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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, first, I want to thank my colleague from North Carolina for his comments with regard to Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the Panama Canal. We have to support the President. He is acting in the best interests of the American public.

On November 5, the American public overwhelmingly elected President Donald Trump with a very clear mandate. Democrats here in Washington don't have to like it, but it is not up to them. That is what the American people decided. Let's remember, we work for the American people. We don't work for the Democrats' special interests or radical ideologies. Democrats need to get over the fact that Donald Trump won to make government work for the American people.

President Trump has put together a great team with the needed qualifications to deliver on that clear mandate. His nominees are fully qualified, and we have the votes to get them confirmed.

Think about this: When Barack Obama got elected in 2009, he had seven nominees confirmed on the first day--seven. How many do we have? One. By day three, President Obama had 12. Today is the fourth day of President Trump's term, and because of the Democrats' obstruction, we have only two of President Trump's Cabinet nominees confirmed. That is wrong.

In 2021, Joe Biden's Defense nominee Lloyd Austin was confirmed 2 days after Biden took office, but here we are on January 23, 2025. It has been 4 days, and President Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Defense has been reported out of committee but still has not gotten a vote.

Now that President Trump has been sworn in, it is time for Democrats to put country before politics and to quit their obstructionist and stall tactics and allow votes to confirm every single Donald Trump nominee.

It is time to get to work for the American people. This starts with voting to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense today--not tomorrow, not the next day; today. This Senate should not go home for the weekend until we vote on his confirmation.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and as a Navy veteran, I have seen clearly that we need a leader in the Pentagon who puts America's national interests above all else.

I have seen how the Biden-Harris administration pushed the Department of Defense to prioritize wokeness over being the most lethal military force in the world. They prioritized diversity quotas and bureaucracy over recruiting strong individuals who are ready to serve and protect our Nation. The Biden administration put our national security and the safety of our troops at risk, and we need someone who understands the mission and is ready to deliver.

The status quo in Washington, DC, has gone unchallenged for too long. The Pentagon, which failed seven consecutive annual financial audits, is the best example of a government that is completely unaccountable to the American taxpayer.

Pete Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran who understands the mission and what is needed to advance President Trump's agenda and reform the Department of Defense to make America's military the world's most lethal fighting force. That is what every American expects. He understands the sacrifice our military members and their families make because he has been to war. He has led his fellow service men and women into combat, and he knows individuals who have lost their lives or have been gravely injured in defending our Nation.

Pete knows how to hold people accountable, how to make sure we promote based on meritocracy, and how to get rid of the broken, woke policies implemented by the Biden administration.

After his Active-Duty service, Pete continued to stand by his fellow servicemembers here at home by leading the Concerned Veterans of America and by demonstrating a commitment to our Nation's fighters rather than to the status quo.

Although leftwing media has fixated on an anonymous whisper campaign in an attempt to discredit and dismiss his achievements during his time at the CVA, those who worked closely with him tell a different story, a positive story.

The policy priorities he championed were ultimately adopted by Congress and the Trump administration and will benefit veterans for generations to come.

The Department of Defense is one of the Federal Government's largest bureaucracies. That requires a leader who understands how to rely on a team, push for accountability, and bring needed reform.

Under President Trump and Pete's strong leadership, the U.S. military will once again become the world's most lethal fighting force that our enemies fear and our allies respect, and I will do everything I can to support their mission.

Americans elected Trump as a mandate for change, and he is building a team to deliver. Pete is the fighter we need and the right person to get the Department of Defense back on track.

We live in a very dangerous world and cannot risk the safety of this Nation any further by not having President Trump's national security nominees in office today.

I would like to encourage my Democratic colleagues to get over their loss--I am sure it is hard--and let these nominees come to the floor for a vote. They can vote however they want, but allow us to vote on these nominees.

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