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Floor Speech

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Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, last week, President Biden--I wish him well--gave his farewell address to America. He said a number of things, but one in particular got my attention. He warned America about--his words, not mine--``a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people.''

President Biden went on to say:

Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.

I don't know who President Biden was talking about, but I know one particular circumstance about which I am going to speak that fits his warning. Again, I don't know if the circumstance I am about to describe is what President Biden meant, but if the shoe fits, wear it, Cinderella.

Let me cut to the chase. Mr. George Soros is an oligarch. He is one of the wealthiest people in the world. He is a friend of President Biden's--nothing wrong with that. In fact, President Biden just gave him I think the highest civilian honor that a President can give to a civilian--the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Mr. George Soros is buying WWL AM radio in New Orleans. Let me say that again. That may not mean much to you, Mr. President, but it means a lot to my people in Louisiana. Mr. George Soros is buying WWL AM radio in New Orleans.

WWL AM radio is practically an institution in my State. It has been around since 1922--1922--over 100 years. It is a clear channel--what the communications experts call a clear channel class A station. Its transmitter output is about 50,000 watts. That is a lot, folks. That is the maximum for commercial AM stations in the United States. It is the lead station on the New Orleans Saints Radio network. It is an important station, and Mr. George Soros is buying it.

What does that mean, and how did this happen? WWL is owned by a national company called Audacy. Audacy has about 220 radio stations nationwide, one of which, of course, is WWL--the second largest radio network in America. It reaches I think 45 different markets throughout our country, 165 million Americans. It is huge.

Audacy borrowed too much money. They took on too much debt. They took on about $1.9 billion worth of debt, and they couldn't service that debt with their revenues. So what did they do? They did what many other corporations do when they can't service their debt: They went into what is called chapter 11 bankruptcy--not chapter 7. Chapter 7 is when they liquidate the company. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is when a company goes into bankruptcy in front of a bankruptcy judge and says: Judge, we want to get all of our creditors and debtors together and restructure our cash flow and our debt so we can come out of this bankruptcy a surviving entity.

They went into chapter 11 with a bankruptcy plan. Mr. George Soros immediately pounced. Of that $1.9 billion in debt, he bought about $415 million of it; cash on the barrelhead; paid 50 cents on the dollar.

One of the tenets of the reorganization was that all the current shareholders would be wiped out. The new creditors would assume equity positions in the company. I know that sounds complicated, and it can be, but really what it means is that the bondholders--one of which is Mr. Soros after he bought it, bought the $450 million worth of debt-- became a shareholder, and Mr. Soros is now the largest single shareholder in Audacy radio stations, including WWL AM in New Orleans, an institution.

In America, you can't just go do this. Why is that? Because those airwaves on which WWL and the other radio stations broadcast--they don't belong to the radio stations. They belong to you and you and you and you. These airwaves--the spectrum, if you will--are owned by the American people.

Years ago, we created the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC. We set it up to be in charge of the airwaves that belong to the American people to make sure that those airwaves were being used prudently by radio stations. For example, if a radio station is bought by a bunch of foreign nationals or foreign entities, the FCC has to approve it. For example, anytime a broadcast license, as is the case with Audacy, is transferred, the FCC has to approve it. So Mr. Soros's purchase of WWL Radio and the 219 other radio stations had to go before the FCC, and it did, and it went--the approval for Mr. Soros went through the FCC like green grass through a goose. It was a party-line vote. It was last September. All three Democrats--there are five people on the FCC--all three Democrats said let it go, and they short-circuited the normal process.

Now, I am not an FCC expert, and I am not a communications law expert, but this has been widely reported, and I have read about it in many reports. Normally, on a deal of this size, when 220 radio stations are being transferred--their licenses--using airwaves that belong to the American people and there is a substantial percentage of foreign owners, it would take about a year to get through the FCC. The FCC would do a complete investigation. Not this time--no. This time was special. What happened was what some members of the media have called the Soros shortcut. They just got together and rammed it through. Did I mention it was like green grass through a goose--3 to 2?

Now, the two Republicans on the Commission--they are screaming the whole time: Whoa, Nellie! Whoa! Whoa! Why aren't we taking this seriously? Why aren't we investigating this? Why aren't we doing our due diligence?

