-9999
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the Senate is in session once again this weekend, and once again Republicans are doing nothing productive. Yesterday, instead of considering legislation to tackle inflation or end the war in Iran, MAGA Republicans wasted Senate floor time on a radical culture-war amendment that went nowhere. It failed, and it accomplished nothing--a total waste of time with nothing to show for it.
And, yesterday, the Republicans once again blocked the Senate's ability to finally start paying our TSA workers. These workers have gone now for weeks without pay. They work around the clock. They keep our airports running. Republicans had the chance to pay them once again, and they refused. They refused.
The bottom line is this was the first time we saw ``yes'' or ``no'' votes from Republicans on an amendment that simply said ``Pay them.'' Don't wait, as the Republicans are saying, until we resolve all the other issues in ICE. It simply said ``Pay them now,'' and they said no. And that shows you, when they are voting yes on amendments that won't actually pay them because it won't pass because it is tied to all the other complications in ICE--including the desire that American people have that we must have warrants when you bust into someone's home and that the police should not wear masks--they say they will only vote for TSA agents if we get rid of those things, if we don't make sure they have to wear masks. That is fake. That is not really helping TSA workers. Our amendment did. They all voted no.
But we are going to keep at it. I say this to TSA workers. I say this to people at the airports who are waiting in line ungodly hours. We will keep doing this and doing this until the Republicans see the light and feel the pressure that they are holding up payment and relent.
Now, today, Donald Trump and Homan are saying they will deploy ICE agents to airports starting on Monday. This is really disturbing. ICE agents--who are untrained and have caused problems everywhere they have gone--lurking at our airports? That is asking for trouble, and it will certainly make the chaos at the airports even worse. No one has any faith in ICE agents. They haven't received training. They don't know what it is to be a TSA person and do what you need to do there.
The real problem here is they have no plan for using these ICE agents. Trump says send them there, they send them there, and Homan says they are still drawing up plans, with less than a day's notice.
What is this? We know what it is. It is another impulsive action by Donald Trump. Some idea pops into his head, and he announces it, and then the people working for him, a few of whom do have some degree of talent and ability--not many--underlings--they have to rush to try to implement what they know is an idiotic plan.
In this case, it is a plan that has no planning. It is another impulsive action from Donald Trump. When he acts impulsively, there is usually trouble. Whenever Donald Trump acts impulsively with no follow- through, there is trouble.
ICE agents will be asked to do things they are not trained to do. They don't know how to perform core TSA screening functions. Travelers will be on edge with Federal agents looking over their shoulders. All they will do is worsen the situation at airports, which are already on edge.
So I have an idea for Donald Trump: Instead of sending ICE agents to harass travelers at airports, why doesn't Trump get his act together and agree to pay the TSA workers and get the Senate Republicans to do so? Iran
Mr. President, now let's talk about the disastrous war in Iran, causing so much havoc, so much chaos, and raising everybody's gas prices and prices on so much else.
Here is what Donald Trump said on Friday about the war. Donald Trump said:
You know, I may have a plan or I may not.
For a war? Whoa. Here people's lives are at stake, billions are being spent on an almost daily basis, and he says:
You know, I may have a plan or I may not.
These are the words of the Commander in Chief in the middle of a war involving one of the most dangerous regimes on Earth:
I may have a plan or I may not.
That is unhinged and dangerous. Lives are on the line, and the President says he may not even have a plan. Tens of billions are being wasted. No plan. Troops being killed and injured. No plan. Civilians being killed and injured. No plan. Gasoline costs $3.94 a gallon on average. And Trump: I have no plan--or I may not have a plan, which means none.
What does Donald Trump do? He lifts sanctions on two of the states that are enemies to us in so many ways--Iran and Russia--so they can go after our own troops and allies. Lifting sanctions on Iran and Russia so they can go after our troops and our allies--it is the dictionary definition of ``asinine.''
Donald Trump's military strategy is like watching a snake eat its own tail.
This war needs to come to an end.
Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and other Cabinet officials must come before the Senate and testify under oath in public to explain why we are in this mess and what the goal even is. Even some Republicans are openly admitting they have no clue what the administration is trying to accomplish in the Middle East.
Enough is enough. The American people do not want a war with Iran that has no end. They do not want to see our troops deployed again and again to the Middle East. They don't want to just have a knot in their stomach every time they pull up to the gas pump and, soon enough, the grocery store as well because of the higher prices caused by this war. It must come to an end.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source