Rick Scott

“Prices for college, housing, and healthcare are too high, and big government spending is to blame. Socialism will only make things worse by taking away our freedom. Congress must stay in session, cut wasteful spending, balance the budget, and get rid of burdensome regulations so businesses can create jobs.”

“Mr. President, I am going to say something that might shock people here: Zohran Mamdani is right. Yes, the socialist mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani is absolutely right about something that is facing every American right now: Our political system has totally failed the American people and is set to fail the next generation too. Now socialism is not the solution to this problem, but I am not shocked that affordability is the No. 1 issue for Americans right now. Overall inflation is up 500 percent over the last 50 years. A college education used to be an affordable investment toward getting a good-paying job. Thanks to government--your government--it is now too often a 4-year runway to a lifetime of debt. The cost of a college degree has gone up 1,500 percent in the last 50 years without the wages to match it. Average student debt is just under $40,000, according to the Education Data Initiative. Why? Government; your government. Then there is the cost of a home. A first home used to be a monumental stepping stone for a young family. I can remember when we bought our first home. Now, it is out of reach to almost everyone. Home prices have gone up 800 percent over the last 50 years. Fifty years ago, the median age of a first-time home buyer was 29 years old; today, it is 40. Why? Government; your government. How are people supposed to afford to start a family if they can’t even afford a house until they are 40? Then there are other costs to worry about. When I finished my enlistment in the U.S. Navy, healthcare costs for a family were about $700 a year for a family of four--$700. Now, thanks to government interference, especially ObamaCare, costs continue to go up and options are getting more and more limited for the average family. The cost of healthcare is up over 1,000 percent over the last 50 years. Why? Government. All of these costs have outpaced inflation, and all of these industries have seen the government get more involved over the last 50 years. The answer is not more government. More government is simply not working, and it never did. For example, the Federal Government budgeted more than $1.2 trillion--$1.2 trillion--for low-income assistance programs last year. According to the Washington Post, ``Using the Census Bureau’s official poverty count, that anti-poverty spending comes out to $35,000 in annual expenditures for every person in poverty’’--$35,000 in annual expenditures for every person in poverty-- ``or $181,000 per family in poverty.’’ If we are spending that much, why isn’t it working? The fact of the matter is that we have been trying to spend our way to fixing poverty with our current approach for over 60 years. We are now $40 trillion in debt. To those who want to claim it is all defense spending, that is not true. We spent about 3 percent of our GDP on defense spending last fiscal year. It makes up 13 percent of the Federal budget. Never mind that handling the military is one of the few things the U.S. Constitution actually tells Congress to do. But we spend about $3 billion per day on interest payments on our debt while we run $2 trillion deficits for programs that clearly aren’t working--$2 trillion each year. Now, we can’t tax our way out of this. The U.S. Federal Government collected a record $5.3 trillion in gross taxes during fiscal year 2025. I don’t need people that say: Oh, their taxes are too low. If you confiscated every asset from every billionaire in the United States, you would only be able to run the Federal Government for just over a year. Democrats say: Oh, just tax the rich. So we will take all the money from the billionaires, you can barely fund the government for a year. Now, those who think--you know, then who do you think democrat socialists are coming for? Who do you think they are going to come for when they bleed the millionaires and billionaires? They are going to come for you and your family and everything you worked hard for. The socialists are correctly identifying the problem, which is the cost of living. People understand that it is the fault of Congress giving them the short end of the deal year after year. It is not a surprise that people see hope in an alternative like socialism when it is clear that politicians maintaining the status quo aren’t interested, and they are not doing anything to help them. But socialism only leads to ruin in the end. If this country turns toward socialism, my grandkids won’t have an America to inherit. The rise of socialism in America is terrifying to anyone who has read a history book, but it shouldn’t shock anyone who watches Washington fail to lead with policies that work for American people. Every 2 years, the DC swamp politicians beg for votes with the same empty promises: to hold government accountable. Oh, yes, they are going to hold government accountable; they are going to lower prices; they are going to fight for the American dream. We have watched this cycle repeat decade after decade, and both parties are complicit. And every American knows that things have only gotten worse. Instead of holding