They were outvoted 3 to 2.

You know, even in a democracy, when you have the votes--you can make a porcupine like hot peppers if you have the votes. That doesn't make it right.

A number of people petitioned the FCC and said: Please don't do this.

One of the groups that petitioned the FCC was a group called Media Research Center. The FCC--three Democrats, two Republicans--dismissed them. But this is what the Media Research Center said--their words, not mine:

There is no question that George Soros and his affiliated businesses are looking to control these radio stations to advance their particular brand of activism.

The MRC urged the FCC not to create a ``special Soros shortcut'' that would circumvent their rules and allow the deal to move forward. They did it anyway.

Here is what Mr. Troy A. Miller, NRB president and CEO, said. He said--his words, not mine:

The fact that the FCC is apparently willing to bypass the usual protocols--

That means the normal procedures-- to get this transaction done just weeks before a presidential election--

And right after the President of the United States gave Mr. Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom-- seriously undermines the Commission's credibility and raises warranted questions of whether administrative processes are being manipulated--

Manipulated-- to exert political [interference and] preference.

Here is what one of the Republican members of the FCC, in dissent, said--Commissioner Brendan Carr, who is soon to be Chairman of the FCC now that there is a new sheriff in town. Here is what Mr. Carr said:

The Commission's decision today [approving Mr. Soros's plan] is unprecedented. Never before has the Commission voted to approve the transfer of a broadcast license--let alone the transfer of broadcast licenses for over 200 radio stations across more than 40 markets--without following the requirements and procedures codified in federal law.

Pass me the sick bucket. This isn't right, but they did it.

Now, this is America. You are entitled to believe what you want. If it is legal, you are entitled to do what you want. And Mr. Soros is certainly entitled to his opinion. He is. I don't agree with him, but he is certainly entitled to it in America. I am not much into this cancel culture, and hopefully we have seen the end of it, but when you are acquiring radio licenses which can influence public opinion and you are doing it in part--not exclusively but in part--with foreign money, well, that is why we have the FCC.

But I want to make this clear: I believe in free speech and free expression. You are not free if you can't say what you think. You are not free if you can't express yourself. Mr. Soros has that right. But here is where he stands. I want my people in Louisiana to know who is buying WWL Radio in New Orleans. Mr. Soros is a billionaire. God bless him. He made his money himself. He has poured much of his wealth into what, in my opinion, are radical causes.

He is now working with his son, who I understand is a very smart young man. His name is Alex Soros. Mr. George Soros and Mr. Alex Soros hold some--how should I put this?--nonmainstream American beliefs.

For example, Mr. George Soros has called the United States ``the main obstacle to a stable and just world.'' Mr. Soros believes that our country is ``the main obstacle to a stable and just world,'' not China, not Iran, not North Korea--the United States of America.

Pass me the sick bucket.

Mr. Soros has also said that China has--his words, not mine--that China has a ``better functioning government than the United States of America.''

Mr. Soros does not believe that the United States should have secure borders. He once called national borders an ``obstacle'' to his plan for widespread immigrant resettlement.

Mr. Soros and his family, as you probably know, have spent millions and millions of dollars to elect prosecutors throughout America who believe that violent criminals are the real victims. These prosecutors believe for the most part that if a cop has to shoot a criminal, it is always the cop's fault, but if a criminal shoots a cop, it is always the gun's fault. These prosecutors whom Mr. Soros has backed with millions of dollars all believe that if you are concerned about crime, you are automatically a racist.

Mr. Soros and his son Alex--Alex in particular--have called for softer sentences on violent criminals. This is what he has said--his words, not mine. Mr. Alex Soros said:

But if we are serious about ending mass incarceration, we must also rethink our response to crimes that are more serious, including violent ones. Even those who have been victims of violence increasingly do not believe in long-term prison sentences.

In short, Mr. Soros--both George and Alex believe that America would be better off if we had open borders. They believe that America would be better off, in my opinion--this is how I read their writings--if we ended jails and if we ran our government like the Communist Party of China. I don't agree with that, but Mr. Soros--both of them are entitled to their opinion.

