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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last week we learned that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado had won this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

This is a photograph of her. She did so for her steadfast and courageous fight for democracy in the once-proud Nation of Venezuela that, unfortunately, now under a man named Maduro, has descended into chaos and dictatorship.

I had the chance to visit Venezuela in 2018, just before the country's strongman Nicolas Maduro staged a sham election. The years that followed were a predictable disaster, bringing further suffering on the Venezuelan people.

In late 2023, under severe repression, the Venezuelan opposition organized a primary election that selected Ms. Machado as its candidate for the July 2024 Presidential election. Using a tired old playbook, the Maduro regime refused to allow her on the final ballot. Undeterred, her colleague Edmundo Gonzalez was able to run in her stead. Not surprisingly, given the country's near-failed state status, he won over Maduro with two-thirds of the vote in a process meticulously documented by domestic election observers.

What did the Maduro regime do? It, shamefully, refused to swear him, as his successor, into office and forced him to flee the country. But Maria Corina Machado refused to leave. She stayed while the regime arrested key opposition supporters and threatened her as well.

While she remains in hiding for her own safety, she has continued to fight for those election results to be respected and a return to democracy in Venezuela. That steadfast courage in the face of such cruelty is incredible and certainly worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen and I were on the telephone yesterday with this brave young lady. She was determined as ever to see a better future for the people of Venezuela. She has my continued admiration and support in that effort. Middle East

Mr. President, I want to say a few words about events in the Middle East and Ukraine. Over the long weekend, the world saw what is, hopefully, the beginning of the end of the war in Gaza.

I want to congratulate President Trump for the historic agreement that made this possible. There are still critical elements to be negotiated and settled. But the first phase, which included the release of Israeli hostages and a cease-fire, is a good-faith start to a more inclusive agreement. It won't be easy. The remaining steps will be difficult and require sustained attention from President Trump and our allies that helped make the beginning of this agreement a reality.

As New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wisely wrote this week, ``You don't have a second to rest. As someone who wants you to succeed, I have to remind you: As hard as the first state was, you have not . . . seen hard yet.''

I agree. There has been so much pain and suffering sparked 2 years ago from Hamas's brutal October 7 attack and the ensuing war, and it will take a long time, if ever, to heal. But this is the best chance in a long time toward a more hopeful future where both people, Palestinians and Israelis, can live in peace.

Similarly, I hope President Trump will now focus momentum from these events and equal attention on seeking an end to the war in Ukraine. I have said before, I don't begrudge President Trump for trying to engage Russian President Putin to negotiate an end to this terrible conflict. But it should be clear to everyone, and I hope it is clear to President Trump, that Putin isn't interested nor serious. In fact, Putin has only increased his deadly attacks on Ukraine since such good-faith outreach by the United States.

Similarly, it is long overdue that the Senate pass bipartisan Russian sanctions, a bill that now has 80 bipartisan sponsors, a bill I am happy to support.

Putin only responds to force--military and economic--and it is time for the President and Congress to stand behind the people of Ukraine and to increase his pressure on President Putin. Government Funding

Mr. President, I would like to respond to the comments made by my colleague and friend Senator Barrasso from Wyoming on the floor this morning.

Why is this government shut down? Why? What is the reason for it? The President's party is in control in the White House, in the House, and in the Senate and yet we stopped and the government shut down. Why? Because there is a fundamental issue we are trying to resolve for the good of the American people.

Well, let me give you an illustration.

What if I told you, if you live in Illinois, that, on October 27, your health insurance company is going to send you a notice at your home; that it is going to announce what is going to happen to your health insurance premiums on your insurance, on January 1 of this coming year; and that it is also going to tell you, for many people, that there is going to be a dramatic increase-- dramatic--of 114 percent; that your premium is going to more than double?

Some people will say: That is all right. I have got plenty of money in the bank. I am not worried about it a bit.

But most people will say: Doubled? It is already too high. What am I going to do? How am I going to afford this? What is it going to do to my family's budget if I have to pay twice as much on January 1 for my health insurance? How did this happen? Who did this?

It is called the ``Big, Beautiful Budget Bill'' of President Trump. That is what did it.

There is a tax credit that is available for millions of American families to help them pay for their health insurance premiums. The Republicans eliminate it, and when they eliminate it, people are on their own to come up with money to pay for their health insurance.

Is it important? I think it is critical.

It is one of the most basic questions you are going to ask when you ask: How is your family doing? Are you doing OK when it comes to health insurance? If you have an unexpected, large medical bill, do you have insurance to cover it?

Well, for thousands--maybe millions--of Americans, the new health insurance plan is going to be too expensive for them to pay the premiums.

So what do you do?

Well, you look for a plan that has a lot of money in out-of-pocket expenditures for the people who are covered. It is the skinny policy, only in catastrophes and calamities. That, unfortunately, is all you have.

In the meantime, you are in a situation where your family, tomorrow, may face a medical bill which will break the bank. That is what it comes down to.

That is what this shutdown is about. We believe the Republicans should help us in helping the families across America.

As I said, October 27 is the day of reckoning in Illinois for people who are policyholders there. It is going to happen across the United States. It is a policy they created on the Republican side, and we should work with them to change it--the sooner, the better.

Cloture Motion

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Mr. DURBIN. Duckworth) is necessarily absent.

The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 51, nays 45, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 573 Leg.] YEAS--51 Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Collins Cornyn Cortez Masto Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fetterman Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy King Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McConnell McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Mullin Murkowski Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Wicker Young NAYS--45 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Coons Durbin Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Paul Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Thune Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden NOT VOTING--4 Cassidy Duckworth Tillis Tuberville

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