government accountable, politicians in Washington have armed a $40 trillion debt bomb by massively expanding the Federal Government year after year. We are only one economic crisis away from exploding. While promising lower prices, Congress keeps approving massive government spending bills, causing prices and interest rates to skyrocket for the same voters we promised to lower prices for. In the name of protecting the American people, Big Government has crept into every part of our lives and crushed opportunity and put the American dream on life support. Let’s look at the facts. Americans have seen this play out and are furious about it--especially young people. They were robbed, and the culprits are the ones in this building from both parties. President Trump and his administration are doing everything they can--everything they constitutionally can--to fix this. The poverty rate reached the lowest point in American history last year, and child poverty also reached a record low. Since President Trump took office, more than 1.5 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty. More than 1 million new private sector jobs have been created during the Trump administration. Wages are rising, but inflation--inflation caused by government spending approved by Congress--is cutting into what those wage gains can do for families. The simple fact is that Congress has the power of the purse, not the President. Congress has been abusing that power for decades, and Congress is responsible here. Who can blame the American people for being angry? The American dream that existed for their parents and grandparents is out of reach for a lot of them. Where is the outrage on their behalf in this Chamber? Washington’s failures have left them feeling cheated and disillusioned with our political system and way of life, stuck in a world where they can’t afford to buy a house, have decent healthcare, or start a family. How can the American dream survive like that? Their anger is real and it is justified, but the answer from today’s Democrat Party--the embrace of socialism--will not solve any of their problems. Socialists promise steady wages, good healthcare, and plenty of benefits. It sounds really nice, and also, it is all free, but let’s look at what happens when you choose socialism. You hand over all the control of your life to the government in exchange for a promise, but you get no leverage. The government gets to make all the choices. All the decisions are made by government to ``level the playing field.’’ So what does government do? It controls where you work, how much money you make, where you can live, and where you can go to school. They make all your decisions. The government becomes the one that can decide if you live in a house or a one-bedroom apartment. The government decides how much food your children need or whether your elderly mother can have surgery. Karl Marx summed it up well when he described a communist society that all socialists want. Remember, socialism is really just a gateway drug to communism. Marx said that perfection in government was creating a society that was ``from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.’’ Under socialism, the government, not you, determines what your needs are. They decide what you need. You don’t need that new shirt. You don’t need a bigger home. You don’t need more money for your family. You don’t need more diapers for your baby. You don’t need cataract surgery; your other eye is fine. Under socialism, people dream, but achieving dreams is not allowed. Everyone gets the same crappy deal. There is no hope. The government tells you what you are entitled to, and it always is less and less and less. The only dream under socialism is survival and escape. Ronald Reagan talked about this 60 years ago in his ``A Time For Choosing’’ speech. There is nowhere for Americans to escape to. If our way of life fails, there is nowhere else to go. Where would you go? If you think I am exaggerating, there are plenty of Cuban and Venezuelan socialism survivors in my great State of Florida who could share their stories. Socialism isn’t the answer, and I think a lot of Americans would say they don’t want it. So where do we go? If more young people feel like the American dream doesn’t exist for them, how do we prove them wrong? The answer is simple: Listen to the American people. They are smart. Make government work for the things that are most important to them. We need to blow up the status quo in Washington to lower prices--we need lower prices; fuel private sector job creation--we need more private sector jobs; and return to American freedom. American freedom is what gave me and the generations before me the chance to succeed. We have to do three things. We have to dramatically reduce government spending to balance the Federal budget, shred the massive regulatory regime that has grown out of control in Washington, and third, we have to make job creation the No. 1 priority through tax cuts, smart investment, and good economic policy. Does it work? It absolutely works. I did it when I was Governor of Florida. When I ran for Governor, I said: We are going to create 700,000 private sector jobs in 7 years. By the end, we created 1.7 million new private sector jobs in 8 years. We brought in countless new businesses, and we helped Florida businesses expand. So I have good news for the people worried about the American