But my people in Louisiana are entitled to know whose opinion they are hearing on the radio, and this has not been reported once in Louisiana. Let me say it again.

Mr. George Soros, through an expedited procedure--I am trying to be evenhanded here--who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Biden and who is close to President Biden and all of my Democratic colleagues, on a 3-to-2 vote at the FCC, has been able to buy over 200 radio stations throughout America, including WWL Radio. I want my people to know about it, and I want us to make sure that it was done legally. I am not saying it wasn't done legally; I am saying that it looks funny. Not funny ha-ha--it looks weird the way this was done. It has the aroma of politics, and I hope the new FCC revisits this issue.

These licenses and these airwaves do not belong to me or to the FCC or to Audacy or to WWL; they belong to you and you and you--the American people. We are supposed to make sure, through our FCC--that is why God created the FCC--that these licenses are not just given to anybody. Chagos Islands

Mr. President, let me say one other thing quickly. I didn't mean to go on this long. You have heard me talk about this before, and I am going to talk about it again.

This is India. This is China. Right here are the Chagos Islands-- right now owned by the United Kingdom. America, the United States of America, with your tax dollars, has a very important military base out in the Chagos Islands, on an island called Diego Garcia.

Now, the United Nations, as I have said before, has said to Britain, the UK, which acquired the Chagos Islands from France--the folks at the United Nations, with their whey protein powder and man purses, say: Bad United Kingdom. Bad United Kingdom. You are a bunch of colonialists. Give it back. Give the Chagos Islands back--not ``give them back to the people of the Chagos Islands''; give them back to this island down here, Mauritius, over 1,000 miles away. Give it back to Mauritius. That is who had it when France transferred--Mauritius was a province of France when France transferred all of its ownership to Mauritius and to the Chagos Islands in the early 1800s.

The new government in the United Kingdom said: Oh, we feel so guilty. We are going to give it back. We are going to give it back--and our Air Force base with it, which we use to rearm and restock our submarines in Indochina--in the Indian Ocean to combat China.

This kind of stupid takes a plan, folks. This kind of stupid takes a plan.

The United Kingdom said: OK. We feel guilty. We are going to give it back. We are going to give it to Mauritius, and we are going to start paying Mauritius 9 billion over 10 years. And you know who went along with it? The prior administration.

Now, I have talked to President Trump about this, and I have talked to Marco Rubio about this--our esteemed new Secretary of State--and I am hoping they are going to do something about it.

The United Nations has no jurisdiction over the United Kingdom or us in America, and this is our military base. And, already, if we give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, Mauritius says they will lease to us our own base for about 9 billion pounds over 10 years. Already, China is circling Mauritius. Already, China is trying to be Mauritius' best friend.

And I don't have anything against the Government of Mauritius. They are wonderful people. I understand they want the money. They want our money. They want your money. They want us to pay them for our own military base.

We need to stop this deal. President Trump and Secretary Rubio need to pick up the phone and call Prime Minister Starmer in the United Kingdom and say to the Prime Minister: Mr. Prime Minister, with all due respect, stop dipping into your ketamine stash. Put down the bong. We need this military base to combat China. Don't do it.

And if the President will do that and the Secretary of State will do that, I believe Mr. Starmer, who tried to ram this through the week before President Trump took office but was stopped--I believe that he will give in.

I don't have anything against Mr. Starmer. I don't have anything against the people of Mauritius Island. I am sure they are all wonderful people.

But our struggle with China is serious. It is as serious as four heart attacks and a stroke. And it is bone-deep, down-to-the-marrow stupid for us, because of guilt over colonialism, to bow to the wishes of the United Nations and give a military base that we built to Mauritius, which eventually will end up in the hands of the Communist Party of China. That is why I say that kind of stupid takes a plan. Southern California Wildfires

Mr. President, on a final point, I want to just highlight this. The people of Mexico have sent some of their firefighters to help us in California, and I want to thank our friends in Mexico for doing that. Other countries have sent their firefighters too. But because we are proximate to Mexico, their fighters were able to get here earlier, and I just want to thank the people of Mexico for their generosity.

My work here is done. I will show myself to the door.

And before I do that, I will suggest the absence of a quorum.

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