00:00Mr. President, anyone here remember how Donald Trump promised to end Russia's war on Ukraine
00:05in one day if he was elected? That's right, one day. Well, we're 73 days into his term with Russia
00:13still raining death and destruction upon the people of Ukraine. And instead of ending the war,
00:19Donald Trump has alienated and bullied our allies around the world. Our allies.
00:24He insulted and blackmailed Ukrainian President Zelensky,
00:28who has led Ukrainians fighting bravely for more than three years. 46,000 Ukrainians have died in
00:36defense of their country. He's decimated low-cost soft power by gutting U.S. aid and Voice of
00:42America, giving away our influence and leadership to China and Russia. I moved the head of Russian
00:49state TV and get this quote, an awesome decision by Trump. We couldn't shut them down,
00:56unfortunately, but America did so itself. By turning our backs on the rest of the world,
01:02Donald Trump has undermined the promise of America as a beacon of democracy, freedom,
01:07and human rights. And all the while, Russian President Putin is laughing at us,
01:12watching with glee as America destroys its own leadership and credibility,
01:17something he could only have dreamed of in his former KGB days. If you don't believe me,
01:22read the New York Times columnist Tom Friedman. His recent column title tells a story. Quote,
01:29I don't believe a single word Trump and Putin say about Ukraine, end of quote. Or Washington
01:34Post column Max Boot wrote, quote, Putin is playing Trump and Whitkoff like a Stradivarius,
01:43asking dismayingly what the rest of us are pondering as well. Does Trump seriously believe
01:48Putin is negotiating in good faith to end the war in Ukraine? Or listen to the senior Republican
01:54senator from Kentucky. Here's what he said. Unless we change course, the outcome we're
01:59heading for today is one we can least afford, a headline that reads Russia wins, America loses.
02:06An illusory piece that shreds America's credibility, leading Ukraine under threat,
02:11threatens, weakens our alliance, and emboldens our enemies. I agree. Consider the last few months of
02:17negotiations between Trump and Putin have led almost nowhere and emboldened Russia. A supposed
02:24ceasefire was supposed to narrowly limit Russian attacks, and here we have the bombing hospitals.
02:31A supposedly deal to stop fighting in the Black Sea was a giveaway to the Russians and undermined
02:36Ukrainians. Or consider President Trump's special peace envoy, Steve Whitkoff, a real estate tycoon
02:44from New York who's in competition with Neville Chamberlain for the world's most naive appeaser.
02:52Whitkoff recently told another Putin apologist, Tucker Carlson, that he liked Putin and didn't
02:58regard him as a bad guy. That same Whitkoff groveled over Putin's obviously manipulative
03:05portrait gift to Trump, and he said those forced at gunpoint in occupied eastern Ukraine to vote
03:11in a sham referendum actually really wanted to be part of Russia.
03:15He's buying the Kremlin talking points and the long list in total. But as President
03:22negotiates away Ukraine's freedom and America's credibility, Congress has an obligation and a
03:28constitutional responsibility to act. So I'm glad this week that dozens of my colleagues from both
03:34sides of the aisle introduced legislation to make it clear to Russia that broad sanctions will be
03:39imposed if Russia does not negotiate in good faith and end this war soon. We owe Ukraine,
03:44and we certainly owe our own country nothing less. Mr. President, another topic of global
03:49importance, President Trump once again announced an escalation of trade wars with many of our
03:54closest allies and trade partners. He proclaimed it, quote, liberation day yesterday. Liberation
04:01day is what he called it. But don't expect any ticker tape parades or flag displays in the
04:05windows of American homes to celebrate this liberation day. The American public has been
04:11clear. They want to see prices come down, not go up. Americans are sick of paying too much for eggs
04:18and gas, for the everyday necessities they need to provide to their families, to commute to work,
04:24to pay the mortgage. Trump's tariffs are what I call Trump's national sales tax. Trump's national
04:31sales tax will do exactly the opposite. The 10% tariffs the President announced will result in an
04:37increase of thousands of dollars in costs for households of everyday Americans. Experts estimate
04:44that the Trump's national sales tax, these tariffs will cost the average family $100 a week. That's
04:51$5,000 annually. That's a lot of eggs. Trump is pushing our economy in the wrong direction.
04:57During a time when many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, this trade war is senseless,
05:03frivolous and dangerous to Americans' family budgets. Who in the world ever dreamed that
05:08the last election was about whether we want to trade war with Canada? These tariffs are a tax
05:14hike on Americans and will cost businesses, consumers, farmers and workers. If Trump were
05:20less focused on annexing Canada and Greenland and Panama and God knows who else and raising revenue
05:27to pay for billionaire tax cuts, he'd clearly see that the American people ardently disagree
05:32with his so-called liberation day. In fact, a recent poll found that 60% of Americans opposed
05:39the tariffs, and that's before they actually kicked in. Look at the stock market today. How
05:44you doing with that retirement account? Most Americans are not doing very well. While the
05:49President claims that foreign countries will pay the tariffs, Americans know better. That burden
05:55of tariffs is carried by our companies and paid for by our consumers. Rest assured, the uncertainty
06:02and fear these tariffs will create will impact our nation's workers and our economy. America knows
06:08the economy is going the wrong way under Donald Trump. They won't be fooled. Witness what happened
06:13in Wisconsin just a few days ago. Even Trump's Rasputin, Elon Musk, cannot buy his way out of
06:19this mess. In fact, the only thing these tariffs are liberating is money from the wallets of
06:24hard-working Americans into the bank accounts of billionaires. I yield the floor.
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