Honoring Sergeant Scott Ries

  Mr. HUSTED. Mr. President, every day the men and women of law
enforcement leave home not knowing what they will encounter. They live
life with the uncertainty of what the next hazard is that they might
encounter during the call that they receive to go protect and serve.
Sergeant Scott Ries was shot and killed responding to one of those
calls, and today I rise to honor one of Ohio's bravest sons, Sergeant
Ries. We lost him on July 5, 2026, just a couple weeks ago.
  Sergeant Ries served and protected his community until the very last
moment when he was on one of those calls and was shot and killed and
lost his life, and we all mourn his loss. Today, I want to take a few
moments to honor his life, his service, and his legacy.
  Sergeant Ries was 54 years old and a native of Doylestown. He was a
10-year veteran of the Rittman Police Department.
  Before joining the Rittman Police Department, he served as a deputy
with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and as an officer with the Sugar
Grove Police Department. You can see Sergeant Ries right there.
  His colleagues remember him as someone who wanted people to know that
when they called for his help, he would be there for them. And he was a
person to respond with kindness and a community spirit.
  Sergeant Ries was a devoted husband and father. I had a chance a few
days ago to speak with his wonderful wife Michelle. He is remembered as
someone who was deeply involved in his family's life, especially
supporting his daughter's cheerleading activities.
  Each year, in fact, Sergeant Ries and his wife Michelle volunteered
their time raising money in a fundraiser for the cheerleaders. They
would organize the dunk tank. Anybody that grew up in a small town
knows what the dunk tank is. Pay a few dollars to throw a ball and dunk
the police sergeant, and that is what Scott would do.
  They helped support the cheerleading program, but it was one of the
many things that he would do to help give back to his community and
support life in a small town--a small, rural town in Ohio.
  Sergeant Ries was also an alumnus of the Chippewa Local Schools and
remained actively involved with the school long after graduation. A
police sergeant in a small town, Chippewa Schools, is an important
local leader, an important example, a mentor, someone to look up to,
and that is who Scott Ries was. He certainly was that kind of figure in
his local community.
  Sergeant Ries was a dedicated public servant who put his life on the
line every day and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his
community in responding to a violent call. But there is no way he could
know it would have been his last because he responded as a dedicated
public servant in law enforcement every single time he got the call.
  His wife and children and loved ones and fellow officers remain in
our prayers. I know how hard it is for them, having talked to several
of them during the course of the last few weeks. They loved Scott, and
it was hard for them, as you would expect, to confront his tragic loss.
And we will mourn him. We will mourn his loss, honor his life that was
defined by community, sacrifice, service, and courage.
  So Sergeant Scott Ries gave his life protecting his community and his
neighbors. I thank my colleagues for giving me a few moments to hear
his story and to join me in honoring his service and celebrating his
life.
  So many times, so many days, these public servants, these law
enforcement officials, are asked to show courage and give to their
communities, and they do it humbly, as Scott Ries did for so many
years. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to confront the tragedy of them
losing their lives in service to their communities. We do that in
honoring the life and service of Scott Ries.
  I want to say to his wife Michelle and to his children and his
colleagues in law enforcement that we will keep you in our prayers, we
mourn his loss, and we honor his service.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

                 Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 556

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, climate change is real. Simple
proposition. Earlier this year, I came to the floor and asked my
colleagues if they could all agree on that simple factual proposition.
Well, they could not, so I return to the floor in hopes that our
Republican colleagues could at least agree to some of the simple truths
that make up the larger truth of climate change.
  I asked if we could agree, for instance, that sea levels are rising
as a consequence. There is really no dispute about that, but
Republicans objected.
  I asked if we could agree that the oceans are warming as a
consequence. There is really no dispute about that either. In fact,
they are warming by about 20 zettajoules a year. Nevertheless,
Republicans still objected.
  So I shifted my focus to economic threats. I asked if we could agree
that climate change is driving up the cost of homeowners insurance or
that it threatens home values. Very clear propositions demonstrated in
real life. But, again, Republicans objected.
  Well, the closer these threats are to your home, the harder they
become to deny. So let me try a narrower simple truth today: Florida's
insurance market is gravely stressed by climate risks. That is it. Can
we all agree on that?
  I have explained many times that climate change is driving an
increase in severe storms, including hurricanes. This chart tracks
billion-dollar climate disasters in the United States between 1980 and
today. The pattern is crystal clear. As you can see, these events and
their costs are increasing.
  According to NOAA, of all the climate-driven disasters since 1980,
hurricanes have caused the most damage--over $1.5 trillion total adding
all that up--with an average cost of $23 billion per event.
  And hurricanes hit southeastern States--particularly Florida--the
hardest. Between 2020 and 2024, nine hurricanes hit Florida causing
$244 billion in damages in Florida alone. They went on often to create
more damage in other States--but $244 billion in Florida.
  So what does the data show is happening in Florida insurance markets
as a result? First, data I collected as chair of the Senate Budget
Committee shows that Florida has, by far, the highest insurance
nonrenewal rate in the country--that is the rate at which insurers say
to their customer: I am sorry. I know you have been a good customer. We
have been insuring you for years, but your property is now so
endangered that we can no longer insure you. We are done. You have got
to go find new insurance.
  Florida: Highest nonrenewal rate in the country.
  Second, Florida has, by far, the highest average premiums in the
country--by some estimates, approaching $14,000 per year. Economists
expect these costs to continue to rise.
  This chart predicts future insurance rate increases as high as 300
percent in coastal Florida in the next 30 years--the period of a
mortgage entered into today. Just do some quick math. If it is $14,000
now, a 300 percent increase, four times as much, you add--call it a
$56,000 annual expense to own a home, and you run a present value of
that simple math, that all comes off the value of the home.
  Even at these high premium rates, many home insurers in Florida are
at risk of insolvency. After catastrophic hurricane losses in recent
years, many of the major insurers--including Farmers, Progressive, and
AAA--all left the Florida market entirely leaving behind small, local,
and less stable insurers. Many of those small, local, and less stable
insurers have gone bust when claims come in. This insurance problem
creates a mortgage problem in Florida. Banks won't finance a home
mortgage unless the home is protected by insurance.

