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Floor Speech

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Mr. MERKLEY. Will the Senator pause for a question?

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Mr. MERKLEY. I asked my colleague from across the aisle if he would pause for a question not to address all the lists of particulars he threw out to all 47 of his colleagues on this side of the aisle but to simply make one point. That is, he said, that Democrats want to shut down the government.

Did he forget that Republicans are in charge of this Chamber? Did he forget that all 47 of us here said that we are willing to vote today on the five spending bills? Did he miss that somehow?

Republicans are in charge of the Oval Office. They are in charge of the House of Representatives, and Republicans are in charge of the Senate.

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Mr. MERKLEY. Yes. When I complete my remarks, I will be happy to address the question.

We are ready to vote now on those five bills. So, if there is a shutdown, it is clear where it is coming from. It is coming from the Republican leadership and the President of the United States of America.

I have been profoundly disturbed by what I have seen in the way that the agents from Customs and Border Protection and ICE have acted across this country. I held 17 townhalls in very conservative, Republican counties, in super red counties, in blue counties, in purple counties. People came out from across my State to say they are shocked and that they are disturbed by what they are seeing happening across our entire Nation.

They came to my townhalls to say one simple thing: No more must this conduct occur. So I have come to the floor now to say: No more. No more rogue patrols of Federal agents accosting people based on the color of their skin or their accents. No more intrusions and violations in the sensitive places like churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, daycare centers, hospitals, courthouses, and polling places. No more secret police tactics in which agents hide their personal identities, hide their Agency identity, cover their faces, use unmarked vans so people don't even know if they are being confronted by someone who has legitimate authority. No more Federal agents arresting people and, in fact, knocking down doors without warrants.

May I remind my colleagues that there is a Constitution of the United States of America and that it says you cannot knock down doors without a warrant?

It is shocking to see a memo from this President saying the executive branch can tell other parts of the executive branch they can violate the Fourth Amendment and knock down doors--violating a fundamental premise of the privacy and security and freedom of the people of the United States of America.

No more blatant lies from Kristi Noem when citizen victims have been assaulted. She is quick to immediately say they are terrorists or they are would-be assassins when she has absolutely no evidence to support that, and immediately you know there will be nothing close to an independent or fair investigation. Immediately you know she is making it up because she hasn't collected the information. Then the videos come out, and they show that she lied to the American people not once, not twice, not three times, but time and time and time again. The American people have witnessed the truth with their own eyes thanks to the citizens who were responsibly videotaping the interactions.

No more corrupt Federal investigations that blame ordinary citizens for ICE thuggery. No more blocking Members of Congress from touring immigration facilities or stonewalling congressional oversight. No more abducting children off the street, including a 5-year-old in a hat with little puppy ears on it.

No more terrorizing our community. No more executions of our citizens like Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Colleagues, ICE has failed to follow the law. They have failed to honor the Constitution. They have destroyed their own legitimacy and integrity. Democrats have said: We are ready to vote on all five of the spending bills that do not involve ICE. Do it right now.

Republican leadership says: Hell no. We want to shut down the government.

Wow. Then they want to blame Democrats. Let's have an honest conversation about who is responsible if there is a government shutdown, and that lays across the aisle to the right.

The DHS bill must be separated because these issues must be debated and addressed. If the goal of my Republican colleagues is to avoid a debate over the misconduct of Customs and Border Protection and ICE, then they are not fulfilling their responsibilities as representatives of the citizens of the United States of America, who value their freedom, who value their privacy, who never want to see the Federal Government knocking down their doors without a warrant.

Kristi Noem has so failed in her honesty with America. She must go.

As the Senate eventually considers the Department of Homeland Security bill, they must enact serious, meaningful reforms, including ending the roaming patrols with all the violations they have been involved in, unmasking the secret police, ensuring accountability and fair investigations.

Let me remind you that in Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill--you remember the one. That was the bill that cut nutrition, that cut healthcare, making it far more expensive for mega millions of Americans in order to give $75 billion to ICE, kind of advanced funding it for, like, 5 years into the future. And they want additional money for ICE now with no debate on the floor of the Senate? They want to suppress a legitimate conversation about defending the privacy and rights of all Americans and about defending our Constitution? No, absolutely not.

So, to every Senator, in recognizing they already have--ICE that is-- mega millions in their pocket or, actually, billions--$75 billion--not one more dollar for ICE thuggery.

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