Last week the independent federal Energy Regulatory commission, even one stuffed with trump appointees, rejected secretary perrys proposed power grid reliability rule to subsidize coal and nuclear plants. The ferc commissioners found that the commission failed to meet clear and legal requirements like that the result will be just and reasonable under the federal power act. As an aside here, the theory of the coal industry was that their units provide more reliability than renewables. Well, tell that to iowas electric grid operators who have baked iowas abundant wind energy not just into their flow but into their reliability modeling. Tell that to new englands i. S. O. Which has allowed renewables into its capacity auctions to be paid for meeting base Load Capacity requirements. And of course tell that to anyone who has had to deal with scheduled and unscheduled outages at coal plants. When i went on one of my climate visits to, in this case, tennessee, i heard about a coal plant that had to be shut down because Climate Change had warmed the river and shrunk the flow so that the river used to cool the plant was no longer adequate to cool the plant, and they had to go into an unscheduled outage. Wind and solar are very reliable, and the i. S. O. s have baked the algorithms that quantify their reliability into their grid reliability planning. The coal is reliable and renewables arent argument may pass muster on talk shows, but in the real world of grid operators, its nonsense. Ferc, a as a rule of law agencys required to face that fact. Americas courts also stand in the way of the bob murray action plan agenda. Murray, for instance, has demanded that e. P. A. Overturn its 2009 endangerment finding. The administrative finding that Greenhouse Gas emissions like Carbon Dioxide and methane and so forth threaten the Public Health and welfare of current and future generations. That is their finding, that those Greenhouse Gas emissions threaten the health and welfare of current and future generations. Thats why its called an endangerment finding, because of the danger to the public. Well, good luck challenging that determination in a court of law. In fact, the United States court of appeals for the d. C. Circuit has already upheld the endangerment finding back in 2012. Even the fossil fuel flungy running the e. P. A. Now knows better than to challenge that endangerment finding. If he thought he could, he would in a heartbeat, but he is clever enough to know what an avalanche of climate evidence would fall in on his head if he tried. Witnesses from virtually every leading State University in the country, from alaska to oklahoma to georgia to maine, expert scientists from idaho or tennessee, our National Security agencies and our military, americas government watchdog agencies like the g. A. O. And the g. S. A. , and even the trump administrations own recent climate report all all would pile on the conclusive evidence of Climate Change. And on the or side would be what . Pathetic Kathleen Waite who gave one of the worst confirmation hearings. The secretly fossil fuelfunded willie soon, some Coal Company Lobbyist . Or perhaps the Heartland Institute with its proud history of comparing climate scientists to the unibomber. Mr. President , it would be a route. It would be a route, and even pruitt knows t and the the reason it would be a route is because of the rule of law. The rule of law requirements of the administrative procedures act, the rule of law specter of judicial review, and the rule of law sanctions that courts impose for false evidence. Certainly bob murray and his surrounding crowd of bad acting fossil fuel billionaires know how to throw their political weight around. We see everywhere the phony science denial apparatus they have created. We see their false and toxic message, even in outlets like the wall street journal editorial page. We see their lobbying front groups like the u. S. Chamber continuing adamantly to oppose any serious climate legislation despite the contrary position of companies on their board of directors. American elections stink with their dark money and promises and threats. Their flungies have now been their flunkie have now been but ultimately the polluters drive put profit first above the health and safety of americans will face strict scrutiny in the truthbased arena of federal courts. Ultimately it will also face the harsh test of time and the fact that they knew and the fact that they lied becomes ever more obvious and ever more odious. And ultimately the American Voter will have her say about whether this Great Republic should be under the dominion and control of the fossil fuel industry or free to address the problem of Climate Change as a rational world leader must. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Lankford mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from oklahoma. Mr. Lankford mr. President , a few days ago our nation stopped and remembered dr. Dr. Martin lur king jr. Its entirely appropriate for us to do. It is a holiday set aside to be able no not only remember but to reflect and to try to figure out where are we now . This year is especially significant. 