  When banks originate mortgages, they often flip them to government-

sponsored entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. So, a new problem:
Fannie and Freddie will only purchase mortgages which are protected by
an insurer and only if that insurer has a requisite financial stability
rating. Well, to obtain a financial stability rating, insurers pay a
rating agency.
  Given the insolvency risk in the Florida insurance market, how do
insurance companies there obtain the stability rating required by
Fannie and Freddie? Most go to an operation called Demotech. Mark my
words, you will hear a lot more about Demotech as this situation
worsens. Demotech has rated nearly all of these small, local companies
that it covers ``A'' or above. Well, it turns out these ratings are too
good to be true.
  A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal found that insurers
rated by Demotech are 30 times more likely--30 times more likely--to
become insolvent than those graded by other rating companies. So if
Fannie and Freddie were to stop accepting mortgages with a high-risk
Demotech-rated insurer, the Florida real estate market would come to a
shuddering halt.
  This is the share of the insurance market in Florida rated by
Demotech. This is what is left of the traditional ratings, and this is
Citizens Property Insurance, which, because it is State-backed, doesn't
require ratings. It has its own separate problems.
  But this Demotech problem is real. Almost 20 percent of Demotech-
rated insurers in Florida have gone insolvent in the last decade--20
percent; 1 in 5, gone. An insolvent insurer is, of course, a disaster
for homeowners who have to wait, eventually, to be paid by a State-run
organization--the guaranty fund--that takes over for the failed,
insolvent insurance.
  Well, two problems result from that. One, the delay in paying claims
destroys neighborhoods. It is great to get paid by your insurance
company when you have a major claim and your house is wrecked, but if
the money doesn't come soon, you can't rebuild and the neighborhood
doesn't come back. And we see that in Florida now. Two, other
Floridians are on the hook for all those claims. The guaranty fund
transmits that cost to other Florida policyholders.
  Now, Citizens Property Insurance--this one--the State-backed insurer
of last resort, has a similar backstop when it can't pay claims, but in
real life, those levees to prop up Citizens are often going to be
uncollectible. There are credible scenarios in which the losses of
Citizens Property Insurance exceed its ability to pay claims, and the
assessment scheme fails. Those are plausible scenarios.
  Well, to defend, Citizens engages in periodic depopulation efforts
where it hands off to those same popup, politically connected,
Demotech-rated local insurers tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands
of homeowners. Boom--the homeowner is dumped into an insurance company
she has never heard of.
  It is a cascade happening. The climate crisis clobbers home values,
drives up insurance prices, and causes insurance insolvency in climate-
risky areas across the country but nowhere so more than Florida.
  This is a crisis for families in Florida. The human stories behind
this are heartbreaking, and it is growing into a crisis for all of us.
Florida's insurance market is the canary in the American climate risk
coal mine. As climate change gets worse and risks spread, other States
will find themselves in a similar position--my own, being a coastal
State, amongst them.
  So can we all agree on this simple truth: that Florida's insurance
market is gravely stressed by climate risks?
  Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent
that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged
and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of that
proposition, S. Res. 556; further, that the resolution be agreed to,
the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered
made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. BANKS. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, it is pretty
clear that this resolution is an attack on a red State by one of my
colleagues from a blue State.
  I respect my colleague, but this resolution doesn't pass muster. In
fact, we know that the radical, Green New Deal agenda that was wrought
on us in this country by the Biden administration raised gas prices in
this country to astronomical rates, made life less affordable and more
difficult for Americans all over this country. That is why they quickly
turned the page on those policies and got rid of Biden and those
radical Green New Deal policies and chose President Trump to come back
to the White House.
  We had really good news this week. Inflation rates came way down--
down as much as we have seen it in many years--because of President
Trump's policies to uproot Green New Deal policies, passing the Working
Families Tax Cut bill that we passed that makes life more affordable
for working families all over this the country.
  It is pretty clear that this resolution is just a veiled attack on
Florida.
  I am not from Florida. Florida is a good State. And I love the State
of Rhode Island. I did all of my Navy training there. I respect my
colleague. It is ironic with this resolution because 2 percent of Rhode
Islanders over the last 5 years have moved to Florida, and they moved
to Florida especially after the pandemic--all of the mandates and
higher taxes, and they are choosing a State that works, that is
attracting them, just like people from all over the coast are moving to
Florida because they like Florida, they like lower taxes, and they like
the quality of life that Florida offers.
  This resolution is just an attack on Florida.
  I do invite my colleague--again, whom I respect and enjoy working
with--to come to the Banking Committee. Let's work on bipartisan
solutions and ideas to bring down the cost of living for all Americans.
We can do that together. We can find solutions to do that. This
resolution doesn't do that.
  Mr. President, that is why I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I appreciate my fine colleague from
Indiana State whose Indiana University teaches the science of climate
change. But I would like to say that this is not an attack on Florida;
this is a warning to Florida of what is happening, what is already
demonstrably beginning to happen as a result of sea level rise, worse
hurricanes, and heavier storm bursts. I just want to make sure that
characterization is clear. Florida is entitled to be warned about this
risk. It is a risk we all share.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.