Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:
“Now, regardless of how you feel about the war in Ukraine, I think most fair-minded people can agree on two things. Number one: Vladimir Putin, who runs Russia—not the people of Russia, but their leadership—is a thug. He’s a pirate. He has blood under his fingernails. He can’t be trusted.
“The second thing that I think most fair-minded Americans can agree on is that we would all like to see the war ended. . . . I think Ukraine is willing to negotiate a reasonable settlement, but it takes two to tango, and we are not going to have a settlement until President Putin decides it is in his best interest to stop the war. “Not in Russia’s best interest because I don’t think he cares about his people. I think the war will stop when Putin thinks it is in his best interest.
“And I don’t think he is going to think it is in his best interest until he feels the pressure, Mr. President, because dealing with Putin is like dealing with most tyrants: It is like hand-feeding a shark. You can’t reason with them. You have to make them feel the pain.
“A lot of people think of Russia and think of Putin as this gigantic country with a lot of wealth and power, and that is not really the case. Yes, they have nuclear weapons, but, actually, the Russian economy is pretty small. . . . The Russian economy is only about $2 trillion. New York state, in America, has a bigger economy than Russia, and I think we need to keep that in mind.
“Russia’s economy is also not terribly diversified. It is mostly oil. . . . Number one: The price of oil is down. We know that. Number two: Russia is spending all of its money fighting the war with Ukraine, which has hurt other parts of its economy.
“The point I am trying to make, Mr. President, is: When you are dealing with a tyrant like Putin and you are trying to bring him to the negotiating table, what you have to do is get him down and choke him. And the way to get President Putin down and choke him is through his cash flow. Putin—and, remember, I am not talking about the good people in Russia. I am talking about their leadership. I am talking about Vladimir Putin, the thug.
“Putin is only able to prosecute his war through cash flow generated by his sale of oil. That is the only way. Without that cash flow from oil, he can’t continue. We need to cut off his money. We need to cut off his sale of oil.
“Now, we already have sanctions on Russia, and Europe has sanctions on Russia, but Russia has figured out how to evade those sanctions and continue to sell its oil. For example, India is buying a lot of Russia’s oil. China is buying a lot of Russia’s oil, but we can stop that.
“We have a bill—87 of us have signed on— that would apply what is called secondary sanctions on Russia. Our bill would not only sanction Russia and its sale of oil, but it would sanction everybody who buys Russian oil, a big difference.
“It would say to those who want to buy Russian oil: If you want to buy Russian oil, have at it—knock yourself out—but you are not going to be able to do business with America, and you are not going to be able to use the American dollar, which is the world’s currency, to do business in America. It will put Putin on his knees within three months, and he won’t have any choice but to come to the bargaining table.
“Now, President Trump has been very patient. President Biden wasn’t patient; he was giving. I remember when President Biden said to Putin: Well, you know, we don’t want you to go into Ukraine, but if it is just a little excursion, it might be okay. I remember that. What do you think Putin did? Do you remember hand-feeding a shark? He went right into Ukraine.
“President Trump, on the other hand, has really tried to be rational and negotiate with Putin and say: Look, we need to have an amicable solution to satisfy both sides. Ukraine is willing. Putin has done nothing but embarrass our president and our country.
“The time has come to put Russia on its knees. I hate to see it for the Russian people, but the time has come to put Putin on his knees. Get him down and choke him. The only way you are going to do that is to cut off his cash flow. And the only way you are going to cut off his cash flow is to cut off his oil sales because that is at least a third—and probably 40%—of his money.
“We have no choice. Otherwise, this war could go on forever.
“Now, we have the bill locked, loaded, and ready to go. We are waiting for President Trump to give us the high sign because we want to stay together. The president is the one who is trying to negotiate the peace, but I hope President Trump will seriously consider letting us pull the trigger because it is the only thing—it is the only thing—that is going to get Vladimir Putin to the table.
“I wish the world weren’t like that. There are just some people—I don’t know why. If I make it to heaven, I am going to ask. But there are some people in this world, they are not sick; they are not misunderstood; they are not mixed up. It is not really that their mom or daddy didn’t love them enough. They are just bad people. They are. And some of them run countries, and one of them is Vladimir Putin. So, let’s go do what we have to do.”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
Kennedy, Schatz champion Unsubscribe Act to make canceling unwanted subscriptions easier
Jul 10 2025
WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) today introduced the bipartisan Unsubscribe Act of 2025, which would require a simple cancellation process for all subscriptions.
