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Floor Speech
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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we are entering the sixth month of Republican leadership in Washington. We have already delivered some significant wins for the American people, and there is so much more on the way. When this Congress began, we got right to work getting President Trump's Cabinet in place. We confirmed 21 Cabinet positions at a faster pace than any administration since George W. Bush.
The Republican Senate has confirmed 68 civilian nominees so far this year, the most since the Obama administration--Secretaries, Administrators, Deputies, Under Secretaries, 11 Ambassadors to postings around the globe--the most diplomats confirmed at this point since 2001.
And our committees continue to work hard to refer additional nominees to the floor.
The Senate has also passed a number of bills already this year. In the first few weeks of this year, we took up the Laken Riley Act, a bill to require that law enforcement detain an illegal immigrant caught shoplifting or stealing. We had an amendment process on the floor, a process that made the bill stronger. And the bill that the Senate ultimately passed and President Trump signed into law requires detention for illegal immigrants who assault law enforcement or seriously injure or kill a person, as well as for those caught stealing like the illegal immigrant who murdered Laken Riley last year.
We also passed the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as the most deadly type of drug and give law enforcement a critical tool to prosecute those who bring these deadly substances into our country and peddle them in our communities.
Last month, President Trump signed Senator Cruz's TAKE IT DOWN Act into law to combat nonconsensual explicit images made with AI and shared online.
And the Senate is continuing consideration of the GENIUS Act this week so that the United States can continue to be a leader in financial innovation and Americans can exercise financial freedom with confidence.
The Senate has also been working to repeal burdensome Biden-era regulations. We have now passed 18 Congressional Review Act resolutions targeting regulations that would raise costs, destroy jobs, and reduce choice for the American people. That includes resolutions to block President Biden's natural gas tax, eliminate burdensome new standards for appliances, and block the California electric vehicle mandate that would drive up prices and reduce consumer choice across the country.
I am grateful to my Republican colleagues for all the hard work they have put in over these past 5 months. We have made excellent progress, but needless to say, there is still a lot more to do starting with the reconciliation bill we have been working on now for months. This bill is critical to delivering on President Trump's priorities and the promises that we have made to the American people. It will prevent trillions in tax hikes for hard-working families and small businesses. It will invest in our border security to safeguard the progress the Trump administration has already made, and it will strengthen our military and unleash American energy for a stronger and safer America.
And as I said yesterday, the Senate will consider the bill on the floor this work period with the goal of getting it on the President's desk before July 4.
Appropriations season is also upon us, and we will be working to consider as many appropriations bills as possible under regular order. Work on the annual National Defense Authorization Act is also underway, and I hope Democrats will work with us to move the NDAA and appropriations bills through committee and consider them on the Senate floor.
When the American people elected President Trump and a Republican Congress last November, they expected us to deliver. We have worked hard to deliver on our mandate, and we are not taking our foot off the gas. There is too much to do.
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