'Fast, Forceful, And Effective': John Barrasso Highlights GOP's 'Accomplishments' Under Trump Admin.

2 days ago

During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) spoke about what Republicans have achieved since Trump took office.

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Transcript

00:00Senator from Wyoming. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I come to the floor having just

00:03listened to the minority leader of the Senate come to the floor and listen to what he had to say.

00:09You know, it's been 10 weeks now, Mr. President, that Republicans have been in the majority and

00:14the Democrats have been in the minority after the historic victory in November.

00:21The contrast is pretty significant. Senate Republicans made promises to the American

00:26people, promise to get the country back on track. We're keeping that promise. We are

00:32hitting the ground running and we're not turning back. Most importantly, for our successes,

00:39it has been because Republicans have remained united. As a result, we have a list of accomplishments

00:46as opposed to what we just heard the minority leader talk about.

00:50First, the Senate has now confirmed all 21 members of President Trump's cabinet.

00:54And we did it at a record pace, faster pace than the Democrats were able to do for President Obama

01:01in 2009, faster than they were able to do it for President Biden in 2021.

01:10The pace with which Republicans have confirmed President Trump's nominees to the cabinet,

01:16and as Politico pointed out today, all completed before the Senate has taken a break.

01:22That's where we are today, historic speed. With this team in place early, President Trump is able

01:28to execute effectively and efficiently the popular agenda for which he was elected.

01:35The Senate has prioritized confirming the President's national security team.

01:40You know, we saw horrific attacks in New Orleans, New Year's, continue to see chaos around the

01:46world. We need a national security team in place, and we've prioritized that and have done it.

01:53Senate also passed the Lakin-Riley Act. It's now law, signed by the President.

01:58It is the first significant piece of immigration enforcement law

02:03signed in decades, and just in the first number of weeks.

02:09It's actually the first bill that President Trump signed into law as the 47th President

02:13of the United States. It's going to save lives. It's going to prevent human tragedy like we saw

02:18happen in Georgia to that young nursing student. I'm very grateful to Senator Katie Britt of

02:24Alabama and Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina for their leadership in finding the bipartisan

02:32way to get this bill passed. We've also focused on our shared agenda with the House and with the

02:39President. We move quickly to pass a budget that's focused on border security, energy security for

02:46our nation, as well as America, peace through strength. Budget Committee Lindsey Graham, who

02:51was chairman of the committee, and his members of committees did groundbreaking work, all focused

02:57on making America stronger and better, more secure. Senate Republicans are working with the House on

03:04a path forward now, and working closely with Senator Mike Crapo of the Finance Committee,

03:10who's leading the charge to make sure we're not facing a four trillion dollar tax increase. It's

03:15what the Democrats want. They want Americans to suffer the pain of four trillion dollars in

03:22additional taxes. This is very important work to keep taxes low for hardworking families and

03:28continue to stimulate the economy. I heard a lot from the minority leader about five minutes ago.

03:37He was talking about the future of Medicaid and of Medicare, and I'm a doctor. I work closely

03:41with patients on all of those programs, but what I heard Senator Schumer do as he stood right there,

03:46it sounded to me like he is threatening to shut down the government. He sounds like somebody who's

03:50going to tell his members, vote against keeping the government open. We are so distraught that

03:56the fact that President Trump has been elected, so mad at the voters because they elected a

04:01Republican House and a Republican Senate, as well as sent President Trump back to the White House,

04:05that we just want to say, the heck with you, we're going to shut down the government.

04:09It costs money to shut down the government. It costs money to reopen the government.

04:15It impacts services for the American people. Democrats are so mad. You saw it the last week

04:19when the President made his speech to Congress, to the joint session, his address to the nation.

04:27The way they acted during that statement by the Commander-in-Chief,

04:33those are people that are just mad at the voters.

04:37The American public liked what the President had to say that night. Overwhelmingly,

04:41those that saw the speech saw it as very positive, happy with the direction of the

04:44country, happy with the leadership of the President. Feel he's focused, he's forceful,

04:48he's effective, energetic, getting the job done. That's not what we hear. That's not what I heard

04:55from the Senate Minority Leader just a few minutes ago. Sounded like somebody that's going

04:58to command the troops, hey, shut down the government because we're mad and we're going

05:03to take it out on the American people. Well, let me set the record straight,

05:08because Republicans support Medicaid, Republicans support Medicare.