“The average American is all too familiar with the headache of running around in circles to cancel a subscription before their free trial expires. Our common-sense Unsubscribe Act would make sure companies are upfront about automatic charges and make it easier to cancel subscriptions without the convoluted song-and-dance routine,” said Kennedy.
“The subscription-based business model is exploding, and it’s largely because of the deceptive practices that some companies use to lure and trap in customers. When people sign up for a free trial, they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops just to cancel their subscription before being charged. Our bill will require companies to be more transparent about their business model and make it easier for consumers to avoid costly, automatic monthly charges they never intended to make,” said Schatz.
The Unsubscribe Act would:
- Require sellers to clearly explain the terms of a contract to customers and obtain their express and informed consent.
- Require sellers to provide a simple way to cancel the subscription, which the customer can complete in the same way in which they entered the original contract.
- Require sellers to clearly notify consumers when their free or reduced-cost trial is complete and before charging for the full-cost subscription.
- Disallow automatic transfer to a contract beyond the preliminary period.
- Require sellers to periodically notify the customer of the terms of the contract and the cancelation mechanism.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) will introduce the companion bill in the House of Representatives.
“Too many consumers are lured in by free trials, only to get trapped in confusing billing cycles and cancellation mazes. The Unsubscribe Act is about fairness—it puts the burden back on companies to be honest, clear, and accountable. If a business has to trick people into staying, it does not deserve their money,” said Takano.
The full text of the Unsubscribe Act is available here.
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:
“I've already heard, a lot, that the reconciliation bill that Congress passed is going to kill people. ‘People are going to die. It's only going to help rich people.’ None of that's true.
“The bill that we just passed is primarily a tax cut, and taxes are not terribly complicated. When you tax something, you get less of it, right? You want to stop people wearing wristwatches—I love wristwatches, I’ve had this one for like 30 years—but if you want to stop people from wearing wrist watches, just pass a bill where every time you buy a wristwatch, you have to pay a $200 tax. Boy, that’s going to be the end of wristwatches.
“Business is the same way. If you want businesses not to expand, tax the hell out of them so they don’t have any money to reinvest in their businesses. If you want people to work less, tax them. Take all their money. People are rational. They’ll go, ‘Why would I want to work an extra 10 hours this week? They’re taxing me. They’re going to take all my money.’
“So, our bill is a tax cut bill. That's all it was.
“We passed the tax cut back in 2017, as you know, Mr. President. Those tax cuts would have expired at the end of this year. If we hadn't passed this bill, taxes on the American people would have gone up $4.3 trillion. Not billion. $4.3 trillion. It would have tanked our economy. Our economy would have gone down like a fat guy on a seesaw.
“And some of my friends say, ‘You only cut taxes on the rich.’ That's not true. That's just a lie. I mean, well over half of the tax cuts that we extended go to ordinary Americans, working people, working moms, working dads. So, the first thing we did was extend the tax cuts. We avoided $4.3 trillion worth of taxes. And, frankly, everybody who voted against our bill voted to raise taxes on the American people in the amount of $4.3 trillion. That's just a fact.
“Our bill did some other things, though. We added some new tax cuts. We cut taxes on tips. Now, not everybody who works for tips is going to get a tax cut, but most people are. We cut taxes on overtime. Most ordinary Americans work overtime. We cut the taxes on overtime. We cut taxes on Social Security income. We cut taxes on some car loans. We extended the child tax credit—$2,200 for every child. That's important for most Americans. We increased the standard deduction.
“We strengthened Medicaid. One of the things—it’s really a lie, but I’ll call it rhetoric—going around is: ‘Well, they destroyed Medicaid.’
“Medicaid's going to grow under our bill. It's just not going to grow as fast as it was. But 10 years from now, we'll be spending a minimum a 20% more on Medicaid—not less, more. You know the biggest change we made to Medicaid: work requirements.
“Now, the American people are the most compassionate people in the world. If you're hungry, we'll feed you. If you're homeless, we'll house you. If you're too poor to be sick, we'll pay for your doctor. We're a generous people.
