Terminating the National Emergency Declared to Impose Global Tariffs

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, later this afternoon, Senators Wyden, Kaine, and I will force a vote here in the Senate to put an end to Donald Trump's stupid and reckless trade war. I thank Senators Wyden and Kaine for their leadership on this issue.

We will have now more than 3 hours of debate on it, and that begins now.

Our resolution presents Republicans with a choice: stand with Donald Trump or stand with American families hurt by his trade war. The dismal GDP numbers today should be a wake-up call to Republican Senators now more than ever.

Four Republicans joined us last time to pass a resolution blocking tariffs on Canada because they knew how bad those tariffs were for people back home. Many more Republicans should join us today as the disastrous economic consequences of Trump's reckless trade war gets worse every single day.

If the Senate passes this bill, Speaker Johnson and House Republicans should immediately drop their opposition or else they will be complicit in pushing America into a recession.

One thing is clear, Donald Trump's tariffs have been a total failure. Instead of isolating China, Donald Trump's tariffs are isolating us. Instead of spurring American manufacturing, Trump's tariffs are raising costs and driving us into a recession.

There is no strategy with Trump's tariffs, only chaos. One day, Donald Trump says yes to tariffs; the next day, no to tariffs; one day, tariffs on this country; the next day, tariffs on that country. Even Donald Trump's own policy advisers are struggling to explain his flip- flopping.

The only thing Donald Trump's tariffs have succeeded in is raising the odds of recession and sending markets into a tailspin.

I have talked to business owners in New York. I was in Suffolk County at Tandy's, a well-known dress seller there. Her costs are going up 30 percent because of tariffs, and she is faced with two awful choices: raise prices or lay off employees. And she doesn't want to do either.

Small businesses, medium businesses, big businesses--they are all frozen because they don't know what Donald Trump will do next. They can't plan for the future. Their costs are rising. They can't hire new workers. It is happening all over America.

Senate Republicans know deep down that Donald Trump's tariffs are awful for their States. So today they have to choose: Stick with Trump, or stand with your States and the people of America.

I thank my colleague and yield to the Senator from Oregon, the ranking member of Finance, who has done such a great job on this issue.

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, I want to thank Senators Padilla and Reed for holding the floor on such a vital issue to our country, our democracy, and who we are as a people. I thank Senators Klobuchar and Bennet for participating as well and all the others who did as well.

Well, we know that free and fair elections are the very wellspring of American democracy. When you ask people around the world ``What is great about America?'' this is one of the first things they say: ``They have elections, real elections, free elections.''

But unfortunately--deeply unfortunately--no administration has come closer to destroying that wellspring than the Trump administration. Donald Trump and Republicans are putting our elections in a vice grip-- Executive orders from the President on one end and dangerous legislation from Congress on the other. They don't understand the sacredness of elections and keeping them fair. The kind of legislation, the kind of Executive orders which are so jaundiced, so slanted on the side of one party, are the antithesis of democracy.

On the one side, Donald Trump recently issued an Executive order that would coerce States to prevent millions of Americans from voting. On the other, Republicans in Congress are pushing the SAVE Act--one of the most destructive, dangerous voter-suppression bills in recent memory. It is very reminiscent of Jim Crow. That is what Republicans want to do--they want to not only restore Jim Crow in the South; they want to have Jim Crow spread from one end of this country to the other.

It will not happen. It will not happen.

Let me be clear. I will not let this noxious bill, the SAVE Act, become law. Every Senate Democrat, every single one of us, is united against it. They need 60 votes. The SAVE Act is dead on arrival.

I would like to say it louder so my friends in the House and the rightwing over here can hear: The SAVE Act is dead on arrival.

Democrats and Americans see this bill for what it is--a nasty, vicious attack on our democracy.

The SAVE Act reads more like a how-to guide for voter suppression rather than a serious attempt to secure our elections. The SAVE Act would make easy methods of voter registration--like online registration, registration by mail, and registration drives--a thing of the past.

Massive purges would inevitably remove many American citizens from the voter rolls, and it is already wholly unnecessary. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in Federal elections. It is done with one purpose in mind: voter suppression.

What they have in mind is they think those that vote Democratic are less likely to vote than Republicans if this passes. It is trying to slant the elections away from free and fair.

Every single State already prohibits noncitizens from voting in State elections. So Republicans are trying to strip our democracy down to its studs, all to fix a problem that doesn't exist.

Under the SAVE Act, if you want to register to vote or if you want to simply update your registration, it would be harder than it is right now because on top of your ID card, you will need to provide either your passport, birth certificate, or citizenship certificate.

So if you are one of the 50 percent of Americans without a passport or one of the 21 million American citizens who don't have access to your birth or citizenship certificate, Republicans wants to make it harder--not easier, harder--for you to vote.

If you are one of the 69 million Americans who changed your name after you got married and your certificates don't match your current name or if you have currently moved recently and changed addresses, Republicans want to make it harder for you to vote.

It is one unnecessary hurdle after another.

We know the SAVE Act is not about securing our elections. It is about suppressing voters. It is about making it harder to vote and easier to cheat. It is despicable. It is damaging--beyond damaging. It goes against the very foundations of our democracy.

Democrats will never, never allow the SAVE Act to become law.

I once again thank my colleague from Rhode Island for sponsoring this act.

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this resolution presents Republicans with a choice: Stand with Donald Trump or stand with American families hurt by the trade war.

The dismal GDP numbers today should be a wake-up call to Republican Senators now more than ever. Donald Trump is doing with the economy and tariffs what he did with his own business: Drive them under. It is terrible.

We hope that Republicans will join us because the devastation of the tariffs is apparent. Families are paying more. IRAs are going down. The country is on the edge of a recession because businesses are paralyzed.

The only solution: Pass our legislation, have Johnson pass it in the House, and tell President Trump his tariff policies are chaotic and plain dumb.

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