05:12Just the other night, we passed Senator Dan Sullivan's amendment to protect and to preserve

05:16Medicaid and Medicare. Not a single Democrat joined us. These programs are in trouble today.

05:24Why? Because of the previous administration. Joe Biden weakened them by making them available for

05:29scammers, and that's what's happened. People are sucking money out of these programs who don't

05:34deserve to be doing it and are taking the care needed from hardworking American families.

05:42Republicans want to protect and preserve and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid.

05:46We want to do it for the people these vital programs were originally intended for,

05:52not for the scammers. Stopping scamming is a big part of this.

05:58Additionally, when I take a look at some of the things we've done over the last several weeks,

06:01Mr. President, is that we have reaffirmed our friendship with Israel.

06:06Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman

06:10Jim Risch of Idaho, they introduced bipartisan legislation to impose severe sanctions on

06:17something called the International Criminal Court. It's an illegitimate kangaroo court

06:23that targets Israel and does the bidding of Iran. Sanctioning the ICC would have sent a very strong

06:31message to the world. The message, of course, being America stands with Israel. Senate Democrats

06:37filibustered it. Forty-five Democrat senators chose to abandon our closest ally. Senate Republicans

06:46also successfully blocked destructive Democrat legislation attacking American energy production.

06:52Democrats actually tried to reverse President Trump's national energy emergency. America clearly

07:00faces an energy emergency. Energy prices went up 31% during the last four years under the

07:05Democrats' administration of punishing American energy. Well, led by Chairman Mike Lee from Utah,

07:13Republicans are taking the handcuffs off of American energy.

07:17Look, we know that unleashing American energy will help kickstart our economy.

07:24Senate Republicans also voted to protect girls and women in sports. Senator Coach Tommy

07:31Tuberville of Alabama has been a champion of women's sports in the Senate. His legislation

07:36was common sense to over 80% of Americans. It said biological men should not be allowed to

07:42compete in women's sports against our daughters, our sisters. Simple as that. Democrats filibustered

07:49it. They are completely out of touch with the American people, the Democrats are,

07:54and they are putting our female athletes in harm's way.

07:58Senate Republicans also have erased some burdensome Biden regulations.

08:03We're cutting through the red tape, cutting red tape most significantly on American energy

08:08production. At the same time, we're also protecting America's financial freedom.

08:14Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana led efforts to end a Biden regulation on energy production

08:18in the Gulf of America. Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota led efforts to cut $7 billion

08:25in natural gas taxes on our energy producers. Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska led the

08:31efforts to rein in unaccountable bureaucrats from snooping in your digital wallet. Democrats

08:37wanted to spy on everything you buy or do on Apple Pay, on Venmo, Zelle, with other apps.

08:46Senator Ted Cruz of Texas led efforts to push back against IRS attacks on cryptocurrency.

08:53Each of these resolutions passed the Senate in spite of Democrat opposition.

08:59By reversing these heavy-handed rules, Republicans are making life more affordable

09:04for American families. And this week, the Senate is moving to pass life-saving legislation.

09:13It's called the Halt Fentanyl Act. 70,000 Americans are poisoned or killed by illicit

09:19fentanyl each year in the United States. It's the number one killer of Americans between the

09:24ages of 18 and 45. The Halt Fentanyl Act will aid efforts to crack down on drug dealers and

09:31criminal cartels that smuggle the poison into our country and into our communities.

09:38I'm grateful that Leader Thune is putting this bipartisan legislation up for a vote.

09:43Mr. President, you can sum up these early weeks of the Republican-led Senate in three words,

09:48fast, forceful, and effective. We weren't wasting time. We're not wasting time. We're

09:55just getting started. Working together, Republicans are going to deliver for the

10:01American people. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

'Fast, Forceful, And Effective': John Barrasso Highlights GOP's 'Accomplishments' Under Trump Admin.

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