“But those who can work should work. And we've got some people on Medicaid who are perfectly healthy. They're not disabled. They don't have young kids at home. I'm not talking about a mom with a sick child in her arms. They don't have minor children at home. They just don't want to work. They want to get Medicaid, but they don't want to work.
“Those who can work should work, and all our bill does is say, ‘Look, you can still keep your Medicaid, but if you can work—not if you're disabled, not if you’re elderly, not if you’re in a nursing home—but if you're a healthy adult at home playing video games, you've got to go look for a job. And you've got to work at least 20 hours a week—not 40 hours a week—20 hours a week. What's unreasonable about that?
“The other change made to Medicaid was that some people—not most people, but some people—when they sign up for Medicaid, they lie. They say, ‘I’m only making $25,000 a year.’ In fact, they might be making $75,000 or $100,000 a year. I'm not exaggerating. I've seen that happen.
“What we've told the states is, ‘Twice a year for our folks on Medicaid, you have to check their eligibility. Make sure they're not making more than they're supposed to because Medicaid is not for everybody.’
“What's wrong with that? What's wrong with saying to people, ‘You're not entitled to Medicaid if you're not eligible?’ What's unreasonable about that? We're not killing people. We're trying to save Medicaid so that we can afford it for people who really need it.
“The other two things this bill did . . . it provided more money for border enforcement. Now, I know there are many people in America and many people in the Senate who believe in open borders. I respect that. They may not say it, but they do. They just think the border ought to be wide open, and they think that if you believe in secure borders, you're a racist. I don't agree with them, but this is America. They're entitled to their opinion.
“Most Americans don't think that. Most Americans want the border to be secure. They want to know who is coming in and out of their country, and this bill is going to provide the money to do that.
“The other part of our bill as you know, Mr. President, provides much needed money for our military because we live in a dangerous world, and I wish we didn’t, but we do. And weakness invites the wolves.”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:
“We’ve got a $7 trillion budget. I don't know how much of that $7 trillion is waste, but every fair-minded person would have to agree that there's some money being spent in that $7 trillion that shouldn't be spent. It just shouldn't. It's wasted money.
“So, President Trump and this Congress made one of its objectives trying to reduce spending. Not spending that we need but spending that needs to be reduced. I call it spending porn.
“The president has sent us a bill. He's saying to Congress, I want you to reduce spending in the current budget by [$9.4 billion]. Let me tell you what constitutes the spending I want to reduce.
“First, [$9.4 billion] out of a $7 trillion budget, we're not talking about a lot of money here. We're talking about one-tenth of 1%. That's all. That's point one.
“Point two: You need to look at what the president is asking us to cut out. I'll just give you a couple of examples. I didn't make this up.
“The president is saying we're giving $3 million to Iraq to produce ‘Sesame Street.’ Maybe we could use that money for something else.
“The president is saying we're giving $3 million to Zambia for circumcisions and vasectomies. The president is saying we don't need to do that. We've got other priorities.
“We're giving $500,000 to Rwanda to buy electric buses. The president is saying to us, Congress we don't need to be spending money on that. There are more important things.
“We're spending $67,000 to give insect powder to kids in Madagascar. I don't even know what insect powder is, but the president is asking us to cut it out.
“We're giving $3,600,000 to Haiti for pastry cooking classes, for cyber cafes, for dance focus groups for male prostitutes. The president is saying I don't think so. I don't think the American people support giving their hard-earned money to male prostitutes in Haiti. So, he's asking us to cut it out.
“He's asking us to reduce the budget by $833,000 because some of President Biden’s bureaucrats gave a contract to [assist] transgender people, sex workers, and their clients in Nepal. The president is saying I don't want to do that and he's right. You get the idea.
“That's what I call spending porn. It triggers our gag reflex. You look at this stuff and you go, ‘What in God's name? Who decided to do this?’ Well, Congress didn't. The bureaucrats did. It's money we appropriated, but we didn't tell them to go spend money, $833,000, and give to sex workers in Nepal. They just took the money we appropriated and used it for that. So, the president is asking us to do what's called a rescission and cancel the spending.
“Now, I’ve been here eight years, Mr. President, and I’ve listened to a whole bunch of people talk about the need to reduce spending. But you've got to watch what people do, not what they say because talk is cheap.
