UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST

On 2026-09-28, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) delivered a floor speech titled "UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST" in the Senate.

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 153 (Monday, September 28, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 153 (Monday, September 28, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S5065-S5067] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I come to the floor to propose that Democrats and Republicans join together to stop a monumentally horrific idea, an idea called Trump's triumphal arch. It distorts our history while destroying historic views. It disregards the Constitution's separation of powers. It disrupts air safety at DC's Ronald Reagan Airport, and it disrespects the sacrifices of our veterans and their families. How much worse could an idea possibly be? Then, when Trump encountered fierce pushback about this unfunded, unauthorized construction, he invoked a national security justification, saying the arch would house drones and snipers and ammunition. This is a replay of the justification that he used on his billion-dollar ballroom, gold-plated boondoggle. Those oversight procedures called an authorization by Congress and funding by Congress are absolutely inherent to our Constitution, and we should absolutely not be going forward or be allowing anything to go forward that so blatantly violates so much of what we stand for. Let's talk about why a memorial arch distorts our history. We are a Republic. We are not a monarchy. We are not an imperial regime. It is called a democratic republic. I would like the President of the United States to actually understand the difference. With this arch, he is imitating what the Roman Empire did in commemorating great military victories and leaders. The Arc de Triomphe, in [[Page S5066]] Paris, was commissioned in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon. While Trump may fancy himself a modern American emperor, his war in Iran is hardly a great military victory. It is quite the opposite. It is a towering, 250-foot-tall edifice, topped with golden statues--twice as tall as the nearby Lincoln Memorial that has such a place in the heart of every American, 100 feet taller than the Arc de Triomphe, and 30 feet taller than the largest triumphal arch in the world--the Monumento a la Revolucion in Mexico City. Imitating emperors and authoritarians is not what America is about. Constructing things with no authorization and no funding is in violation of the separation of powers. Let's talk about disregarding the Constitution. Under Federal law, only Congress has the power to approve the placement of new monuments and memorials on Federal lands. It is written into law to ensure that memorials are the product of deliberation and consensus, accountability through the legislative process. But there has been no legislative process in this Congress or any prior Congress that said something about putting a massive arch, disrupting the connection between the Mall and the Lincoln Monument and the Arlington Cemetery. No such discussion has taken place. No congressional deliberation. No congressional authorization. No congressional funding. And yet Trump is planning to divert funds from other accounts while American families are struggling--struggling--because of the high cost of gas and diesel and groceries, fertilizer. Everyone is hurting, but Trump wants to build this massive monument to himself in violation of the very premises of our Constitution. And now he has this brilliant idea. He says he is the smartest man around. His brilliant idea is to launch drones into the air in the runway up to the Reagan Airport. Can someone please explain to him that launching drones into the air with oncoming jets is a bad idea. Just last year, 67 civilians were killed in a flash of light when a plane collided there with a military helicopter. In August of this year, the Presidential helicopter Marine One lifted off at the same time as a jet was taking off from the airport, and that gave a lot of people anxiety. They did not hit each other, thankfully, but close calls are scary as hell. And now Trump says the arch will house a large number of drones to be launched up in the air to counter national security threats. Launching drones directly into the approach of DC's airports is a reckless invitation for a collision. And Trump's proposed arch disrespects the sacrifices of our veterans and their families. Back when I was working for the Secretary of Defense, I traveled through Arlington Cemetery a lot. It is a sacred place. More than 400,000 military servicemembers are laid to rest there across the river. The Americans buried there died defending a Republic by and for the people, not defending a dictator or a sovereign, not defending an imperial regime. A triumphal arch in the tradition of dictators and authoritarians is an insult to their sacrifice defending our Republic. Veterans and their families have come forth and said: Please don't do this. The observation deck that Trump wants to build violates the solemnity of the cemetery's hallowed grounds. As one Gold Star mother put it--a Gold Star mother is someone who lost her son or daughter in battle--she said: We don't need tourists overlooking the funerals. So this arch, it distorts our very premise and soul of our country as a Republic. It disregards the separation of powers of our Constitution. It disrupts the air safety of DC's Reagan National Airport, and it disrespects the services and the sacrifices of our veterans buried at Arlington Cemetery. This legislation is very simple and cosponsored by several of my colleagues, and it simply says this: that this arch cannot be built without authorization in law. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of this bill at the desk and that the bill be considered read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator from Utah. Mr. LEE. I object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard. Mr. MERKLEY. I would ask my colleague from Utah--and I appreciate his staying for this--if I reframe this, if I come back and say unanimous consent, if I come back tomorrow and say let's have debate for an hour on this and actually vote on it, would you object to that or would you approve that, let us debate it and consider it? Mr. LEE. I object. Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I would like to think that at least, as those in the Senate carried the oath of our office to defend the prerogatives of our Constitution and separation of powers, we could at least debate such a bill rather than block it. Unanimous Consent Request Mr. President, I have a second bill I would like to see us pass tonight by unanimous consent. To be summed up in a sentence, a memorial to honor a President of the United States, designated by an act of Congress, may not be demolished unless authorized by an act of Congress. This has, of course, to do with the President planning to demolish the Kennedy Center. Kennedy said: A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, [and] the men it remembers. And those words have taken on special meaning this month. Following President Kennedy's assassination, Congress renamed the National Cultural Center the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a ``living memorial'' to our slain President--a ``living memorial'' to our slain President. I was in second grade on the West Coast. The word came. Everything shut down immediately. The Nation wept. And this is the way we honored President Kennedy. It was a fitting memorial to a President who reminded us: The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of the nation, is close to the center of a nation's purpose. But now we are in a chapter where President Trump wants to demolish this memorial. He wants to demolish this enormously incredible building, which hosts operas and plays and ballets, concerts, the Kennedy Center's Honors Program that is watched by millions of Americans every year celebrating our Nation's most revered artists. But the doors have been locked shut at the Kennedy Center. How did that happen? Last year, when President Trump won election, took office, he filled the Board of the Kennedy Center with loyalists. He installed himself as chairman. He renamed the institution after himself, not because he asked for legislation to do so but because, with his imperial mindset, he can put his name on anything he wants because he is the imperial ruler of our country. But we are not a nation with an imperial ruler, a man sitting on a throne to whom people must genuflect. We are a Republic. And there is a stark difference in the ways that the two Presidents' names were added to this building. In 1964, the U.S. Congress passed a law to remember President Kennedy's commitment to the arts. That was the legislation that made the Kennedy Center this living memorial. And then, in 2025, Donald Trump broke that law by renaming the Kennedy Center after himself. It is wrong--constitutionally, legislatively, morally. Morally, the Kennedy Center has been a place for generations where people of both parties go to celebrate the arts. They put aside their politics. They honor America's artists. They revel in incredible performances. Back in 1977, I dropped out of college for a year to be here, to be here during the first year of the Carter administration to see how a new administration would shape a change of course for our Nation. And during that year, I worked all these different odd jobs and volunteered for different groups. And I was volunteering for an environmental nonprofit. They were working on the Law of the Sea, a treaty that never has come before this Chamber almost a half century later, Law of the Sea. In [[Page S5067]] walks someone--they said: There is a concert tonight that pertains to the environment and the Law of the Sea. Would anybo