Our heroes deserve a Commander in Chief who looks out for them, not a

monument looking down on them. This administration seems to believe the
key to making America great again is more bouillon and more branding,
like King Midas. They don't seem to understand where true wealth comes
from.
  America's prosperity isn't measured in monuments; it is defined by
dreams, dreams that are only made possible here in this country. Those
dreams are what brought me to Colorado as a geologist 20 years ago--or
I should take that back--45 years ago, and they are what inspired me to
enter public service, so one day my sons and your daughters will
inherit a country where everyone has an equal shot at life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.
  But right now the American dream is slipping out of reach because the
deck is stacked against working people. Whether your biggest worry is
fuel or fertilizer or gas or groceries, whether you live in a mountain
community or an inner city, whether you are surrounded by cows or
concrete, this administration's misplaced priorities are making life
harder for you. And I don't think it has to be this way.
  First, we have got to stop the bleeding from this administration. We
have got to end the illegal war, end the disastrous tariffs. We must
curb ICE's lawlessness and repair our social safety net, reversing the
administration's cuts to healthcare, to SNAP, to student aid. But then
we have got to get back to making your life better once again.
  We need to lower the cost of living. We need to create more and
better jobs and protect our public lands. This work is not going to be
easy as we mark America's 250th anniversary--our 250th anniversary.
Many are questioning whether we are still capable of meeting the
magnitude of this moment, a moment where a technological revolution
promises unbelievable innovation at unprecedented speed like a runaway
train.
  It also leaves us more isolated and struggling to discern fact from
fiction. A moment when the consequences of climate change are
increasingly impossible to ignore with unprecedented wildfires,
drought, destruction; a moment when wealth is flowing to the wealthiest
Americans at an unprecedented rate. I am not immune to skepticism,
frustration, despair, but a better and a brighter future requires that
we work harder and harder and harder. It requires us to giddyap.
  Progress is possible because we have seen it, we have done it. This
week Congress passed the biggest housing reform bill in decades.
  We worked with Senator Warren to diminish Wall Street from buying
single-family homes and to limit their influence in disturbing the
housing markets. This matters to every Coloradan because home ownership
is one of the single best paths to economic stability and upward
mobility.
  It is a reminder that our government works best when it works for
working people. When it does, good policy reflects our highest values;
and the values that made this country have always been about
opportunities for all, not wealth at all costs.
  Earlier this morning right as the bill was about to be signed,
President Trump decided to hold the legislation hostage. Instead of
passing this commonsense bill, he wants to peddle a voter suppression
bill that has literally nothing to do with housing.
  This is a clear choice before us. Speaker Johnson and Senator
Grassley and Senator Thune should sign this housing bill and send it to
the White House, or they should not adjourn Congress for the July 4th
recess; it is as simple as that.
  This saga is exactly why so many Americans have lost so much faith in
our President. He has had every opportunity to lower costs, but he
chooses not to. The Coloradans I meet on the Front Range or the West
Slope aren't looking for more attacks on mail-in voting; they aren't
looking for more ballrooms, bombs, and billionaires. They are looking
for help, all the while looking out and helping each other.
  I see it across Colorado, people showing up for their neighbors,
families sharing what they can: Meals, clothing, rides to school.
America's wealth has never been found in monuments, reflecting pools,
or arches. It is found in our families. It is found in our communities.
It is found in you. Our charge has always been to help each other and
to keep the American dream alive for the next generation. That is what
it has always meant to be a Coloradan. That is what it has meant to be
an American. And that is worth more than gold.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.

              Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. President, I rise today to address the events that
took place exactly 4 years ago today when the Supreme Court ruled on
Dobbs v. Jackson, overturning Roe v. Wade, stripping away reproductive
rights for women that we have relied upon for generations.
  That decision sent shock waves through the country. Something that
many of us, women of my age, relied upon for our entire lives were
certainly and suddenly not available to our kids and our grandkids. And
as States like Michigan were looking into the reality of a full
abortion ban, we had to get to work.
  In Michigan, we had a 1931 abortion ban which banned abortions even
in the cases of rape and incest. It criminalized nurses and doctors who
provided such care, and it was slated to become law again in the wake
of the Dobbs decision.
  In the face of that, Michiganders went to work; that is what we do.
We rally together. We got over 700,000 signatures in the better part of
10 weeks. We organized getting on to our ballot a vote on reproductive
freedom including abortion care for our State; and we did this so that
women and girls that come after us were in control of their
reproductive lives, not politicians and certainly not anyone in this
body.
  Now, the examples of who this affected are legion, but let me just
focus on one woman Sarah from Byron Center, MI. Sarah had already had
four miscarriages but was filled with so much hope for her fifth
pregnancy. Unfortunately, after 19 weeks she received a devastating
call from her doctor that she had a baby dying inside of her.
Thankfully, Sarah was able to get the abortion care she needed from her
doctor so she wouldn't be exposed to life-threatening bacteria and
infections which could have killed her.
  Right now in States across the country when other women face this
same reality, they are told to wait. They are told to hope they don't
get an infection, and they hope they are not left to die.
  Even worse, mothers are dying of preventable deaths, leaving their
children without a parent, all because of politics and reversing Roe v.
Wade 4 years ago today. Now just because the story is 4 years old
doesn't mean it is over. Women continue to face a two-front war to get
access to abortion care, even in a State like Michigan. Access to care
and the cost of care is still inhibiting who has access to reproductive
care.
  More than a dozen States across the country have a total ban on
abortion, and the people in this Chamber and around this town continue
to chip away at women's access everywhere they turn. Women are
struggling to get access to healthcare via telehealth. Families are
struggling to access contraception and plan for their futures. Doctors
are being criminalized for doing their jobs. Cuts to healthcare, cuts
to Planned Parenthood have forced organizations to shut their doors,
and politicians who can't outlaw abortion nationwide are trying to
outlaw abortion medication, which is how a full half of women get their
abortions.
  All of this comes with a cost, expensive bills, traveling long
distances, and adds risk to people's health. The Dobbs decision was a
cautionary tale. Even though the Supreme Court allowed abortion over 50
years ago, this body decided not to act. We never legislated a woman's
right to choose.
  Our grandparents should have taken action on this issue, and we would
have reproductive freedom now across the country if we had done so. I
think it is an important tale for what this body can and cannot do,
what it should and should not do.
  It certainly has incredible consequences. So I just wanted to
recognize on the 4-year anniversary of the reversal of Roe v. Wade
where we are and that the fight continues.