“And around here, I’ve learned pretty quickly that reducing spending, it's like going to heaven. I want to go to heaven. I bet you want to go to heaven, Mr. President. I bet our guests in the gallery want to go to heaven, but everybody wants to heaven. Raise your hand if you're ready to take the trip today. Most people—you are, sir, and I admire that—but most people want to live a little longer, and that's the way we are with reducing spending around here.
“‘I want to reduce spending. I support it but not just yet because I’ve got this project.’ And I’ve listened to that, and I especially listened to it for the past hundred days. ‘Go get them, President Trump. Reduce that spending. We're behind you a thousand percent.’
“Well, he has. One-tenth of 1% he's asking us to reduce. And I’m not saying senators shouldn't ask questions and make some changes if they need to be made, but here's the bottom line: It is gut-check time. You either believe in reducing spending or you don't. And if you talk the game and say, ‘Let's reduce spending,’ and you vote against this bill, in my opinion, you ought to hide your head in a bag because you will be able to cut the hypocrisy with a knife.
“It's real, real hard, Mr. President, to preach temperance from a barstool. It's gut-check time. We need to pass this bill.”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
ICYMI: Kennedy in the New York Post: The clock is ticking on the Senate to chop $9.4 billion of waste
Jul 09 2025
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in the New York Post urging the Senate to approve President Trump’s rescission request to permanently cut funding to wasteful foreign aid programs and public broadcasting.
Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:
“Under former President Joe Biden, our federal government agreed to spend $3 million on an Iraqi version of ‘Sesame Street,’ $3 million on circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia, $500,000 on electric buses in Rwanda and $67,000 to feed insect powder to children in Madagascar. You read that right. Insect powder.
“It wasn’t all bugs, though. A group of male prostitutes in Haiti got $3.6 million to run free pastry-cooking classes, cyber cafés and ‘dance focus groups.’
“These spending decisions make Americans want to jump out of a moving car.”
. . .
“The House of Representatives already approved these spending cuts. It’s the Senate’s turn now — and we must move quickly: The Impoundment Control Act only gives Congress 45 days to approve a rescission request. We need to get this to the president’s desk by July 18.
“If my colleagues still think this spending is necessary, they should vote no on his request. But here on planet Earth, the American people know they could be spending this money far better than the deeply weird, woke bureaucrats they’ve already voted out of office.”
Read Kennedy’s op-ed here.
Kennedy, Cassidy introduce resolution celebrating LSU Shreveport baseball’s championship, perfect season
Jul 08 2025
WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) today introduced a resolution celebrating the Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSU Shreveport) Pilots’ perfect season, 59-0 win streak and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) championship win.
“The LSU Shreveport Pilots are what ‘cool’ looks like. This baseball team capped off an undefeated season and the longest win streak in college baseball history with an NAIA championship. That’s an achievement that deserves Senate recognition. Geaux Pilots!” said Kennedy.
“The 2025 LSU Shreveport Pilots made history by doing something no other collegiate baseball team has ever done: going a perfect 59-0. These young men and their coaches earned every win and made all of Louisiana proud. Geaux Pilots!” said Cassidy.
“We are incredibly proud of our Pilots Baseball Team members. The word, ‘lose’ is simply not in their vocabulary. No college baseball team has ever before gone an entire season without a single loss and I suspect none ever will again. These student athletes have thus secured for themselves a place in college sports history,” said Robert T. Smith, Chancellor of LSU Shreveport.
“We are extremely honored and excited to receive this recognition! We had an incredible year, which was the result of all the incredible people involved. This has been a very rewarding time for our University, the city of Shreveport and our program. The players are extremely deserving of the praise they have been given and they are more than deserving of it! We want to thank everyone involved and we look forward to continuing the success!” said Brad Neffendorf, head coach of the LSU Shreveport Pilots baseball program.
The full text of the resolution is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) today introduced a resolution celebrating the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers’ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I championship—the Tigers' eighth national title and second in three years.
“The LSU Tigers proved once again that they are NCAA baseball’s gold standard, delivering an undefeated run in Omaha and bringing yet another national title home to Louisiana. I’m proud to help introduce this resolution recognizing their hard work and congratulating Coach Jay Johnson and this impressive team on a job well done,” said Kennedy.
“It’s hard to have a better year for baseball in Louisiana than this. A huge congratulations to the LSU Tigers on fighting their way to another national championship up in Omaha,” said Cassidy, an LSU alumnus.