50 years ago this year dr. King was assassinated, in april of 1968. A lot of things have changed in that time period. Quite frankly, as a nation weve learned a lot about race. We no longer as a nation talk about threefifths of a man anymore, rightfully so, and were appalled by our history. We no longer have separate water fan trains set up in restaurants or tell people because of their background, their family, their skin color, they can take food to go but they cant come in and sit down. Weve come a long way in hiring. Weve come to a long by that just our communities and our schools. Work is not done. We still have a long way to go, quite frankly. Martin luther king jr. Was bold enough to be able to challenge the church first and then the nation and then the world, and we have an issue around the issue of race. He was going to challenge us to confront it. Rightfully so. He challenged us on the issue of racial justice, on poverty, on education, but he also challenged us on the way that we speak out on issues. And i think we lose track of that as a culture. Quite frankly, as a senate and nation, were losin losing tracf one of the things that Martin Luther king challenged us on. There is a right way to confront issues and a wrong way to Congress Front issues. Dr. King did something revolutionary. He pushed a community to confront injustice the right w way, and he won. He made radical statements, statements like darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Dr. King said, ive decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. Love is the only force capable of transitioning and transforming an enemy into a friend. For whatever reason, we lose track of dr. Kings statements about love is a powerful thing. And we start as a culture responding with hate to respond to hi hate. And when someone says something hateful, we respond with something more hateful back at them. Doesnt actually solve anything. And we lose the great model that he really set for us on that. If we want to make enemies friends, only love can do that. Only relationships can do that. Only pressing a friend to do the right thing can do that. Now, is that happening in our culture . No. It is in spots, but its not hard to go on any of our social media sites at any moment and be able to see the challenge on our social media sites is not love driving out hate. It is hate attacking hate. I just glanced at some of the things as of late as i was preparing for this conversation. I looked backwards at a few of the posts on my own sites. Controversial statements that i made when i did a post that just said, happy new year. A stinging controversial post that was responded to by someone saying, loser, liar, traitor. How much money did you take from russia, comrade . To my statement of happy new year. I made a statement about how kids that came in under daca should be treated differently. These are kids that didnt break the law. These are kids that are like the 4yearold riding in the back seat of the car when their parent was speeding. When the parent is pulled over, they dont give the kid a ticket. I made just a quick post about that. And the response to that among many, was what is with his hair color . Dude, get it done professionally. You look terrible. I just have to say to you, dude, this is done by a professional. God gave me this hair color. And so there is no bottle involved in this one. Its his work. And id call him a pro. Theres all this talk back and forth about where are we going to go as a culture . And were losing dr. Kings legacy of hate doesnt drive out hate. Only love does that. Theres a lost conversation in this body as well saying things have never been worse in the senate and in congress. I would disagree. Just after the Vice President burr left office, he challenged the secretary of treasury to a duel before he shot the secretary of the treasury dead in a duel. In 1850 in the chamber just right down the hallway here in whats called the Old Senate Chamber here, in 1850 they were work on a compromise and senator foote and senator benton were in an argument and so senator foote reached into his desk in the middle of the argument and pulled out his piss poll is while sweeping at senator benton to which senator benton jumped on one of the desks still in the room today, jumped on the desk, pulled open his coat saying i dont have a gun. Shoot me. Shoot. Which they wrestled senator foote to the floor and took his begun away from him. People can assure you its never been worse. I can assure you its been worse. What we do have responsibility for is our time, setting the tone for difficult debate in this moment. The arguments that happen on the senate floor and the violence on this senate floor including senator sumner almost being beaten to death with a cane before the civil war set a path into the civil war for the nation. Whats the path were taking the nation on right now in our debate . As a nation, i have a simple reminder thats not mine, thats of a powerful american leader named dr. King, who said, hate does not drive out hix for anyone whos look at whats happening in our culture and in politics right now, saying if only i Say Something more hateful than the last guy, this will get better, youve missed his point. Dr. King was deeply moved by scripture, and theres multiple examples of it in his writings and in his speeches. But he quoted passages over and over again like from first john. Since god so loved you we also ought to love one another. Psalm 34 8, taste and see that the lord is good. Over and over again he came back to scripture as just a simple reminder that things can be different for us and he challenged the church in moments like his letter from birmingham jail, and he challenged culture. In fact, we lose track of the fact that during the civil rights movement, dr. King was working with both parties to establish platforms for both parties that would respect the dignity of all americans. Its a good path that has been set for us. In the middle of our conversation about dr. King, i would hope that we would remember it. Let me make one quick side note as well. Its kind of a fun note for those of us in oklahoma because the story of dr. King many people may note almost didnt happen the way that we heard it did, because in 1953, just finishing up seminary in the middle of his doctoral work when he was just Martin Luther king, not dr. Martin luther