this require us to be more creative or more imaginative, or just more persistent and dogged and determined. And I say that in front of some of my colleagues on this floor who I know personally like you, but also some of my CBC colleagues who are sitting over here to my right who have been my rock for almost 13 years.
(20:13:40)
And I just know, before I turn to my left, to the woman who represents the most important person in my 55 years, my mom, I just want to say that the answer to that question has to be something, that I will do something more than I'm doing now. Because the cause is so great, the challenges are so real, that I will do something that I have not done before to try to help my neighbor in a time of moral crisis in our country. And that I may be afraid, my voice may shake, but I'm going to speak up more. I may be demoralized by what's happening, but I'm going to find a way to get out of bed and breathe and know that I can make myself feel a little bit better by helping another person.
(20:14:32)
I don't know what it is, but we've got to help each other now through this, and know I am a person of faith, and it was said to me by a colleague that know that we've been willing to work through the night, but joy will come.
(20:14:45)
I'm going to turn to my left because I always say that she's a senator, but she's had one of the hardest jobs in all of America, which is to be the president of a shul. I met her and I realized she could probably do anything.
Speaker 2 (20:15:01):
I know about that.
Cory Booker (20:15:02):
Yes. I am not Jewish, but my name is Booker so I always say I'm Mish Booker. So there's a formal way I have to do this. So I see you, I love you, and I am wondering if you have something to ask me.
Jacky Rosen (20:15:20):
Yeah. Will, the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (20:15:22):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Jacky Rosen (20:15:27):
Well, Booker, or a people of the book. People of the book.
Cory Booker (20:15:33):
That is powerful. Yes.
Jacky Rosen (20:15:34):
There you go. It's very powerful. The book you believe in, the books you believe in, but you read, we've heard everyone quote the Bible, philosophers, great thinkers and leaders, and you are one of them. And it has been my privilege to sit here next to you on this desk for the last six years I've been here, the best seat in the Senate.
Cory Booker (20:15:56):
You and I, and I'm going to-
Jacky Rosen (20:15:57):
And take care of your mother, who is my constituent. She is my constituent, so I have your precious mother in our hands.
Cory Booker (20:16:08):
Who I suspect like my cousin and my brother in the gallery, that my mom is watching from Las Vegas.
Jacky Rosen (20:16:15):
Yes. And we appreciate what a good mother she was and how she raised you to be strong and to be smart and to be kind. And boy, oh boy, did she give you some damn stamina. I'll just tell you that, sir. We are in awe. But my question is, thank you, Mr. Booker. Thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for using your voice to stand up against Trump's administration, reckless and extreme policies. And we've got a lot to talk about here, so I'm going to bring it back to Nevada.
Cory Booker (20:16:46):
Yes.
Jacky Rosen (20:16:46):
Because we've got a lot of families in my state, and just like you, those letters, they're overwhelming and they bring me to tears. The stops in the grocery store and the airport and the shopping mall and the gas station, over and over again. People are worried. People are worried and they want us to help, and they're wondering about this. People have talked to me about-
Cory Booker (20:17:09):
Oh, Senator.
Jacky Rosen (20:17:11):
oops, thank you. People have talked to me about how high costs at the grocery store are squeezing their budgets. They're concerned that the Trump tariffs, well, what are they going to do? Prices ain't going down. They are going to make prices go up instead of going down. President Trump declared tomorrow is liberation day. Liberation day. This is what he plans, to impose the latest round of across the board tariffs for goods on several nations, tariffs that amount to a national sales tax on every single person that goes to a grocery store in Nevada, in New Jersey, I see my esteemed colleague, Senator Duckworth in Illinois, and every state in this nation. Tariffs that amount to a national sales tax.
(20:17:59)
Now, Nevada's economy relies heavily on tourism. I don't have to tell anyone that, and these tariffs don't target tourism specifically, but make no mistake, they will have a profound impact on a city like Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world. Because when prices go up across the board, what happens? Families' budgets at the kitchen table, those kitchen table budgets there are squeezed. It means the number of visitors coming to Las Vegas, the visitors that fuel our economy,
Jacky Rosen (20:18:31):
… economy go down. It means the price that every single person, every single hotel, every single service we have goes up because of those tariffs and so it's going to have a devastating impact on Nevada, on our local economy, on our small businesses. 99% of businesses in Nevada are small businesses. Small businesses. It's going to have a devastating impact on them and the good paying jobs it supports. We see the impact. International travel down in the United States. Down. Now, that's a whole nother discussion. Someone will be asking that question too. It's driving down our visitor numbers. It hurts our economy in Nevada, hurts our economy all across this great nation. In fact, booking for flights in Canada, they're already down by 70% compared to last year. Canada, our great neighbor, partner and ally to the north, down 70%. The most troubling part as a recent report estimates that up to 14,000 jobs, hospitality jobs, could be at risk due to decreased international travel as a result of these horrible, misguided tariffs.
(20:19:47)
I just want to tell you that I'm looking at all of my colleagues and I'm looking at you and you have given us the inspiration to stand here, to use our voice, to use our power, to show that we are not without a say in this country. We are not without a say and we cannot go quietly ever without that fight. Senator Booker, I want to ask you what you think these tariffs are going to do. Well, not to just the place where your mom lives in Las Vegas, but where families live all across this country and every price at the market, every price at the gas station, the mall, wherever you go, wherever you go and where people depend, like my Nevadans on their livelihood for tourism. I will repeat what Senator Blumenthal said. Senator Booker, what can we do? That's the question we're asked. What can we do?
Cory Booker (20:20:46):
I want to answer your question, but first I want to just say what you already know. You represent my mom. You represent one of her best friends, Lou. You represent my Aunt Shirley. You represent my Uncle Butch. You represent my Aunt Marilyn. You represent so much of my family. This is the place where my father died, when Harry Reid came to his bedside when he was sick and I was still running for this office and showed me the extraordinary kindness of senators from Nevada. That tradition has continued. I'm so grateful for you. My family's grateful for you. I'm grateful that we were founders of the Black Jewish Caucus and in fact I'm going to…
Jacky Rosen (20:21:19):
[inaudible 00:37:51].
Cory Booker (20:21:22):
Juneteenth Seder coming up. I'm going to put this on as you have it on, as I think about Edan Alexander and all those who are suffering. I'm just so grateful for our friendship and what we've done against anti-Semitism, what we've done for the Abraham Accords. You are somebody that you and I find a lot of ways to work with and one of the best things I saw in you was on January 6th sitting in this row, me, you Mark Kelly and I always say that often the most difficult circumstances, you see the best of people and I don't know if you remember this, but staffers started coming, rushed in. Usually you have to have special identification and then some of them stood behind us and they were crying and they were upset and they were frightened and I just watched you go from Senator to mother and I watched you comforting people in their times of fear when they thought they were going to be killed literally and you were this voice of comfort, voice of calm. I saw you in one of our country's worst crisis. I saw your light. I saw your love. I saw the Jewish mom and I benefited from that. I just feel that Trump mocks us. What does his liberation day mean to the people that are shackled to debt? From medical debt. They're shackled with student debt, they can't afford the rising cost of groceries. What does liberation mean to people who are chained by fear right now, waiting with bated breath to see if the Medicaid programs they rely on are going to be cut. What does his liberation mean? To people who are literally in jails right now because they were disappeared from our streets. What does his liberation mean to people who can't afford homes because of his tariffs? Who dreamed of a new car? That's going to go up as well. I don't know what he means by liberation. I honestly don't. I wish he'd explain it to the American people. Who's liberated? In this financial times, who's liberated? I don't think the law firms feel liberated. They were so threatened by you that they felt the only way they could get from out from under the threat of you is to come to you and beg them and offer them and say, we'll do this and say, we'll give you millions of dollars of pro-bono worth. I don't think they feel liberated.
(20:23:55)
What about the people that are banned from the Press Corps because they won't call it the Gulf of America? The idea of the press, the freedom of the press. Do they feel his liberty? What does his liberty mean? What does Donald Trump's Liberty Day tomorrow mean? In a nation where I read letter after letter of people that feel like their liberty is gone, that they're losing sleep at night worried Social security. What does liberty mean to the veteran that was laid off? That fought for my liberty? What does Donald Trump's liberty mean? What is he talking about? What does his liberty mean to Canada, who fought next to us? Who died next to Americans fighting for our causes. What does his liberty mean to them? I don't understand Donald Trump. I really don't. There are going to be PhD students writing about him for generations. He'll love that. In heaven he'll look down and say, I'm so happy people talking about me, but I will tell you this.
(20:25:06)
I love great presidents. I love that Lincoln said, "With malice towards none, with charity towards all", but I hear Donald Trump say with malice towards everybody that does not tell me how great I am and Charity? I don't know if he understands that, what it means to show sympathy and compassion and empathy and to help people whether they like you or not. I love great presidents. I love FDR. You have nothing to fear, but fear itself, but the letter, after letter, after letter, the word fear, the word terror, I was reading from voices from my state and across the country. It's as if Donald Trump is saying, be afraid. Be afraid of me. The big man with the power. Be afraid. Be afraid. Be afraid. There was another president that said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall and yet Ukrainian Americans are watching their president go, not Mr. Gorbachev tear down the wall. They're saying, hey, Mr. Putin, come in and take the Donbas. I'm going to start the negotiations, not with Zelensky at the table. I'm going to call him a dictator. I'm going to start the negotiations from a position to giving Putin what he wants, Ukrainian sovereign land and that's where we'll start the negotiation. I love John F. Kennedy quoting a poet saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Donald Trump, it's ask not what your country can do for you. Ask, what can you do for Donald Trump because I will threaten you until you kowtow. I will threaten to run primaries against you. If you don't fall in line and vote for things you know are wrong. I will terrorize your law firm unless you come to me and kiss my ring. I will make political your applications for your merger. I will drop cases against you. I will pardon you if, as he said in a recent pardon, he was a pro-Trump guy. I don't understand this. I really don't. I don't understand how he tries to divide Americans. I got on a plane once. I'm on a plane and I'm juggling to put my carry on up and I get lots of reactions in airports. I have to say on the whole part, good, but occasionally, I think my colleagues this May next month should send me a Mother's Day card because occasionally I get called you mother with something following it.
(20:27:43)
Here I am putting up my overhead baggage and I sit down next to two people. The presiding officer before this, my friend from Alabama, two Alabamans. One 80 years old, one 60 years old, mother and daughter and they see people paying attention to me and they said, "Who are you? Are you a professional athlete?" and as a middle-aged, overweight black guy, my ego wasn't insulted. I wanted to say, "Well, I could be, but I chose to serve the people", but no, I go, "No ma'am, I'm not." Well, who are you then? I go, well, I'm a senator and we are so conditioned in America if we meet a congressperson out and about, the first thing we want to know is whose team are you on, my team or their team? US versus them. Horrible dynamic of tribalism in our country and I took a deep breath and I looked at these two great American women and I said, "Ma'am, I'm a Democrat." The woman next to me looks at me suddenly soured and she said, I should have brought my Trump hat and she wheeled it away from me. Immediately I said, "You know what, I'm not going to play. I'm not going to dance to this tune. I'm going to scratch this record, scratch this record."
(20:28:52)
I looked at her and I go, "Oh my gosh. Donald Trump signed two of the biggest bills I wrote in Congress into law." The First Step Act, which we passed in this body, 87 votes. We would've got 88 if one of my dear friends and colleagues was not off trying to do whatever in the world and he wasn't here to vote on it and I talked about opportunities. I was working with Tim Scott to get billions of dollars invested into some of our country's poorest rural and urban areas. Now they were confused, but by the end of that flight, Donald Trump didn't divide us though. By the end of that flight, I was talking to them like fellow Americans and we found so many points of connection, so much common humanity and so much common cause. These outrage machines, TV and these devices, I want to say to America, their financial interest is to keep your eyes on the screen as much as they possibly can. You know what sells? Division, divide, moral indignation.
(20:29:51)
I will tell you this. I have this great friend part of the ball club named Van Jones. He told me this story that he was on Crossfire on CNN and Van Jones got on with Newt Gingrich. Van Jones, a green activist, a guy I met in law school, extraordinary man, speaks like a poet to me and he worked in the Obama White House and then Newt Gingrich, very known Republican. The two of them sit down, but Brene Brown writes something extraordinary. She writes, "It's hard to hate up close, so pull people in." They get on this show called Crossfire and they find out with all the differences they have, they also have commonalities, things they agree on and they actually kind of like each other. They go to the producers and they say, "Could you let us do the final segment called Ceasefire? Can you let us do the final segment called Ceasefire?" The producers say, "Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead." They do this last segment talking about the areas they agree, but the producers run in after a few shows and stop them. Can't do it. Why? Ratings are going down.
(20:31:19)
There are a lot of legitimate differences in places I'm going to stand my ground and fight for people's healthcare, for people's social security, I'm going to fight, but I'm never going to get into a position where anybody in this country can make me hate another American because this is the age where we have to figure out how to live up to those words of their E pluribus unum. That's the call of our ancestors, to put more indivisible into this one nation under God. That's the challenge and there's enough things that we agree on in America and especially when we stop and talk about things like the child tax credit. Most Americans are for that.
Tammy Duckworth (20:31:54):
Will the Senator yield?
Cory Booker (20:31:55):
Oh gosh. I've been waiting for you, for crying out loud. Why didn't you interrupt me earlier?
Tammy Duckworth (20:32:00):
You were on a roll. You were on a roll.
Cory Booker (20:32:03):
Come on, Senator.
Tammy Duckworth (20:32:05):
Will you yield for a question?
Cory Booker (20:32:06):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Tammy Duckworth (20:32:09):
I don't know what kind of food you eat on that vegan diet of yours, but I need to figure out more of that vegan diet. One place where we can and do care that unites us as a nation is the role of our nation's veterans, the heroes who have sacrificed for us, although with this president, I guess he doesn't hold veterans in the same esteem. As someone who has bled for this nation, I guess I joined the ranks of the suckers and losers who have bled and died for this nation in the president's estimation, but I just wanted to start off by saying thank you again, Senator Booker, for all that you're doing as you hold the floor today, but also every other day. To underline the pain and damage Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing, not just to our country, but to middle-class Americans throughout our country and tragically that harm even extends to our nation's veterans, who have sacrificed so much to protect this country and keep Americans safe, who should be shielded from this needless chaos and uncertainty.
(20:33:13)
Senator Booker, I know you are well aware that this administration is firing more veterans than any other administration in modern history. It's been reported that this administration, in these first few months in office, has fired approximately 6,000 veterans from federal service across this country. This list of firing, especially at the VA, has resulted in operations for our veterans being canceled. We've seen reports of the caregivers hotline, a hotline that was set up to support the caregivers who provide medical caregiving to their loved ones who served and sacrificed and are now disabled. There are delays in that hotline being answered because Donald Trump fired all of these veterans. There are people who support the crisis hotline were also fired. I know this because some of them aren't my constituents and asked for help. I had one individual who'd served in the military for over two decades, did such a good job on the crisis hotline as a frontline person answering the phone, trying to prevent their brothers and sisters from the idea of suicide. They did such a good job that they were promoted to be a trainer. They were promoted to be a supervisor, which then made them probationary and they were fired.
(20:34:36)
We were able to get some of these people their jobs back. Some of them are still out there without their jobs. This is what Donald Trump and Elon Musk has already done. This does not help our nation's veterans. This does not help our nation's heroes. If anything, it is a betrayal to them, is a betrayal, a cruel betrayal to the men and women who bravely answered the call to serve our country in uniform. A call that this president dodged five different times when he had the opportunity to serve. Our men and women in uniform came home from serving and many of them chose to continue their service to our country as federal employees. How are Elon and Trump thanking these brave, selfless Americans? They're doing it by showing them the door and leaving them wondering how they'll be able to afford next week's groceries or next month's rent, forcing them to look for a new job. The senator from New Jersey and I are both working together to help our heroes get their jobs back, which is why I've introduced a Protect Veterans Jobs Act to reinstate all veterans who are wrongly fired from the federal jobs by Trump and Musk.
(20:35:44)
It is a critical bill to help those who've already been fired, but according to recent reports, Trump and Musk are just getting started. From everything that we've seen. They're planning on firing another 80,000 VA employees, almost a third of whom are veterans themselves. That's going to be another 25 veterans on a chopping block on top of the 6,000 who've already been fired. It is a complete betrayal from Trump and from Musk. Firing these VA employees will even harm veterans that Trump is not firing because it's going to force them to wait longer to see their healthcare providers. It's going to make them wait longer to have their disability claims adjudicated. It is going to make them wait longer to have someone pick up their calls at the veterans crisis line. It is going to make them wait even longer and their loved ones wait even longer to have their burial and funeral expense reimbursements request process and so much more, all while the VA's backlog of unprocessed claims continues growing. I have another question for you, but first, for the senator from New Jersey, I was wondering if you could tell us if you have heard from your veterans who have been fired? If you have heard from your veterans who've seen their services delayed in New Jersey and around the country?
Cory Booker (20:37:07):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This is my veteran's book. This is what I was reading from earlier and everything you're saying is right and it's such an insult. I read stories from our veterans. It's such an insult to the highest calling of our country to stand and serve as you did, as you did. Injured veterans, disabled veterans. I read an article about thousands of disabled veterans that want to serve their country, love this nation so much that they want to serve in humble jobs, doing noble things and how do we treat them? They say 83,000 people being laid off. A quarter of them are veterans from the VA itself, but this doesn't include VA veterans that do things for the park Service and our national parks. Veterans that do things for us in the Defense Department. Veterans that do things for us across this country. I found in my state some of the greatest leaders. I have met in my state are veterans who are still serving veterans and then veteran entrepreneurs, you know the data. They're incredibly successful. They create to our economy. The VA is cutting not just veteran jobs, they're cutting contracts with veteran owned businesses. I don't understand how you can say out of one side of your mouth, you honor and respect our veterans, which is not what our president's always said. Dear God, what he said about John McCain.
(20:38:48)
I still remember John McCain is in a town hall with Barack Obama fighting fiercely to be the president of the United States and somebody gets up and says that Barack Obama, as if it's an insult, it's not, is a Muslim or something and he grabs the mic back and corrects her. One of his voters, he corrects her on national TV. This is wrong. He's a guy who loves his wife, Christian, loves his family. I mean, that is character and honor. Can you ever see that from our president now? This is how wrong I was and I want to admit I've made mistakes. I've been wrong. I remember where I was when he said in his campaign that he's no hero, that people who are captured are not heroes. I said to the people that were with me, up, there goes his 15 minutes of fame. I thought that was the end of Trump, but somehow you could become president of the United States when you insult the veterans who serve. I want to read you and I know you have another question, but can I read you… I don't know. John Lewis and John McCain. The two Johns coming up a lot in so far in my 20 hours, but I want to read you this. I want to read this when you were here because I read this.
(20:40:11)
This is John McCain writing. Let me all tell you what I think about the Pledge of Allegiance, our flag and our country. I want to tell you a story about when I was a prisoner of war. I spent five years in the Hanoi Hilton. In the early years of our imprisonment, the North Vietnamese kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971, the North Vietnamese moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans led by people like Nancy and Ronald Reagan, on behalf of a few hundred POWs, 10,000 miles from home. One of the men moved into my cell was Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the U.S Navy. He later earned a commission. He became a naval flying officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation for the opportunities his country and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.
(20:41:30)
The uniforms we wore in prison consisted of a blue short sleeve shirt, trousers that looked like pajama trousers and rubber sandals that were made out of automobile tires. I recommend them highly. My pair lasted my entire stay. As a part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home and some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a piece of white cloth and a piece of red cloth and fashioned himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple months, he sewed the American flag on the inside of his shirt. Every afternoon before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of our cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know that saying the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important and meaningful part of our day now, our day in the Senate, but I can assure you that for those men in that stark prison cell, it was indeed the most important and meaningful event of our day.
(20:42:46)
One day, the Vietnamese searched our cell and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside and removed it. That evening, they returned, opened the door of the cell, called for Mike Christian to come out, closed the door of the cell and for the benefit of us all, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then they opened the door of the cell and threw him back inside. He was not in good shape. We tried to comfort and take care of him as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle of which we slept, four naked light bulbs in each corner of the room. After things quieted down, I went to lie down and go to sleep. As I did, I happened to look into the corner of the room. Sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of white cloth, a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle was my friend Mike Christian, sitting there with his eyes almost shut from his beating, making another American flag.
(20:44:02)
He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was for us to be able to pledge our allegiance to our flag and our country. Duty, honor, country. We must never forget those thousands of Americans who with their courage, with their sacrifice, with their lives, made those words live for all of us. That is our veterans. That is you. That is you my friend and Trump is coming after them. Doge is coming after them. They're firing them right now and are we silent America? Are we silent? When the bravest amongst us, the most honorable amongst us, the most noble amongst us are losing their jobs. Did you speak up when they came for American veterans? When they fired them for no good reason? What did you do? What did you say? I say no.
Tammy Duckworth (20:45:03):
Will the senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (20:45:08):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Tammy Duckworth (20:45:12):
Thank you for what you have said. John McCain was a true hero. He said the same thing to me when I first met him. I do have a question for you, which will come later, but I thought I would tell you the story of how I met John McCain. I was recently wounded. Within weeks of being able to finally sit up for the first time, I was in physical therapy and Senator McCain came and visited us. The nurses and occupational therapists and physical therapists came running in and said, "Senator McCain, this is Captain Duckworth. She's a hero just like you" and said to me, "You're a hero like Senator McCain. You were both shot down." Senator McCain looked at me and said in that voice of his, "Didn't take no hero to fly into a missile. The good pilots don't get shot down." I knew then and there that I really liked him because he was right. The real heroes were the buddies who carried me out of that field in Iraq. The real heroes are the sergeant in the rescue bird that carried me out and has to live with the post-traumatic stress. The real heroes are all the men and women who survived and came home and need the care, that they have rightfully earned. The care that we're providing with the Pact Act, a bill that you supported, a bill that you spoke up for.
(20:46:43)
Even while our colleagues across the aisle, many of them said it was too expensive and at a time when we should be expanding the Pact Act, when we should be recognizing more of the illnesses and injuries that came out of service around burn pits and toxic substances, you have a president who is cutting the VA, who wants to cut those jobs, who want to go after our veterans benefits, whom, just like Elon Musk has said, sees veterans as a people with their hands out. We don't have our hands out. We're simply asking for what this country promised us. Where were you, Mr. President? Where were you, Elon, when this country asked for someone to serve? When this country asked, who amongst you will leave your family, leave your friends, leave your neighbors and put on her colors and defend her, not for your mom, not for your dad, not for your family members, but for strangers who will never know your name, will never know your sacrifice. Who among you will do that? Thank God that from Lexington and Concord, from Iwo Jima, from Ia Drang Valley, from Kandahar, from Fallujah. There were Americans who stood up and said, I will. I will defend this great nation. I will wear her colors with pride.