The full text of the resolution is available here.
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
“Where is Russia? Where is President Putin? I ask that question in light of what's been happening over the past week in Iran. Where's Russia? Where's President Putin? You couldn't find either one of them with a search party. Dog the Bounty Hunter, all of a sudden, couldn't find President Putin. All of a sudden even Google can't find Russia.
“I thought Iran and Russia were peeps. I thought they were best friends. I mean, for decades, Iran and Russia have had a partnership where they have attacked everyone in the freedom-loving West. They're best buds.
“Now, I know Iran has a relationship with China, but that's more transactional. China just likes to buy Iran's cheap oil. With Russia and Iran, it was supposed to be a deeper, more meaningful relationship. And this isn't something new. This has been a partnership for decades.
“I remember when Putin invaded Ukraine, one of the first allies he turned to was Iran, and Iran sent Russia ammunition. And Iran sent Russia artillery shells. And Iran sent Russia drones. And Iran has sent Russia drones, and ammunition, and artillery shells every single day of the war.
“So, where's Russia? It hasn't been a good week for Iran. Where's Russia?
“On Monday of this week, Iran's top diplomat met with President Putin and asked for help. Do you know what President Putin said he would provide? Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Some kind of friend.
“You know, it's not the first time that we've seen President Putin's true colors. It's happened before. You would think that Iran would learn. The month after Iran through Hamas attacked Israel back in October of 2023, Iran immediately asked Moscow to supply Iran with—because Iran knew what was coming and so did Hamas— they knew retribution was coming from Israel.
“Iran asked Moscow for jet fighters, for attack helicopters, air defense systems, and training jets. And Iran was sure that their buddy, Putin, would be there. Putin sent them a few jets and said go away, don't bother me. And then not long ago, when Israel took out the better part of Iran's air defense system, its golden dome—wasn't exactly golden, it was more like tin—but the Israelis took it out. Iran asked Russia and said, look, we have to rearm. We're naked and alone here. We need more air defense missiles to shoot down the Israeli planes. President Putin said go away. Don't bother me. What a friend.
“President Putin has done it to other countries. Russia has had alliances not just with Iran through the years. I'll give you a couple of examples. Armenia. Armenia and Russia were best buds, two peas in a pod. But when Armenia got into a war with Azerbaijan, once again you couldn't find Russia with a search party.
“Iran and Russia worked together to prop up Assad in Syria. Remember that? When the people of Syria were revolting against Assad, who had blood under his fingernails. Do you know who kept him afloat? Iran, yes, but especially Russia. And then Assad got in trouble, and that's when he really needed Russia. He went to Mr. Putin and said help me, help me, and Mr. Putin said no. You're on your own. You can come to my country where they can't get to you, but that's it. Too bad. I don't need you anymore.
“A lot's going on with respect to the Middle East right now, but I hope the world notices what kind of friend Russia is. I hope other countries that Russia has alliances with and that Russia is assiduously courting to be a ‘partnership’ notice how Russia reacts to their friends.
“Where's Russia? Where's Putin? All of a sudden you can't find him. Now I’m delighted with that. I'm just delighted. But this was very, very predictable. With friends like Russia—I say this to every country in the world that might be thinking about partnering with Russia. With friends like Russia, who needs enemies?”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
Kennedy on rescissions: “All the president is asking us to do is cut the spending porn from the budget.”
Jun 24 2025
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
On reconciliation:
“We're working hard on reconciliation. I suspect we're going to have a bill before us here in a few days. It's very important, it does a lot. . . . If we pass this bill, it will be the largest tax cut in the history of America. But the converse is also true. If we don't pass this bill, it will be the largest tax increase on the American people in the history of America.
“So, there are two doors here. Door number one: Pass it. Largest tax cut in the history of America. Door number two: Don't pass it. Largest tax increase—$4.3 trillion. That's how much taxes will go up on ordinary Americans. Not just the rich. I know they're going to tell you that. It's just the rich. No, it's not. It's ordinary Americans. It's every American.
“If we don't pass this bill, you raise taxes $4.3 trillion on 300-plus million Americans, and you watch this economy go down like a fat guy on a seesaw. We don't have a choice.”
On rescissions:
“The president has sent to us a rescission package. It's $9.4 billion, as you know, Mr. President. The president is asking us to remove spending that Congress appropriated for areas in foreign aid and for public broadcasting. I want to talk about the foreign aid part.