king. He was still working at boston university. He came to a small church in Oklahoma City that was well respected in the civil rights movement, Calvary Baptist church. In 1952, Calvary Baptist hosted a conference that had Thurgood Marshall there as their speaker. In 1953, dr. King was interviewed there to be one of the pastors at Calvary Baptist church. The elders of the church heard him, read about him, met him, and then turned him down. This is my favorite quote from one of the elders of the church. They said they didnt think he had enough gravy on him yet. He was too young, not experienced enough. That was in 1953. Ten years later, he was standing on the mall right down the street, saying i have a dream, leading the entire country. I say that to say sometimes we have this assumption that were in control. Were not. Gods in control. He has a path and a plan that sometimes even when we here know hard things, we find out he has a path that may look different than ours. I would only challenge us as a body to be able to do the right thing, the right way, and to see where that takes us. As it says in psalms 34, taste and see that the lord is good, to do it the right way, and lets see how this works out together. Its a simple reminder and a simple admonition to a body that could use some words from dr. King and see if we can put them into practice together. With that, mr. President , i would yield the floor. Ms. Hirono mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from hawaii. Ms. Hirono mr. President , when the sun rose last saturday in hawaii, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. People on kauai were getting ready to participate in the local march to commemorate dr. Dr. Martin luther king jr. Day. Families were sitting around the table eating breakfast. Others were sleeping in after a long week of work. At 8 07, everything changed. Mobile phones throughout hawaii received an Emergency Alert in all capital letters, informing them of a Ballistic Missile threat inbound to hawaii and that this was not a drill. The terror and panic were real, and peoples reactions reflected that. Parents passed their children through Manhole Covers into the sewers seeking safety for them. Separated family members took to the highways, driving as fast as 100 Miles Per Hour to get home. Some had to decide whether to rush to be with their spouse or their children. 38 minutes later, an Emergency Alert came through saying that there was no missile threat, false alarm. The relief was palpable. This relief gave way to real visceral anger, anger that there was a false alarm, anger that it took 38 minutes to alert the public, anger that we faced a missile threat at all. This incident has undermined the publics faith in our State Governments ability to provide timely and Accurate Information about a potential crisis. At a time when we face heightened tensions around the world and particularly with regard to north korea, it is crucial that the people of hawaii have confidence in the government to provide Accurate Information. Its why i am calling for a thorough, transparent investigation into what occurred. We need a full accounting of the human and system failures that occurred, and we need to identify and put in place the civic steps to make sure specific steps to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. What we do know is that the incident was a result of human error. An operator mistakenly triggered the alert. Although the error was discovered quickly, we need to better understand the circumstances that led up to the incident. We need to understand how the operator was trained. We need to identify and understand any other potential issues that resulted in this specific human error. The state has appointed an investigator to get to the bottom of this, and the state legislature is scheduled to be briefed on preliminary findings this friday. Once the circumstances that precipitated this error are identified, we of course need to correct them as quickly as possible. Concurrently, we need to understand the system failures that resulted both in the false alert and in the 38minute delay before the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency or hawaii e. M. A. Issued a correction. Why did hawaii e. M. A. Officials believe they needed approval from the federal Emergency Management agency, fema, to issue a correction . The secretary of Homeland Security told me at a hearing yesterday that no such permission was necessary, pointing to a need for clarity regarding agency responsibilities. State governments oversee and operate local Emergency Management alert systems, but the federal communications commission, the f. C. C. , and the department of Homeland Security through fema have a role to play to make sure that these systems are operating properly. During yesterdays hearing in the judiciary committee, secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen committed to working with me to strengthen the federalstate cooperation on Emergency Alerts, assess potential failures, and improve overall readiness in hawaii and across our country. The f. C. C. Is also conducting an investigation into what happened. The entire nation will benefit in these key as these key federal agencies work with states to close gaps in training and communication, Institute Best practices, and assure states and local governments have the appropriate resources to prevent this kind of occurrence from happening again. This false alert also clarified the importance of strong coordination between the State Government and our military. Over the weekend, i also spoke with admiral harris of Pacific Command about ways to strengthen this coordination, particularly during a period of heightened tensions with north korea. The fact that the people in