(20:48:20)
All we have to do as a nation is live up to one tiny little percentage of that sacrifice that they made. Let them have the benefits that they've earned and yet Donald Trump and Elon Musk are cutting those benefits. The biggest predictor, the biggest predictor of veterans homelessness is not post-traumatic stress disorder. It is not a health condition. The biggest predictor of veterans homelessness is lack of employment. Not having a job. That begins the spiral downwards for veterans that ends up with them becoming homeless. I will tell everyone in these chambers and in this nation, we are all dishonored when a veteran must lay their head down on the very same streets that he or she defended to sleep that night. We are all dishonored. The VA has done tremendous work, tremendous work to fight veterans homelessness and that has been a bipartisan effort. These cuts, these cuts that are costing veterans their jobs are going to start some of those veterans, unfortunately, on that path to homelessness. These cuts are going to mean those veterans homelessness programs that will prevent our veterans from becoming unhoused, those programs will not be able to take care of all the veterans of the demand. I'm already seeing it.
(20:49:48)
I spent this past weekend in Missouri at the Cochrane VA Medical Center, hearing about the challenges that they're facing. They need to expand. They don't need to shrink. They said there's going to be another 25,000 veterans moving into the area. They actually have to expand their services and yet Elon Musk enabled by Donald Trump is cutting veterans jobs, veterans benefits because according to them, veterans aren't heroes. We are suckers and losers. Well, I beg to differ. I beg to differ. I am sure that my colleague from New Jersey knows that firing 80,000 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs wouldn't just cost longer delays for veterans, it will doom our VA's ability to process the influx of claims under the Pact Act, a law that is helping ensure veterans who were exposed to toxins while serving can get the care that they have earned, with more than 1 million claims already approved in a short time since it's become law. I can't think of a single good reason to hurt so many veterans and I'll just ask this Senator from New Jersey, can you think of any reasons?
Cory Booker (20:50:56):
Oh God. I'm very moved by your comments. I want to say that from John McCormick, to Jack Reed, the Senate has a good number of people who serve this nation who answered the call. They should all get our honor and respect. Senator Blumenthal served and he has a son, a Navy Seal. We should have a reverence for those people because a lot of them didn't make it back. A lot of people didn't make it back and a lot of people who came home came home with horrible wounds, visible and invisible. We should all be ashamed of the veterans that are committing suicide. We should all be ashamed of veteran homelessness. We have the capacity. We are a great enough nation to help them, but the ones that didn't come back, they watch over us. They look down upon this nation.
(20:51:50)
I want to read you one more thing because I was raised by parents, they really worried raising me in an affluent town, in a beautiful home, that I wouldn't recognize how extraordinarily privileged I was. My dad used to say to me, "Boy, don't walk around this house like you hit a triple. You were born on third base." My dad would say things to me like, "Boy, don't sit at this table and not realize that you drink deeply from wells of freedom and liberty that you did not dig. You eat from banquet tables of blessings prepared for you by your ancestors. You must metabolize those blessings, not so that you could pay your ancestors back, but that you could pay it forward." My dad, when I got degrees from Stanford, Oxford and Yale said, "Boy, you got more degrees than the month of July, but you ain't hot." Life ain't about the degrees you get. It's about the service you give.
(20:52:44)
McCormick and Reed and Tammy, I'm here because of people that died for this country, that stormed beaches in Normandy in this country. They were at Iwo Jima for this country. They liberated Nazi concentration camps for this country. They are buried. I've seen their burials. In Thailand, fields full of American soldiers who never made it home. Every time I see one of those, I get overcome with emotion. When I look at their ages, 18, 19, 20, 21. Let me read this and I'm going to compose myself because you got me all emotional, Tammy, I thought you were my friend.
Cory Booker (20:53:32):
This is a poem written by Billy Rose. You know it probably it's called The Unknown Soldier and just listen to the words and let them echo and see if we are living up to them. If our president lives up to them, the most powerful person in the world, who the richest man in the world [inaudible 01:10:21] respecting.
(20:53:54)
There's a graveyard near the White House where the unknown soldier lies and the flowers there are splendid with the tears from a mother's eyes. I stood there not long ago with roses for the brave and I suddenly heard the voice speak out of the grave, "I am the unknown soldier," the spirit voice began, "and I think I have the right to ask some questions, man to man. Were my buddies taken care of? Was their victory so sweet? Is that big reward you offered selling pencils on the street? Did they really win the freedom they battled to achieve? Do you still respect that Croix de Guerre above that empty sleeve? Does a gold star in the window now mean anything at all? I wonder how my old girl feels when she hears the bugle call. And that baby who sang Hello Central, give me no man's land, can they replace her daddy with a military band? I wonder if the profiteers have satisfied their greed. I wonder if a soldier's mother ever is in need. I wonder if the kings who planned it all are really satisfied. They played their game of checkers and 11 million died. I am the unknown soldier and maybe I died in vain, but if I were alive and my country called, I'd do it all over again."
(20:55:53)
Thank you, Senator. Every time I see you, I have such reverence and gratitude that I get to serve alongside of you. I didn't serve in the military alongside of you like those courageous soldiers, like those people who carry you at risk to themselves. People who saved your life, the people that helped you in rehab, the people that empowered you to get back on your feet and run for one of the highest offices in the land. And then you serve here with distinction because you don't forget who helped you get here.
Sen. Chris Coons (20:56:23):
Just take care of my buddies.
Cory Booker (20:56:24):
Exactly. And my dad who's in heaven with a lot of the other good folks from American history, I don't know what he'd think of his son, but I know he'd be proud of you. All right, let's talk about the economy.
Speaker 3 (20:56:39):
Will the Senator yield?
Cory Booker (20:56:46):
Oh. Christopher Coons.
Speaker 3 (20:56:48):
Will the Senator yield for a question.
Cory Booker (20:56:51):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Chris Coons (20:56:54):
Is the Senator familiar with Rory Badger of Delaware? Is the senator familiar with my guest to the speech to a joint session of Congress delivered by President Trump just a few weeks ago?
Cory Booker (20:57:10):
So every time I answered the question, we have to go through the same thing. I am slightly familiar, yes, because we talked about it, but I would be really happy if you asked me another question and filled in some gaps.
Sen. Chris Coons (20:57:22):
If I might, I simply want to ask my colleagues.
Cory Booker (20:57:26):
Then I yield for a question. If you want to ask me a question, I yield for a question while retaining the floor with the recognition that I have to do it because I'm standing between two Delawareans and I'm a little nervous. Jersey never wants to be between two Delawareans.
Sen. Chris Coons (20:57:45):
To my colleague and friend from the great state of New Jersey, I simply am asking the question, are you familiar with a Marine from Seaford, Delaware? His name is Rory Badger. He is not a man of politics. He is not a partisan and he only came to my attention when he called my office for assistance. Rory Badger volunteered to serve our nation, was deployed to Afghanistan and is a decorated combat veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Working through the impact of his service, he's returned to the United States and was engaged by Fish and Wildlife in Delaware and doing great work to promote conservation with a young wife and a young son.
(20:58:35)
Marine Badger reached for what was his dream job to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Conservation Service. All Rory wanted to do, he conveyed to me in a letter and then in person when he came to visit here, all he wanted to do was to help farmers on the Delmarva Peninsula conserve their land, create wildlife habitat, protect the environment, and be in places both beautiful and still. As you, my friend and colleague have documented in long discussion and debate in the last hour, he is one of thousands of veterans who woke to receive an unjust and unwarranted termination email that said it was for cause without citing any cause, and that threw him into the chaos and hurt of having been summarily fired by the American government.
(20:59:35)
He's ultimately been rehired thankfully, but that period of chaos and of loss made him question our nation and its commitment to our veterans. I also, I will share with my colleague, had the opportunity to visit with our friend Senator McCain to the prison where he was imprisoned for five and a half years, tortured repeatedly and lived through the experiences you've just shared of fellow veterans risking their lives to do the most simple thing that we take for granted at the beginning of every day here to pledge allegiance to our flag. I had a chance on visiting the Hanoi Hilton with our friend and former colleague, Senator McCain, to ask him a simple question, which was at the end of his describing the period when friends were beaten horribly, when some were killed and when his Vietnamese captors told him, "We found out who your father is, a four-star admiral and so we will release you any day."
(21:00:46)
I simply asked him, "Knowing that you could at any moment on any day raise your hand and say, 'I will accept your offer and go home.' How did you endure another five years of torture and imprisonment?" His answer simply, "To do so would not have been honorable." My question to you, my friend and colleague was the firing of Rory Badger honorable? Is the leadership of our current administration and its treatment of our veterans honorable? Is the value shown by the decisions being made by Elon Musk and his team at Doge honorable? Are we putting at risk the very honor of our nation in the mistreatment of the veterans of this country? This question I put to my friend and colleague.
Cory Booker (21:01:43):
I thank you Senator Coons, by your strength of voice, by your tone by the colleague and citizen that you invoke, you are saying the answer with strength, my friend. How do we judge our nation? What measure do we judge America? Is it by how tall our buildings are? Well, those are great marvels, but other countries have taller buildings. God, maybe Ezra Klein has got me so focused now on making our nation do bold and build great things, but does the speed of our rails as an Amtrak guy speak to the greatness of our nation? No. Other nations have faster rail. Does the wealth of our people, we have more billionaires than any other country, does that speak to the greatness of our nation? No. I think the things that speak to the greatness of a nation is how do we take care of each other?
(21:02:41)
How do we take care of our elders who deserve our respect and our reverence and gratitude for building America, for sustaining America, for doing the hard jobs to raise families, to set the next generation on their way? I think we should be judged by how we treat our children. They are the only true hope we have of seeing tomorrows that we will never live through. I think we should be judged by how we treat the sick, whether it's people with the disease of alcoholism or mental health or crippling cancers or chronic diseases. What do we do? I think we should be judged by how we nurture our families. God, we put American families under crazy stress, affordable child care, paid family leave. Other nations, our competitors have these things. I think we should judge the greatness of our nation by how we treat our veterans. These honorable men and women, some of them who gave their last measure, the last measure of their devotion on fields across the world from Thailand to Gettysburg.
(21:03:57)
They gave their lives and those who came home, those who came home, the America they experience will speak to the truth of who we are. And so I'm in this place like you're in this place. We've been friends for a long time. I'm blaming you a little bit because you're one of those people I called and said, "Hey, I'm thinking about running for governor. I'm thinking about running for senator." You told me to come here, man, I'm joking. I love you for it. I'm honored and blessed that New Jersey sent me here. I know that you and I are working and let's talk like we talk when we're not on the floor of the Senate. We both are deeply devoted Christians.
(21:04:41)
You told me one of my favorite stories in the Senate, which I won't tell right now. I've been asking you to tell that story. I hope you'll tell it, but it's just about how your parents, James Baldwin said, "Children are never good at listening to their elders, but they never failed to imitate them." You are a great reflection of the stories of your parents you told me. And you and I grapple with this faith of ours which demands the most radical love. Radical love. What does the Bible say about immigrants? I mean, come on. What does the Bible say about the poor? What does the Bible say about the hated, the prostitute, the leper, the people who are looked down upon? What's the story of the prodigal son? What's Matthew 25 say about how we should live? "Even as to the least of these you did unto me." How many times does the Bible mention poverty? How many?
Sen. Chris Coons (21:05:51):
2000.
Cory Booker (21:05:51):
I am abiding by it. I will not yield to you, but I knew you would know it and I don't. 2000 times it mentions poverty and does it say we should scorn the poor? Does it say we should ignore the poor? No. It calls us to love our neighbor. No exceptions to that.
Sen. Chris Coons (21:06:11):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (21:06:13):
Thank you, man. I've been waiting for that question. The prayers of the righteous availeth much. You are a righteous man. I have a lot of work to do so I yield for a question while retaining the floor. I tried to instigate you, Chris. I tried to throw out Jesus bait.
Sen. Chris Coons (21:06:37):
You have, sir. Good.
Cory Booker (21:06:38):
Thank God. I yield for a question about whatever you want to ask me for, but I'm retaining the floor.
Sen. Chris Coons (21:06:45):
To my good friend and colleague, as we transition to comments about the economy, are you familiar with the very first time that Jesus stood in his home synagogue in Nazareth to preach? He read from the scroll a passage from I believe Isaiah 61 verse one to two. This is recorded in Luke chapter four and it is a well-known passage and I rely upon it to understand what was the ministry of Jesus centrally about. He says, this is fulfilled in your hearing today. "The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." I don't think it is possible to read the gospels and to read the Torah and to understand righteousness without hearing over and over and over in the course of the Old and New Testaments, A call to respect those at the margins of life. A call to be generous and open-hearted and kind to those who suffer and struggle, to be attentive to and present to those who are in prison, who are widows, who are orphans. To allow the gleaning of a field, which means to make sure that out of the abundance of our productivity on our farms, we make sure that we feed those who hunger here at home and abroad.
(21:08:13)
You cannot miss the central message, which is, as you have said, kindness to those on the margins, attentiveness to those in need. Good news to the poor. And so in this season of Lent, I ask my friend and colleague whether he's aware of our President's intention to impose significant tariffs sometime today or tomorrow that may raise the costs for working families in our nation, that may make harder the lives of those who struggle to pay for their children's food and medicines and schooling that instead of meeting his promise to make America affordable again, will almost certainly make America less affordable for those who are exactly those to whom we are called to give attention, kindness and service.
(21:09:06)
I ask my colleague and my friend, are you aware of President Trump's so-called Liberation Day that will impose in fact thousands of dollars of additional costs on the working families of America who struggle so hard to make ends meet in a direct violation of a call to care for those in need?
Cory Booker (21:09:29):
Yes, I'm aware. I said earlier that he calls it Liberation Day and I'm not sure what he means by that because Americans will not, by this move, be liberated from high prices. They won't be liberated from watching their 401Ks dwindle in value as the stock market goes down. They won't be liberated from the high cost of groceries. They won't be liberated by the high cost and hard availability of housing. He calls it Liberation Day, but Americans won't be liberated from crushing debt, from medical debt, from student loan debt. Parents who are struggling to take care of their parents and their children who rely on Medicaid because a parent has Alzheimer's and a child has a disability and they're trying to make it all work, but yet they're shackled in fear because they see that recommended to a house committee on energy and commerce was to find $880 billion of cuts to the programs that they are relying on as a lifeline to keep their family together.
(21:10:56)
Who's liberated? Who's liberated by the tariffs that he's going to come and bring onto a country where half this nation is dealing with a tough, tough economic reality where half of the renters in this country, you and I, we're both local leaders. We know it is technically the definition of housing insecurity if you are paying more than a third of your income on rent. Chris Coons, you love people, you know people you travel Delaware, it's a much smaller state. I do say that with some little bit of twisted non-Christian arrogance and from New Jersey looking down, but you know people in your state, I've been with you in your state, you're connected to your communities, so you know people that are struggling just to make ends meet. People that are one emergency away like a car accident or a sickness that forces them to miss a week of work and a paycheck that that will throw their lives in financial ruin. Is this President doing his promises to make their lives better?
(21:12:13)
President Trump is calling his tariffs Liberation Day. You think Canada feels liberated from the bully neighbor that is Donald Trump? Do you think Greenland feels liberated from the bully nature? Do you think the Panama feels liberated? What about universities that are cutting NIH funding, that are cutting the scientific research that will cure the diseases in the future that will alleviate suffering that now aren't allowing post-docs to come to their school. They're not hiring, they're slashing the number of engineering students that they're allowing in because they're terrified because this president is menacing in indirect costs. Is that liberation? 71 days in. Now 72 days. I asked you, are you better off than you were 72 days ago economically? I asked that question. Ask it to your friends. Are they better off economically? Well, I don't see how they could be because prices are up. Stock market's down. The risk of recession is climbing. Consumer confidence is in the gutter. 401K plans are losing value. Are you better off than you were 72 days ago? Under this president's leadership on the verge of his so-called Liberation Day, that's going to drive prices up even more. And he's doubling down on tax cuts for the rich. He wants an economy that works for him, his billionaire donors, his powerful special interests and it's coming at the expense of working people or struggling to get by and a lot of the programs that they rely on for their healthcare, like for their social security, he wants an economy where the richest people get the biggest tax cuts, where the largest corporations, heck, they may get to skip out on taxes altogether and where hardworking Americans are getting crushed by rising food prices and rising rents.
(21:14:17)
This idea that that might trickle down, but we know it doesn't work. He's continuing the same reckless economic approach he used in his first term. Massive tax cuts that are [inaudible 01:30:58] mostly to the wealthy, unchecked spending, rapacious spending, big, big, big holes in our national debt, trillions of dollars of more debt and no serious plan on how to pay for any of these things that he's doing. From social security to public health to the education to supports children with disabilities and scientific research, the safety nets that millions of people depend upon.
(21:14:56)
Here's the New York Times. "Trump's policies have shaken a one solid economy economic outlook." This is from March 7th. "President Trump inherited an economy that was, by most conventional measures, firing on all cylinders. Wages, consumer spending and corporate profits were rising. Unemployment was low. The inflation rate though higher than normal was falling. Just weeks into Mr. Trump's term, the outlook is gloomier. Measures of business and consumer confidence have plunged. The stock market has been on a roller coaster ride. Layoffs are picking up," and by the way, this was March 7th. We just finished March the worst performing quarter in years in the stock market.
(21:15:37)
Back to the article, "Layoffs are picking up according to some data and forecasters are cutting their estimates for economic growth this year with some even predicting that the US gross domestic product could shrink in the first quarter, and some commentators have gone further arguing that the economy could be headed for a recession, a sharp rebound in inflation or even the dreaded combination of the two, stagflation. Most economists consider that unlikely saying growth is more likely to slow than to give way to a decline. Still the sudden deterioration and the outlook is striking, especially because it is almost entirely a result of Mr. Trump's policies and the resulting uncertainty. Tariffs and the inevitable retaliation from trading partners will increase prices and slow down growth. Federal jobs cut will push up unemployment and could lead government employees and contractors to pull back on spending while they wait to learn their fate. Deportations could drive up costs for industries like construction and hospitality and the agricultural sector that depend on immigrant labor."
(21:16:48)
In quotes, "'If the economy was starting out in quite good shape, it probably is in less good shape after what we've seen the last few weeks,' said Donald Rizmiller, chief economist at StratGas research firm. "The U.S. economy has repeatedly shown its resilience in recent years and there are parts of Mr. Trump's agenda that could foster growth. Business groups have responded enthusiastically to a Republican plans to cut taxes and reduce regulation. A streamlined government could in theory make the overall economy more productive so far, however, the Trump administration's approach to economic policy has been characterized more by chaos, terrorists that are announced and then delayed, government workers who are fired and rehired than careful planning. Michael Strain, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute," I know AEI well, "said Trump's policies on trade and immigration and his slash and burn approach to federal job cuts would have a damaging effect. 'This is a conservative think tank. What President Trump has proposed will not cause a recession, 'he continued, 'but it will slow economic growth. It will take money out of people's pockets. It will increase the unemployment rate. It will cost people jobs. It will make American businesses less competitive.'" That's AEI folks.
(21:18:11)
"It is certainly possible for Mr. Trump's policies to come together in a way that causes a recession. His tariffs alone could shave a full percentage growth in the domestic products this year, according to some economic models, enough to cut in half the 2% growth rate that economists expected going into this year. Many economists contend that deporting millions of immigrants as Mr. Trump promised to do on the campaign trail last year could be even more harmful than tariffs, given the US economy's need for workers, particularly in industries like construction and healthcare. And the administration's push to shrink the federal government, an effort led by Elon Musk, could leave hundreds of thousands of federal workers and government contractors looking for jobs when hiring has slowed. That could set up a chain reaction. Workers who lose jobs or worry they might would pull back on spending, which would force businesses to cut costs leading to more layoffs and further reductions in spending. Ordinarily, that would prompt the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and shore up the economy, but that could be difficult if tariffs were also pushing up prices, making policymakers nervous that cutting interest rates could spur inflation. 'It's a death by a thousand paper cuts,' said Jay Bryce and Chief Economist for Wells Fargo."
(21:19:35)
Certainly not a great liberal organization, Wells Fargo. "He says, 'All things individually aren't enough to cause a recession, but if you layer them on top of one another it might be.' However, Mr. Trump has repeatedly delayed full enforcement of his promised tariffs. For example, on Thursday," this article's from March 7th, "he suspended tariffs on most imports from Mexico and Canada until April." What month are we in? April. " His deportation efforts have likewise gotten off to a slow start and some of the cuts to the federal workforce have been tied up in court." As they should be. "Such delays and reversals will help blunt the impact of Mr. Trump's policies and could make a recession less likely, at least in the short term, but the prolonged uncertainty could have its own costs leading businesses to delay investment and hiring decisions. 'If we don't get clarity by the back half of this year, economic uncertainty can be like a deer in the headlights,' said Nancy Lazar, chief global economist at the Investment Bank, Piper Sandler. Things just stop. Business confidence is muted, employment is muted, and capital spending is put on hold."
(21:20:50)
"Even if Mr. Trump's policies don't cause a recession, they could do long-term damage. Lower immigration will leave the country with a smaller labor force as a native-born population is aging. Trade barriers will be a relatively modest drag on growth, while in place a chronic condition rather than an acute one. 'It's less the economy is in a car wreck and it's more like the economy has decided to start smoking a pack a day,' said an economist at the Roosevelt Institute. In certain places and for certain groups the consequences could be harder to ignore. Veterans who make up a disproportionate share of federal workers could be particularly hard hit by government layoffs. So could parts of the countries that depend heavily on federal jobs. Apparently there are signs that home prices in the Washington metropolitan area are falling. It's going to be substantial for certain communities. When you look at the aggregate, it's going to be challenging."
