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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, 2 months ago, nearly every single Member of the House and Senate voted to pass a very simple bill with a very simple message: release the Epstein files. The legal deadline to release the files was December 19--nearly 50 days ago--and the American people are still waiting for the truth to come out. The December 19 deadline was not a recommendation; it wasn't a suggestion. Releasing the Epstein files is the law, a law that every single Member of this Chamber--Democrat, Republican, Independent--supported as well as every Member of the House, save one.
So where are we today, 50 days past the deadline?
At best, according to the Department of Justice's own admissions, maybe half of all of the available Epstein files have been released. That means millions of documents which contain the names of coconspirators: financial records, travel logs, letters, emails. The public deserves to see those documents, but the heinous crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and his coconspirators remain shrouded in darkness. These are things the public deserves to see, but they are shrouded in darkness, and whatever materials have been released have often been redacted to an absurd degree. Hundreds of pages have been blotted out to the point that it is just a wall of black ink. That is it--a wall of black ink. Look at this: There are hundreds of pages that look just like this. This is not transparency. This is not what the law requires. This is a mockery of the truth and an insult to the survivors.
What makes this all the more sickening is that, in over 1,000 instances, the Justice Department failed to follow the law and leaked the identities of over 100 victims. But do you know whom the Justice Department did seem to protect? Epstein's coconspirators. Do you know whom else the Justice Department seemed to protect? Donald Trump. What is Pam Bondi trying to hide?
Enough is enough. Today, I come to the floor to seek unanimous agreement of a resolution directing the Senate to sue the Trump administration for violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Fifteen of my Democratic colleagues have joined in cosponsoring this resolution, and I thank every single one of them for standing firm.
I urge my Republican colleagues not to stand in the way today. It is the height of absurdity for Republicans to have supported the Epstein Files Transparency Act but to then go ahead and object to enforcing it--what hypocrisy. Objecting today would completely cancel out the whole point of Republicans' supporting the law in the first place.
Finally, the people who have lost the most and who have suffered the most are Jeffrey Epstein's victims. With me, I have a letter from about 20 of the victims, explaining how reckless and dangerous it was for the DOJ to carelessly release the victims' information while going to great lengths to redact the names of the coconspirators.
Once again, survivors are having their names and identifying information exposed, while the men who abused us remain hidden and protected. That is outrageous. As survivors, we should never be the ones named, scrutinized, and retraumatized while Epstein's enablers continue to benefit from secrecy. This is a betrayal of the very people this process is supposed to serve.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre alone reported many abusers connected to Epstein's network, yet the public still does not have the full truth about who enabled him, who participated in his exploitation, and who has been shielded for years. Hundreds of women have come forward with additional reports like hers. The scale of this failure is staggering and indefensible.
The Justice Department cannot claim it is finished releasing files until every legally required document is released and every abuser and enabler is fully exposed. We need to hear directly from Attorney General Pam Bondi when she appears before the House Judiciary Committee on February 11. Survivors deserve answers, and the public deserves the truth.
This is not over. We will not stop until the truth is fully revealed and every perpetrator is finally held accountable. As we have always said, this is not about politics. We hope Democrats and Republicans will stand with survivors in continuing to demand the full release of the Epstein files.
We look forward to hearing from Attorney General Pam Bondi on February 11.''
Annie Farmer
Ashley Rubright
AW
Danielle Bensky
Jane Doe
Jane Doe
JD
Jess Michaels
Lara Blume McGee
Liz Stein
Marijke Chartouni
Marina Lacerda
Rachel Benavidez
Sky & Amanda Roberts
Sharlene Rochard
Teresa J. Helm
Wendy Pesante
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Mr. SCHUMER. Enough is enough. Congress spoke with one voice when it passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The deadline has long passed, and the Trump Justice Department is still breaking the law. Senate Democrats are exhausting every possible avenue to force the administration to do what it is already legally required to do: release the complete files and deliver transparency and justice, finally, to Epstein's victims. If the administration will not follow the law, which it isn't, the Senate must act. No one, not even the President, is above the law.
The question before Senate Republicans, today, is simple: Will they enforce the law that they helped to pass or object and help keep the Epstein files hidden?
So, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 597; that the resolution be agreed to; that the preamble be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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