hawaii immediately assumed that the missile originated from north korea speaks to the broad concern about the potential for a conflict and the threat that north korea poses to our state and the rest of the country. We need to support and strengthen diplomatic efforts regarding north korea, because at a time of heightened tension between the United States and north korea, the potential for miscalculations increase. The president , rather than engaging in a tit for tat with kim jongun should be supporting secretary of state Rex Tillersons efforts to engage in meaningful diplomacy and marshall the support of our allies to diffuse tensions with north korea. I spoke earlier with secretary of Defense James Mattis to emphasize the urgency of resolving the situation peacefully, knowing that he had just returned from a multinational meeting with a number of key allies, including japan and south korea. This meeting was to focus on north korean provocations. This meeting was cosponsored by secretary of state Rex Tillerson in vancouver. Secretary mattis was at that meeting to provide a military perspective, and he reiterated to me in our conversation the importance of strong diplomatic efforts to resolve tensions with north korea. I call on the president to support these kinds of initiatives and to give secretary tillerson all the resources he needs to succeed in his diplomatic endeavors. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from kansas. Mr. Moran we had a very special day in the United States capitol this afternoon. Im grateful that we as a nation were able to honor senator robert dole by presenting him with the congressional gold medal. Its the highest civilian horn that the United States can bestow. He joins he, senator dole, joins a list of very esteemed americans, going back to 1776 with president George Washington as the first recipient of this award. The gold medal shows our highest expression of National Appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions, and senator dole was such a deserving recipient of this award. It was a real honor and pleasure for me to be there to see this take place. Senator dole is known augustly as a former member of the United States senate, a majority leader of the senate and a president ial candidate. I would put the attributes that i most respect senator doles service in the military. Senator dole joined the army shortly after the attack on pearl harbor. He was 21 years old and left russell, kansas, and ended up on a battlefield in the hills and mountains of italy. He suffered for nine hours after being hit by a nazi bullet. He did tremendous to his body and to his life. But that wasnt the end as it could be for some people. Even if people continued to live after these traumatic injuries, this was a Recovery Process that began that day for senator dole. I once heard a story about bob doles commitment to our country that stuck with me. There is lots of dole stories, particularly in kansas. Bob dole used his injuries to learn about caring not for himself but for others, and his service in world war ii, again what i greatly admire and esteem, also resulted in his effort to raise the money, no taxpayer dollars involved in building the world war ii memorial now on the national mall. Senator dole took that task on. He made certain that that happened for his soldiers and fellow colleagues that served in world war ii. He went out and raised the money across the country. He was out in hollywood, in california. He was visiting with one of those people who have lots of money. Senator dole asked for that persons support for this project. He was told by that wealthy person that he was not interested. I have other priorities. Senator dole responded to that mogul that when i was 22, i had other priorities, too, and then i went to war. Thats the bob dole that every day since then has gone to battle on behalf of americans. Other kansans and people across our country. His service in many ways began in his military service but continued every day since his days in the tenth mountain division. During his nearly 36 years on capitol hill, senator dole became known as the leader who worked relentlessly to forge alliances and to pass significant legislation. Today he serves as a role model for those of us involved in this legislative process. We ought to be fully engaged in the kind of Public Service that senator dole represented. Senator dole has used his experiences to be a champion every day for those individuals with disabilities and for veterans. Coming from kansas, he had an appreciation for those who were in need of food. Senator dole grew up in the depression and knew tough times, but it became a goal for him to see that people who were hungry were fed. Its one of the reasons i continue to chair and work in the Senate Hunger caucus, kansas a place in which we raise lots of food, recognize there are lots of people who are still hungry. We have a role that we can play, and senator dole provided the leadership to accomplish that. I now occupy this desk, kind of an Amazing Development that this is the desk that senator dole had on the senate floor during his time here, and this desk allows me to be reminded of a type of Public Service that too often we think is a thing of the past. It doesnt have to be a thing of the past, it can be a thing of the present, and each of us can use that role model to make certain that in our day we do the things necessary to bring people together to find solutions to common problems. There probably is no one living from kansas more admired and respected than senator bob dole. For three decades, he was our congressman and our senator. And he grew up just down the road in russell, kansas, a few miles from my hometown. And ive seen what continues today the love and