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:21:58):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (21:22:04):
I talked or texted with this person who's asking me to yield the floor. I've been letting this power go to my head. I've never in the Senate had the ability to hold the floor and leave a person in a little bit of a limbo. I just want to say that Tim Kaine is one of the friends and honestly, he's like a pastor to me. He's one of the more honorable men I've met in my life and struggles like me about faith and public service. I read your book, I really hope more people read your book. I didn't think it was going to be as beautiful as it was. I laughed. I wept. When you were attacked by spiders and things like that. I'm sorry I was laughing at your misfortune, sir. It's a book about you going through your whole state by walking the Appalachian Trail, canoeing. Every story you told moved me. It's a great book. I've read a lot of my colleagues books, but this one really touched me. You have this beautiful view of America and I want people to read your book. I really want people to read your book, so if I should yield, I'll yield only if you'll tell people the name of your book and maybe tell something about it. This is extortion on the Senate floor. I'm going to hold onto the floor unless you agree to that, you could shake your head up and down if you agree. All right, then of course, to my dear friend and somebody that I probably wouldn't be standing here, we had some discussions about procedural opportunities and things like that. He had to make some concessions to me. I won't give details, but he's an honorable man and in the crux before I came here, he really helped to clear the pathway for me to stand here now. I owe you a lot of my 12 years. You are like a big brother to me and I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:23:46):
Well, thank you to my friend Senator Booker and to all who are gathered to watch this very, very important vigil. And the question that I'm going to ask in slow motion to give you a chance to think of a response-
Cory Booker (21:23:59):
God bless you.
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:24:00):
… is a question that was inspired by your colloquy with Senator Coons where you guys were-
Cory Booker (21:24:05):
Not a colloquy, that's not allowed. Discussion.
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:24:08):
Discussion where you were doing some Bible quoting back and forth. And as you know, I'm a big Bible reader and the thing I thought about, and actually I've thought about it during your talk since last night, is this part of the Gospel of Matthew where he's challenging people that he thinks are hypocrites. And he says to them, "You can discern the faces of the sky, but you can't discern the signs of the times."
Cory Booker (21:24:33):
Wow.
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:24:33):
That's Matthew 16, two and three. "You can discern the faces of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times." The way I view this vigil that you have been powerfully engaged upon is you are attempting to discern and explain the signs of the times to your colleagues and to our country, and that's very important that we do. I'd like to ask you one question about the signs of the times economically… But then I want to ask you a question about the signs of the times more in the nature of our democracy. So to begin on the economy, you walked through how strong the economy was on the day this president was inaugurated and two months later the challenges of a volatile stock market, the challenges of rising prices, the challenges of declining consumer confidence, the challenges of predictions that there might be slow growth or even a recession.
(21:25:35)
We will have a vote on the Senate floor tomorrow about Canadian tariffs. Based on a resolution that I've introduced that we will have a vote on. You talked at length about those tariffs and the effect that they have on Americans as Mr. president and others. As I've traveled around my Commonwealth. My farmers and my small businesses, they've seen it before. They saw it in Trump term one. They know how dangerous it will be. They don't want to pay more for groceries, they don't want to pay more for building supplies. Farmers don't want to pay more for fertilizer. My shipyards don't want to pay more for aluminum and steel. They were promised that they would pay less, not pay more.
(21:26:21)
They don't want to be part of a campaign to demonize a nation that has been a friend of the United States and stood side by side with us in every war since the war of 1812. They don't want to be part of a juvenile assertion by this president that that sovereign nation is the 51st state. They don't want to be part of a name-calling effort to call the prime minister of a sovereign nation governor. They're trying to read the signs of the times. Why is this administration that came in with such a strong economic hand doing so much so quickly to both hurt us economically, but also to tarnish a relationship that has stood the test of time with an ally?
(21:27:09)
The president often says that his goal is America first. We would all agree as members of this body in America first, but we would all passionately disagree with America alone. What is America alone going to get us? What will we turn to? Who will we turn to when the allies that we've spent decades building relationships with now feel pushed aside? Yesterday China announced that they were going to be working with Japan and Korea on a free trade zone, possibly to respond to U.S. tariffs.
Cory Booker (21:27:47):
Wow.
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:27:49):
Other nations are having to engage in hedging behaviors because they thought we were friends and now they doubt that reality anymore. And so as you look at the signs of these economic times, and then I'll get to a second question about the signs of the times in our democracy. How are we to understand this and more importantly, how are we best to rectify it? How can we stand up for our families and reduce their burdens, not increase them? How can we stand shoulder to shoulder with linked arms with our allies to face off against adversaries, reflect on
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:28:31):
…the signs of the times and point us in the right direction, please?
Cory Booker (21:28:34):
I appreciate that. I'm going to try to keep it short, but I want to reminisce with you about something that… Do you remember in Trump's first term that he used a national security waiver to put tariffs on Canada then?
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:28:46):
Yes, and my citizens really remember it because they suffered.
Cory Booker (21:28:50):
Yes, but do you remember we had a Foreign Relations Committee meeting and a leader, I don't want to embarrass the leader, but a leader from Canada came, it was a woman, and she sat there. It was a bipartisan group together. You do remember this?
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:29:03):
Yes, I do.
Cory Booker (21:29:04):
So she sat there and then she started very slowly going back to the War of 1812 and marched through Canadian American history, I confess, I have a degree in history but I didn't know all this history, but these amazing stories of Canadian sacrifice to stand next to Americans, to die next to Americans, to fight for America, to join our artists, our cultural communities, our arts, our agricultural communities, all the things we've done hand-in-hand to make both of our nations stronger and more prosperous.
(21:29:35)
Then she looked at us and said, "And then your President, in a sense, calls us a national security threat and you all put tariffs on us." I remember the quiet, the silence around that committee table. I felt like, whoa, this is such an ally, such a friend, such a consistent ally of us throughout the hardest, difficult times of history, never left our side, that her litany was so admirable, and then she looks at us, "A national security waiver to put hardships on our economy, national security waiver to put tariffs on." They hurt Americans and they hurt, embarrassingly hurt our northern neighbor. But I thought that was bad enough, and now what kind of bully are you? What kind of mean spirit do you look at your northern neighbor and say, I'm going to call you governor, not with the title you earned by the people that put you in that office. It is the worst kind of behavior and nobody calls it out of our Republican colleagues. Not enough of them call it out, I should say.
(21:30:50)
So we are in, as I read in that article, in an economic crisis, and I question, how long will we wait until more of us join in a chorus and say, "Enough is enough"? I don't know the answers, I don't know how we can stop him, but I know we did in the first term. We pushed back on him successfully on his attempts to try to take healthcare away from tens of millions of Americans, and we can do it again, but more people have to do things differently. They have to do like we've been talking all day, and I'll turn to my colleague again, as John Lewis called us, get in good trouble, necessary trouble, heal the soul of America. We have to do more and follow the examples of our forefathers and foremothers who never gave up. With conviction and determination, with an indefatigable spirit, unyielding grace, they continued time and time again pushing back and bending the arc. It's our turn. What are we going to do? All of us have to answer that question, but I know part of the answer is we have to do more.
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:31:52):
Will you yield? Will the Senator yield for another question?
Cory Booker (21:31:55):
I yield for a question but I will retain, while retaining the floor.
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:32:00):
This is a question about the signs of the times in our democracy. We will celebrate 250 years of American democracy in 2026, and I want it to be a celebration, not a coronation, not a requiem, not a wake, but a celebration. A week ago Sunday, 250 years ago, Patrick Henry stood on the floor of Henrico Parish, now known as St. John's Episcopal Church on Church Hill in Richmond, at a moment of decision where people were challenged to understand the signs of the times, at a moment of tyranny. He asked the immortal question, and I almost view your vigil as asking the same question about where we would stand in such a moment. There were different forks in the road, a phrase that has attained some meaning recently, and Patrick Henry said, "As for me, give me liberty or give me death."
(21:33:09)
You're giving a liberty speech, my colleague. You're giving a liberty speech as the nation begins to think about 250 years of democracy. The opposite of liberty, that which Henry was fighting against, was tyranny. It was tyranny. I am one that believes that we should mark anniversaries. We shouldn't just act steady state like this country was ordained and will just go on forever, regardless. We are coming up on 250 years of American democracy and there is a live question about its continued existence that this generation is grappling with. Henry gave that speech at St. John's Church and a few months later, July 4th, 1776, the US declared its independence from England and our history in this new chapter began. At various points along the way during the 1850s, say, or during the 1950s, generations just like ours have had to grapple with the question of whether the experiment will continue or not.
(21:34:25)
Some of our national symbols have some unusual aspects to them that point to this experiment. We have a National Anthem that ends with a question, not an assertion, not a declaration, but whether the flag will still stand over the home of the free and the land of the brave, question mark. The state flag that Virginia adopted on July 5th, 1776 is a most unusual flag. It has a woman representing Roman virtue standing astride a deposed tyrant whose crown is knocked off, who is holding a broken chain in his hand, and he's laying on the ground. It's one of only six state flags with a woman on it. It's the only state flag that features toplessness, which occasionally creates some raciness in schools as students ask about it, but it's also the flag with the most unique state motto of any state. All states have mottoes. 49 states' mottoes are positive. Hope, eureka, excelsior, onward and upward, ad astra per aspera. Michigan's has the most unusual positive motto, in Latin, "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you." Well, I wasn't looking for a peninsula, but I'd rather it be pleasant than not.
(21:35:55)
Virginia's is the only flag and the only state with a motto that's not positive. It's a rebuke. Sic semper tyrannis. Thus be it always, thus be it ever to tyrants. George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson's teacher, was in charge of designing the flag and chose that as the motto. Think about the verb tense, right? It's the only one that's a rebuke and it has stayed on our state seal and state flag Since July 5, 1776. Many state flags have been changed in the last 20 years. Utah's changed, Minnesota's changed, Mississippi's changed, Georgia's changed. Virginia has essentially not changed since 1776. Neither the figure of virtue standing astride a deposed monarch or the motto sic semper tyrannis. Again, the verb tense, semper, always, ever. It's not in the current tense, no tyrants are down with tyrants. It's in the future tense, thus be it always to tyrants, thus be it ever to tyrants.
(21:37:02)
The Virginia flag that we pass by in Virginia every day without thinking about it, it's in every school we pass it by, it asks us two questions 250 years later. Do we retain the ability to recognize tyranny? Do we retain the virtue to defeat it? Can we recognize tyranny? Can we retain the virtue to defeat it? My friend, you are standing on the floor in the tradition of Patrick Henry 250 years later, you are raising a question about liberty and our fidelity to it. So my question to you would be what gives you hope that the answer we will give to these questions as Americans, as those commemorating a quarter millennium of American democracy, what gives you confidence that we will answer these questions in a way that will honor those who came before us?
Cory Booker (21:37:58):
I want to answer that question. I want to first say that Hakeem Jeffries is here, and now I'm worried because two Brooklynites are shaking hands. I confess, when I had the floor and Schumer, for the only time in my life I could deny him the right to speak on the Senate floor, I confessed to my friend, who's part of the X generation, hip hop generation, my brother who is part of this transition in American history from the greatest generation to the baby boomers, from the baby boomers now we're seeing leaders emerge that are X geners, millennials, and he represents so much of the best of the future. I want to before I… This question's so good-
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:38:38):
[inaudible 01:55:10].
Cory Booker (21:38:40):
Okay, because you didn't honor your commitment to me and talk about your book. But I just want to say that I insulted Brooklyn for stealing my Nets. I told the leader, I abused my power to retain the floor and I told the leader that there's only one football team in New York, the Buffalo Bills. The other two are from New Jersey. I should have reminded the leader that the chairman of the board, who sings New York, New York, is actually from New Jersey. I could go on with this litany, but I do want to get back to your very serious question about tyranny.
(21:39:18)
I think many of us have read books like On Tyranny and we're doing a lot, we're reading articles of people are talking about the fears that they have, fears that they have about this document. You and I have had serious conversations over the last 72 days of Donald Trump's presidency. How much of the encroachments, I would say encroachment is a gentle word, of the separation of powers is happening? We're watching justices or judges from Republican appointees to democratic appointees trying to stop him from doing things, which one of our great Bill of Rights amendments from freedom of the press. He's doing things to the press that in my opinion are bullying them, breaking with traditions the presidents have done in the past, trying to create press corps like Putin or Erdogan have, where they only let people in the room who will give obsequious supplications, often for the dear leader. What about the freedom of speech?
(21:40:23)
You and I both know the reprehensible speech is protected, disappearing people for what they said. Scalia talked very clearly about having rights even when you're in the country. One of the most conservative justices said, "You have rights." We're seeing him invoke emergencies. You've been the leader in our caucus talking about the absurdity of these emergencies he's doing and you've tried to rally this body to say, "Don't let this happen." You've talked to me about all of these things.
(21:40:56)
So what is the limit of tyranny? Well, you and I, and we talked about this with your book, I'm trying to get back to here, I told you once when Skip Gates did my history that he traced my history back to Virginia. I tried to show you that I have more Virginia legitimacy because my roots go back to 1640 in your state. The stampers came over, and following down, down, down. Then Henrietta Stamper, who my mom still talks about as a relative, John Stamper, and the chart that Skip Gates gave me, the only thing he could say about John Stamper, the mother of Henrietta Stamper, was slave woman. Born Henrietta Stamper, they called her on her documents mulatto, and the Stamper fought for her ownership because it would later come out that that was his child.
(21:41:57)
These are the traditions in my family. It's really amazing what Skip Gates did and showed me that I'm the direct descendant of slaves and slave owners. I'm the direct descendant of a Confederate soldier that was captured in retreat. I'm a direct descendant of Native Americans and people that fought in the Creek Wars to kill Native Americans. This traditions in our country, I draw upon all of them. I'm proud of all of them. They speak to us, they speak to the complicated history of America. But perhaps one of the best things I got about this complicated history was a visit to my office by, I don't know if I told the leader this… I'm sorry, I'm going to return to this question, but I think I know how busy the leader is, so if the leader asks me a question, if he asks if I'll yield for a question.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:42:50):
Yes, will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (21:42:52):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:42:55):
Now, before I ask my question, what a tour de force. You are amazing. It's not only the amount of time that you have spent here on the floor, what strength, but the brilliance of your indictment of this awful administration that is so destroying our democracy, that is taking so much away from working people in the middle class, and at the same time all for tax cuts for the billionaires. You're amazing. We salute you. America salutes you. All eyes are on you. You're incredible.
(21:43:35)
Now, here is my question that is related to what our Republican friends are trying to do to all the things that you were so opposed. So are you aware that while you were here on the floor today, Senate Republicans are declaring that using the current policy baseline is up to Lindsey Graham, not the parliamentarian? I believe that this is going nuclear and it shows how hell-bent they are on giving tax breaks to the rich even if it goes nuclear, even if it violates all the norms that they have had, even if it breaks all the promises they have made.
(21:44:27)
Do you agree with me that this is just a move that is so, so against what the traditions of the Senate have been about, but not just the traditions of the Senate, fairness, decency, ability to debate issues fairly? They're afraid to debate them. They're afraid to defend tax cuts for billionaires. They're afraid to admit they're taking away Medicaid from so many Americans. So they come up with this nuclear option showing that they don't care anymore about norms, about rules, and even about going nuclear, which the leader, the Republican leader and all of them said, "Oh no, they're not going to do that." Well, now they say they're going to do it. What does the Senator think? Does he agree with me that it's going nuclear? Does he agree with me that is a nasty, vicious, and self-seeking for the billionaires, which is what they're doing, way of proceeding?
Cory Booker (21:45:39):
Chuck, I'm not 100% right now and you just hit me with stunning news that I can't even think about how to respond right now. I'm stunned by that and I wish, if you want to ask me a question, it has to be a question, I wish you would explain it a little bit more because what you're basically saying to me is that we're not going to go through the parliamentarian, that this is a gimmick that is going to be done to try to break really what the bird rule requirements of reconciliation. I'm using Senate speak and I don't think we should use that. So what they're going to try to say is obscure the impact of the reconciliation. They're going to obscure this, the incredible tax cuts, the cost of trillions of dollars to our economy, blowing up our debt… Incredible tax cuts, the cost of trillions of dollars to our economy blowing up our debt, so-called fiscal hawks are going to blow it up. I'm stunned by this news.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:46:40):
So if asking the senator, the great Senator Booker, a question.
Cory Booker (21:46:46):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:46:51):
does he agree that this is just a blow to the people of America and it shows that the folks, the people on the other side are only interested not in playing decent, not in playing fair, not in being honest with the American people, but taking money out of the pockets of working people and the middle class and putting it in the hands of billionaires? Is that something that this country should just countenance because it does so much harm to the country, and does it not show what our colleagues are really like and what they're after?
Cory Booker (21:47:42):
Yes. The answer to those questions is yes, but I just want to more say it's the further breaking of the Senate in a severe way. It's breaking of the Senate. Every time you break the Senate like that to do another big nuclear option thing, the next time around, when the pendulum swings, I've been here for 12 years, I've watched it swing back and forth, there's no going back now.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:48:07):
Would the Senator yield for another question?
Cory Booker (21:48:08):
I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:48:11):
Does the Senator remember that when this was done in the past, McConnell said, "They would regret it and they'll regret it sooner than they think"? Does the Senator agree that that applies to the Republicans, they will regret it and they will regret it sooner than they think?
Cory Booker (21:48:31):
I hate to answer the question this way, but America will regret this day. American people will regret this day. All of us will regret this. All of us will.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:48:43):
I hate to bring the Senator bad news-
Cory Booker (21:48:45):
You have to ask me-
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:48:46):
…but I'm asking him a question.
Cory Booker (21:48:47):
Yes, I yield for-
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:48:48):
I needed his answer, given how eloquent he has been about what America should be and what America should not be, and so I yield the floor to the Senator.
Cory Booker (21:48:58):
You cannot yield the floor because I have the floor, sir.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (21:49:00):
Yes.
Cory Booker (21:49:01):
I retain the floor. This is one of the few times in my life that I'll ever get to tell Chuck Schumer what the rules are here. I just want to get back to you, and maybe there's a better way to get to you by sharing a story I don't think I've ever told you. It was a few years ago with one of Biden's last State of the Union speeches, and we all had to vote on the floor about an hour before the speech and then we would come back here and assemble to do this extraordinary walk, this extraordinary walk through history.
(21:49:41)
So days before that I was with the leader, Hakeem, and I was with some other people in the Oval Office with the President, and the President had put his arm around me as we finished the meeting and said, "Hey, Cory." I'm like, "Yes, Mr. President." "I got a big speech coming up." I said, "I know, Mr. President." He goes, "I'm going to go to Camp David and work on it." I said, " Okay, Mr. President." He goes, "Can I call you if I need some help?" I said, "Yeah, right, Mr. President. Sure." That was it. The weekend he didn't call me for help with his speech, and we came here and did that vote an hour before.
(21:50:13)
Then I like walking out that door, and many people know this, if I can, I go straight out the next doors onto the steps. I love those steps, maybe because I watched Schoolhouse Rock as a kid and that's where Mr. Bill, "I'm just a bill." So I pause sometimes there and just feel the sense of gratitude and the Supreme Court right in front of me, the Library of Congress, and stand in the right place you see the gold dome behind you.
(21:50:40)
As I'm standing there in that moment, an hour before we have to hustle back here, my phone rings. I answer my phone and it begins with what I think is one of the top stupidest questions in America. You've gotten this question, I think you would agree with me. You're not the kind of guy that uses words like, "Hey, this is stupid," but this is stupid. The thing I heard, the stupid question, "This is the White House operator. Will you hold for the President of the United States?" Who says no to that question? As one does when they get a call from the President of the United States. So I say, "Yeah, I will hold." No, wait. Wait a minute, I'm washing my hair. I say, "Yes, of course."
(21:51:13)
The next thing you know, it's Joe Biden. He goes, "Cory." I go, "Mr. President." He goes, "I'm struggling with my speech." At that point, I know you weren't this kind of student in college, but all of my guilt from my college days of waiting until the last minute to finish a paper were gone. If the President of the United States is waiting until the last minute to finish his speech, heck, I feel good. So he goes, "Cory, can I read you a section of the speech?" He read me a section of the speech where I have a lot of policy depth, and I couldn't believe it. The President of the United States, hour before his speech, rehearsing a part of the speech. Then he asks me that immortal question. You're a married man, you have to give me good advice on how to answer this question. When your spouse looks at you and says, "How do I look?" You're torn between two things, right? Maybe to tell the truth or tell your spouse what they want to hear. Tell me what you answer with. You can't do it now because I have the floor.
(21:52:08)
So I take a moment, am I going to tell the president what I really think of this section or am I going to just say, "Yes, Mr. Leader"? So I decide, he called me up, hour before speech, he must really want my advice, and I gave some hard input. Turn this dial down more, turned this one whatever. He said, "Okay, Cory." Abruptly, he's gone. I go home back to the office. I tell my chief of staff, "I just got a call from the President of the United States. He asked for help with a speech." What a crazy life moment while I stood on the steps like the bill, "I'm just a bill."
(21:52:35)
Anyway, we get back here and it's a wonderful moment in the Senate. I don't know if anybody has the privilege of seeing what we do. We all gaggle around those doors, we talk to each other. People think we always fight and yell, that's not the case. Democrat, Republican, merge into this ball of senatorial humanity and then those doors open. I love it because you walk out, you walk past a Thune's office, which used to be the Library of Congress. You walk past the old Senate chamber where some of the greatest debates in American history and violence on that Senate floor with the caning of Sumner. You walk through the dome, the statue by an 18-year-old woman named Reams of Lincoln. The suffrage leaders, Martin Luther King, presidents. Extraordinary presidents.
(21:53:20)
Then you walk past where the old house used to meet, and you love this, I love this, those little gold plates on the floor where presidents had their desks. Exactly where the presidents have their desks. Most people go in right under Junipero Serra, California's statue, under that cross is Lincoln's gold plank, people that were in the house and served in the presence. That's not my favorite one though. It's John Quincy Adams. Why? You know this. The only person in American history ever, it'll probably never happen again, where somebody went from the presidency and came back to the house. Ran for a house seat, worked at that spot where that desk was until he collapsed, was carried off the floor. He would soon later die. Amazing. Maybe a future president will, maybe Obama's going to, you know, I got to run for the house.
(21:54:08)
Then you get into that old chamber and we sit down, we find our seats, and that great moment, I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat, when that person walks in and says, "The President of the United States of America," I still get that feeling. Joe Biden comes in, and I think he sets a record for the longest it would take to get from those doors all the way down. Everybody he's talking to. "Marjorie Taylor Greene, what's up?" He's just touching everybody. He gets up there, he gives a speech.
(21:54:36)
Now, you know that this is an aerobic event. You stand up, you sit down, you stand up, you sit down. You got to get your squats in when you're doing it, you get the exercise for a little while. Well, this part of the speech he called me on is, and I'm sitting down and I hear my input in the speech. I don't know if you all noticed it, my colleagues, but I was the first person to stand up for that section. I was looking at Schatz, "Get up, man. This is the best speech ever given." It was amazing.