dream and the Democrats’ turn to socialism: It is never too late to turn things around. The choice in front of us isn’t complicated. It is incredibly simple, but it won’t be easy. We don’t need any new laws, actually. We need self-control. We need self-control on spending. Eventually, we will have to do what every American family does and prioritize where we spend money. We know how much money we make, we know we cannot spend more than that, and we prioritize our spending. We have to do the exact same thing in DC. We need to be willing to stay here to debate with each other about how we reduce our government spending and how we prioritize spending. Working 2\1/2\ days a week is not going to cut it. No business does that. We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. When I came in as Governor, the budget hadn’t been balanced in Florida in decades. How did we balance it? I told them that we are not going to spend more than we take in. That is what every family does, and that is what happened. But until we as a body decide enough is enough, we only have ourselves to blame for the high prices our constituents are facing now. Washington’s obsession with spending, spending, spending has become so reckless that we are now running multitrillion-dollar annual deficits. These deficits are fueling a $40 trillion debt that costs more than $1 trillion in interest annually. That is $1 trillion at today’s interest rates. What happens if those interest rates double? That is $1 trillion that provides zero return for American families. What do we get out of it? It is not going to build a better military, Social Security, roads, Medicare. To save the programs Americans depend on, we must reduce government spending in all the places it doesn’t provide a real return for taxpayers and finally balance the Federal budget. When I was Governor of Florida, we went through all the lines of the budget, 4,000 lines of the budget. We had a written purpose for every line. We should be doing that here. And if it doesn’t meet the purpose, we don’t do it anymore. That is what you do with your own money. The beautiful thing about solving this problem is it doesn’t need more legislation. We don’t need another law. We don’t need more laws. We need to use all the serious brain power in Congress that we already have and use the appropriations process to stop funding stupid programs that don’t work. To make sure that workers keep more of their paychecks and can afford loans for cars, homes, and businesses, we must balance the budget. When we balance the budget, interest rates will come down. Next, Congress must take an absolute sledgehammer to Federal Government regulations. Why do we need more regulations and people telling us how to lead our lives? As Governor of Florida, I slashed 5,000 burdensome regulations, taking permitting times from months to days, eliminating stupid regulatory hurdles that had no impact on safety, and cutting costs to start and grow a business. That is what we did. I cut taxes and fees a hundred times, and we still balanced the budget and paid down debt. So it clearly can be done. It can be done in any city, any State, and it clearly can be done here. We should be doing it. Jobs should be our mantra. We should be focused on jobs every day. That should be the No. 1 priority of the Federal Government--how to create more good-paying jobs. The American dream we all believe in is on life support for young people, but it is not dead yet. I have launched a Rescue America project to reignite the American dream. It starts by pointing out all the ways that Big Government and bad policy have completely betrayed the average American, and it is plotting a roadmap back to sanity. From there, we will map the way back to the kind of country that made it possible for a poor kid like me who grew up in public housing, born to a single mom, to become a CEO, a Governor, and a Senator. If we want to spare the next generation the misery, the absolute misery of socialism, despair, and hopelessness, we need to show them the opportunities freedom always offers when Washington actually works for them and they have the opportunity to live the American dream. For every socialist, shame on you. You are absolutely lying to the American people. Your ideas result in despair, death, and hopelessness. To every young person watching the cost of starting a family rise while Washington refuses to act, this speech is for you. For every blue-collar worker--like my dad--who sees his taxes funding wasteful programs while his family does without, I feel your pain. For every aspiring business owner with a great idea drowning in regulations and redtape, preventing you from getting started unless you are rich, I am working for you. The solution is simple, but it won’t be easy. We can balance the budget tomorrow. Families do it every day. We just need to have the courage to sit down with each other and figure out how and not leave town until we do it. Today, we could cut the number of regulations in half, if we wanted to, the exact same way--just sit down and do it. We just need to be willing to put in the hours and get the job done. This is all doable. We have to do it for the benefit of every young person in this country. Every child should have the same opportunity to live the American dream that each one of us believed when we were growing up. Let’s get to work. I yield the floor.”