respect of kansans, but particularly those from small town and particularly those from his small town of russell, their regard for him. And we ought to work every day to honor his legacy. There is something growing up in small town america. Theres tkeufrpss of opinions differences of opinions in small towns, theres people who go to this church and that church. But when youre in a small town, you have no choice but to figure out how to get along, how to solve problems and how to Work Together. Bob dole brought that kansas common sense, goodwill, desire to have achievements instead of a fight to the United States senate. So i honor senator dole for his military service and for his Public Service as an official of our government, an elected official. And i thank him for his efforts on behalf of veterans, on behalf of people with disabilities, on behalf of people who are hungry. And i ask my colleagues in honoring senator dole in presenting him a medal today that thats not all we do, that we honor his work by doing ours better. Ive been with senator dole at the world war ii memorial when honor flights come to washington, d. C. , hes there and hes there almost every time a kansas group comes to the world war ii memorial. But hes there when almost any group of world war ii veterans come to visit the world war ii memorial, and ive watched the way they respond to him and the Mutual Respect between him and fellow veterans is inspiring and unparalleled. Im a Firm Believer that we change the world one person at a time, one soul at a time. And bob dole has been making that difference, changing the lives for 94 years. So thank you, senator dole, for your distinguished service to our country and especially to our state, our home state of kansas. The world is a better place because youre in it, and we hope that you take great satisfaction by knowing that your colleagues in Congress Today honor you with the congressional gold medal because it reflects the truth of what a high quality person of character you are. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Before i do so, i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its Business Today it adjourn until 11 00 a. M. , thursday, january 18. Further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. Further, following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of the motion to concur in the house amendment to accompany s. 139, finally the time following leader remarks until 2 15 be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. I meant 12 15. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Mcconnell if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senators graham, flake, and our democratic colleagues. The presiding officer without objection. The senator from south carolina. Mr. Graham i appreciate the majority leader allowing us to do this. To the president and presiding officer, thank you very much for trying to fix a difficult problem called immigration. Im going to start with what drives my train the most. I want to fix a broken immigration system. Theres 700,000, 800,000 Daca Recipients who are going to go into chaos march 5 if we dont do something. As for the president , i think you were right to end this program and give congress a chance to fix it through the legislative process. I thought president obama overreached through executive action. You said march 5 were going to replace daca with legislation. The only way that works, mr. President , is for you to help us and lead us to the right answer. But the one thing i can tell you that drives my train the most is rebuilding a broken military. We have an opportunity here to fix two problems. Help the men and women in the military who have suffered mightily from sequestration, to get them more money at a time they need it. And to provide certainty to 800,000 young people who have no other country to call home than america, again, to repair a broken border, start transforming a broken immigration system marching to comprehensive reform in phase two. But the reason im here tonight is i see an opportunity to do something that we should have done years ago, increase defense spending consistent with the threats we face. Heres where defense secretary mattis said june 12, 2017. No enemy in the field has done more to harm the combat readiness of our military than sequestration. Congress has shot down more planes and sunk more ships by denying the military the assets they need to build new equipment, to replace old equipment, to keep people in the field in the fight and other people trained, ready to go to the fight. General milley, the chief staff of the army, said if we return to sequestration, the army will be required to draw down end strength even further, reduce funding for readiness, increase the risk of sending untrained and poorly equipped soldiers into harms way. So this is the head of the army saying that if we cant get our act together and increase military funding in a more permanent way, if we go back into sequestration, youre requiring me to increase the risk of sending undertrained and poorly equipped soldiers into harms way. If that doesnt motivate you, what will . Permanent relief from the budget control act with predictability funding is absolutely critical to rebuilding air force capability capacity and readiness. We have lost a lot of capacity. Our readiness is at an alltime low because were having to rob peter to pay paul to keep the planes in the air and the air force. The budget control act and cap sequestration has cost us between 4 billion and 5 billion due to the starting and stopping of acquisition programs, the inability to start new programs. Thats the navy secretary, october 28. I could go through line by line whats happened under sequestration. 