(21:55:03)
I go home, I'm kind of buzzing about the whole experience. Then I'm lying in bed and I unfortunately have my phone on my nightstand, it goes off and I see a number I don't recognize. I open it up and it says, "Senator Booker, this is John Meacham," the great historian. "Thank you for helping the President of the United States with his speech. You made more of a difference than you'll ever know." My first thought was, how do I print this out? How do you print out a text? So he gave me his cell phone number and now I'm going to troll him. I'm going to keep calling him until this historian comes to my office and finally he relents and he comes.
(21:55:41)
Now he steps into your domain, my brilliant friend of history. I express worry, fear, concern, demagoguery in our land, rising of tribalism. I dump on him. I'm normally a prisoner of hope, I'm normally a purveyor of finding your joy even in the toughest of times. He listens for a while and then he looks at me and says, "Cory, there's nothing about this time that is unprecedented. It's all precedented. You want to talk about demagoguery?" He goes through every generation of Americans having extraordinary demagogues. I read Margaret Chase-Smith's incredible speech on this floor against a demagogue and the demagoguery within her own party. He talks about the number one radio show in all of America, the majority of Americans listen to his anti-Semitic screeds-
Sen. Tim Kaine (21:56:47):
Father Charles Coughlin.
Cory Booker (21:56:50):
Father Coughlin. He went through them all and he said, "You want to think worry?" He said that there was an American general in the Depression, he said his name, I'm forgetting it now, I'm not at my best, and said that this guy was calling for a military takeover of our democracy. You want to talk about authoritarianism? He talked about a senator here on the left, Huey Long, who was calling for the people to storm the Capitol. He went through this all and he said every single time. Nazis in Manhattan, at Madison Square Garden. I couldn't believe it, it was unbelievable.
(21:57:27)
I wish people were there listening to this guy as he went through all these times when America was at a crossroads, when we came upon a moral moment, and he said what happened how we chose the right paths, when people were trashing this document, or treading on it, or undermining it, when demagogues rose to the highest points of popularity in our land, how did we stop it? Well, he looked at me with some sympathy and said, "Not you guys. Not a senator. It was that the better majority of American people said, 'Enough.' They chose to define the soul of our country." He gave that phraseology to our president and he said, "The soul of America is not the people in office. It is the everyday citizens who choose the better angels of their nature, who choose right over wrong, who recognize a moral moment and know that they have to stand up and bend the arc of the moral universe, or more importantly, steer the ship of our state out of the troubled waters into the clear, open sea."
(21:58:42)
I rose here, and I've gotten into lots of questions with my colleagues, but I rose hoping to read more and more of the stories of as many Americans as I could. During the night my friend Chris Murphy and I read a lot of them. You know me well, my friend, you know the truth of all of us in this place. You know the truth of everybody. We're all mountain ranges, we all have peaks and we all have valleys. You, my friend, have seen my valleys, me at my worst. I've failed as a leader at times, or at least come up short from my own personal expectations. You've seen me at some of my better moments. I know we have obligations. I know people are right to be upset or demanding of us right now. Please help us. What are you doing in the face of people that might make it so that we might not have elections or might make it so that we do break things in this government that can never be fixed?
(21:59:36)
As one of the speakers that came into our caucus, the people that wrote the book How Democracies Die, great nations, great civilizations, forget democracies, don't necessarily die from external threats. They die from internal corruption. Think of the Roman Empire. Think of the Soviet Empire, it crumbled from its own corruption, failure to live up to its promises and ideals. We are at this moment, I am here to tell you, America, to tell my friends and colleagues and anybody who cares to listen to a senator from New Jersey, that we are at that moment. We're past that moment. Every day things are happening. The 72 days of this administration, God, if there's not enough to upset you, to ignite you, to realize that maybe you and your family are not getting hurt but other Americans are, our veterans are, our seniors are, we've told their stories here over these last 21 hours, 22 hours. We've told their stories.
(22:00:35)
People are getting hurt, people are afraid, people are worried, and people I don't even agree with are getting disappeared. Law firms that I've known for my entire career, for my entire career, are being forced to kowtow to this president. Universities that should be the bastions of free speech, free thought, free enterprise, intellectual research, academic research, scientific research are getting torn up by cutting indirect costs. I read stories of PhD programs that are virtually being canceled, from the best scientific minds not being able to build the state-of-the-art labs. The country that has led humanity in scientific invention is taking a blow. Fareed Zakaria, I read his article here, and he's saying that China is doubling down on investments on the universities as this president is cutting them, unless of course you come to the leader and make all these commitments, meet all of these demands. There should be enough already. It should be enough already.
(22:01:42)
So this is that moment John Meacham told me about. I want us to try in the Senate. I know my colleagues, I see Tammy Baldwin, I see Chris Murphy, I see Angela Alsobrooks. I love you guys. I've served side-by-side with you. I know your passion, I've heard your anger, I've heard your fear, I've heard how you want to fight for this country, but we are not enough. We can do demonstrations, we can do demands, we could try to do things differently. In fact, we must.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:02:07):
Will the Senator yield-
Cory Booker (22:02:08):
I will definitely yield to Tammy Baldwin, my friend and my colleague.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:02:11):
…to another question?
Cory Booker (22:02:12):
Thank you very much. I don't have that much gas in the tank, but hold on, let me say it right. I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:02:25):
So noted.
Cory Booker (22:02:26):
Thank you.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:02:26):
Senator, since you have taken the floor, which I suppose is nearly a full day now, there have been new breaking news of mass firings. Perhaps others have come to the floor to talk about it. But you were just talking about how great democracies are shredded, sometimes from within. Look, one of the pieces of breaking news today was the mass firing of our nation's public health agency within it. Today it was reported that the Health and Human Services Department began firing up to 10,000 more people. It's more than the previous firings, including researchers, scientists, support staff, and senior leaders.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:03:31):
… leaders. These are people who are doing work to keep our children safe from preventable illnesses and researchers who are searching for cures and treatments for diseases that plague our families, like cancer and diabetes and Alzheimer's. And look, we can all agree that government could be and should be more efficient, but here is where I disagree with the unelected Elon Musk and people like our president. People stopping the spread of measles, researchers finding cures for Alzheimer's disease are not waste, fraud, or abuse. The slash and burn that is being led by Elon Musk's DOGE will make Americans less healthy, less safe. And Elon Musk's DOGE and Donald Trump are callously ripping away treatments, cures, from millions of Americans suffering from Alzheimer's disease, cancer, ALS, and other devastating diseases.
(22:04:56)
Behind these cures are of course workers, and they are some of our nation's brightest and best and most devoted. They keep our nation healthy and our economies running. But this administration is not respecting their work, their mission. And I have to point out the why. What is the why to all of their actions today announced that they're starting that slashing of 10,000 workers within the Department of Health and Human Services? By the way, with more in store, because last week they announced a reorganization that would result in 20,000 people losing their jobs.
(22:05:44)
But what is the why? Ripping the rug out from under cancer and Alzheimer's disease and ALS patients is all in service of finding the money that Elon Musk and Donald Trump need to cut taxes for themselves and billionaires like them. And yes, big corporate tax breaks. They are cutting cancer cures for corporate tax breaks.
(22:06:16)
Senator Booker, these cuts to health and human services are going to crush families in Wisconsin, whether it be people not having hope for a cure for a disease, or to the workers who are doing this groundbreaking research all across the United States who are going to be fired. In New Jersey, what will these firings mean for the people who you represent?
Cory Booker (22:06:48):
I'm so grateful for the question because that's what we said we are here about. We're here to try to elevate the voices of people affected by what they're doing to our government. And frankly, I say cut the Department of Education completely of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. They're getting rid of agencies that were created by Congress. And many people are right to believe that it can't be eliminated without Congressional action. We were talking before with people here that the majority, the biggest plurality of people being laid off from all of these departments are our veterans.
(22:07:24)
And again, I'm going to be back in New Jersey this weekend. I'm going to try to be at a rally, a town hall. I know everywhere I go in my state, I'm going to hear from people who are rightfully angry, who are rightfully afraid, who are affected by this, who are fearful of what's to come. These are such important human emotions. But the question then is going to be for all of us, and I know people will be questioning me, "What are we going to do? What can I do? What are you going to do, Senator?"
(22:07:52)
And so I don't have a brilliant response. I don't have some prescient idea that we are going to be able to change the course of this, but I know we're going to fight. And I want to be honest with you, I wasn't sure we could stop Donald Trump when he tried to take down the ACA. I just wasn't sure. I really wasn't. I did not know how that would end. People gasped. Do you remember that in this room?
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:08:16):
I remember that.
Cory Booker (22:08:16):
People gasped. We did not know. This room usually has very predictable actions. That's why I'm still standing here, because I didn't want the predictable. I didn't want business as usual to happen. It's rare that we have unpredictability on this floor. It's usually finely orchestrated. You and I both know this. But that day, no one expected that, or at least wasn't sure. It was drama, it was a moment, and we won.
(22:08:41)
And I want to tell you this. I said this earlier. When I say we won, I don't think there's one senator here and the 99 others that convinced John McCain of his vote. I know who did though, Arizonans, who stood up, who spoke up, and demanded more from their leadership not to hurt people, not to hurt folks who needed that healthcare, not to hurt folks with preexisting conditions, not to hurt children.
(22:09:04)
I am one of these people that wants to learn from our history. I want to stand here today and tell you I'm going to do everything I can. I'm willing to go to some lengths. But I am inadequate. You are inadequate. We're senators with all of this power, but in this democracy, the power of the people is greater than the people in power. This is a moral moment that more Americans need to stand up and say, "Enough is enough." I'm sorry. The civil rights movement wasn't won because of just a few black folks who stood up and were really articulate. No, they called to the conscience of this country and the country responded. And it was a rainbow coalition that said, "This ain't who we are in America."
(22:09:52)
I know New Jerseyans are hurting. I know. I've been to your state. I love your state. I love sitting side by… We had some fun in your state together. We've some young artists, business people. You are this person that says this word over and over again more than any Republican or Democrat, "Buy American, buy American," and created so many jobs in your state. We were in some packed restaurant, people packed not to see me as a special guest, but to listen to your story. You are a trailblazer too in this Senate. You are doing things that our founders did not expect, and you know that. You want to stand up. I heard you in our caucus. I heard you in Schumer's leadership meeting standing up for people that are most marginalized, most looked down on, most talked about. I hear you, Tammy.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:10:45):
Will the Senator respond to another question?
Cory Booker (22:10:48):
I won't respond to a question. I'm going to read this for the 75th time. I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:10:57):
Thank you, Senator Booker. You just talked about your visit to Wisconsin. You've had many. But there was one that you're talking about that I remember really well and really fondly. I had the privilege of hosting you and showing you what our state had to offer.
Cory Booker (22:11:13):
Yes.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:11:14):
Something that I likely bragged about then, like I often do, is that the Badger State is known for making things. While I know you don't indulge in all of the things that we do make, because of course we have our iconic products like beer and brats and cheese, but we also build motorcycles and big industrial ships and engines that power our Navy and so much more.
Cory Booker (22:11:46):
Some people will give a ship.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:11:48):
That's right. Make one too.
Cory Booker (22:11:51):
Make them too. Yes.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:11:51):
Build them. And of course behind it all is our workers, as you were just talking about. And whether they are in a marsh harvesting cranberries, we're number one in cranberry production in the country.
Cory Booker (22:12:05):
We're in the top five in New Jersey.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:12:06):
I know, but we're number one; not that I'm competitive here. Or whether we're on a foundry floor or whether that worker is on an assembly line, workers are what make our economy go round. And so naturally they are the ones we should be prioritizing in all of our policy, but that's not what this administration is doing. They are going to get a slap across the face when the administration slaps across the board tariffs and gets us into a trade war.
Cory Booker (22:12:49):
Yes.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (22:12:51):
It's going to be these workers who pay the price. And Wisconsinites are really worried about what we're going to see this week. They worry about their businesses. You met so many of them when I hosted you. Their livelihoods, their communities; they're worried because we have all been here before.
(22:13:16)
Wisconsin was one of the hardest hits states by retaliatory tariffs last time Donald Trump started a trade war. During Donald Trump's last trade war, American farmers lost $27 billion in export sales. And according to further records, the state's economy lost more than $3 billion worth of product sales, product exports. And our manufacturing economy in Wisconsin, well, we lost about $ 26 billion in exports. And you know what? The exports that Wisconsin manufacturers make is supported by more than 460,000 jobs. And our agricultural economy is supported by 350,000 jobs. And so a trade war would be devastating to the workers of Wisconsin.
(22:14:36)
And then the prices; people have been struggling with the high price of things in grocery stores, at gas stations. A number of our business leaders have spoken out about the impending tariffs. Ariens Company in Brillion, Wisconsin which makes outdoor power equipment like snowblowers told Reuters news that policy whiplash in this arena is making it difficult to plan, especially as price hikes are likely in the works. And Roden Echo Valley in West Bend told one of our media outlets, WTMJ4, and I quote, "I don't like this tariff business. It's going to be on the backs of farmers because we have to depend on the world to export our commodities." He highlighted the dependency of the dairy industry on global trade, noting that 15 to 20% of dairy products are exported. "And if we lose," I quote again, "15% of our markets for dairy, it's going to be absolutely devastating." We've seen this before, again, in service to a big tax break for billionaires and corporations.
(22:15:59)
But to my esteemed colleague from New Jersey, thank you for visiting the state of Wisconsin. I want to ask what the impact would be in New Jersey. What would President Trump's tariffs mean for the workers of the Garden State?
Cory Booker (22:16:18):
I love that you focus it there, because that's who President Trump made promises to in my state, that things are bad with this economy because it's not serving people who are working every day. He promised that he would make things better. "I'll make grocery prices go down." He said that. And so people were expecting that's where he'd focus. They didn't think that he'd focus on Greenland. Didn't think that he'd focus on the Gulf of Mexico. Didn't think he'd focus on bullying Canada. Didn't think he'd focus on turning his back on Ukraine. Didn't think that he'd focus on gutting the Department of Education and ending it. This is not the reason why people voted for them. They did something that Reverend Warnock calls, is a vote is a sort of prayer. He says it's like a civic prayer that I'm putting a prayer out there that you will be who I hope you can be. You'll be a blessing to my life and not a burden.
(22:17:15)
But you're talking about the burdens that he's bringing. This economy under 72 days has not gotten better for working Americans, and they don't even see the president trying to make it better. They see what he's doing to make it worse. And one of the things that's going to be these tariffs which are going to raise costs on working Americans. Then what Chuck Schumer said to me, it's sounding like it's going to just sail through a plan that's going to blow trillions of dollars of holes into our budget, give trillions of dollars of tax cuts to the wealthiest, and gut your Medicaid and gut your services for your grandparents in nursing homes.
(22:17:53)
People believed. People put their trust. I don't blame them. They're my fellow Americans. They wanted for them, families, they wanted America that was more affordable. They wanted America to be first, prioritized. They wanted a safer America, strong America, more prosperous America. I heard that. And so I know when I'm back home this weekend, I know that I'm going to encounter a lot of folks who are workers in my state who are getting hurt. They want better. They want better from their government.
(22:18:34)
And so the burden upon us and each other is what are we going to do? Are we going to do the same old thing over and over again? Or are we going to try to do things different? Are we going to be willing to, again, get in good trouble, necessary trouble to try to save the soul of this nation? I think my colleague, my dear sister, my prayer partner, my soul lifter, I thought I heard you say something?
Speaker 4 (22:19:11):
Yes. Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (22:19:14):
Ah yes. I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 4 (22:19:19):
Well, I first of all want to thank you so much again, Senator Booker, for your spiritual obedience. I think it's necessary for me to say as well today to you on behalf of so many of us who are watching right now how extraordinarily proud we are of you. I would dare say that you are in so many ways our ancestors' dream, and how powerful it is for all of us who are watching to recognize that in this very chamber you are standing today 67 years after this podium was used for the 24 hours that you have used the podium that was used to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. And today you have taken over the podium, sacrificed your own comforts. You have suffered over 22 hours to stand here today to talk instead about the greatness of America and to speak about it in such a way that reveals the love you feel for our country. We thank you for that.
(22:20:26)
This country needs right now bravery. It needs leaders who are unafraid to stand up and speak truth to power, to not hold back when calling out these callous and inhumane acts that are perpetrated by this president against the American people. And when I talk about the American people, we know who we're talking about; against our veterans, against our seniors, against our children from every corner of our country.
(22:20:52)
I want to talk specifically today about our children. Mahatma Gandhi noted that the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members. This president is failing America's children, and he's doing so by harming our education system. We remember as well very fondly when Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." And I think many of us recognize that that is exactly why we are seeing all of the attacks that we've seen on this system because we recognize that education allows us to change the world.
(22:21:32)
Last Friday, Secretary McMahon shut yet another critical lifeline off to our states and our schools, canceling extensions that the department had previously granted to states to draw down their COVID relief money. States like Maryland originally got extensions to finish spending the remainder of these critical dollars on long-term projects like teacher recruitment, tutoring, and other services for students. We know in particular Anne Arundel Public Schools brought Chromebooks for students with their funds, but Maryland still has a remaining ESSER balance of nearly $150 million. $150 million; that's on top of the millions that have already been clawed back, frozen, or withheld from the state by this administration. These are funds that districts like ours from all across the country were using for school construction projects and mental health supports for students. This administration is refusing to acknowledge the lasting effects of the pandemic on our nation's students, cruelly stripping educational opportunities from our students, and leaving our states and our districts on the hook.
(22:22:40)
So let me be clear that these are dollars that Congress authorized, dollars that have already been allocated, dollars that have already been earmarked by Maryland and our local districts for projects that will help all of our students. Our schools planned and committed these funds in good faith, in good faith. Our states have acted in good faith, and this administration is acting in bad faith, pulling the rug out from underneath them, blowing a hole in their education budgets. Our governor had this to say, and I quote, "The clawback of these previously committed funds would place an undue burden on our school systems and undermine our collective efforts to strengthen education across the state."
(22:23:25)
And this is only the latest attack on public education by this administration, the latest attack on our schools and our students, the latest attack on our teachers. We saw this administration attack HBCUs by freezing funds for the 1890 School Scholars Program, which provides tuition for students at our land grant institutions. We saw this administration and Secretary McMahon slash teacher training grants which helped prepare our educators to serve our communities. We saw this administration proposing to move the student loan program to the small business administration, threatening students access to aid in the promise of higher education. We saw this secretary and this administration lay off half of the staff at the Department of Education several weeks ago, firing over 1,300 staffers.
(22:24:16)
I want to talk for a minute about who the department fired. And by the way, these are people who are not incompetent. These are people who are not DEI. These are professionals, well-educated. The administration fired civil servants at the department's Office of Civil Rights and shuttered Office of Civil Rights regional offices, including the regional office that handles discrimination cases.
(22:24:41)
I want to make really clear, and I want the American people to hear this, that what decimating the Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights means, it means that attorneys who intervene when schools ignore complaints from students who are repeatedly called racial slurs or who are subjected to hateful speech or imagery like swastikas on campus, it provides the technical assistance that schools need to train staff on anti-harassment practices, combat harmful behaviors, and build welcoming environments. It holds K through 12 schools and colleges that failed to keep students safe accountable. It ensures that families have recourse if their child with a disability is not being served appropriately by their district; that if a child is not getting the speech therapy or other services outlined in their individualized education program, that they will have an advocate to help them.
(22:25:33)
At the time that this administration took over, there were over 270 open Office for Civil Rights cases impacting 1.3 million students in my state alone. Without enough OCR staff to do the job, investigators' caseloads will grow to an untenable level. So we spoke to some of the lawyers that work in the division that serves Maryland schools, and all of these patriotic civil servants, all they want to do is to do their jobs. They want to combat discrimination in our schools. They want to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn in a safe environment. These civil servants don't know that that mission is possible as they and so many of their colleagues are ruthlessly fired by this administration. These cuts are catastrophic. I dare say that they, like so many other decisions by this administration, are wicked.
(22:26:24)
Senator Booker, here is my question. What are you hearing from families in the state of New Jersey as this administration dismantles the Department of Education and slashes opportunities for students and families?
Cory Booker (22:26:38):
I'm so grateful for the question from my friend, and that's the centering that we've been trying to do, which is what are families in New Jersey and around America thinking? As you said, the Department of Education, and we read that earlier today, doesn't dictate or educational policy to states, but it does do a lot to do funding for special needs kids in the states. And so I'm already hearing from parents of kids with special needs and what the impact it will have if those resources are cut. Everything from the programs that help children afford, young people afford college, to programs that I've worked with people that help schools afford advanced scientific equipment, so the bright minds, the geniuses of our state and the country can have the equipment they need.
(22:27:39)
This administration is cutting things that are hurting families, and we are hearing from them. We're hearing from veterans. We're hearing from the elderly. We're hearing from people that are taking care of the elderly. We're hearing from people who run our hospitals. We're hearing from people that run our universities and who talk about the science funding and the cutting of PhDs. We're hearing from people who rely on Medicare and Medicaid, who rely on social security. We're hearing from people that are appalled that their nation bullies smaller nations like Canada or Greenland. We're hearing from people that are shocked at what they're doing to the most vulnerable people who come to our nation, who have American children, who have American spouse, are being disappeared off of our streets that have no criminal record. We're hearing from people that don't think it's right, that a president should have a meme coin that allows him to enrich himself to hock his power and position for even greater wealth.
(22:28:43)
And so I've done everything I can, and I'm going to do more. I've still got a little gas in the tank to elevate those voices, to elevate those voices.
Speaker 5 (22:28:57):
Will the senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (22:29:02):
Before I yield, because I just keep wanting to exercise this power that I might have for a little while longer, and exercise it over a man that I have a real chip on my shoulder. He's a senator from Arizona. Yeah, he's been a military fighter pilot. He's been an astronaut, has been out of this world. But what ticks me off, sir, I've said nice things about everybody else, but I'm not saying them about you, sir. Because when I go home to New Jersey and I walk through my airport, I was the Newark mayor. My airport-
(22:29:36)
… surprised that Americans are feeling more pessimistic, as I said, with consumer confidence going down. And what's his first major legislative push? This is what we're talking about, my colleague, my friend, my fellow New Jerseyans. His first big legislative push in this body is not to help families. No plan to lower costs; that's what he said he would do. Is his first legislation coming here about lowering costs? No. Is it any relief for seniors? Is it some big idea like we did to lower prescription drug costs? No, that's not what he's doing. Is his first priority helping our veterans? No.