“I object to this resolution. It blames the Palisades fire on climate change, which lets California officials avoid blame for their own mistakes. Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom failed to prepare for this fire and cut fire department budgets. We are investigating what happened, and I will not let them use climate change as an excuse.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, first off, I want to say that I respect my colleague’s concern about the environment. Since I have been in the Senate, he has been very consistent about his concern about what we all should be doing for the environment, and I think we ought to take it very seriously--whatever we can do to protect our environment. But, today, I rise to object, to oppose this resolution. I have been to the Palisades. I have walked through the destruction. I saw the homes that were destroyed. I met with the people who lost everything. I talked to victims--including Spencer Pratt--and heard firsthand what they experienced and what they are still going through. We are talking about families who lost their homes, their possessions, their communities--in some cases, their loved ones. Today, those victims are still looking for answers. Mr. President, 12 people lost their lives in the Palisades fire, including vulnerable seniors. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Aging, I felt a duty to make sure those families got some answers. I held a hearing to hear directly from survivors and understand what happened to seniors and other vulnerable Americans who were trying to prepare, evacuate, and recover. I have also been working with Senator Ron Johnson to get to the bottom of what happened through our work on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Senator Johnson and I launched an investigation--a congressional investigation--because the victims deserve answers and accountability. We are looking at what happened before, during, and after the fire. We are looking at wildfire prevention and mitigation. We are looking at water and infrastructure. We are looking at staffing and preparedness. We are looking at evacuation plans and communications. We are looking at the decisions made by State and local officials. One thing is clear to everyone: California had serious leadership failures. Here is what we do know. In the months leading up to the fire, Mayor Karen Bass cut the Los Angeles Fire Department budget by $17.6 million. One month before the fire, the L.A. fire chief wrote in a memo that the budget cuts had ``severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.’’ Mayor Bass tried to deflect blame by terminating that fire chief. Three days before the fire, Mayor Bass traveled to Ghana, despite warnings of an imminent, life-threatening wind event in Los Angeles. We know that Gavin Newsom has done nothing. He has done everything he can, though, to escape responsibility for the fire. Yet court documents and testimony show that Governor Newsom could and should have closed the Topanga State Park after the Lachman fire in accordance with his own State guidelines. People were still out there hiking while there were underground embers burning. Fire crews were turned away by park officials. None of the State’s predeployed fire crews or trucks in southern California were sent to the Pacific Palisades, even despite the fire just days earlier. The bottom line: Karen Bass and Governor Newsom were responsible for leading their governments through this crisis. They were responsible for preparing for it, and they failed. The people in the Palisades deserve to know what went wrong and why their communities were not better protected. Senator Johnson and I are going to keep asking those questions. Our staff has sent request after request for documents and information. We have gotten delay after delay from California and Los Angeles agencies in providing the information we need. Let me be clear, we are not going to give up. We are not going to let bureaucratic delays prevent us from getting the answers for these families. We are going to keep requesting the documents. We are going to keep asking the questions. We are going to keep following the facts, wherever they lead. So here is my problem: I don’t think it is appropriate for a resolution that comes to the Senate and basically, essentially, tries to tell those victims that all of those failures--failure after failure--can be covered up with the vague excuse of climate change. And, clearly, we all know that we have got to take our own advice, take care of our environment, and deal with anything that our environment might be doing. The correct response is not to spend more money when we already are $43 trillion in debt. It is an insult to the victims who are still waiting for accountability. It is an insult to the intelligence of every American who can plainly see that Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom failed. They failed these people. Now, in Florida, we know what responsible wildlife management looks like because I led these efforts as Governor of Florida. We know you just can’t wait for a wildfire to start and then hope you can put it out. We made prescribed burning an important part of wildfire management strategy. You have to manage forests. You have to use prescribed fire responsibly. You have to make sure firefighters have the resources and infrastructure they need before disaster strikes. And you have to hold leaders accountable when they fail. That is real wilderness prevention. We can’t write it off as climate change. That doesn’t address any of these issues. It just lets the politicians in California pass the buck and escape responsibility. The victims of the Palisades fire don’t need Washington passing another resolution telling them what caused their suffering. They know. They need answers. They need to know what will be done to make sure this never happens again. Senator Johnson and I will continue our investigation because the victims deserve nothing less. We owe it to the 12 people who lost their lives. We owe it to everyone who lost their homes. We owe it to every American who expects their government to be prepared when disaster strikes. So we are going to keep fighting for the truth. We are going to keep demanding records. We are going to keep demanding accountability. We are not going to give up until we get all the answers. We are not going to let the California officials responsible for these wildfires say climate change caused this as an excuse. So, again, I appreciate my colleague’s concern about the environment. I agree with him that we have got to be very focused on how we can protect our environment, but, unfortunately, I object to this resolution.”