62 of the f18s in the marine corps and navy cant fly because we dont have enough spare parts. We have a chance here to fix that problem. To my democratic colleagues, i am convinced that you care about this too. I am convinced that you will work with President Trump to increase military funding and the majority leader senator mcconnell. I want to thank senator mcconnell for putting a number on the table consistent with the problems we face in the military. Its 130 billion over two years. To my democratic friends, i do expect you to get some nondefense spending increases because sequestration is hurt across the board. The n. I. H. Has been kept alive because of a bipartisan effort. The f. B. I. Will have less agents this year than they did in 2013 because of sequestration. The c. I. A. , the n. S. A. , all of these defense programs under the nondefense portion of the budget have suffered, and they need help too. So what i would like to do is to ask the congress to stop the s show and grow up. Act consistent with the greatness of this country, find a way to Work Together on the layup. If youre looking for political cover to deal with increased military funding, 70 of the peopleplus believe we need more military funding. If youre looking for political cover to deal with the daca population, 82 of the daca population are supported by the public. 82 of the public supports a pathway to citizenship for the daca population. I cant find too many issues that poll like that. This is fox news poll, which means its true. 79 of americans and 63 of trump voters favor granting citizenship to Illegal Immigrants under 30 brought here as children. 63 of trump voters understand that we need Border Security, but they have no animosity towards these young people who came here at the age of six on average and literally have lived their lives here with no place else to go and heres the good news. Wed be crazy to want them to leave. If you met any of these dream kids the last thing you would want them to do is leave. There are bad people in every population. There are 900 people in the population of daca kids in the military. 20,000 teachers. On march 5, i dont want someone to have to deal with the fact that a fifth grade teacher who everybody likes has got to leave the country. Thats insane. So i know that my democratic colleagues will support more defense funding with the understanding that the congress, through legislation, deal with the daca problem, and that they are willing to put money into the system for Border Security, they are willing to make a downpayment on changing our immigration system to more merit. At the end of the day there is a deal to be had it just needs to be done. And the reason that the Bipartisan Group that im a part of came about is because nobody was doing much of anything. Im not getting in anybodys way. Weve had months to figure out what to do. Just a couple of weeks ago, less than a couple of weeks ago, the four whips of the house and senate began to work on this. To be honest with you, thats a bit late. As to the president , we cant do this without you. This was one of the centerpieces of your campaign, immigration. President obama tried and failed, and i appreciate his effort. President bush tried and failed, and i appreciate what he did and i worked with both of them across the aisle to pass bills in the senate with 60plus votes to only go to the house and die. To my house colleagues, i know this is a tough problem for you, if President Trump can find a way to have a solution, i think it will allow the house to finally act. On tuesday we had an unusual meeting with the president of the United States where about 40 members of the house and senate from both sides of the aisle spent 55 minutes on national tv watching President Trump listen, cajole and urge us to find a bipartisan solution. This is what he said tuesday. This should be a bill of love. Truly it should be a bill of love, and we can do that, but it also has to be a bill where we are able to secure our border. Youre right, mr. President. Security and compassion are not inconsistent. As a matter of fact you cant have one without the other. Lets do phase one and go to comprehensive tomorrow. He urged us to come up with a bipartisan product and he wants to sign it. President obama, on tuesday, showed a command of the issues, the right approach to a difficult problem, urging us to Work Together in a bipartisan fashion. He talked about securitys essential but understood that compassion and love have to be part of this because these kids literally have no place to go. They have put their roots down in america. They were brought here by their parents, and i dont believe President Trump wants to kick them out march 5. To my friends at the white house. On january 4, we had a meeting with republicans with the president , and i had a bipartisan proposal that i was working on with senator gardner, flake, and menendez. Nobody was surprised by what we were doing. I said this is a good position to start from. Can it be made better . Yes. Senator tillis and lankford had the succeed act. We met with them and i think we adopted a lot of their good ideas. At the end of the day the dream act by senators durbin became more like the succeed act. Thursday, about 10 00 i get a phone call from senator durbin. I just talked to the president to let me know that we reached an agreement. On january 4, i said were 99 there. Senator durbin called me and said i had a good conversation with the president. He wants to hear what weve done. Hes encouraged by it, and i made a request to go to the white house. General kelly came over at about 11 00. I went through the proposal which had been shared numerous times, and he said, what about this, what did that. I said its all about getting the process started. Were not going to