🏛️ Legislative Branch |
Congressional Record |
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On May 19, 2025, Congress took several important steps. The Senate agreed to special days recognizing mental health in farming ( S.Res.143), U.S. Foreign Service workers ( S.Res.234), and kids visiting parks ( S.Res.235). They also voted 66 to 32 to move forward with the GENIUS Act ( S.1582), a bill about regulating digital money called stablecoins, and confirmed Charles Kushner as Ambassador to France by a close vote of 51 to 45. In the House, members passed several bills to help veterans, including H.R.217 to support housing programs, H.R.1147 to create a veterans advisory group, and H.R.1815 to improve home loan protections. The House also approved the Strengthening the Quad Act ( H.R.1263) to boost cooperation with Australia, India, and Japan by a vote of 334 to 51. These actions matter because they address mental health, financial technology rules, veterans’ support, and international partnerships, showing Congress’s focus on health, security, and economic issues. Read full document →
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Random excerpts from the Senate
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me tell you a story. It is one of the oldest in our country. It is the story of the American dream. It is one of perseverance, where anyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, can achieve success and upward mobility through hard work and determination. It means a job that pays a fair wage, a school that prepares our kids for a better life, a doctor who sees you when you are sick, and a roof over your head at night.
We are now in the midst of debating soon a ``reconciliation’’ bill. For those not familiar with the term, it is basically a special budget bill. If you consider this a legislative organization or body--and I do--if we were accused of legislating this year, I am afraid there is not enough evidence to convict us.
We have been in session now for 5 months. We passed five bills--one a month. If we were being paid for piecework, we would have been left behind for the last 5 months.
But now comes this reconciliation bill that tries to do everything at once. It is starting over in the House of Representatives. Assuming it passes there, it will come over here.
What does it do, this reconciliation bill, this spending bill, budget-cutting bill? It dismantles the American dream, and it strips our institutions of essential services that help the most vulnerable people of our country--all so that the ultimate goal can be served. And what is that goal? To give larger tax breaks to wealthy people.
— Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on the Qatar plane and the Middle East, last week, Donald Trump concluded a visit to the Middle East that was a smashing success for his own bottom line but a dubious outcome for America’s economic and security interest.
First, on the Qatari plane, last week, Donald Trump confirmed that he would accept a $400 million luxury Boeing 747 plane offered by Qatar to use as Air Force One--the largest bribe to an American President in modern history.
So, today, I am introducing the Presidential Airlift Security Act, prohibiting the use of any foreign plane to be utilized as Air Force One. Senate Republicans who say they are troubled by this Qatari gift should join me in supporting this very commonsense legislation.
It should not take an act of Congress to stop the President of the United States from accepting the largest foreign bribe in modern history, but we are dealing with a President who has shown he is perfectly willing to sell out the American people and the Presidency to fill his own pockets.
Specifically, my legislation would prohibit even a single taxpayer dollar from being used by the Department of Defense to procure, modify, or retrofit any foreign aircraft to be used in transporting a U.S. President.
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Random excerpts from the House
Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to co-anchor this CBC Special Order hour along with my distinguished colleague, Representative Kamlager-Dove. For the next 60 minutes, members of the CBC have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on erasing Black history, an issue of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, Congress, the constituents we represent, as well as all Americans. It is with great honor that I rise today to lead this CBC Special Order hour. For the next hour, members of the CBC will speak directly to the American people on the topic of Black history and ongoing efforts to erase that history. Mr. Speaker, this is a time of fear, worry, and anxiety for millions of Americans. President Trump said that he was going to usher in a golden age. However, after 119 long, long days of this Presidency, it hasn’t felt like a golden age. It has felt like a dark age, especially for Black Americans. President Trump and his administration have attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the government, in schools, and in the private sector. President Trump has rolled back anti-discrimination laws, and Trump has tried to freeze Federal funds that benefit Black communities, including in my district in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. It is not just about his actions. It is also about his words, his rhetoric, and what he values.
President Trump and his allies have blamed diversity, which is just code for Black people, for the January plane crash at Ronald Reagan Airport; for the South Carolina wildfires; for the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge collapse in Baltimore; and even the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment; and on and on and on. If something goes wrong somewhere, anywhere, in their mind, diversity, equity, and inclusion is to blame. In President Trump’s vision, every Black American on the job, every woman, and every immigrant is a DEI hire, a DEI hire who is blocking more qualified White men from the jobs and the positions of power that are rightfully theirs. Moreover, President Trump has the audacity to talk about his agenda being about restoring meritocracy. They use that word over and over and over again in their executive orders. Meritocracy: The meritocracy of his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who is an unqualified TV host and who texted war plans to people by accident; the meritocracy of his Health and Human Services Secretary, Mr. Robert Kennedy, Jr., who is a conspiracy theorist and whose primary experience in healthcare and science is using Google; the meritocracy of Elon Musk’s unvetted, unqualified, and unaccountable minions at DOGE. The spoken and unspoken message behind all of this is that Black Americans and other minorities don’t deserve a seat at the table and that we don’t have merit.
— Rep. Shontel M. Brown (D-OH-11)
Mr. Speaker, tonight, I, along with my colleagues, rise to talk about something that should terrify every freedom-loving American: the coordinated, relentless Republican campaign to erase Black history, erase American history, whitewash the truth, and silence our stories. Donald Trump called for patriotic education instead of honest education. This is a dangerous euphemism for censoring Black pain, Black resilience, and Black excellence from the classroom. Since then, over 1,500 books have been banned in public schools and libraries across this country. More than 40 percent of them feature Black authors or Black characters. What kinds of books, you ask? I have some for you, books like “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, like “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by James Baldwin, and, oh, my God, even a children’s book, “I Am Rosa Parks.” Why are Republicans trying to erase a book written for babies to help them learn their history? Why are they so scared of little babies and books that we have all read in school, books that we have all checked out in libraries, books we have all discussed in book clubs, books we have all shared with the little ones in our lives? Why this ban? When our history is erased, it is easier to erase our progress. Trump and his MAGA allies want our children to grow up ignorant of the truth and of who they are. They are trying to scrub Federal websites. They are scrubbing Federal websites of any mention of Black contributions to science, literature, politics, or innovation. Let me say the list is long because we have been in this thing for hundreds of years, bringing innovation and progress to this country. All I have to say to that is, wow, Mr. Speaker, just wow.
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