(22:30:14)
What is his first priority? As I said, it's extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, a multi-trillion dollar giveaway that slashed corporate taxes and overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy and left the middle class with crumbs, relative crumbs. He and his allies promised that the benefits would trickle down to workers. That's what we heard. "It would pay for itself," was said. But in 2022, the Fed and the Joint Committee on Taxation confirmed the truth. 90% of workers, 90% of folk in our states saw no benefit.
(22:30:51)
Now Trump and his GOP allies want to double down with even bigger tax cuts that have increased the deficit by over $4.5 trillion, the majority of which would go to the wealthiest people. Let me read what the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and how they describe the plan. Here's a quote of their writings.
(22:31:11)
"Following a presidential campaign in which Donald Trump promised to improve the economic circumstances of working families, House Republicans are instead pushing to extend all expiring provisions of the costly 2017 tax law, which are heavily skewed to people with the highest incomes and add new tax cuts on top of that. The Republican controlled House passed a budget resolution on February 25th, authorizing the $4.5 trillion in tax cuts through 2034 and called on committees to partially offset the cost with $2 trillion in cuts. Are they cuts to the wealthiest? No. These cuts will inevitably hit programs such as Medicaid and SNAP, which help millions of families afford essential needs. Extending the inspiring tax cuts for individuals and large estates would double down on the flaws in the 2017 law by, one, giving benefits, the biggest benefits to the wealthy. Households with income and the top 5% who have incomes over $320,000 would receive roughly half of the benefits. So millionaires above that, billionaires, all together, they would receive roughly half of the benefits."
(22:32:32)
"Ballooning the deficit; along with the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts enacted under President Bush, the 2017 law has severely eroded our nation's revenue base. The House budget would compound the damage, adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit each and every year. Extending the 2017 tax cuts would cost $3.6 trillion through 2034. Failing to significantly boost economic growth, workers' earnings and other benefits will not be seen. The trickle-down benefits that proponents claimed in the 2017 law that they said it would produce never materialized. And the law hasn't come close to paying for itself, as I heard on the Senate floor from my colleagues. They said, 'Oh, this is going to pay for itself. All this is going to pay for itself.' Yet the House budget claims that extending the tax cuts would generate trillions in revenue, far more than any independent estimate."
(22:33:45)
"As of 2017, an alternative path is available. Congress should work towards creating a fairer federal tax system that raises more revenue from wealthy people and corporations and supports high value investments, high value investments that expand opportunity and promote more shared prosperity. During the 2017 debate, Trump administration officials and prominent proponents claimed the tax law would yield broadly shared benefits by boosting economic growth. President Trump's Council of Economic Advisers claimed the centerpiece corporate tax rate cut would very conservatively lead to a $4,000 boost in household income. What a lie. But the research to date has failed to find evidence that the gains from the corporate rate trickled down to most workers. Surprise, surprise, surprise. A study by economists from the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Federal Reserve Board found that workers below the 90th percentile of the firm's income scale, a group whose incomes were below roughly $114,000 in 2016, saw no change in earnings from the tax cut."
(22:34:58)
"Proponents claim that the tax cuts would pay for themselves hasn't panned out either. In fact, a study by economists from Harvard, Princeton, the University of Chicago, and the Treasury Department estimate that the law's total corporate tax cuts, the rate cut as well as full expensing for capital investments and international tax charges, reduced revenue by roughly 98 cents for every dollar of tax cuts, reduced revenue in our country by roughly 98 cents for every dollar of tax cuts, even after accounting for increases in economic activity due to those cuts. Similarly, proponents argued the law's 20% deduction for pass through businesses, partnerships, S corps and sole proprietorships would boost investment and create jobs. Then Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for example, argued that the deduction would be good for the economy and good for growth. But researchers have found no evidence that provided any significant boost in economic activity and little evidence that increased investment or broadly benefited workers, other than the owners themselves."
(22:36:06)
"Despite the underwhelming performance, the House Republican budget resolution assumes that in enacting a $4.5 trillion in new or extended tax cuts will produce enough additional economic growth to generate an extra $2.6 trillion in revenue through 2035. They think it's going to offset the tax cuts. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has derided this claim as fantasy math, noting that it is many times greater than even the most optimistic independent estimate."
(22:36:52)
They lied to us, or at least just put out really expansive hope in the past. And none of it came true. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool the American people twice, well, we should not let it happen. This idea in this country that if you make the wealthiest more wealthy by giving them more tax cuts and deny services to our veterans, deny health care to our seniors, cut social security benefits, cut scientific research, cut programs that protect people's safety and security, that that is going to somehow help our nation to prosper as a whole, you're kidding yourselves. We have the evidence. We have the analysis.
(22:37:45)
And this is the crazy thing. As I heard from Chuck Schumer, that Republicans are now trying to hide the true cost of their billionaire tax cuts with accounting gimmicks. The New York Times interviewed budget experts from across the political spectrum to shed light on the Republican's trickery. And this is the article I want to read. I know some people have questions. I want to read this article because Schumer shook me, shook me. So here's the New York Times. The title of the article is The Budget Trick the GOP Might Use to Make $4 Trillion Tax Cuts Look Like They're Free. "How much does a tax cut
Cory Booker (22:38:31):
… Cost. It depends on what you compare it to. Republicans in Congress trying to advance a giant bill that includes $4 trillion in tax cut extensions are considering a novel strategy that would make the extension appear to be free money. The trick, budgeting with the assumption that current policies extended indefinitely to the future, even those with an expiration date like the 2017 tax cuts set to end next year. It's the difference between making the extension appear to cost $4 trillion, which is the true cost, or hiding it and say it costs nothing. Using this "Current policy baseline" wouldn't change the bill's real effect on our deficits or debt, but it would make it easier to actually make the tax cuts lasting by sidestepping a rule governing budget reconciliation, the process Republicans are using to pass the bill. Yes, this sounds technical. That's why we've enlisted some of our Washington's top budget veterans to explain this maneuver using a metaphor.
(22:39:43)
Across the ideological spectrum, nearly all of the more than 20 experts we heard from disliked changing the baseline that Chuck Schumer just came in here and said, "The Republicans have already decided that they're going to do it." This is outrageous. But here, The New York Times interviewed across the ideological spectrum, whole bunch of experts from the center, from the right, from the left, and let's hear what they're saying about this gimmick. "If budget reconciliation is like taking the express lanes on a highway, there's extra rules and tolls, limited stops, but it gets you where you want to go faster, using a 'current policy baseline' for taxes is like slapping a fake license plate on your car," says Zach Moeller, director of the economic program at Third Way, which describes itself as a center-left research group.
(22:40:36)
And they don't like this gimmick. They think it's fakery. Here's another person using an analogy. "It's like taking an expensive week-long vacation and then assuming you can spend an extra $1000 per day forever since you are no longer staying at The Plaza." That's Goldwyn, Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director for the Committee For a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that tends to be hawkish on deficits.
(22:41:06)
Here's another person, Jessica Riedl, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. I've worked with them in the past, a conservative research group and the Chief Economist for the former Republican senator Ron Portman of Ohio. "Last year, despite being deeply in debt, I bought a $100,000 sports car. So next year, buying another $100,000 sports car is not irresponsible because I'm merely spending the same amount of money as the year before. And if I purchase only a $70,000 car, then I should be congratulated for reducing my annual spending by $30,000." A conservative think tank is basically calling this a hoax and a lie. Lying to yourself, that if I keep spending, spending, spending the same amount I've kept spending, spending, spending to drive up the costs, then I'm just doing the same thing I've done before. So it's not adding.
(22:42:07)
Well, it is adding. There's no way to not call what the Republicans are trying to do a gimmick that's trying to hide the truth that they're going to add trillions of dollars to the deficits that we, that our children, that our children's children are going to have to pay for. The debt payments alone to service the debt are going to be bigger than any of the programs we think we should be investing in like science research or education or affordable childcare or lowering prescription drug costs or expanding the child tax credit. Things that we know if we invest in, we'll get some returns. But no, what they're investing in is bigger tax cuts for the wealthiest. Conservatives, independents, left leading folks all come to the same conclusion. Pretending $4 trillion in tax cuts will cost nothing may not be easy math. Many Republican lawmakers who are concerned about the deficit are well aware that the bill will increase the deficit by a lot. Here's the integrity call. One Republican in the House showed his integrity. One budget hawk named Massey said, "I can't vote for this stuff. I'm a budget hawk. I do not want to see increased deficits." He called it what it was. I saw him in an interview say, "Hey, hey, wait a minute. By your own numbers, Republican colleagues, you're driving up the deficit by trillions of dollars and you're making the rich richer and you're leaving future generations more bankrupt."
(22:43:41)
So this article assumes that this was all going to be decided by the Senate parliamentarian who advises legislators on chamber rules. This parliamentarian I thought could rule that the current policy baseline isn't allowed, forcing the Republicans have to make a choice, overruling or replacing my friend, parliamentarian, somebody that on both sides of the aisle we respect. It's very rarely done. I've been here for 13 years, we've had the same parliamentarian. But that doesn't mean the Republicans won't try, this article assumes, and I guess they did try. They found a way around the parliamentarian. They found a way around the rules of the Senate. They found a way around the ideals of reconciliation and the Byrd Rule. They are deciding that the way we're going to do this is break the Senate and make up our own rules.
(22:44:38)
This is how they're going to get a bill through that gives trillion dollars of tax cuts to the wealthiest in our country who are doing very well. Let's not hate on other Americans. I celebrate success. God bless you, but you don't need tax cuts, especially not that are going to be given to you on the backs of the poor, on the backs of our elders, on the backs of our children, on the backs of expected mothers, on the backs of my mom's, your mom's social security. What does it say about our values and our priorities to allow that to happen? Who are we, America, if you don't think this is a moral moment where the character of our country is being tested?
(22:45:26)
I tell you, the Senate has stopped crazy gimmicks like this before, but the persuasive power of democratic senators probably won't be enough. We as a country, like these economists, that are Republicans, that are Democrats, that are nonpartisan, who called out this budget gimmickry for what it is, when is it enough? When they came after journalists, when they came after colleges and universities, research and science, when they came after law firms who had the audacity to defend clients or to represent clients that were suing the president who, God bless America, lost in civil courts, lost in criminal courts.
(22:46:18)
When do you cross your line? We can't let this happen. It's not a right or left moment. It's a right or wrong moment. It's a moral moment in America. I've read Republican after Republican, from Republican governors to Republican mayor groups, from the Cato Institute to the Manhattan Institute, to AEI calling out this budget gimmickry for what it is and the result will be the same. Blowing up our federal deficit to stratospheric, almost unimaginable levels. This is wrong every way you look at it.
(22:47:02)
And if your values are fiscal conservatism, then vote with your integrity and vote against that. If your values are a fiscal hawk and you hate deficits, well vote against this bill because it violates you. Don't make up some fantasy that this is going to pay for itself. The 2017 tax cuts didn't. And you're going to extend them and say, "Well, it's going to happen this time. Oh, don't worry about it. It's going to happen this time." No, it's not. Here's an article. Donald Trump bill, a national debt so big that it'll weigh down the economy for years. One of President Trump's lesser known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he's inflicted on our government will wreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt. The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump's term in office. That's nearly twice as much as what Americans owe in student loans, car loans, credit cards, and every other type of debt other than mortgages combined, according to the Federal Reserve Bank. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every person in the country. Every person. $23,500.
(22:48:32)
"The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third biggest increase relative to the size of the economy of any US presidential administration," according to the calculation by a leading Washington budget maven, Eugene Steuerle, I'm pronouncing the name wrong, co-founder of the Urban Brookings Tax policy. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war. In peace times, he's number three. Not the reason you want to be like Lincoln.
(22:49:18)
Economists agree that we needed massive deficit spending during COVID-19 crisis to ward off an economic cataclysm, but federal finances under Trump had become dire even before the pandemic. That happened even though the economy was booming and unemployment was at historically low levels. By the Trump administration's own description, the pre-pandemic national debt level was already a crisis and, "A grave threat to our nation." The combination of Trump's 2017 tax cut and the lack of any serious spending restraint helped both the deficit and the debt soar.
(22:49:57)
So when the once in a lifetime viral disaster slammed our country and we threw more than a trillion dollars into COVID-19 related stimulus, there was no longer any margin for error. Our national debt has reached immense levels relative to our economy nearly as high as it was during the end of World War II. But unlike 75 years ago, the massive financial overhang for Medicare and social security will make it dramatically more difficult to dig ourselves out. Falling deeper into debt is the opposite of what the Trump… Falling deeper into the red is the opposite of what Trump, the self-styled king of debt, said would happen if he became president. In a March 31st, 2016, interview with Bob Woodward and Robert Costa of the Washington Post, Trump said he could pay down the national debt, then about $19 trillion. This is President Trump's promise back then, over a period of eight years by renegotiating trade deals and spurring economic growth.
(22:51:03)
God, this man breaks his promises over and over. After he took office, Trump predicted that economic growth created by his 2017 tax cut combined with the proceeds from the tariffs he imposed in 2017 on a wide range of goods from numerous countries would help eliminate the budget deficit and let the United States begin to pay down its debt. On July 17th, 2018, he told Sean Hannity of Fox News, " We have $21 trillion in debt. When this, the 2017 tax cut really kicks in, we'll start paying off the debt like it's water." That's Trump on Fox News. Lying. Nine days later he tweeted, "Because of tariffs, we will be able to start paying down large amounts of the $21 trillion in debt that has been accumulated, much by the Obama administration." The guy can't help blaming Obama.
(22:52:05)
That's not how it played out. Nothing he said came true. When Trump took office in January of 2017, the nonpartisan congressional budget office was projecting that the federal deficit would be 2% to 3% of our gross domestic product during Trump's term. Instead, the deficit reached nearly 4% of gross domestic product in 2018 and 4.6 in 2019. There were multiple culprits. Trump's tax cuts, especially the sharp reduction in the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%.
(22:52:40)
Again, I was here, a lot of my colleagues were here. The big business groups were coming in asking for 25% from 35% and Trump said, "Nah. You're asking me for 25, I'm going to give you 21%. Cut your taxes even more." It took a big bite out of federal revenue. The CBO estimated in 2018 that the tax cut would increase deficits by about $1.9 trillion over 11 years. Meanwhile, Trump's claim, I wish the author wrote Trump's lie, but he says, "Trump's claim that increased revenue from the tariffs would help eliminate or at least reduce our national debt hasn't panned out." Surprise, surprise.
(22:53:23)
In 2018, Trump's administration began hiking tariffs on aluminum, steel, and many other products, launching what became a global trade war with China, the European Union, and other countries. The tariffs did bring in additional revenue. In the fiscal year 2019, they netted about 71 billion. Up about 36 billion from President Barack Obama's last year in office. But although 36 billion is a lot of money, it's less than one 750th of the national debt. That 36 billion could have covered a bit more than three weeks, just three weeks of the interest on the national debt. That is, had the Trump administration not unilaterally decided to send a chunk of the tariff revenue to farmers affected by his horrible trade wars. Businesses that struggled as a result of the tariffs also paid fewer taxes offsetting some of their increased tariff revenue.
(22:54:22)
By early 2019, national debt had climbed to $22 trillion. Trump's budget proposal for 2020 called it a grave threat to our economic and societal prosperity. He called his own damage that, and asserted that the US was experiencing a national debt crisis. However, the same budget proposal included substantial growth in the national debt. By the end of 2019, the debt had risen in our country to 23.2 trillion and more federal officials were sounding the alarm. "Not since World War II have we seen deficits during times of low unemployment that are as large as those that we project, nor in the past century has it experienced large deficits for as long as we project," said the CBO.
(22:55:12)
Weeks later, COVID-19 erupted and made the financial situation far worse. As of December 31st, 2020, about a month left or three weeks left in his term, the national debt had jumped to 27.75 trillion, up 39% from the 19.95 trillion when Trump was sworn in. He increased our deficit by 39%. The government ended its 2020 fiscal year with a portion of the national debt owed to investors. The metric favored by the CBO at around 100% of GDP. The CBO had predicted less than a year earlier that it would take until 2030 to reach that approximate level of a debt, but not under Donald Trump, including the trillions owed to various governmental trust funds. Under his leadership, the total debt grew and grew and grew. It's now at about 130% of GDP. Where are the fiscal hawks?
(22:56:15)
Normally this is where you give Trump's versions of events, but we couldn't get anyone to give us Trump's side. Judd Deer, a White House spokesman, referred us to the Office of Management and Budget, which is a branch of the White House. OMB didn't respond to our requests. The Treasury directed us to comments made by the OMB director Russell Vought in October in which he predicted that, "As the pandemic eases the economic growth rebounds, the fiscal picture will improve," he said. The OMB blamed legislators for deficits when Trump submitted his proposed 2021 budget.
(22:56:49)
Unfortunately, the Congress continues to reject any efforts to restrain spending. "It ain't me," he's saying. It's them. Instead, they have greatly contributed to the continued ballooning of the federal deficits and debt, putting the nation's fiscal future at risk. Still, the deficit growth under Trump has been historic. The Tax Policy Center has said that a comparison of every American president using a metric called the primary deficit, they are saying Trump had the third biggest primary deficit growth, 5.2% of GDP. He's our biggest debt man. Deficits have ballooned under this president because of his tax scam, of his lies about his tax bill in 2017, none of which came true. It didn't pay for itself. It didn't close deficits. It blew up our deficits. The benefits didn't go to working people. The benefits, as it says, over 90% would go to wealthier Americans and corporations. Even some Republicans have been calling out the hypocrisy. One of our colleagues, Rand Paul, in 2018, " I can't, in all honesty," Rand Paul says, "In all good faith, just look the other way because my party is now complicit in these deficits." The other thing is, there's a huge hypocrisy factor. Republicans lambasted President Obama to no end for trillion dollar deficits and now they have to put forward a multi-trillion dollar deficit.
(22:58:22)
Mick Mulvaney, Trump's former Chief of Staff said in 2020, "My party is very interested in deficits when there is a Democrat in the White House. The worst thing in the whole world is deficits when Barack Obama was president, then Donald Trump became president and we're a lot less interested in deficits as a party. We don't care at this point." And here's a guy I've mentioned numerous times, Thomas Massey, a Republican member of the House, said earlier this year about Republicans, "We have no plan whatsoever to balance the budget other than growth, but what they're proposing is going to make deficits worse."
(22:59:00)
This is what our president is trying to do with the complicity of a lot of people who call themselves deficit hawks, who call themselves fiscal conservatives. They're going to try to blow it through here, gaming the system, creating some kind of scam to obscure the real cost of this when we all know them on the Republican side, us on the Democratic side, we all know the truth about these tax increases and what they're going to do, how much they're going to cost, but we're going to play a game it looks like here unless more Americans speak up, Republican and Democrat, people who know numbers who know what we're doing to future generations in this country.
(22:59:38)
This is wrong. And I say again, this is not right or left, it is right or wrong. This is a moral moment in America. What are we going to do? I'm so glad my friend, the senator from Hawaii is here. I try to keep M&Ms in my desk occasionally if she wants to partake of New Jersey's state product. The M&M was invented in Newark. It's the truth. Get great trivia here. I'm waiting for the Senator from Hawaii, my dear friend, to ask me a question because I have the floor.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (23:00:27):
Will the Senator yield to a question?
Cory Booker (23:00:29):
I will yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (23:00:34):
Okay. I'm glad you mentioned M&Ms. Both of us are lawyers and I remember I got through the studying for the bar exam by eating mounds and mounds of M&Ms. So I thank you, the senator from New Jersey, for continuing to provide me with M&Ms. I want to thank you, Senator Booker, for standing here for hours on end to push back, to fight against this administration's lawlessness. And in fact, a reporter asked me today, "Do you think this is a good use by Senator Booker of his time to be on the floor to do this?" And I said, "Anytime any of us gets up and use our voices to counter, to fight against the lawlessness of this administration, it is a good use of our time." So thank you, Senator Booker, for yielding to me and for standing up to the American people. And is it making a difference? Millions of people are watching you, Senator Booker. Millions have watched and are watching you. It's making a difference. So I want to ask you a question about the lawlessness of this administration. As you yourself said last night, "These are not normal times in our nation." In fact, these are the very words that I often use when I meet with anybody who comes to see me from Hawaii. Individuals, organizations. I say, "These are not normal times." So Donald Trump has made no secret of the fact that he fancies himself a king with total disregard for the rule of law. And from day one, he and his administration have taken one illegal action after another. On his first day in office, Donald Trump issued an executive order reporting to end birthright citizenship, a right protected in our constitution for more than a century. Birthright citizenship.
(23:02:42)
He tried to unilaterally freeze federal funding, funding for everything from cancer research to disaster aid. Funding that had already been appropriated by Congress and that the executive branch is required by law to spend it. It is not as though it's up to the President to decide what programs he's going to release money for. Congress already made that determination. By law, he is supposed to expend these funds. But again, he thinks he's the king. He can do whatever he wants. So he's put a freeze on these funds.
(23:03:24)
He's enabled Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, the richest person in the world, whose only qualification is the more than 200 million he spent to get Trump elected to run roughshod through our government. Together, they've attempted to shutter USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, just for two examples. This Consumer Protection Bureau, which has returned more than $21 billion to consumers through its enforcement actions. $21 billion going to our consumers. And apparently, King Trump can't stand that and neither can Elon Musk. These are agencies that do critical work at home and abroad and represent just a minuscule part of the federal budget. But this doesn't stop either Trump or Musk from going after these programs.
(23:04:28)
And Musk's so-called DOGE team has gained access to sensitive databases and payment systems across our government containing the personal information of millions of Americans. So he has access to the Treasury Department database, all our social security numbers, our tax payments, all of that. He is running roughshod, until stopped by a court, on these databases. And they've done all this without any transparency or accountability whatsoever, meaning we still don't know the full extent of where DOGE has been or what they've done.
(23:05:17)
Trump has launched an all-out assault on our federal workforce. He attempted to fire tens of thousands. He actually fired them, who are on probationary status overnight, and only for courts to order them, these thousands and thousands of federal employees in probationary status, to be reinstated weeks later. Talk about chaos, talk about sowing fear. So now he's attempting to reclassify whole swaths of federal employees to strip them of civil service protections, and in some cases, eliminate their ability to bargain collectively.
Cory Booker (23:06:00):
[inaudible 03:22:29] for the past 25 hours.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (23:06:01):
He fired Department of Justice and FBI officers for seemingly no other reason than their involvement in January 6th cases. Cases they were assigned to as rank and file officials, not as though these people at DOJ and FBI had a choice in the kind of cases they were going to be assigned. They were assigned January 6th cases. And the names of these people, there's some 6,000 FBI and DOJ employees who worked on January 6th cases and there's a fear that those names would be disclosed.