get comprehensive on our side for daca and then hope one day we will do this immigration. We have to have a phase one on all four areas outlined by the president. By the time we got there at noon there were more people at the meeting and all i can say is what happened between tuesday and thursday i dont know, between 10 and 12, i dont know, but it took us in the wrong direction. The president i saw on tuesday is the man who can close this deal and lead this country to get an answer that president obama could never get. We are where we are. To my good friend senator perdue, i share your desire to replace chain migration with meritbased immigration. One day well have a system where the Nuclear Family gets green cards which will free up millions of green cards for a workforce we desperately need. The only way you will get that is to deal with the democrats and give them what they are wanting out of this deal. They are not going to give us what we want the most, which is Legal Immigration, secure border, and a meritbased immigration system based on daca, and let me tell you why. What leverage do they have with the 10 million Illegal Immigrants that they would like to see have a better life too . Almost none. To my colleagues on the other side, from the very first day i sat down and talked to you, what did i tell you . I have no animosity toward the 11 million. I just dont want any crooks or bad people. Lets not do this every 20 years. Lets secure our border, have an everify system that works, lets give the 11 million who can come out of the shadows and not criminals have a chance to get right by the law, pass an english pro fish enzi exam pro fish prefish enter exam. A path to citizen that ily citizenship that i think will be earned. How did 11 Million People get here . They did not sneak up on us. If you know anything about south carolina, there is a lot of tourism. If you go to a golf course in south carolina, you will see beautiful golf courses maintained by good people. And youre going to see mostly hispanics. If you go to a meatpacking plant in south carolina, youre going to see people doing a job you wouldnt want, making a decent living, working really hard, and most of them are hispanic. How did this happen . Most of us look the other way as people came to our country trying to make a better life. Some crooks, some rapists, some drug dealers, most are good people looking to improve their lot in life. I want to do a deal and deal with the reality that these people are here and have been here forking a long time and america always needs good people, not just from norway but from all over the world. We need a reliable partner at the white house. General kelly, i admire general kelly, i admire greatly. Hes been leading marines in combat for decades. He is new to being chief of staff. He did a heck of a job creating order out of chaos. But at that meeting he said something that i take exception to. Youve got to stop fiddling. General kelly, as much as i admire you, for ten years i, and many others in this body, have been trying to find a way forward to fix an immigration system thats broken, to turn it into a meritbased immigration system over time, to get 11 million right with the law, increase Legal Immigration so employers dont have to cheat, and make our nation better and stronger. So i havent been fiddling. What i ask the white house is, find out what youre for. I cant read your mind. This proposal just picked up support from more republicans. We didnt write the bible but we gave the president his funding for fy18 for the wall and for security outside the wall. I dont believe were going to gets dz 10 10 billion or 20 billion funded in one year. I dont think thats possible. We began to break chain migration within the daca population, we limit green cards to the Nuclear Family, which is a downpayment on a meritbased immigration system, we eliminated the diversity lottery because its a bad way to give out visas and we took those 50,000 visas and said we should create a meritbased program for those mostly in africa. Heres what he believe, meritbased immigration all over the world, not just in europe. Whats made us special and unique is that we come from everywhere. Were nobodys where we came from and we can be a somebody here. And ive said a couple of times, and ill say it again. Norway is a great place. If youre from norway or norwegian, if youre from america, what are you . You will not know us by the way we look. You will not know us by the way we talk because dick durbin has an accent. We talk differently. We look differently but we have a lot in common, and out of the many weve become one. In an effort to decide who comes to america in the future to fix a broken immigration system, one thing i will never give in to, changing what it means to be an american. There are people from all over the globe dying to get here. We cant accept everybody, but we need to make sure as we go forward in the future which i do not forget we do not forget our past. Out of every country all over the globe weve created Something Special here. Everybodys got a story. My grandfather came from scotland, lindsey graham, could barely read or write. Neither one of my parents finished high school and im in the Senate Thanks to the geed people of south carolina. Everybodys got a story. I dont want those stories to end. I want new chapters, one after another. So to the president , what i saw tuesday was a man that understood what america was all about, was a leader who understood that bipartisanship must occur, understood that love and security are not much mutually exclusive. What i find today is complete chaos. To think that our democratic colleagues are going to give us everything we want on defense and hope one day well deal with the daca population