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“I want the Senate to pass this bill right now. It stops our foreign enemies from buying American citizenship and trafficking children through surrogacy.”

“Mr. President, this is not controversial. It is a national security bill that protects women and children. So if you object to this bill, you are not protecting women and children and you are not protecting the United States. American citizenship cannot be bought. It is precious and sacred, and it comes with duties. Think about it. Countless men and women have given their lives to make it mean something. We owe it to them and to future generations to keep this country safe and protect our citizenship from those who want to destroy us. That is why it can’t just be raffled off to our enemies. We can’t let our enemies turn our laws into weapons against the American people. We can’t let them traffic children right under our noses on our own soil in the process. Every Senator should be enraged that this is happening. Every Senator should support closing this dangerous loophole. That is why I am going to continue working with my colleagues to support the SAFE KIDS Act. If I have to keep coming down here and keep doing unanimous consents after we continue to see story after story, I am going to keep doing it. Mothers, children, and the American people deserve better. I yield the floor.”

“I want the Senate to pass this bill. It gives tax relief to people who lose their homes and property in natural disasters so they can rebuild.”

“First off, I rise to recognize all my colleagues that have spoken about the importance of disaster relief, and I think we all want to make sure we help our States. Right now, I rise in support of the Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act. Florida is no stranger to natural disasters. As we speak, we are in the middle of hurricane season, which started June 1. When I was Governor, I wanted Florida to be the national model for disaster relief. We prioritized preparedness, safety, and quick action. But once the storms pass, you know, like anyplace else, Florida is in the same position. Floridians had to rebuild. Families lost homes. Some lost everything they had. When you are in that position, one of the worst moments of your entire life, you shouldn’t have to worry about a rising tax bill. That is why I helped lead this bipartisan bill and previous bills to provide not just Floridians but all Americans all across this country tax relief after disaster strikes, including Texans and Oregonians. Our citizens need certainty when they are piecing their lives back together; they don’t need the government taking a cut of the money they need. This bill just gives certainty of necessary tax relief to victims of natural disasters so they can focus on getting back on track and not worrying about the IRS. This bill is very critical to my State, but it is also about more than hurricanes. It is not just about hurricanes; this bill helps families affected by all natural disasters, including wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and any other scenario that can be declared a Federal disaster. It is good for the entire country. It is a bipartisan bill, and it is a tribute to Doug LaMalfa, who passed away earlier this year. This passed the House unanimously earlier this year, so if we pass this today, it will become law. Americans don’t need extra worries when the worst happens, and we shouldn’t be an obstacle to their recovery. By passing this bill, we will make it easier to rebuild the American dream when hardships strike. I am not going to give up. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues, including with my friend from Texas, to get this bill across the finish line for every Floridian and every American. I recognize the issue he is dealing with, and I look forward to working with him to try to solve the issues Texans are looking at right now. I yield the floor The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Moody). The Senator from New Hampshire.”

“I support IVF and surrogacy for Americans. But this bill stops leaders and citizens of enemy nations, like China, Russia, and North Korea, from using American surrogates to have children here. I want to pass this bill to stop that.”