(23:06:40)
He's going after schools, from kindergartners to universities as part of his war on diversity, equity, and inclusion. There are many examples of the kind of government outreach, overreach, that they are exercising through their effort to ferret out what they call diversity, equity, and inclusion, which actually, that is a positive. Don't we want to be inclusive?
(23:07:09)
So I want to give you just one example. There was a teacher in Idaho who had a poster in her classroom that said, "Everyone is welcome here.: And there were hand prints. Different colors, white, black, yellow, hand prints. And she was told she had to take this poster down and that if the hand prints were all white hand prints, she could have kept the poster up, but she was told she had to take this poster in her classroom that says, "Everyone is welcome here." She took it down at first, but she felt so bad about it that she put it back up. And then she was told by the powers that be at her school that she had a certain amount of time to take this poster down, otherwise there will be disciplinary action.
(23:07:56)
That is the kind of government overreach that is a hallmark of this administration. To date, the Trump administration has withheld millions of dollars from handpicked colleges and universities, conditioning the funding on unreasonable demands meant to bring these colleges to their knees. So he is starting with Harvard, Columbia. There's probably a whole long list of colleges that he's threatened to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars from. They've slashed funding or staffing at the Department of Education.
(23:08:42)
In fact, they would like to dismantle the Department of Education, which is responsible for administering billions in funding for low-income students, students with disabilities, and something as critical as school lunch for kids. Every single state in our country relies on the funding they receive from the US Department of Education. In Hawaii, we're talking about some $300 million in funding for our schools to help our kids with disabilities, to provide school lunches through the US Department of Agriculture, the things that I mention.
(23:09:27)
And as Senator Booker knows well, the list goes on and on. This administration continues to abuse its power, acting with total disregard for the rule of law. And we have turned to the courts to stop these illegal acts. And now Republicans are calling to impeach these judges who are applying the law, who are doing what they're supposed to be doing and not just giving Trump whatever results he wants, but these judges are now deemed open to impeachment. It's clear Trump and his cronies will keep on doing whatever they want regardless of the constitution or the law.
(23:10:21)
They are crippling government and sowing total chaos across our country while doing nothing to address the actual issues people care about. I know my colleague from New Jersey is just as concerned about lawlessness as I am. We both sit on the Judiciary committee. We know how important adherence to the rule of law is. And in fact, I have said many times it is the rule of law that separates the democracy from all other forms of government. And we now have a president who does not think that the rule of law applies to him. WTF comes to mind. So Senator Booker, my question to you is, what are the consequences of this total lawlessness on our government, our country, and the American people?
Cory Booker (23:11:21):
Thank you, Senator Hirono. I think I needed somebody to say WTF. And to come from you is particularly precious and I'm grateful. And this rule of law is really important. It's part of this whole moment in American history that I keep calling a moral moment, something beyond the normal, where we shouldn't respond in a normal fashion. This is a moment where judges rule in his favor and he praises them. [inaudible 03:28:36] don't rule for him, he drags them and threatens them. So much so that Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has to tell them back to back up. When officials, elected officials speak up, many of them fear what the consequences would be for them or their re-election if they speak against him. Lawyers decline possibly to represent people because they're worried that this president has already showed that if you represent the wrong people or represent, God forbid, people against him, he's going to try to shut down your law firm in ways that are against the rules of law that this country believes in. Journalists and media organizations, they don't report in a way that he likes or confirm his arbitrary name changes of the Gulf of Mexico, there's a punishment that he dishes out to try to make them succumb to submission.
(23:13:10)
State and local governments literally could get extorted for their funding if they don't carry out his demands. Schools and universities who are starving for dollars, trying to invest them in research and science that will propel humanity to new heights, well, they could get targeted by this president if you don't do what he says.
Cory Booker (23:13:33):
It feels like his ultimate goal is to create a country where you cannot trust the outcome of elections that he loses because he's going to tell you if he lost that election, it's the big lie. "It's wrong. I won. I won. I won. I won. I don't care what judge after judge, court after court says. I won. And if you don't believe me, if you don't say that the election I won, well, there'll be consequences for that too." This is a president who even as we've read people on both sides of the aisle isn't respecting the constitution, the separation of powers isn't respecting the rights that we hold precious, isn't honoring what you call the rule of law.
(23:14:24)
I want to go a little bit into this for a second. Let's talk about the separation of powers. There's many, many different cases right now. But we know that James Madison, the founding father who devised the basic framework of our constitution devoted some of The Federalist Papers to the ways the Constitution addresses the danger of concentrating too much power in one person or one branch of government. Written in 1788, Madison's words still have resonance today. This is what he wrote in Federalist No. 47. "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." So what is this president trying to do? He's trying to jam any court decision that's not in his favor. And either the judge is corrupt and should be impeached, or he's just going to deny the ruling or not follow it. Madison explained that the Constitution set up the executive legislative and judiciary branches to be separate and distinct and equal and bound together by checks and balances. "It is agreed on all sides that the powers properly belonging to one of the branches ought not to be directly and completely administrated by either of the other branches. It is equally evident that none of them ought to possess directly or indirectly an over ruling influence over the others in the administration of their executive respective powers." That's Federalist No. 48.
(23:16:14)
I'm nerdy enough to have a favorite Federalist Paper. I'm going to read from my favorite one, Federalist No. 51. "In order to lay a due foundation for the separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government essential to the preservation of liberty, it is evident that each department should have a will of its own. So constituted that each should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the others. But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means to resist the encroachments of the others." "To resist the encroachments of the others."
(23:17:02)
We're not doing that in the Senate or in the House. "It may…", Federalist No. 51 continues, "It may be a reflection on human nature that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government." And here's the quote folks. Here's the quote from our founders. "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." But our president is no angel. "In framing a government…" This is Federalist No. 51 continuing. "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this. You must first enable the government to control the government. And in the next place, oblige it to control itself. They are talking about at great length, our founders, in the separation of powers in the checks and balances of these institutions. And yet for 72 days of this administration has the Congress, the Article One, the people's House, the Senate, the deliberative body, have we once held this president to account.
(23:18:25)
The most powerful man in the world and the richest man in the world have taken a battle ax to the Veterans Association. A battle ax to the Department of Education, a battle ax to the only agency solely focused on protecting consumers against big banks and other factors that might abuse them, bringing it down. Congress established the Department of Education. Congress established the Consumer Finance Bureau. Congress. But the President doesn't care, he's going to push as hard as he can against the principles of our founders. And what will we do in this body? What will we do in the House of Representatives? Right now, the answer is nothing.
(23:19:11)
Has Elon Musk, the unelected [inaudible 03:35:45] confirmed billionaire, number one campaign contributor of Donald Trump who has admitted he's made mistakes, heck, his website, he keeps taking down the mistakes, keeps getting called out from him, fires people from the FAA then begs him to come back, fires the people that protect us from nuclear accidents. [inaudible 03:36:00] come back. Has we ever in the Senate or the House called him in for one oversight hearing to account for what he's doing to address the fears of a nation? No. Separation of powers.
(23:19:50)
Hey, we have hearings here all the time, but not Elon Musk. You know why? You know why I think why? Tell me I'm a conspiracy theorist, because what Elon Musk is doing to some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle is threatening them, threatening to run primaries with what to me would be a quarter, but to him is a hundred million dollars. I'm going to drop a hundred million dollars against you in a primary if you step out of line. Or if you dare to say Hegseth is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense, we're going to drag you through X, we're going to awaken a mob to threaten you.
(23:20:36)
Our founders spoke so eloquently to protect against that kind of corruption, to protect that kind of egregious tyrannical power that says, "Only I can save this country. Give me all power. Let me be the strong man." And we know who he respects on the global stage. I was stunned. I thought it was a joke during the election when he said his favorite leader is Viktor Orbán, who has roll backed democratic principles, who has concentrated power. I see, who does he choose to call a dictator? The man who is trying desperately to lead his country in defense against the authoritarian dictator and preserve his democracy, or does he call the dictator a dictator? No. Simple test. Most high school students would simply pass it, but no, he calls a hero a dictator. We have any conversations about that in a formal capacity to talk about the Ukrainian war? Which I know people on both sides of the aisle. Maisie Rono brings up the separation of powers.
(23:21:50)
Why is history's lesson so relevant today? Why do we study history? Why did I learn that in high school that you study history so you don't repeat the mistakes of the past. You study history to gain inspiration and insight and courage against tough times. You study history to be inspired by heroes who stood up against despots. Who sacrificed themselves. What is the lesson in history? How is it relevant to us today? Because the separation of powers between the branches of government has allowed our democracy to thrive for nearly 250 years. And now we have a person in power that's barely being checked. And if the courts check him, what he does to the courts…
(23:22:34)
In the nine weeks or 10 weeks since Donald Trump was inaugurated, they have more than 140 federal lawsuits filed challenging his actions. I don't know if another president has in my lifetime ever has had 140 federal lawsuits in about nine weeks. It's a staggering figure. We should consider it a staggering figure. He must be the most sued president in US history. Somebody should fact check that. But at least in my lifetime, I don't remember Reagan, don't remember Bush, don't remember Obama or Clinton or Biden being dragged into court in the first nine weeks so many times and losing case after case.
(23:23:15)
He may have a record for the most lawsuits filed by a president himself, because he's a guy that says he loves to sue folks. In support of the big lie, he did so many lawsuits and lost them all. The lawsuits against Trump and his administration are not frivolous. Federal judges appointed by Republican presidents and Democratic presidents alike have found Trump's executive actions illegal, temporarily pausing many of them too. Trump's executive actions and the outcomes of these lawsuits have a direct effect on Americans. These lawsuits challenge Trump. Here are some of the examples folks. And I'm wondering where the American people stand on these lawsuits, not the people who are blindly loyal to him because they believe the lies that he so artfully creatively and convincingly tells, but just tell me where do you stand on these issues. Attacks on veterans who have served our country in the military and civil services.
(23:24:13)
Well, their lawsuits' challenging his right to attack our veterans. There's lawsuits challenging Trump on his attacks on government agencies that protect your grandmother from online scams. I don't know where you stand. With the grandmas getting scammed, to defend them or the president? Lawsuits against Trump because of his attacks on lawful American citizens born in this country and guarantee their citizenship under the US Constitution. There are lawsuits against the president for withholding National Institute of Health funds to support studies of horrific diseases like Alzheimer's, and disrupting life-saving medical research and ongoing clinical trials. Now, if you're a student of history, this is the problem often with lawsuits. Brown V. Board of Education, we celebrate it as this wonderful case. It was. But was it obeyed? No, it wasn't. I have a picture of Ruby Bridges in my office because it wasn't obeyed, the court didn't declare this and suddenly everybody said, "Hey, let black folk go to school with white folks."
(23:25:21)
No, the president had to call in the National Guard to escort a little girl into a class. That's the problem with lawsuits, is you have a defiant executive leadership, they'll defy them. These where you stand, do you stand with veterans? Do you stand on with your grandmothers against online scams? Do you stand with American citizens born in this country? Do you stand withholding National Institute of Health funding? It was clearly that. We know the majority of Americans are with that. But people are having to bring him to court to fight on these issues. So many cases being done, so many cases I have here before me, so many cases. I can read them all, but you all know many of them. They're stunned in the press as he pushes, as Elon Musk push. They push the bounds of the authorities of the Constitution of the United States, and people are bringing lawsuits, but that is not enough.
(23:26:21)
Martin Luther King didn't step down because of Thurgood Marshall's law, legal work. John Lewis didn't step down, Ella Baker didn't stop. Abraham Joshua Heschel didn't stop. The great rabbi Yohan Prince didn't stop. The people of the United States of America, more powerful than courts. The people of the United States of America, more powerful than the Constitution. I just said something controversial, so let me defend myself.
(23:26:54)
I believe in the people. I believe in the words of the great Learned Hand. He said the like of what I just said. So let me read somebody far greater, far more vaunted than this Senator from New Jersey. Learned Hand, serves as a federal judge from 1909 to 1951. He was nicknamed the 10th Justice of the Supreme Court for his many influential decisions. And he wrote this speech about our Constitution, about our liberties, about the tyrants in every generation who have tried to subvert our democracy, some of them from this body, like the Red Scare that had so many Americans being unjustly fired, unjustly deported, unjustly jailed, that infringed on freedom of speech, freedom of expression. I'm sorry, every generation of Americans have seen demagogues rise to try to undermine what American stands for. And Learned Hand knew that. He had so much wisdom about our Constitution.
(23:27:55)
"We are gathered here to affirm a faith, a faith in a common purpose, a common conviction, a common devotion. Some of us have chosen America as the land of our adoption. The rest have come from those who did the same. For this reason, we have some right to consider ourselves a picked group, a group of those who had the courage to break from the past and brave the dangers and the loneliness of a strange land. What was the object that so nerved us, or those who went before us to this choice? We sought liberty, freedom from oppression, freedom from want, freedom to be ourselves. This is what we sought. This we now believe that we are by way of winning. What do we mean when we say that first of all, we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon our courts. These are false hopes. Believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the heart, in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it. No constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies in our hearts there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court. And what is this liberty, which must lie in the hearts of men and women?" Please, please, please listen to what he writes next. "What is this liberty, which must lie in the hearts of us Americans?" This is what he says next. "It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will. It is not freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is a possession of only a savage few as we have learned in this country to our sorrow. What then is the spirit of liberty?
(23:30:23)
I cannot define it. I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right. It's the spirit of liberty, is the spirit which seeks to understand, to understand the minds of other men and women. The spirit of liberty is a spirit which weighs their interest alongside its own without bias. The spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded. The spirit of liberty is a spirit of him who near 2000 years ago taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but has never quite yet forgotten, that there may be a kingdom where the last shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest. And now in the spirit of that great America for which our young men are at this moment fighting and dying, in that spirit of liberty and America, I ask you to rise and say with me the pledge of our faith in the glorious destiny of our beloved country. I now ask you to raise your hands and repeat after me this pledge." And he says, "The pledge of allegiance."
(23:31:53)
He believed that the Constitution dies if the spirit of it dies in the hearts of men and women. I will tell you. This Constitution has saved my life. It made my life. Because people marched to make real on the promise of our democracy. People bled to make real on this democracy. When some people told us that this Constitution didn't apply for us, this body, this body, Republicans in America stood up and said, "No. President Johnson, we're going to do amendments. We saw the 13th Amendment, the 14th Amendment. The 15th Amendment would guarantee my ancestors finally full citizenship in the United States of America and the protections of the Constitution." I am here in this body because of past generations that fought to uphold the Constitution, not because the Constitution was real to them, but because they brought reality and hope and love and promise to the Constitution. They were Americans that said like Langston Hughes, "America never was America to me, but I swear this oath America will be."
(23:33:19)
They love this country so much even when it didn't love them back. I am here because of that. I'm the fourth black person popularly elected to this body because of generations that believed so much in this document. That they were going to make it real. It lived in them. I quoted earlier today, and it's worth quoting her again, the great Margaret Chase Smith. A US Senator from Maine, a Republican in her famous Declaration of Conscience speech. Delivered on June 1st, 1950. Thank you. Thank you. My good senator friend Whitehouse, because Lord knows I would have slipped and fallen on my tuchus, and have ended this long filibuster because I fell to the floor. That's what you mean when the brother has your back.
(23:34:18)
What did this Republican say in a time of tyranny in her times, in a time where the constitution stopped living in people's hearts, where people believed that whipped up fears of others by demagogues, where people believed the fear that they heard again and again on the radio that we should fear other Americans when people believe their fear justified them inhibiting the greatness of the Constitution? What's that old saying from one of our great leaders of the past? "If you're willing to give up your liberty in order to ensure your security, you'll lose them both."
(23:34:59)
And so here was this courageous Republican who in a time that demagogues were whipping up fear, where first amendment rights were being trampled, where people were being intimidated into silence, where people were afraid to go up against the big and the powerful and the rich, where people were being deported from our country, where Jews were being deported and accused of being communists as justification to take them out of the country because they didn't have permanent legal status, yeah, that's our history. What did she stand up and say in the Senate? This Republican putting her own career at risk to call out Senator McCarthy. She said, "I don't believe the Republican Party is in any sense a party of fear. I do believe that the Republican Party has made an alliance though with the four horsemen of fear, the fear of communists, the fear of labor unions, the fear of the future, and the fear of progress." There are people fear mongering now. There are people trying to tell Americans to hate Americans either with the great dear leader, or you're a danger and enemy. And it's not just Democrats that are being drugged, there are being other Republicans, I saw it happen. I saw it happen to one of our vice president's daughters, a congresswoman. I saw it happen to colleagues of mine like Jeff Flake, like John McCain, like Corker, who stood up in this body and told the truth about dear leader and they saw the consequences politically. You want to talk about where the Constitution lives? And defending the Constitution, first make it real in your heart like those women did before the amendment that granted them the right to vote, who loved this country so much. You want to know where the Constitution lives in your heart? I just met with extraordinary men and women who are Native Americans to this country, who were here before any of us. They love this country so much even with the sins against them.
(23:37:09)
You want to know where the Constitution lives? Let it live in the hearts of all Americans now and ask yourself, is the leader of our country, is he living the Constitution in his heart? Because as Learned Hand says, "It's not braggadocious, it's not mean." It is loving. It is kind. It is expansive. We are Americans. Our creed above the presiding elder says it all. E pluribus unum. Trying to remind our country that despite racial differences, gender, besides Republican or Democrat, ethnics, all the lines that divide us are not nearly as strong as the ties that bind us. That's what e pluribus unum means.
(23:37:54)
What about the pledge that Learned Hand read? Listen to the words. It says things. It says things in that pledge. It says that we are one nation under God, that we are indivisible and we pledge ourselves to liberty and justice, not just to the people who agree with the President, but for all. God bless my courageous colleagues who have spoken out in the past and suffered the consequences. The liberty and the Constitution lives in their hearts. They put patriotism over politics. We are in this moral moment now. We are in this moral moment now. This is not right or left. Don't let them say this is a partisanship. It is not left or right, it is right or wrong. America, this is a moral moment. Does the Constitution live in your heart?
Speaker 2 (23:38:49):
Senator, a question.
Cory Booker (23:38:51):
Before I yield, I love this power trip. It's the only time in 13 years I've really felt this power. I don't have to let my colleagues speak. And I, first amongst us all, really love to speak. I just want to say thank you to Chris Murphy. I repeated this 10, 15 hours ago, but I just want to tell the story and then I'll let you go. Chris, nine years ago on this floor after the Pulse shooting, we called Chuck Schumer, Chris and I. I saw a moment, he saw a moment that we couldn't do business as usual. We just said, "How can you have this mass shooting, yet another mass shooting and this body just go on as business as usual?" It's why I'm standing here right now. And we agreed with Chuck Schumer's help that we would get control of the Senate. And Chris Murphy went down to that desk and I promised him, "I'll be with you. I'll stand with you. I won't sit down. We'll go as long as we possibly can."
(23:39:55)
And he began a filibuster nine years ago, and it lasted 15 hours, and he still had fuel in the tank. I know he did. I was a hurting guy. I told you my back was hurting, my feet were hurting. But we had a direct end when Mitch McConnell agreed to give us votes on common sense gun safety, which I think every American, most gun owners agree on, just universal background checks. And it failed to get 60 votes in the Senate. But you stood, and I stood with you, and he said to me days ago, "If you're going to do this brother, I will be your aide-de-camp this time." And you've been with me… You have been with me far past 15 hours. You've been with me for 23 hours and 49 minutes. My cousin Pam in the gallery, she's been the same amount of time. All right. So I'm going to yield my power. It's not going to go to my head. This is why we need separation of powers, checks on men, because men are not angels. I yield for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 2 (23:41:07):
Senator Booker, it has been a wonder to be with you on the floor these last 24 hours. You indeed did something extraordinary and performed a sympathy filibuster with me nine years ago where as I stood at that desk for 15 hours, you stood on the Senate floor. You didn't need to, but you did in solidarity. I have been with you for the last 24 hours, but I've sat for most of it. You've done the hard work. You are an extraordinary senator. You are an extraordinary American. And I think I can say on behalf of everyone in this chamber and many people in the gallery, you are an extraordinary friend.
(23:41:54)
And so I think all of us feel privileged to be here with you at this moment, this moment of peril, this moment of danger, this moment of opportunity for the nation, but also this moment of history. On August 28, 1957, at about 8:45 P.M., Strom Thurmond took this floor. And he took the floor with the intent of trying to block the 1957 Civil Rights Bill. This was the most significant, really the only civil rights bill that had been before the United States Senate in 90 years. Most famously about 10 years before when he was running for president as a Dixiecrat, he had said, "There's not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the negro race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches." And he sat on this floor for just over 24 hours, and he made the case for why this nation should continue to segregate black and white. He started in fact by reading every single state's voting rights laws. Every single state's laws, he read into the record, apparently as proof that every state adequately protected all of its voters and that no additional laws were necessary. He had friends in his cause to preserve segregation that came down to the floor and asked him long questions to give him breathers. At the end of that 24 hours at around 9:00 P.M. the following night, he could go no longer. His final words in his 24-hour record-breaking filibuster were, "I expect to vote against the bill."
(23:44:09)
But within hours, the bill passed. It became law. It established the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. It was not nearly enough, but it broke 90 years of inaction. What you have done here today Senator Booker, couldn't be more different than what occurred on this floor in 1957. Strom Thurmond was standing in the way of inevitable progress towards equal political and economic rights for Black Americans. It was inevitable only because the people of this nation were standing up at that moment, the beginning of the civil rights movement, to make clear that progress was inevitable. And I say that that moment is so different from this moment, because today you are standing in the way not of progress, but of retreat. You are standing in the way of retreat from the rule of law, retreat from our commitment to provide care to the most vulnerable, retreat from our common cause, at least we used to be in common cause that we would have zero tolerance from corruption at the highest levels of government.
(23:45:29)
And you have recognized rightly that this multifaceted retreat from everything that makes this country so special and the speed of that retreat over the last 71 days, it is an exceptional moment. You've said that word over and over again. It is not normal what this administration has been doing to rob from us the values that used to unite left and right in this nation. And so you made this bold decision to engage in an exceptional tactic, to declare 24 hours ago that you are going to stand on this floor for as long as you could to try to raise the specter of failure in our fight against this retreat for our colleagues and for the American public.
