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Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor having just heard the minority leader, and he talked about the State of the Union Address last night. I heard the same speech that he did. I thought it was outstanding. Apparently, the difference is that I was actually listening.

The American people agree with me in terms of what they saw and heard and witnessed last night with Donald Trump's state of the Union. What Americans saw last night was quite simple: Republicans stood with them; Democrats didn't. They didn't stand for much. Republicans cheered for lower taxes, for safe communities, and for safer elections--secure elections, elections people have faith in.

Senator Schumer said he thought the speech was delusional. The American people didn't think that. Immediately after the State of the Union, CNN conducted a poll. Here is what they found: 62 percent of the viewers said that President Trump's economic and immigration policies would move the country in the right direction.

That is what we have been trying to do for the last year--get the country back on track. Those are the commonsense policies for which the Democrats refused to stand.

The President said to the whole body:

If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support.

He then read the statement:

The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.

Every Republican stood up. Not the Democrats. They sat silently.

This is the first responsibility of a government of a nation--to protect its citizens. Why in the world would Democrats refuse to stand for such a statement, such a basic understanding of what the role of government is in our lives, what our Founding Fathers fought for? The Revolutionary War. Here we are 250 years into the United States, and the Democrats in the Senate and in the House and in the Chamber last night don't believe that is the responsibility of government, the No. 1 first duty--to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens? That is delusional on the part of the Democrats. It is astonishing.

I am happy to see CNN report that so many Americans agree that we are getting the country back on track, doing what we should do, what we were elected to do--to provide safety and prosperity for the American people.

What do the Democrats stand for? Raising taxes. They sit on their hands when it comes to protecting American citizens. Their priorities are wrong. We are in a shutdown right now for the Department of Homeland Security. Why? Because they want to stand with illegal immigrant criminals instead of the safety and security of the American people. To me, that was the most telling moment of the evening, and the American people will not forget that. They will not forget that visual. They will not forget seeing the President of the United States make his statement and the Republicans jump up and cheer and the Democrats sit in silence.

Last night, we heard about the great American comeback. The President's remark proved two things: Our country is strong, and our fellow citizens--boy, they are courageous. And we heard great stories of courage last night. More than a dozen heroes were honored, and rightfully so, heroes like 100-year-old Navy pilot retired CAPT E. Royce Williams and helicopter pilot CW5 Eric Slover, both of whom received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Well earned. Well done. Well deserved. Heroes like Pennsylvania mom Megan Hemhauser, who homeschools her two children and works in the evenings as a waitress; heroes like Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan, who rescued many young girls from the deadly Texas flood.

These American heroes remind me of two sailors I met with this past weekend. I was on a Navy destroyer within firing distance of Iran. These sailors from Wyoming were nine time zones away from home in Wyoming. One that I talked to is from Gillette, WY. He went to Sheridan High School. He is from Gillette. His father works at a coal mine in Gillette. Another is from Wheatland, WY. His father works at the powerplant. Both of them said that President Trump and Republicans had saved their fathers' jobs, and they asked me to portray that and give that thanks to the President. I did that last night as a member of the Escort Committee when I met with the President before he entered the Chamber to deliver the State of the Union.

He knows that what he is doing is making a difference for the men and women--the working men and women--of our country, for the jobs in our communities, for good-paying jobs, and for American energy. That is what we are doing for America.

The success that the President outlined last night is just the beginning. It is being felt by working families everywhere around the country. People are going to continue to feel that success because of our Republican comprehensive economic plan.

Being from Wyoming, of course, my focus is small businesses that make our State thrive. Wyoming is proud to be a small business State. Ninety-nine percent of our businesses are small businesses. Two out of three jobs in our State are all from small businesses, and what we are talking about is farmers, ranchers, construction workers, energy workers, so many more; people who feed our country, people who power our homes, people who make our communities better.

During the previous administration, small businesses struggled. They chocked on a witch's brew of higher taxes and burdensome regulations. Punishing good people for honest work did not make life in America more affordable; it made it more challenging. It led to higher costs. It led to smaller paychecks. It led to fewer jobs. That is what the Biden administration and the Democrats did.

But now, because of our Working Families Tax Cut law, taxes on small businesses are going down, and they are going to stay down. The Working Families Tax Cut law is already helping create jobs.

This year, in every State, new Main Street jobs are going to be created. Small businesses receive a permanent tax cut. In my home State of Wyoming, 50,000 small businesses will benefit from them.

The Working Families Tax Cut law encourages investing here at home. Small businesses can now write off 100 percent of their costs for new equipment. It is called full expensing. It matters to the small businesses on Main Street all along this great Nation.

Full expensing simply means that small businesses will be able to build more and grow faster. They can invest in their business and their workers. Faster growth means lower costs for families. It means more jobs. It means bigger paychecks. That is what the American people want.

The Working Families Tax Cut law supports farmers and ranchers. They receive major relief from the dreaded death tax. This relief is permanent. Death tax relief has significant consequences for rural livelihoods and for feeding our country.

Now, families across Wyoming and your home State of Montana, Mr. President, will not have to worry about whether they can keep the farm or the ranch when Grandma or Grandpa passes away. They want to keep it in the family. In the past, they had to sell it to pay the tax man. That is wrong.