“Mr. President, so first off, I appreciate the comments from my colleague from Illinois. I look forward to working with him to try to solve this. Let’s remember what this is about. This is not about IVF. IVF has been a very positive experience for my family. It doesn’t impact a surrogacy for an American citizen. Actually, surrogacy has impacted my family and friends, so those are important opportunities for Americans to have children. What this bill says, though, is if you are a national from people that want to destroy our way of life, you could be Xi in China, you could be Putin in Russia, you could be Kim Jong Un in North Korea, you could be the Ayatollah, you will not have the right to have a child in this country by surrogacy. They don’t even have to show up in this country, and they could have a child. Why would they do that when they could do it in their own country? It doesn’t make any sense to me. So this is a problem. We need to resolve it. It has been a problem in this country. It has been a problem in my home State, and I look forward to working with my colleague from Illinois to solve it. I yield the floor.”

“I object to this resolution to sue the President. Democrats are playing politics and misusing the Constitution. The courts have already rejected these claims about gifts. The Senate should focus on funding the government, securing our elections, and lowering the national debt instead of attacking the President.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object. Mr. President, at a time when we are seeing the Democrat Party embrace the hellish evils of socialism and ideologies that hate the founding ideals of America, Democrats are hoping to pass a resolution to direct this Chamber to sue the President of the United States on a very false premise. The emoluments clause reads: I don’t think that is happening. Now, the obvious answer is that these accusations by my colleague do not support the constitutional threshold of an emolument, and my Democrat colleagues are just playing politics. This resolution seeks to authorize litigation rather than legislation. This issue has already been litigated, and, as my colleague said, they lost. The Democrats just like don’t like the answer. Now, the President isn’t taking a plane or any gifts for personal use, and the United States has long accepted diplomatic gifts pursuant to Federal law, with such gifts generally becoming property of the United States rather than any individual officeholder. Now, what is going on here is the Democrats are putting their hatred for President Trump before the law. But aside from the obvious facts, this is the agenda Democrats want from this Chamber. They don’t want to fund government; they want to shut it down. They walked away from government funding negotiations. They don’t want to secure elections. They want systematic fraud because it benefits their elected incumbents. Department of Homeland Security just found 278,000 noncitizens on voter rolls for Federal elections. Are Democrats talking about that? Just last week, President Trump exposed foreign adversaries like China and Cuba for interfering in our elections. Did my Democratic colleagues talk about that? Leader Schumer responded to the facts about voter fraud by declaring the SAVE America Act, an election security bill--even though Democrats, Republicans, Independents all across the country believe in it--said it is ``dead on arrival.’’ Unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues don’t want fixes; they want to ignore the fraud because it benefits them. They are trying to distract the American people with platitudes while they defraud them of their vote. Have you looked at what Olive Garden is doing, OK? You can buy a pasta pass--an unlimited pasta pass, but guess what you have to do? You have to show an ID. So Olive Garden has a voter ID, but my Democratic colleagues don’t want to do it for Federal elections. This bill proves that the Democrats’ goal right now is to attack President Trump instead of fixing problems Americans expect us to deal with. They don’t want to reduce the cost of living, lower inflation, balance the budget. They do want to tax working Americans so they can spend more of it on special interests and run bigger deficits--already spending $2 trillion in deficits. They want to use the Senate’s time--the precious time we have--to attack President Trump by twisting the words of the Constitution. The resolution is moot. The accusations: Purely political. We all know it is political. It is a waste of time. And this Chamber only works 2-and-a-half days a week. I think we need to spend every time doing something like pass the SAVE America Act, fund our government, lower the debt, lower the deficit. Unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues aren’t coming to the table. Why don’t we spend some time on real issues rather than attacking the President? For those reasons, I object to passage of this resolution and hope my colleagues can reject the anti-American socialists capturing the Democratic Party before it is too late for all of us. I yield the floor.”

“I want to work with my colleague to stop birth tourism in the Northern Mariana Islands. We must do this without hurting their economy or letting the Chinese Communist Party abuse the system.”

“Mr. President, I recognize my colleague. We both are in the same position. We don’t want to do anything that absolutely hurts the economy of the CNMI, but at the same time, we have got to figure this out to make sure that we don’t have birth tourism. So I look forward to working with my colleague in a constructive manner to make sure that, you know, the Communist Party of China does not abuse this so as to have birth tourism there.”

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