(23:46:25)
The exceptional nature we have heard so eloquently from you over the course of the last 24 hours, the massive transfer of wealth in this reconciliation bill from the poor and the middle class to the wealthy, the industrial scale harassment of journalists, of universities, of law firms, the destruction of the independence of the Department of Justice, the destruction of the American knowledge economy and the research economy, the use of the White House in violation of the Constitution, to make those in power richer. You have laid out the case. And it's funny, I remember this from nine years ago. When you're sitting in your spot, you haven't moved in 24 hours, you have no idea what's happening outside of this building. You don't actually know how many people in this country have engaged in the conversation that you started 24 hours ago. On one social media platform alone, there have been 150 million clicks on your live stream. This is a country of 300 million Americans. You have been able to peak a conversation here amongst our colleagues, who we need to stand with us eventually against this retreat and across this country. And I think we are here as we reach a pivotal hour to just say thank you for having the courage, the audacity, to bring us on this journey. And so my question is pretty simple. I think you'll find when you finally leave this chamber that you have done something extraordinary, that you didn't solve the problem, that we are still a long ways from being able to successfully beat back this retreat, but that
Speaker 2 (23:48:31):
You have accomplished something extraordinary. And so I guess that's just my question. When you set out with this idea when this was starting to germinate in your mind, my question for you Senator Booker is, what did you hope to accomplish?
Cory Booker (23:48:50):
I thank my colleague and my friend again. He and I talked about this, that I was challenged by my own constituents to do something different, challenged by my own constituents to do something, challenged by my own constituents to take risks. My staff here who should get a lot of credit for making it this far, I'm not sitting down, but I'm mindful of what you said about Strom Thurmond. I'm mindful of that right now. As said, watch that clock tick for another 20 minutes. You got it. You're good. I'm grateful for my staff. I'm grateful for the parliamentarians, the clerks. I'm grateful for the Republican presiding officers.
(23:49:37)
I don't know if I want to out Curtis on the note that he… I'm sorry, the good senator on the presiding officer, forgive me on the note he sent me. But this is the kind of specialness in this place that I love. I want to tell a few connecting stories. I think some of my colleagues know a few of these, but I want to explain why I started this whole 24 hours talking about John Lewis and good trouble. 60 years ago when he was on the Edmund Pettus Bridge he shook New Jersey as he shook the nation. When Bloody Sunday happened, there was a white guy on a couch in New Jersey who was watching TV and was so shaken. This lawyer said, "I got to go to Alabama." He realized he couldn't afford a plane ticket, so this man slumped back down on his couch and then he said, at a moral moment in America, "I'm not going to let my inability to do everything, undermine my determination to do something, to do something different."
(23:50:41)
And he got up and said, "Okay." It was a meager calculation, but it was different. "I can afford one hour, one hour a month of pro bono work." And he called around and he found this woman named Lee Porter who was heading up an organization called the Fair Housing Council and said, "Can you use a lawyer?" And she's like, "Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Yeah, we need some help." And they worked together and they designed a sting operation where they would send black families in areas of New Jersey that would not sell homes to black people where usually the best public schools were. And if they were told the house was sold, they'd send a white couple behind them to expose that the house was still for sale and expose all of this. Well, they had a lot of success getting things written about about the severe housing discrimination in my state.
(23:51:27)
And he said that after about five years, four years, I got this case file of a black family trying to move to New Jersey and they were frustrated because every time they'd look at homes and the places with the best public schools, which happened to be white communities, they said they couldn't find a home. So they did the sting operation, they sent a black couple in. They were told this incredible house was not for sale. They loved the house. So then when the white couple went, they just threw in a bid to see if it would be accepted. The bid was accepted, papers were drawn up on the day of the closing the white couple did not show up. The black man did. Lawyer Marty Friedman marched in, confronted the real estate agent. You would think 1969, a year after the Fair Housing Act that he would capitulate, but he didn't.
(23:52:16)
This real estate agent gets up so angry, he punches the lawyer in the face and sends a Doberman Pinscher on the black guy. They get out of there, shaken up and they start writing letters back and forth. The good owners of the home found out what was going on. They were so aghast. They said, " Let us sell the house directly to the black family." The black family moved in and 43 years later, the baby from that family became the fourth popularly elected black senator in our country. Me. Now I tell that story because I started with John Lewis 24 hours ago and it was John Lewis and a bunch of marchers on a bridge that influenced the destiny of my life and my family's life. We're all interconnected. As King says, "We're all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in that common garment of destiny."
(23:53:09)
But I want to tell you the second time John Lewis shook up my life, I was mayor of the city of Newark and I got called to be on a TV show. I got called by a guy named Skip Gates who I love, admire, and he calls me and he jazzes me up. He fills my ego. He just flatters me, "Hey, I got this show called Finding Your Roots, Cory Booker, and you're a rising star. You're this hot shot. We should feature you in this." And I'm like, "Oh, great. Oh, don't say that Skip, but okay, yeah, of course." And then I said, "Okay, well who are you going to pair me with?" And I thought it was going to be another young hot shot up and coming politician in America. No. He goes, "I'm going to pair you with John Lewis."
(23:53:53)
And my heart sank a little bit. Actually maybe it was my ego that sank. My heart got excited because I know how these shows start. They start with biographies. And so imagine the show starting John Lewis hero of the Civil Rights Movement literally bled the southern soil red for freedom and justice. And then it goes to my biography, Cory Booker riding his big wheel in suburban New Jersey. The show was unbelievable mountain and boy, but I got to meet John Lewis. I got to tell him that story that he changed my life and I didn't even know it, on a bridge in Alabama, changed the course of events in New Jersey that led to me.
(23:54:40)
Third take on John Lewis. My colleagues know I got here in a special election in 2013. What all my colleagues might not know is I came here with a broken heart. My mom and I came here with a broken heart. Because I was elected in October, sworn in October, but also in October my dad died of Parkinson's. That's why I got choked up reading these letters from people with Parkinson's. And so we came down here, we were grieving. My dad was not with us. My mom lost her husband of nearly 50 years and I'm going to get sworn in. It's a big event. But my parents and my campaign decided, "You know what we should do right before you get sworn in, or are brought over here to be escorted to the vice president that you should go and sit with John Lewis." And so we went to John Lewis's office and a lot of my colleagues from the CBC, a lot of my colleagues from the house, a lot of my colleagues are here who came over the house know his office.
(23:55:36)
You walk into his office and it looks like a civil rights museum except he's in all the pictures and this is John Lewis. We who knew him, this was him, mountain of a man. He had already prepared eggs and grits, a good southern breakfast and wouldn't let my mom and I get up and he serves us all and he humbly is saying, "This is why I marched. This is why I sacrificed for history- making days like this." He told us how special this was for him. He told me that he would be right here where my friends are sitting watching me get sworn in and how proud he was going to be, in a sense he stood in for my dad on this floor and then boom, I'm a senator. I find colleagues and friends here and I find a lot of colleagues and friends in the CBC.
(23:56:24)
At that point, I was the only African-American in our caucus and found so many friends, so many heroes that have gone on from the Senate now who looked at me, adopted me, helped me. Dick Durbin, you were amazing in those early months, and this is the next time I meet John Lewis for a moment that changed my life. Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz. Remember this moment, it was during the 2017 healthcare debate when I didn't know how we were going to stop that bill from passing and taking away healthcare from 20 million Americans, but John Lewis, "Hey Cory, let's do something different. What you got in mind?" And I said, "Well, John Lewis, I got this phone. It's very powerful. Let's do a Facebook Live."
(23:57:11)
And so I opened it up, Facebook Live, we meet in between in the capitol and then he says, "Hey, where can we go to sit down for a wild place?" And I got my favorite place to sit. I watched Schoolhouse Rock so much. It's right on the steps of the capitol. Let's just sit there and talk. Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz first people out to sit with us and the time-lapse. The time-lapse is amazing. First two, three people, then 10 people, then 50 people, then hundreds of people. I have it all coming because of the moral magnetism of this man, John Lewis. And he talked to people that night who were looking for what can I do? I'm just one person and this guy who in his 20s, who is just one person and caused a heck of a lot of good trouble, he told them, "Don't lose faith, don't lose hope."
(23:57:57)
"Get angry, but let it fuel you. Be afraid. But know that's a necessary precondition to courage." He was amazing that night and I know my colleagues remember that. And then there was the next time, oh, Brother Warnock, you're going to love this one. The next time I was with John Lewis, Jimmy Carter had gotten a little sick, but then he got better and went back to teaching Sunday school and I thought, this man is in his 90s. I need to go to Sunday school. And so who do I know? Because there's a waiting line. It's like people sleep out all night. I might've been a little selfish. How do I know I can get in? Call John Lewis. I say, "Hey, I got this great idea. Why don't we go to Jimmy Carter to watch him teach Sunday school?"
(23:58:43)
So I have the singular greatest road trip. I fly into Atlanta, we get into a car and we drive all those hours to Plains, Georgia. Indeed, people were waiting outside, but it's John Lewis. Come on in. We sit in the front row. I must be in the front row and we sit down and then this marvelous, incredible moment comes. Somebody comes and says, "Congressman Lewis, Senator Booker, the president, first lady would love to see you beforehand." It's my first time meeting President Jimmy Carter. But I walk in, I'm sort of on the sidelines. These two men are hugging each other. He and the first lady and the two of them whisper for a second and Jimmy Carter walks over into me and says, "I hear you thinking about running for president of the United States" and he does something incredible.
(23:59:34)
He says, "I think you should run, but only if you run." And he pokes my heart. "Only if you run from here." The last time of the powerful moments I've had in my life with that man that so many of us have had these powerful moments. The last time happened because of a man named Michael Collins. I know there are people in this room that got the same phone call I got that it won't be long now that John Lewis is going to pass very soon. He can't speak, but I know he would want you to have your moment to say goodbye to him.
(1:00:00:17)
And what do I do? What do I do? To say goodbye to a man that's a legend in my life, a legend in our nation. What do you do to say goodbye to him? I wasn't prepared. I can't say I said anything eloquent. Michael Collins, God bless you man. You put the phone by his ear and you just gave me my time to have a conversation with the man that would soon die. The man that changed my life, that helped my family get into a neighborhood that loved me and cherished me. God love Harrington Park, the man who stood in for my father when heaven brought him home, the man that showed me on the steps of this capitol, how powerful the people are wasn't about him. It was about them. The man that brought me to see a president who flattered every senator's ego, tell them what they want to hear, "Run for president."
(1:00:01:18)
And so I said everything I could, but the last thing I said, I remember very well. I said, "I love you." I said, "I love you." And I said, "John, I know you're going to be in heaven looking down on us, and I promise you, I promise you John Lewis, that I'll do everything possible that we'll do everything possible to make you proud." The civil rights generation is starting to be called home. Leaders are leaving us. We in the CBC have lost a lot of greats and I can't remember, forget the promise I made to John Lewis with all that he gave me with all that he gave his country that I said we would make him proud. And so this is one of those moments that John Lewis, he would not be sitting still. He would be calling me up and say, "You still got that Facebook thing?" I go, "No, I don't really use Facebook anymore." But there's a thing called TikTok. I don't know what John Lewis would say right now. I know what he said in 2017, but I'll be honest with you, I don't know what he would say, but John Lewis would say something. He would do something. He wouldn't treat this moral moment like it was normal. John Lewis knew what King said. That what we have to repent for all of us here will have to repent for is not just the vitriolic words and violent actions of so-called bad people. What we will have to repent for in our day and age is the appalling silence and the inaction of good people. This is our moral moment. This is when the most precious ideas of our country are being tested where the Constitution and the question is being called, where does the Constitution live? On paper or in our hearts? This is the moment generations get them. We're on a crossroads here, folks. Healthcare is on the balance. Veterans are on the balance. Priorities are on the balance. Where's our priorities America? More tax cuts disproportionately going to the wealthy, greater budget deficits in the trillions and trillions of dollars. Or are we going to do something different like John Lewis would call us to do? He would call us to get into good trouble, necessary trouble. Save the soul of America. But you all know John, don't hate each other. Don't let anybody pull you so low as to hate them. I said this about the presiding elder, different parties, but he showed me an act of kindness during this speech. He and I have talked about energy policy. He has amazing ideas. I want to partner with him. Don't hate anybody. Did the folks in Birmingham and Martin Luther King, Fred Shuttlesworth, Dorothea Cotton, James Bevel, did they bring bigger dogs and bigger fire hoses to match the Sheriff's Bull Connor, thank you. I've been standing here a long time. They didn't do that. They were creative artists of activism. They called to the conscience of a country. They challenged our moral imagination not to focus on hate, but focus on what is possible in America. If we redeem the dream, if we dream America anew that generation in their 20s and 30s, that's what they demanded. Martin Luther King didn't go to the march on Washington with a list of grievances against the racists in our country. He went there and called to the conscience of a country. He said he had a dream. That's what we need in our generation vision now. That's what we need in our generation. A vision to redeem the dream, to call our country together. Yes, there is a man in the White House who's the most powerful man in the land, and his partner is the richest man in the world. But as long as this is a democracy that we can still protect, the power of the people is greater than the people in power if they use their powers.
(1:00:06:06)
A great African-american woman author once said, "The most common way people give up their power is not realizing they have it in the first place." I've been calling out names folks to tell them they have power. I read the stories of Diana, of Wendy and Cassie, of Tanya, of Cameron, of Jean, of Susan, of Edna, of Randy, of Dylan, of Teresa, of Pamela, of Sally, of Mike, of Carol, of Rosemary, of Danielle, of Judith, of Elizabeth, of Sandra, Alicia, Maggie, Nibel, Laura, Michael, Robin, Mary, Allison, Ash, Roseanne, Carrie, Samantha P, Raphael, Will, Anthony, Sean, and so many more. I read their stories here because while we were elected, they are the power of our country.
(1:00:06:54)
I've made mistakes. We all have. Both parties have a lot of mistakes to account for the ballast of this country. What will anchor us to our ideals? What will call us to new heights? Lift our heads, lift our hopes. What will call us to rise is each other. We need each other. We need a greater love in this country. We need a greater fight in this country. We need a greater determination. We can't act as if this is normal times. These people's stories that I wrote we're calling out for help. Senator help me. Someone help me. I'm in danger of losing my healthcare. Someone help me. I'm a veteran. Look what happened to me. It's not fair. I fought for this country. Help me, help me. I'm worried about my social security and the rural office I go to is being closed, help people calling out for help and what Americans do and people are calling out for help.
(1:00:07:54)
They built an infrastructure. The greatest project ever called the Underground Railroad, were Quakers, white folks joined with black folks to shuttle people to freedom. What did they do when people were worried and fearful? They called people together from across our country. Let's have a conference. Let's go to Seneca Falls. What did they do when they faced violence? Well, look at the people at Stonewall who stood up, who pushed back, who organized, who won. What do they do when the dogs are unleashed on us, the fire hose are unleashed on us? Look at what they did in Selma. I'm getting close to a record folks, there's a room here in the Senate named after Strom Thurmond to hate him isn't wrong. And maybe my ego got too caught up that if I stood here maybe, maybe just maybe I could break this record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand. I'm not here though because of his speech. I'm here despite his speech.
(1:00:09:25)
I'm here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful. But I remind you, all those people who believe like me, that we've got to redeem the dream. Turn again to John Lewis because you all know the story my colleagues of when the man that beat him savagely through blood, cracked bones. Decades later, he was a congressman. That man brought his grandson with him to ask for forgiveness from John Lewis. I heard about this story when I was in the car in Georgia with him. "What did you do, John? This man that so viciously beat you, wounded you, bruised you, battered you. What did you do when he came to ask you for forgiveness? What did you do?" And a good Christian man, man of faith simply said, "Every one of us needs mercy. Every one of us needs redemption. I forgave him. I hugged him, we wept. And I looked at the boy, 'This nation needs you too.'" John.
Chuck Schumer (1:00:10:42):
Would the senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (1:00:10:49):
Chuck Schumer, it's the only time in my life I can tell you no.
Chuck Schumer (1:00:10:55):
I just want to tell you a question. Do you know you have just broken the record? Do you know how proud this caucus is of you? Do you know how proud America is of you?
Speaker 7 (1:00:11:05):
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, order, order. The chair does not wish to take away from this moment, but I think the best way to honor this great accomplishment to our guests in the gallery, to make a rare exception and let you stand to show your appreciation, I will not constrain my fellow senators.
Cory Booker (1:00:12:28):
Thank you. Chuck Schumer, I have yielded for a question and you asked me did I know. I know now. I want to not quite wrap this up yet.
Speaker 6 (1:00:12:47):
24 more.
Cory Booker (1:00:12:48):
I don't want to wrap this up yet. Senator, my mom's been watching. I know Catherine Cortez Masto has a podium in front of her. She can give me a rest. I'd like to go a little further if we can. Just a little further. I love, and again, I know people are trying to train each other and all of our media operations, they give the worst images of the people of the other party. But I want to tell you one of the funny tweets my staff gave me is something Ted Cruz said is he's around 19, 20 hours. He said, "Maybe I should pull a fire alarm. He's going to break my record."
(1:00:13:24)
I'm going to pause in a moment if she has a question for me to Catherine Cortez Masto because she's my mother. But I do want to just say again, two points to make if I can. One is how grateful I am to my staff. When we decided to do this many days ago, when we decided to do this days ago, they were like, "We have to do this." And we started preparing and working on this. And they did an extraordinary job. They were with me late nights, writing, writing, writing. I just feel guilty. Because they wrote about 10 books, and we didn't use all of them. They were really substantive stuff pulling from Republicans and Democrats in critique of this moment, pulling from Democrats and Republicans, Republican governors that are saying, "Do not cut Medicaid." States said no, as my colleagues do that have a trigger that if the Medicaid funding goes below 90%, they stop the Medicaid expansion.
(1:00:14:28)
My staff really worked hard to not make this just democratic voices to make it people in our country that Republicans and Democrats, you heard mentioned in the speech, the Cato Institute, the Manhattan Institute, all people who are honest arbiters and are saying that what Trump is doing is wrong. That a budget like this that blows massive holes in our deficit, it will be something our children are trying to pay for.
(1:00:14:52)
And what are they ultimately paying for that's caused this big deficit? It's trillions of dollars of tax cuts that people like Doge, multi-millionaire, multi-billionaire Musk will benefit from, but children won't. They did such a good job bringing together authorities on both sides of the aisle. I just want to thank them. I want to thank my cousin Pam and my family, cousin Pam, like Chris Murphy was here for the whole time. I want to thank Chris Murphy again who never stopped telling me we could do this, we can do this, we can do this. And said, "I will stay with you." He's been with me on the floor. I hope you don't look as tired as I look because you look beat man. Do I look that bad?
Speaker 8 (1:00:15:39):
You look great, man. You look great.
Cory Booker (1:00:15:42):
All right, I want to go a little bit past this and then I'm going to deal with some of the biological urgencies I'm feeling, but I'm going to wait here. I have the power. I have the floor. Somebody has to ask me perhaps from my mom's state the way that it's supposed to work.
Speaker 9 (1:00:16:10):
So will the good senator from New Jersey yield for a question?
Cory Booker (1:00:16:13):
My mom would be so upset with me. My Aunt Marilyn, my Uncle Butch, my Aunt Shirley, all the people that are your constituents is not mine. They would be upset with me if I didn't yield to you for a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 9 (1:00:16:24):
Well, first of all, Senator Booker I have to say we in Nevada are so proud of you. We are proud to be Nevada strong. You are one of us. You are definitely New Jersey, Nevada strong and so proud of what you have accomplished so far and willing to stay here as long as it takes to help you get your message across. And I think that's the important moment. We are all here right now. So I want to pose a question to you actually a couple of questions. But I want to start off and set the stage here because you have been here now what for over 24 hours. You are missing some of the national news things that are happening out there. But one of the things I want to point to that is happening that you may not be aware of, and you've touched on it a little earlier today, is this notion that we have now a president who is actually focused on billionaires and tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of the American public.
(1:00:17:23)
And one of the things we have watched him do is cut funding for medical research. Now what you may not know is just today, just today I found out that HHS laid off the entire healthy aging branch of the CDC just today. This office administers Alzheimer's disease programs and it oversees the funding from the bold infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act. And it is piece of legislation that I was so proud to partner with Susan Collins on. And she has fought for and we have fought for funding for it to support caregivers and their families. And Congress just reauthorized this funding. And now we have a president that has stopped the critical work that scientists are doing to try and cure Alzheimer's. And I bring this to your attention, Senator, because like you and I think like all of us, there are personal moments in the work that we do.
(1:00:18:27)
My personal moment is my grandmother who I'm named after, died from Alzheimer's and she died at a time in Las Vegas when there was not enough research, when there was not enough healthcare, when there really not enough providers to understand what was going on. And so for many of us, this fight, not only is it personal, but we recognize the impact that it has outside the Beltway in so many families and lives across the country. And that's what this is about. In Nevada as of 2023, there are 49,000 people, 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's. And that's projected to reach 65,000 this year.
(1:00:19:14)
Not only did we hear that HHS laid off the entire healthy aging branch of the CDC, but Donald Trump also recently terminated a $14,000 NIH research grant that had been supporting Alzheimer's research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. And he's continued, continued to cut the grant for essential research for so many reasons. We've seen these funding cuts, we've seen mass layoffs and the impoundment of grants that have already been approved by Congress. This is a violation of the rule of law. And you have been talking about that for the last couple of hours. President Trump is forgetting that this is personal, it is happening to so many families. So my question, Senator Booker to you is what do you think families and caregivers of those impacted by Alzheimer's, how they are feeling about what is happening right now?
Cory Booker (1:00:20:14):
So this bothers me for two reasons and the first you've already mentioned is this is the point of bipartisan work that we do. I talked about Chris Murphy and the bipartisan gun bill that lots of people here worked on with Senator Cornyn and others. And how upset my state is that some of that community violence intervention money that I worked so hard to get in that bill is being clawed back by a president. There are people in this room. I know so many of you and I know on the other side that have done such great work to work with our colleagues to find common ground and get really important programs passed that bring resources to families. And it's being clawed back by a president, not with consultation, not with a hearing, not with a discussion of even why you would target Alzheimer's research.
(1:00:21:09)
That is a violation of the separation of powers. And I wish my Republican colleagues would hold more hearings about that. These are programs that they like. I saw that with USAID, I worked with Marco Rubio on some of that programs and those investments that are now been cut and clawed back. So it's a separation of powers issues. It's an offense to the common goals that we share in this community of leaders. For the second reason it bothers me is that an article I read hours ago by Fareed Zakaria and he talked about what's happening to a nation that cuts so dramatically, what is one of the best taxpayer investment dollars in biomedical sciences. If you are an investor and I told you there's an investment that every dollar you invest, you would get $5 back for your economy, folks would be invested in that vehicle.
