HOUSING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT--Motion to Proceed

HOUSING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT--Motion to Proceed

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 40 (Tuesday, March 3, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 3, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S741-S747] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HOUSING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT--Motion to Proceed The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed H.R. 6644, which the clerk will report. The senior assistant bill clerk read as follows: Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 343, H.R. 6644, a bill to increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes. Recognition of the Majority Leader The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized. Department of Homeland Security Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, my Democrat colleagues are at it again. They are on their second shutdown in 6 months, and in a few short days, a lot of government workers will be missing part of their paychecks again thanks to Senate Democrats. Well, let's just briefly review the 2026 fiscal year. At the start of the fiscal year, which is October 1 for the Federal Government, Democrats shut down the entire government for a staggering 43 days--the longest government shutdown in history--and by the time a handful of Democrat Senators agreed to end the shutdown, air travel was in chaos, essential programs had been affected, and many government employees had turned to loans, credit cards, and food banks to make ends meet, but even the worst government shutdown in history wasn't enough for Senate Democrats. Fast-forward now to January of this year. Democrats and Republicans in both Houses of Congress had agreed on a final Department of Homeland Security spending bill that included deescalation training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as $20 million for body cameras for ICE officers. But Democrats decided that wasn't enough, so Republicans and the White House agreed to reopen negotiations. Knowing that negotiation takes time, we suggested a temporary funding extension for several weeks, but Democrats insisted on no more than 2 weeks. When 2 weeks, predictably, wasn't enough, especially since Democrats were in no hurry to put together a legislative proposal, Democrats shut down the entire Department, and now, a whole lot of Department of Homeland Security employees are starting to miss pay thanks to Senate Democrats. That includes TSA agents--the people tasked with the safety of air travel in this country--as well as Coast Guard civilian employees, members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who do so much--I might add--essential disaster response work here at home, and many others. Let's be very clear. This isn't a principled stand by Democrats against Republicans who refuse to negotiate. That is not the case. The White House has not only made a lot of reforms to ICE procedures on its own, it has shown a clear willingness to legislate reforms and has made more than one substantial offer to Democrats. Democrats could have recognized this and [[Page S742]] chosen to extend DHS funding while negotiations finished up or we could be considering an agreement right now. Instead, it is becoming abundantly clear that what Democrats really want is to keep this alive as a political issue. If Democrats really wanted to put reforms in place, they would be doing everything they could to get a bill. Of course, the White House isn't going to sign off on every Democrat demand--no side gets everything it wants in negotiations--but Democrats could be on the verge of having substantial reforms signed into law if they were at all serious about actually implementing solutions, but they are not. They are interested in politics, not policy, and a whole lot of essential government employees are suffering as a result, to say nothing of the essential government work--the work of government--that is suffering. The deployment of cyber security measures to Federal Agencies has been delayed. States are having to wait for disaster reimbursements. FEMA training centers are closed, affecting 45,000 students per week, and the list goes on. I mentioned the air travel chaos that ensued as a result of Democrats' first fiscal year 2026 shutdown. Well, the longer this DHS shutdown drags on, the more likely it is that we will start to have staffing problems at airport checkpoints, which will lead to compounding flight delays and other problems. Now, it shouldn't need saying that it is always a terrible idea to use the Department of Homeland Security as a political pawn. There are always threats to the homeland that have to be addressed, and that is exactly the work that is done by the Department of Homeland Security. But above all, right now, with an enhanced terror threat from Iran and Iran-funded terrorist groups, it is vital that we ensure the Department of Homeland Security is fully funded and fully functioning. It is 2 more days until the Department of Homeland Security employees start missing part of their paychecks. I hope that my Democrat colleagues will finally decide to come to the table and bring their second shutdown in under 6 months to a close. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. Recognition of the Minority Leader The Democratic leader is recognized. Iran Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it has been 4 days since Donald Trump launched America into a war that most Americans oppose, most Americans don't understand, and his own administration can't consistently explain. I walked out of yesterday's intelligence briefing even more concerned than when I walked in because if the case for war were strong, the story would be consistent and steady. Instead, it changes by the hour. First, Donald Trump suggested the goal was regime change. He said the people of Iran should rise up and take back their country. Then it was about nuclear weapons--the same program he said was ``obliterated'' last summer. Then, yesterday morning, Pete Hegseth said: Iran had a conventional gun to our head. He said: This is not a so-called regime change war. Then Secretary Rubio claimed it was about crippling Iran's missiles. Then it was about crippling Iran's navy. Then Rubio said it was about what Israel would do and the Iranian response. We heard that this attack was ``defensive'' in nature; then Rubio says it was ``preemptive.'' Which one is it, Donald Trump? Regime change? Nuclear weapons? Missiles? An imminent threat to the homeland? Or a preemptive strike to stop future attacks on the region? When the rationale for war keeps shifting, the strategy is missing, and that is because there is no strategy. And when the strategy is missing, the risk grows. Six American servicemembers are dead. The conflict is widening. The State Department is telling Americans to leave the region. Oil prices have already jumped 7 percent in just a few days. History teaches us a simple lesson: Wars without a clear objective do not stay small. They get bigger. They get bloodier. They get longer. They get more expensive. This is not a defensive war. This is not a necessary war. This is a war of choice. The American people do not want another endless war of choice in the Middle East. They do not want to see our troops fight and die in a pointless war. Parents don't want to worry about whether or not their kids will be sent abroad to fight in a conflict Americans didn't ask for. The American people want leadership that is focused on lowering costs here at home because, while this administration debates which justification to use for the war, American families are debating which bill to pay. Gas prices are rising again. Electric bills are through the roof. Groceries are still too high. Housing costs are crushing middle-class families. Health insurance premiums are rising. The President should be focused on lowering costs. Instead of mission creep abroad, we need cost relief here at home. Instead of shifting rationales for war, we need a clear strategy for affordability. That is what Americans are asking for, and that is what Senate Democrats are fighting for. Affordability Mr. President, that is why, this week, the Senate is moving long- overdue housing legislation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and I want to thank Senator Warren for her incredible work bringing this package to fruition. The ROAD to Housing Act is a good step, but Democrats know it is only the first step. We have much more work to do to fix the housing crisis--to restore the promise of homeownership and bring rents down. Democrats will continue to develop and push additional housing policies that build on the good work of this bill, including the ideas we laid out in our housing rollout and in our report on the housing crisis in January. But Democrats are not stopping at housing. Later this week, I will join my colleagues to roll out our food prices legislation. Our bill will go straight to one of the core problems of the food industry: too much consolidation in America's food system, especially in meat and agriculture, where a handful of dominant players squeeze farmers on one end and squeeze consumers on the other. Donald Trump acts like affordability is some kind of hoax, but Democrats understand it is the No. 1 thing people think about when they are paying the rent, filling up their tank, and especially when pushing a cart down the grocery aisle. We will keep fighting on this issue because Americans want us to bring their costs down. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. M

Referenced legislation: S1032, S1032, HR6644