“We're going to have plenty of time to debate whether we ought to agree with the president, but I want the American people to understand the type of spending porn that the president is asking to take out of Congress' budget.
“The Honorable Jodey Arrington, who is a congressman—a damned good one too—he's chairman of the House Budget Committee. The congressman put together just a few items in the foreign aid spending provisions that the president is asking us to remove. This list is illustrative. It's not exhaustive.
“I just wanted to point a couple of these programs out. Again, this is spending the president is asking us to revoke. You be the judge, folks. It's your money. The American people can decide whether we ought to spend their money on this or take it out, as the president has requested.
“I know Congress is not blameless, believe me. But we didn't approve these specific items of expenditure. We approved the amounts and the general subject areas, like foreign aid. The bureaucrats did the rest.
“I didn't know there was any such thing as an environmentally unfriendly reproductive health decision. $167,000 the bureaucracy has spent or is proposing to spend on free education and health care to migrants in Ecuador and Venezuela. $67,000 to provide insect powder to children in Madagascar.
“Mr. President, have you ever had insect powder? Don't answer that. I don't think I’m even supposed to be asking you under the Senate rules. But I haven't had it. . . . The bureaucracy wants to spend $5.1 million to strengthen the ‘resilience of LGBTQ global movements, and the president asked us to take it out. $833,000 for services for transgender people, sex workers, and their clients and sexual networks in Nepal. $643,000 for LGBTQIA programs in the western Balkans. $567,000 for LGBTQIA programs in Uganda. $33,000 for being LGBTQIA in the Caribbean.
“In the area of the climate, Mr. President, the bureaucrats want to spend—and President Trump wants us to take it out—$6 million appropriated for net-zero cities in Mexico, $2.1 million for climate resilience in Southeast Asia, Latin America and east Africa, $416,700 for climate adaptation, including growing coral reefs, in the Caribbean. $500,000 for Rwanda to buy electric buses. Your money. $8,000 to promote vegan food in Zambia. . . . The bureaucracy wants to spend $1 million on voter ID programs in Haiti. If you know anything about Haiti, it's a mess. They're not about to have elections any time soon. $889,000 for electoral reforms and voter education in Kenya.
“In the area of media arts and culture, the bureaucracy proposes to spend $6 million to support media organization and civic life in Palestine, and $3 million for Iraqi Sesame Street.
“This is just a taste, Mr. President. This list is illustrative, it's not exhaustive. So when you see us debating whether we should reduce the federal budget by $9.3 billion, which the House has already decided to do and now it's our turn, and I say—which I have repeatedly said and will continue to say—is that all the president is asking us to do is cut the spending porn from the budget.
“You can make up your own mind. It's your money. If you think we ought to be spending the money on this, encourage us to vote no, but if you think you could spend this money of yours better than the bureaucracy could or we could spend on our kids or our roads or our health care, then encourage us to vote yes.”
Watch Kennedy’s speech here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and 53 other lawmakers in sending a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick recognizing the Trump administration’s efforts to secure deals with foreign countries that level the playing field for American farmers, energy producers and manufacturers.
The letter specifically highlights the momentum for engaging in trade negotiations that President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on implementation of certain tariffs presents and notes the potential for agreements that lower trade barriers on American goods.
“We write to you to express our strong support for ongoing trade negotiations to level the playing field for American producers and manufacturers. President Trump’s decision to pause the implementation of certain reciprocal tariffs creates momentum to secure meaningful and enforceable agreements for U.S. agricultural producers, energy producers, and manufacturers,” the lawmakers began.
“International trade is fundamental to the continued success and vitality of U.S. industry, particularly agriculture. Many of the commodities grown in the U.S. are dependent on access to export markets, including grains, oilseeds, specialty crops, and livestock products,” they added.
“Certain barriers may require long-term negotiations. However, we are confident in your ability to utilize this 90-day pause to come to agreements that can benefit all American industries while providing opportunity for continued dialogue,” the members of Congress continued.
“We applaud the President for seeking to renew American leadership in global trade and secure meaningful market access for American industries. We look forward to working together on a trade policy agenda that strengthens American industry, agriculture, and rural communities,” they concluded.
Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) and 43 members of the House of Representatives also joined the letter.
The full letter is available here.
