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Senate

Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 5345 (Executive Session)

2026-08-06 Issue 129 Showing 1–3 of 3

Official Congressional Record ↗

Margaret Wood Hassan

Democrat

“I want my bill to pass. It will make the government spend money to fight scams. The other side should pass it now.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Cassidy and Senator Wyden for the colloquy we just heard because we do need to tackle a number of challenges in the Social Security system. The most important job of government is, of course, to keep people safe. And increasingly, some of the most constant threats that Americans face are scams and identity theft. There has been a sharp rise in identity theft and online scams, including the theft of Social Security numbers. Identity theft is more than an annoyance; it can cost people their savings, jeopardize their credit, and more. This is a danger that we need to take seriously, just as we stopped highwaymen from menacing people on our streets, we similarly must stop the outlaws of the digital age from preying on our people. Unfortunately, even as criminals steal Social Security numbers, their victims, ordinary Americans, feel as if they have no one to turn to for help. It is not as simple as finding a police officer on the corner to retrieve a stolen wallet or purse. Criminals have modernized their methods. So the U.S. Government must modernize its response too. That is why I have introduced a bipartisan bill with Senator Grassley. Our bill would streamline the process for victims of identity theft to get help when their Social Security number is stolen, giving Americans a single point of contact at the Social Security Administration so that they can get the help that they need. When someone's Social Security number is stolen, when they are at risk of losing their hard-earned Social Security benefits, they deserve better than to have to navigate a never-ending maze of hold times and transfers as they try to find someone within the government who can help. This bill is only one step in the work we have to do to fight scammers, but it does mark a commonsense step that Americans from across the political spectrum can certainly get behind. This legislation will help keep more Americans safe, combat fraud and abuse, and makes our government work better for the American people. Families are already struggling enough right now with high costs. They deserve to be able to keep the money and benefits that they have earned without being threatened by online criminals. And when they are threatened, they should have access to a straightforward and prompt process to get help. Now, the House has already passed this bill on a strong bipartisan basis. So I hope that we can send this legislation to the President today. Mr. President, therefore, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 5345 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made laid and upon the table.

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Ted Cruz

Republican

“I object to passing this bill. The House is not passing Senate bills. They need to pass Senate bills. I put holds on House bills to get leverage. My bill is good. The House should pass my bill.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, on the merits, there are no substantive objections to this legislation. However, we do have a challenge between the two Chambers of Congress. The Senate is doing its work. The Senate is taking up important pieces of legislation, reaching bipartisan agreement, and passing them; and they are going to the House of Representatives where right now they are simply sitting and languishing. House leadership has decided to adopt a strategy that is, frankly, indefensible. It is a strategy where they pass bills that originate in the House; they ignore bills that originate in the Senate, and they let them die. More than two-thirds of the bills to date that are passed into law have been bills that originated in the House of Representatives. There are numerous bills that this body has passed, often unanimously, 100 to nothing, that arrive in the House that no House Member has any substantive objections to them at all, and they simply put them in the freezer and do nothing. My colleague knows sometimes if you want to change the behavior of another Chamber, the only way to do so is to exercise leverage. And so, I have placed holds on all House bills coming over here unless and until they start taking up and passing Senate bills. Both Chambers need to do their work. Our Congress does not work if one of the two Chambers refuses to even consider legislation that has passed the other Chamber. I am in active negotiation with House leadership for them to start picking up and passing legislation here. One of those bills is a bill I authored called TREY'S Law. TREY'S Law was named for a young man in Texas just outside the Dallas area who was a little boy that was sexually assaulted at a summer camp repeatedly. He brought litigation. That litigation was settled, but as part of the settlement, he signed an NDA. He signed a contractual commitment to never tell anybody about the horrible sexual assault that he suffered. He lived with that grief, with that sorrow for the rest of what turned out to be his very short life. At age 28, Trey took his own life. TREY'S Law, which is named for him, is passed in the State of Texas; it has passed in numerous other States like Missouri and Alabama. It very simply says that NDAs are not enforceable to silence a victim of child sexual assault, that you cannot enforce contractual right to tell a child who has experienced that assault: You may not speak; you have no voice. This legislation in the Senate was bipartisan. I authored it with Senator Gillibrand. It passed the Senate 100 to nothing. It is sitting in the House, and they have declined to move. I say to my friend from New Hampshire, I am confident your legislation will pass and will pass the Senate as soon as the House ends its unreasonable blockade against Senate bills. I am in active negotiation with their leadership to get that result. We will get that result before the end of the year. I hope we get that result soon. I would very much like to lift all these holds and pass important legislation the Senate has already passed. However, because the House has not yet made that agreement, I have no choice but to object.

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Margaret Wood Hassan

Democrat

“You say you want to pass bills. But people need this bill now. I am sad we did not pass this bill today. You should pass this bill. I want to work together to pass this bill.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, I appreciate the efforts of the Senator from Texas to get legislation that we have passed here passed through the House of Representatives. But I think it is really critically important to understand that while he is in these negotiations, people's identities are being stolen, people who need their Social Security benefits are going without as they try to navigate a complex and outdated Social Security system. It is high time that we pass this bill. I am disappointed that we weren't able to send this bill to the President today. I understand the concerns of the Senator from Texas, but I really do think this is urgent for our people. I hope that my colleague from Texas and I can work together in a bipartisan way to get this over the finish line soon.

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