National Security Act, 2024
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I will speak for just a moment. I know that as the day goes on, I am sure we will have a mutual admiration society of the Wilsonian view that permanent Washington has about foreign policy in this country, so I do not wish to speak about that at this time. I do believe that view is on a collision course with history and the will of the American people. But I rise to speak about sort of the process of the Senate--where we are, how we got here--and to quote a famous St. Louisan, Yogi Berra, ``It's like deja vu all over again.''
Here we are debating. Senator Lee, my friend from Utah, has a motion to table, essentially, Senator Schumer's effort to fill the tree. To the American people who are watching or listening or being reported upon, that means that the majority leader of this Chamber is boxing out everyone. That is right. The 99 other people who were elected by an entire State to advocate for their interests don't get a say. They don't get to offer an amendment. They don't get to say: I would like to build a unique coalition with either somebody from my own party or somebody on the other side of the aisle on something we might agree upon.
I think the world's most deliberative body has been reduced to Kabuki theater. There is no uncertainty ever. The only time--and this is the cold, hard truth to my friends in the Gallery--the only time you get to offer an amendment in this place is if it is sure to fail. Think about that. Senator Schumer won't allow U.S. Senators to offer ideas unless he knows they will fail.
So, to my Republican and Democrat colleagues, colleagues who may be watching on TV, or their staff, it doesn't need to be that way. This is perhaps one of the most obstructive measures that the majority leader employs, and I don't pretend it is just him. I think one of the things that all of us have to look in the mirror about is whether or not that is what we want this place to be.
Mr. President, if we think we have come together on an issue that affects both of our States, we should be allowed to offer those things up. We don't get a chance to do that.
Appropriations bills--I know the Senate appropriators have worked hard on individual bills. Chuck Schumer didn't allow those bills to be debated on the floor. It never happened. We ended up with a few minibuses.
That would be a great reform. How about, instead of every hour maybe you show up, what if we sat in our seats and actually voted on this stuff for 4 or 5 hours? We could get through a lot. But the Senator from New York is allergic to work unless he can control the outcome; or, say, if you object now, everyone has to change their plans last minute; or if you don't support this without an opportunity to affect it, you are against--pick the poison--you want to shut down the government or you are for Putin. All these ridiculous things get thrown out here.
Open it up. I will tell you why it won't happen--because it is a real threat. It is a threat to him because the idea that other Senators who aren't part of the two who get to make all the calls--that we would find a different way. That is a threat to his power because right now he gets to say: Come to me with everything. I will put it in some omnibus. There won't be any time to debate it. They probably won't be able to read it. But if they don't vote for it, you want to shut down the government.
So to all the Senators, I would like to work with you to dislodge this concentration of power that no doubt our Founders would be rolling in their graves over. This diffusion of power that is defined by our separation of powers and federalism was meant to spread it out to protect individual liberty. It certainly was never intended for one person in the Senate who can always be recognized and, like last week, did something that had never happened in the history of our Republic, which was to dismiss Articles of Impeachment even though we are supposed to have a trial. Granted, he had accomplices in that. Every single Democrat voted with him. But he is recognized first. He can fill the tree. There are no amendments. I don't think it is becoming of a U.S. Senator to say: Oh, thank you, Senator Schumer, for giving me 2 minutes to speak.
Anyway, there is a better way.
It is playing out again here today because we are essentially taking what the House gives us. The upper Chamber is capitulating to the House to say that we can't actually affect this thing, we can't change anything, and if you do it--pick the poison--you are threatening the security of another country or something ridiculous.
I would just hope that this is a clarion call for reform. The Senate is broken.
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