Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1804 (Executive Calendar)

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Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1804

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Trump's corruption has no ceiling, and it apparently doesn't have an altitude limit either. Trump's $400 million luxury jet is the single biggest bribe an American President has ever accepted from another country in all of American history--the single biggest bribe in all of American history. And make no mistake about it, Trump's so-called palace in the sky is a boondoggle at 40,000 feet. If you thought this illegal gift was bad before, it is even worse now. We just learned that this new jet wasn't safe enough for Trump to make the return flight from the NATO summit in Turkiye, a country that borders on Iran. It doesn't have the countermeasures for heat-seeking missiles and the other security equipment that it needs to keep the President safe. The rest of the Air Force One fleet had all these security features, but Trump left them in the hangar back at home. So I call on Senate Republicans to pass my Presidential Airlift Security Act so Americans don't have to pay to upgrade Trump's luxury jet when he already has access to a fleet of U.S. planes that are far safer and far less expensive to maintain. The luxury jet may have come wrapped in a bow for Donald Trump, but it came with a massive price tag for the American people. Trump is asking taxpayers to fork over an estimated $1 billion to retrofit and max out his flying palace so it can meet the security standards of the existing Air Force One fleet that, of course, we already paid for. Americans can't afford gas, can't afford groceries, can't afford the electric bill, but Trump thinks they can afford to fly him in style. Trump's luxury jet also poses a great risk to our national security. All the experts agree: no matter how many modifications are made or how much is spent or how intensely it is retrofitted, there will never be 100 percent confidence that the plane is secure. This is not a gamble anyone should be willing to take. I introduced this legislation last year, but every single Republican Senator voted against the bill. Now, with this new information, hopefully they will see the light, what a boondoggle this is. Why do they back up Trump on every one of his boondoggles that is as plain as can be for Americans to see is a gross waste of taxpayer dollars and gross corruption? Why don't they ever stop him? Whether it is the slush fund, the ballroom, the family tax exemption deal, or this Air Force One nonsense, we see a new grift coming out of this administration every day. Where are the Republicans? Senate Republicans need to stop letting Trump off the hook for fleecing the American people. And so, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1804; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator from Nebraska. Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I would like to say a few words about Senator Schumer's legislation on the Presidential airlift. This has been discussed before, and it was voted down earlier this year as part of a vote-arama that we participated in. Senator Schumer's legislation would prevent any funding to be used to modify a foreign aircraft for Presidential airlift. We made this point during the vote-arama. The Senator is trying to make a political point today, of course, about the VC-25 Bridge aircraft, which was made in America and then owned by Qatar. Unfortunately, this legislation would also apply to a different aircraft, the Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, or SAOC. Those aircraft were actually purchased from Korean Air. So this legislation would hamper a crucial program that ensures Presidential safety in the event of a nuclear war. Thus, Senator Schumer's bill would significantly harm our U.S. nuclear deterrents. To be clear, the SAOC is the cornerstone of our NC3 modernization. This is the plane that will command and control our nuclear weapons on America's worst day. We cannot play these political games with the NC3. So with that, I object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard. The Senator from Nebraska.

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