All these changes mean immediate savings for small businessowners, for their employees, as well as for their customers. This year, small businessowners will receive about $27 billion in additional tax refunds. That is money in their pockets. And because these provisions are permanent, small businesses can hire, invest, and grow with confidence now and in the future. The only people who don't want this success to continue are the Democrats.

People in mainstream Wyoming--and you know, think of a small community in Wyoming, Newcastle, WY, a great place. I go every year. They do what is called Madness on Main Street. All the small businesses are out. They have tables out. The firefighters do a pancake breakfast. That is what America is all about: small communities, local community jobs, local schools where they still teach the students the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence. The kids can actually recite it. They can come to the--they stand up. I have been in their classrooms. It is astonishing what is going on in small communities, in small schools, all across America.

That is what President Trump was talking about and what he is doing for small businesses in our communities in rural America, but that is not what we saw with the Democrats. No.

Last night, how did they respond last night after the President's magnificent speech? Well, they chose the newly elected Governor of Virginia to deliver their State of the Union response.

She was sworn in just a month ago. But this is the mindset now of this far-left party over there, the Democrats, because since she was sworn in last month as the Governor of Virginia, she has introduced 50 new taxes--50 new taxes.

Democrats in Virginia are trying to raise taxes on barbershops, nail salons, dry cleaners, and gyms. Every one of those--if we were talking about Newcastle, WY, it would hurt Newcastle, WY, or the small communities in Wyoming and in your home State of Montana. But that is what Virginia wants to do. That is what the liberals that run the house, the senate, and their new Governor, whom the Democrats chose as the face of the Democratic Party--somebody who has been in office for 1 month and has introduced 50 new taxes: Barbershops, nail salons, dry cleaners, and gyms, tax them all.

You will love this. She wants to raise sales taxes on firearms and ammunition by 11 percent. That is not something that works in Wyoming or Montana. She wants to give instate tuition benefits for illegal immigrants. That is not something the American people agree on.

She wants to ban gas-powered leaf blowers. She is still living in that age of focusing on the carbon footprint instead of what we need in America today, which is all the energy and affordable energy. That is whom the Democrats chose to give the response, a person who wants to put sales taxes on everyday services all across the State.

You know, I said it before, and I am saying it again: Democrats are committed and determined to raise your taxes, and Virginia and what we heard from her last night--what they are doing in Virginia is just a roadmap to the radical policies that the Democrats want all over this country.

Remember, it was the Democrats, under Joe Biden, who brought us the worst inflation in 40 years. Democrats voted last year to raise taxes by $4 trillion. Democrats stood for higher taxes last night but not for tax cuts, not for working Americans, not for American heroes, not for the priorities of the safety of the American people. Nope.

The Democrat agenda continues to be higher taxes, higher prices that the American people cannot afford. Affordability isn't improved by taxing and by spending more government money; it is improved by allowing the American people to keep more of what they earned so they can make the decisions for themselves on what to spend, what to save, what to invest.

Americans are better off today because Republicans cut taxes, because we protect farmers and ranchers, because we support small businesses. And after just 1 year, inflation is falling, wages are rising, and more Americans are working.

This is the great American economic comeback. This is what we heard from the President last night. This is what we are proud of is a record of providing safety and prosperity for the American people, and there is more work to be done, as the President said.

Our Nation is returning to a position of safety, security, and prosperity. For small businesses in Wyoming and all across America, the future is bright.

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise alongside my friend and colleague Senator Lummis to celebrate these three talented Olympians: Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, and Anna Gibson. The 2026 Olympic Games were the most successful winter games in our Nation's history.

Team USA won an astonishing 12 gold medals. It is the most gold medals our country has ever won in the Winter Olympics. America brought home the second most medals of any country--33 medals overall. This was a record-setting year for Team USA, and Wyoming is no small part of the success.

Breezy started the historic medal run that first day by winning our Nation's first gold medal of the 2026 Games by winning women's downhill alpine skiing. Her victory comes just 4 years after she was forced to withdraw from the 2022 Olympics due to injuries, injuries sustained on the very mountain that she conquered in 2026.

Her comeback is an inspiring story for every young American who aspires to a day as an Olympic athlete.

Jaelin Kauf was next. She took home two silver medals in mogul skiing. She is now a three-time Olympic silver medalist, and that makes her the most decorated mogul skier in U.S. Olympic history.

And everyone in Wyoming is so, so very proud of Anna Gibson. Look at that--the determination, the look in her. And what a sport it is. As Senator Lummis just said, this is the first year for ski mountaineering in the Olympics, and it was Anna's first Olympics ever. She made history as the first American woman to compete in ski mountaineering at the Olympic Winter Games. She finished in fourth place and accomplished this even though, incredibly, she picked up this event only a few months ago. I will tell you, she is a trailblazer, as are all of these Olympic athletes.

Watching her event on Saturday, I saw a Wyoming flag waving in the crowd and cheering her on. The people of Wyoming always show up for one another. You know, in Wyoming, we follow the Cowboy Code: Live each day with courage, take pride in your work, and do what needs to be done.

So congratulations to our Wyoming Olympic champions. They have done so much to make history. We are so very proud of all of them. They make our State and our Nation very proud.

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