(1:00:22:03)
Well, that's NIH funding. Every dollar you invest who would cut a profit center? And it's not just a profit center though. The outcomes, the discoveries could change the lives of people who are suffering in your nation and around the world. But he's attacking them. I read all these universities from around the country. This shows you how magnanimous I'm trying to be. I even read stories from USC, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, rival, that all of these universities are cutting their postdocs, cutting their PhDs, cutting the, because they don't know as Donald Trump threatens the direct costs, they're stopping. And Fareed Zakaria said so painfully to all Americans with American's pride as we are doing that China who, when they had that culture revolution, they first went after their universities. Now modern China, their government is doing the opposite. They're trying to out America us, they're massively increasing their investments in scientific research because they know if they get ahead of us on quantum computing, all of our subs can be located and God knows what could happen. Any kind of cryptology, they could break. They know they get ahead of us on scientific research, the power and advantage that will give them. So they're doubling down. But what are we doing in America? We're tolerating a president that is cutting
Cory Booker (1:00:23:31):
… cutting the funding that will predict who defines the future and what values will define those futures. Will they be democratic values or will be the values of the country that's competing with us to beat us? And right now we're giving them a headstart. And then the final reason that question bothers me is because my father died of Parkinson's and he had Parkinson's related dementia and I know what that's like. I know the pain families are enduring. I remember the time that my dad and my mom, we were in the movie theater and my mother just shook my world, she was in Georgia. And so many people here in this room have had the same experience. We're in a movie theater and my mom leans over to me and said, "You need to take your dad to the bathroom." I never imagined the years of my dad as a two year old and three year old, taking me to the bathroom, that one day I'd have to take him.
(1:00:24:30)
And so in this Atlanta movie theater in the middle of a movie, which I was like, "Okay, it's time for me to do this ritual," that so many families know. I pick my dad up, who's shuffling with his Parkinson's. I'm not seeing any light in his eyes that he's there, I'm just letting him hold me and he's shuffling into the bathroom. And then we get to a public bathroom, his hands are shaking, he's standing in front of the urinal. And then I realize I got to unbuckle this man's pants. So many families know this. And my ego, I'm sorry, I was leaning over and I'm saying, "Wait a minute. I'm in a public bathroom leaning over, unbuckling another man's pants. Please, please, God, don't let somebody come in." And as if God heard my call, someone walked in. And I hear the person walk in and I'm like, "Just please keep walking. Go into a stall, please keep walking."
(1:00:25:18)
And then suddenly I hear the feet walk past me and stop. And then the man turns around and says, "Oh my God, Cory Booker." And then I look up at my dad and I see the clarity in his eyes. He is 100% there and he's grinning and loving my mortified embarrassment. Alzheimer's is devastating so many American families who are watching the loved one of their lives diminish and we're cutting funding, Donald Trump is cutting funding democratically, bipartisanly approved. So forget the separation of powers. It's important, it's so important. If that doesn't get you, then maybe think about the competition with China. If that doesn't get you, if those two don't get you, America, then think about the millions of Americans struggling with Alzheimer's, the struggles it does to those families.
(1:00:26:25)
This is a moral moment, America. This is going to define the character of our country for years and years to come. Has the Senate called a hearing on your bipartisan funding, Senator? No. Have we done our oversight responsibility? Have we checked, as I read from the Federalist Papers, as our founders wanted us to do, is to check the executive? Be the check of the executive that balances our governmental powers. No, we're not checking that executive. With Signalgate, I have heard from Republicans that serve in Congress of the 535 with us, I know other colleagues here have heard, they're mortified. You talked about that, mortified about that. And again, this is not partisan. The Biden administration made foreign policy mistakes, Obama made foreign policy mistakes, Reagan, when I was growing up, I was hearing about the Iran-Contra scandal.
(1:00:27:22)
So I'm not going to be one of those people that the pristine, perfect Democrats. We've made mistakes, we've made failings, we've let the public down. We have some reckoning in our own party that we're working on right now, but that doesn't say that you should just be one of these people that says, "Well, Biden did it." No, you should be a leader of character that says, "There's something wrong here." And in fact, it could point to real problems in the national security of our country and the laws that we established. One of those laws is very simple, you're supposed to preserve records. How can a Signal chain that disappears not be a violation of the law of this land? Is there a hearing on that, head of the Intel Commission? Not a hearing at all.
(1:00:28:09)
Where are the checks and balances spelled out in the Constitution? We are derelicting our duties here in the Senate, we really are. And the consequences of that is the very national security of our country. How many times, do you think this was the first time they created a Signal chat, or is this a pattern of practice? You're a really rational man. I keep looking at you, Mark. You're my leader on these issues or Jack Reed. No, this indicates a real problem. And the Senate, the United States Senate should get to the bottom of it. This is a moral moment. I keep saying it, it's a moral moment. Who are we going to be, what's going to define us? And it's time not for the typical tribalism, it's time for leaders to start standing up and saying, "You know what? We can go a different way. We can imagine a different country."
(1:00:29:08)
That's why I pointed out the new leader of the Democratic Party on the house side, we're a different generation. There's a rising generation of people. I've talked about my friend who wrote this great book, Abundance. There's a whole bunch of new ideas out there that are about the future, about the possibilities, about the hope, about the greatness of America, not the greatness that is braggadocios, not the greatness that says, "I'm better than you," not the greatness that says, "Only I can fix things." That's not the America we want. We want America that says, "We the people." An America that says, "E pluribus unum," an America that says that our history shows that rugged individualism and self-reliance are important values, but rugged individualism didn't beat the Nazis, it didn't take us to the moon. We did that together, America.
(1:00:30:04)
We need bigger visions that can unite us beyond our narrow partisan desires to get a real mandate. And you know what a real mandate should be? It should be government efficiency, it really should be. God, I have heard from so many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle that have said if they formed a commission of former executives in this body, I see you, Maggie Hassan, it was hard, but I had to cut 24% of my… One out of four employees, it was really hard. It caused a lot of pain but we had to reduce my government. There are a lot of people here that are executives on both sides of the aisle that would have said, "Pick me, pick me. Let's form the most exciting team possible." Because Jack Reed knows that the military of the United States of America could do things more efficiently, a little bit of waste over there because they haven't passed an audit.
(1:00:30:50)
Where's Mary Cantwell? The Commerce Committee, so many ideas about how to create profit centers in the American government. You have talked to me about them, you're brilliant on some of these ideas. I look around here, but I can look to the other side of the aisle. The man, the farmer sitting over there. The guy who's been so good to me, Chuck Grassley. I forced that man to hug me when we passed. I forced you to hug me, sir. I have pictures, can't deny it. I don't know how you're going to get reelected now, sir, you hug this Black dude from New Jersey. You're so sweet to me still. We passed a big bipartisan bill because people like him, like the presiding officer, I've met with you, you still have big ideas. You still have big ideas that aren't partisan.
(1:00:31:41)
If President Trump, from his inaugural address to his first speech before a joint session of Congress said, "Enough, there are big ideas in this country. I want the best, I want people to come together. I'm tired of us talking down at each other. It's time for us to come together and imagine ways to create real abundance in America for all Americans." I trust the genius of America, the kindness and the decency. But this President doesn't do that, he violates all of our common senses of decency. And don't say it doesn't happen, folks, don't say that. I listen to him, I listen to how he talks about people. We have a government now, as I said earlier, that isn't, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
(1:00:32:28)
We have a country now where a President says, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Donald Trump." And you're seeing who gets the special treatment. Some law firms are really threatened right now with being bankrupted by Donald Trump targeting them. Others have decided a different path. I'm not hating on them, but they said, "We're going to go to Trump and we're going to offer him what he wants. We're going to give him tens of millions of dollars of free pro bono work." I wish they would bring some of that free bono work to Newark, New Jersey, a lot of people who need lawyers, folks in my city. What are the standards here of our government? You want a merger? Well, maybe you should put a lot of money in Donald Trump's meme coin.
(1:00:33:16)
I read the document. There's something, a word called the monument, and we sit by and act like, "Oh, no big deal. He's made millions and millions of dollars." From who, we don't know. We haven't hold one hearing of oversight to know who is giving a millions of dollars to that meme coin. Is it the Turks, is it the Saudis, is it the Chinese? Is it the Russian oligarchs? Do we know? Should we know? Yes, America, stop falling into tribal lanes and closing your eyes to things that should not be normalized. Why are we normalizing these things? They're wrong. They're patently, on the face of it is wrong. If you use Signal to discuss a military attack, the time of the attack, the weapons that are going to be used and you do it on a commercial app and decide to include a reporter, there should be accountability. Am I crazy?
Speaker 10 (1:00:34:26):
Order, order. Ladies and gentlemen, let me just remind you, expressions of approval and disapproval are not permitted by the gallery, thank you.
Cory Booker (1:00:34:36):
He was forced to say that. Look at you, defiant man. The Senate and the House, should be checks and balances on the President of the United States. The Senate and the House should not allow business as usual in this moment when the President is insisting that no one has the power to check and balance him. When a judge does it, when a judge decides on the soundness of his legal observations to have a ruling, and then the President of the United States doesn't appeal the ruling like most people kind of do, but starts to drag and insult and threaten that judge with impeachment, and some people, astonishing to me in our government said, "Oh, that's right. We should impeach this guy. " That's not a question of left or right, that's a question of right or wrong. We normalizing this behavior, we're letting him do things that Republicans and Democrats should say together are wrong. And so I want to say, I'm going to stop soon.
Speaker 11 (1:00:35:54):
Will the Senator yield for a question?
Cory Booker (1:00:35:56):
Oh yes, God bless you. For a question while retaining the floor.
Speaker 11 (1:00:36:04):
Thank you. I want to start before I get to my question, with just saying how proud I am, how proud we all are of you. And I think I'm old enough to remember Strom Thurmond's filibuster. I can remember being in high school and seeing the news every night and the reporters coming from the steps of the Capitol because they were filibustering the Civil Rights bill. And what I'm proud of is that your focus on democracy and the opportunities that democracy opens up for all of our rights, in my mind cancels out what Strom Thurmond did to prevent African-Americans and others from getting the rights they deserve in this country, so I'm proud of that. But I really want to, you talked earlier this afternoon about the rule of law and the overreach of this administration.
(1:00:37:17)
As part of that, you went through a litany of agencies that Congress had established that this President is trying to take away. And I just wanted to point out that, and you mentioned this earlier, one of those agencies that Congress established is the US Agency for International Development. And earlier today, we had a Shadow Hearing Roundtable, the Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee. It was on the dangerous consequences of funding cuts to US global health programs. And I know that as ranking member on the subcommittee on African Global Health Policy, you would have really been interested in this. I'm glad you were here on the floor, but I wish you could have heard what we heard from the people who testified.
(1:00:38:10)
We heard from Atul Gawande, who used to be the administrator of USAID, their global health program. We heard from Dan Schwartz, who was the Vice President of Management Sciences for Health. That's a contractor that works on global health programs. And we heard from Nick Enrich, who's the former assistant administrator for Global Health at USAID. And they started out by talking about what global health has accomplished through USAID. PEPFAR has saved more than 26 million lives. It's reversed the spread of HIV/AIDS. They've done malaria prevention and control for over half a billion people. They've eradicated smallpox and eliminated most of polio. They've reduced infant mortality by more than 59% since 1990. They've supported cholera, measles and Ebola outbreak response.
(1:00:39:15)
And one of the things Dr. Gawande pointed out is that they took the response to Ebola outbreak from two weeks, many of us remember that during the Obama administration when Ebola was coming to the United States. They took that response from two weeks down to 24 to 48 hours, to be in there to be responding to the Ebola epidemic. And what has this President done? What has Elon Musk and DOGE done? They've gone in to USAID, they've cut the global health workforce from over 800 to about 60. They've taken the system that was designed to make programs more efficient and they dismantled it. And when the Inspector General Paul Martin reported on food rotting in ports, he was fired. USAID has been the largest civilian ground force to address global goals. As Dr. Gawande said, "What we learned from USAID is that prevention is a whole lot more efficient and a lot cheaper than emergency treatment."
(1:00:40:37)
He said that what we spend on global health through USAID has been $9 a household in America in a year, $9. Think about what we've done with that $9. And as they were going through the litany of programs that have been cut, the one that caught my eye was 75% of the pandemic threat comes from diseases jumping from animals to humans. That program has been terminated, 75% of the threat of future pandemics. So as we think about rule of law and the overreach of this President, would you agree with me that there has been no consultation with Congress about any effort to move USAID into the Department of State, and that because Congress created this agency, Congress has got to be involved in reauthorizing whatever comes next, and his DOGE boys need to understand that before they take any more steps at USAID?
Cory Booker (1:00:41:58):
Yes, yes, yes. You and I both know that in a bipartisan way, we created some of these programs principally to keep America safe. Many of us remember that dramatic hearing where Trump's Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, sat before the American people when they were discussing the budgets for USAID and the State Department. And John Mattis knew the power of those programs to keep us safe. You mentioned infectious diseases, where we live in a world where an infectious disease anywhere is a threat to public health everywhere. So pulling our scientists out of the fight against Ebola, pulling our scientists out of drug-resistant tuberculosis fights, it makes no sense.
(1:00:42:44)
And then in terms of our safety, he just simply said, "If you cut these programs, buy me more bullets," because our fight's to spread democracy. There are nations in Africa, for example, where the Chinese are trying to influence a different way of life. That's why so many African countries now won't criticize China for things that the rest of the world say are bad, because they owe them so much debt, they're so engaged, they're so overplaying the fact. Kris Coontz said something, I think it was Kris Coontz, said something painful earlier about Myanmar. This horrific thing, America, the most generous country on the planet, when there's a crisis, we lead the rest. I've sat in meetings in a bipartisan way with ambassadors from other countries where we had the moral authority to tell them, "You're not doing enough." And in the Myanmar crisis right now, as Kris Coontz said, who's standing there? Not Americans, we don't have the capacity anymore to help a horrific crisis like that. But the Chinese government's there. Again, it's what defines us. I keep saying this is not a left-right moment, this is a moral moment. And we tell our truth with what we do with our resources. And here's the thing, when you poll people and ask them how much money you spend on USAID, they say, "Oh, it must be 10% of the American budget, it must be 5% of the American budget." It's around 1% or less. A penny of what tax dollars you send down to Washington goes to help us make sure that around the globe, we're countering the hard power of some countries with the power of our light and our soft power.
(1:00:44:23)
We have been the envy of the world where people see and know how special America is because we live the value of every major religion that we're going to love our neighbors, we're going to be there for you in your times of need. And we all know with a terrorist group from far away to the most horrific attack, that in a lot of these countries, terrorist groups are trying to counter the democratic governments there. Look in the Sahel region, look what's happening. When I was in Nigeria, I was shocked to say what they're talking about, instabilities in the North, the threats of terrorism in the North. I'm going to go for seven more minutes and stop, but I want to use these last seven minutes to return one more time to the people of my state and actually other states who demanded we do things different, who asked for help.
(1:00:45:17)
Before I do, I just want to thank Mike Lee today. He's my partner in antitrust, a specialty of my friend, Amy Klobuchar. I don't know if you got my text, but you got it, where I said to you, " I'm kind of going to the floor to hold it for as long as I can." And I may not make our first subcommittee together on antitrust where we have a lot of common ground. So I'm sorry I missed it today. I know you'll fill me in, but I know my friend filled in. Thank you. I want to close back where we started, about us, about why I'm here. I believe that there is an urgent crisis in our country that we are not talking about. It's not a left-right crisis, it's a right-wrong crisis. It's a moral moment, and again, in America that's going to define our character, about who we are and what we stand for. There's a threat to the bedrock commitments we've made to each other as a country.
(1:00:46:16)
People are threatening that bedrock commitment of social security. They're calling it a Ponzi scheme. They're making up absolute lies about it. When I read American after American who said that that is their lifeline. They told stories that if they don't get their social security payment or they get caught up because nobody's answering their calls, if the rural Social Security office… I read states red and blue where they're closing social security offices. If I now have to drive not 100 miles, but 150 miles at 93 years old, it doesn't make sense. One of my colleagues stood up here and said, "That's already cutting benefits if you can't access the folks." I stood here because there's a threat to these bedrock commitments, the bedrock commitment we've made in healthcare in this country.
(1:00:47:07)
We won the defense of the Affordable Care Act, but my colleagues know when you start talking about Medicaid, that's not 20 plus million Americans, it's 70, 80, 90 million Americans. It's our elders in nursing homes, it's our children with disabilities. It's our moms giving birth, that are still giving birth in the country with about the highest maternal mortality rates in the industrial world. It's a moral moment. Who do we stand for? Schumer shocked me when he said they're going to use some kind of budget gimmick to push this through. You shocked me, Chuck. I thought this was going to come down to the parliamentarian, but it doesn't sound like it now. It's just going to get done with the math, and I read from Manhattan Institute, criticized it on the right, AEI criticized it on the right.
(1:00:48:03)
They said, "What are you doing? What are you doing, America?" You're going to rack up trillions and trillions of dollars in debt that our children and our children's children are going to have to pay for, passing the bucks that will grow. Are you doing that to help people get more access to healthcare, more access to retirement security, more access to the things we believe in? Big ideas like universal childcare, paid family leave? No, we're doing that in order to renew the tax cuts that I read. Conservative budget folks, moderate budget folks all across the spectrum who said, "It will blow up our deficit." And the benefits of those tax cuts, not all, let's not use hyperbole, but most will go, most will go to the richest people in our country, who I promise you, I celebrate people who've brought their ingenuity and their expertise and their grit and their tireless work, who've built wealth in this country.
(1:00:49:14)
Should not be us versus them, but I'm telling you that those folks do not need another tax cut. And the corporations who came here, you all remember, said, "We would like a 25% rate." The people I read said that when we kicked it to 21%, not even what they were asking for from 35%, it exploded. One of the main reasons it exploded our debt. And we read from conservative groups who just said all these promises, that we would grow our way out of our deficit, they didn't materialize, all the promises that were made. Trump, for those who don't remember or weren't here when I read it, was going around, telling folks that, "Oh, my tariffs." This is 2017. "My tariffs, the money that I get, that will be what we could pay down the debt." The math that they did, that would account for about one 750th of the debt at that time.
(1:00:50:04)
But he used that money to try to compensate the farmers that he was hurting with his tariffs. This is a moral moment and people are getting hurt and people are afraid because of the threats to Medicaid cuts. There were people writing in and said, $880 billion would devastate me, but even small cuts to services, my whole family, fragile architecture of our finances, if you just pull out the transportation money that my disabled child uses, that will crumble my financial world." And so when you talk about the bigger cuts, we know the math. Many states who expanded Medicare have a trigger that if it goes below 90%, all the Medicare expansion goes off in that state and millions of Americans will be hurt. That's not right, guys. That's not right. And so this is the choices we have before us, our veterans and the VA.
(1:00:50:55)
You, I'm met you now, you made me get very emotional with your story. We've read John McCain's story. We read the stories of the poems of the unknown soldier, looking over us and saying, "What are you doing to the gold star families? What are you doing to the veterans? Are you living up to your promises that you made?" Well, right now with the cuts of tens of thousands, over 80,000 veterans who work for the VA, but even more because about 20% or so of all federal workers are veterans. And we read stories from veterans in America, who are shaken by what's happening, who are losing their jobs. But yet, all they want to do is serve. They're not what they're being called. They're not leeches, they're not criminals. They shouldn't be degraded for wanting to continue to serve their nation.
(1:00:51:41)
This is what we're talking about, our veterans, our seniors, our healthcare, our financial security going forward. I asked the question to all those people who voted for Donald Trump, who believed in him, that he would lower your grocery prices. I asked you, "Look at your financial self, are you better off than you were 72 years ago financially?" Well, the answer for most people who believed in him is no, because he didn't set out to do anything to lower prices. He set out to rename the Gulf of Mexico, to threaten Canada, to say, "I'm going to take over Greenland." He's done a lot of things, 140 executive orders. Many of them actually drive up your costs, make it more expensive to enroll in the ACA, reduce a lot of the tax credits there. He's increased your costs, he's taxed your bedrock services, stock market tumbles, your 401k accounts are less.
(1:00:52:31)
Inflation is up, consumer confidence is down. This is what the voices we brought into this chamber, the voices of our constituents, red states, blue states, the voices of Democrats and Republicans, Republican governors, Democratic governors. We brought all the people that are saying, "No, this is a moral moment. Not left or right, right or wrong." And so I've tried over the last 25 hours and one minute, to center the conversation back on what will we do of good conscience? People who are saying, "I served this country, I risked my life. Shouldn't I be able to keep my job?" People are saying, "This country once made itself the envy of the world because we invested in high quality education for every child. I don't like what's going on with the end of the Department of Education."
(1:00:53:24)
People are saying, "I worked harder than I ever have, but the prices on everything in my life are getting higher." People who are saying that, "The America I learned about in school, the one where people's rights are protected," the people are saying that, "Why are we yet again going through another healthcare battle that threatens millions of people?" The people are saying that, "I'm worried about the financial security and the future of my country," the voices of folks. And so I end by saying simply this. Where I started was John Lewis. I don't know how to solve this, I don't know how to stop us from going down this road. Chuck Schumer has now told me that they're greasing the skids to do these things. I'm sorry, but I know who does have the power. The people of the United States of America.
(1:00:54:08)
The power of the people is greater than the people in power. It is time to heed the words of the man. I began this whole thing with, John Lewis. I beg folks to take his example of his early days where he made himself determined to show his love for his country at a time the country didn't love him, to love this country so much, to be such a patriot that he endured beatings savagely on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, at lunch counters, on freedom rides. He said he had to do something. He would not normalize a moment like this. He would not just go along with business as usual. He wouldn't know how to solve it but there's one thing that he would do that I hope we all can do that I think I did a little bit of tonight. He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble to redeem the soul of our nation.
(1:00:55:09)
I want you to redeem the dream. Let's be bold in America, not to demean and degrade Americans, not divide us against each other. Let's be bolder in America with a vision that inspires with hope that starts with the people of the United States of America. That's how this country started, we the people. Let's get back to the ideals that others are threatening. Let's get back to our founding documents, that those imperfect geniuses had some very special words at the end of the Declaration of Independence, was one of the greatest in all of humanity, declarations of interdependence. When our founder said, "We must mutually pledge, pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." We need that now from all Americans. This is a moral moment. It's not left or right, it's right or wrong. Let's get in good trouble. My friend, Madam President, I yield the floor.
