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Congressional Daily Record
This section covers nominations, confirmations, or other executive branch business. It mentions members such as John Wright Hickenlooper.
Official title: Trump Administration (Executive Calendar)
Issued
June 24, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, as a former English major, one of the great tales in Greek mythology was the legend of King Midas.
As the story goes, Midas was granted a wish. He wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.
At first, it seemed like a blessing. Twigs became gold. Stones became gold.
Midas thought he had found true wealth. But he soon realized it wasn't much of a blessing. It was more of a curse.
Midas' food turned to gold. His water turned to gold. And, eventually, even his daughter turned to gold.
Take his gold-plated ballroom. The President promised it wouldn't cost taxpayers a nickel, but those promises turned out to be fool's gold.
The cost has skyrocketed and President Trump now wants to spend $300 million of your taxpayer money to pay for it. He is not building affordable housing in Denver, Durango; he is building a ballroom for himself and his rich friends to enjoy.
President Trump promised to drain the swamp; instead he has turned the Reflecting Pool into an algae-infested bird killer. The administration awarded a no-bid contract for this project to President Trump's neighbor, one of his donors. The renovation was supposed to cost $1.5 million. It is now estimated at $16 million, and the job still isn't done.
subsidies or reverse the Medicaid cuts that will kick 240,000 Coloradans off of their healthcare. His Reflecting Pool got a makeover while our insurance pool was gutted.
Cemetery. While planning this project, he unilaterally, on his own volition, went to war with Iran, promising immediate victory, total and complete.
their lives. When asked about the tragic casualties, President Trump said:
[T]here will likely be more before it ends. That's the way
it is.
That's the way it is.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.