is a bit unrealistic. And count me in for being on your side there. I dont want to put these kids through anymore hell. I dont want to wait until marc. I want to get it done now. We should have done it years ago. And i want to get a downpayment of Border Security and change a broken immigration system, but we cant do it all at once because everybody tells me comprehensive wont work. So lets figure a way to chop it up in two parts. Youve got to start somewhere. So here we are trying to figure out what the hell to do. Let me tell you what we should do. We should listen to the American People. We should do what they want us to do which is to take care of the daca population, rebuild the military, and start fixing a broken immigration system. If we just did what 70 of the American People want us to do, weed figure this we would figure this out. As to the 30 , you have your right to think what you want, along with other republicans, i have been called every name under the sun and im still standing. There are people who will never let us get to yes because they have an irrational view of what it takes to fix this system. There are voices in the white house that we all know very well. Thats been telling us for years, you have too much Legal Immigration and everything is amnesty. Mr. President , dont listen to that voice or those voices because if you do, youre going to be right where obama and bush were. They tried and they failed. We dont have the luxury of failing anymore. March 5 will be here before you know it, and im not going to sit on the sidelines and watch these young Daca Recipients have their life turning pointed upside down because were better as a nation. But equally but more important, i am not going to go any longer in allowing sequestration to destroy the military at a time we need it the most. Look through the eyes after soldier and youll find out what to do on the military. Look through the eyes of a daca recipient, and youll find out what to do there. Dont be blinded by loud voices and hateful people. We owe it to this great nation to fix hard problems. We owe it to those who are in the fight to give them the equipment they need to win a war we cant afford to lose. We owe it to the families of military members to have more certainty, not to be deployed so much. We owe it to ourselves to get these daca kids right with the law because theyll add value to our country. To my democratic colleagues, now is the time. Give us the space. To my republican colleagues, this is a defining moment for our party. Are we going to continue to be the party that cant get to yes . Are we going to continue to be the party that always has a listen not to do reason not to do daca . Or are we going to be the party to finally realize that these young men and women add value to our country and we open them with open arms and theyve got to work to stay, and they will. So to the defense hawks, the only way youre going to get your money is to deal with immigration rationally. Senator, we dont agree on a lot. I bet if you looked at our votes, were 90 one way versus the other. But for ten years you have been a really good partner on comprehensive immigration refo reform. You have given you have made people on your side. To those who think youre going to deal senator durbin out, you know zero about this issue. To senator menino detection you know the to senator menendez, you know the story of america better than i do because your family came here because they had to. America allowed you to leave a place that was horrible. And, boy, is that a great experiment in how things can turn out well. You cancel out my vote most of the time, but i appreciate you being here in this body trying to find a way forward for future immigrants. Your voice on this issue has been a lot to me because i have not walked in your shoes. Senator bennet, thank you for being calm when a lot of us get hot. Thank you for caring about the meatpackers, because thats important to colorado. Thank you for trying to push your party to yes. To the people who have worked with me in the past on the democratic side, some mai may say youve given nothing. I think youve given a good bit. I think we have to. Senator flake, youre from arizona. You and senator mccain know this issue better than i do. He knows what it takes to secure the border, but he also understands the benefit of ilLegal Immigration being fixed for the good of the country. Senator gardner, i didnt know you much at all. Youre the n. R. C. Chairman trying to make sure we hold onto this body. And, god, i hope we do. Nothing personal, but i hope we d i am amazed how strong you have been. You have been under a tremendous amount of pressure to get out of this dealmaking business. And you have withstood that pressure. And the people of colorado should be very proud of you and senator bennet. On this, you have been champions. To the other people who came on board supporting the concept, the proposal either in totality or the idea we need to move forward on my side of the aisle i cannot thank you more. The well was pretty poisoned. To the white house, i want to help you, but youve got to help yourself. There is a way to do business around here thats stood the test of time. And theres some things that will hurt you over time. When people want to help you, you may not agree with them, but you know they want to help you, take the help. When people disagree with you, understand theres always tomorrow. To President Trump, you won the election, you arbeat me. Only you, quite frankly, mr. President , can fix this problem because you have the credibility that others dont. Dont let this moment pass. Dont take us backward. Take us forward. Thank you all for trying really hard for a long period of time to do the right thing. With that, i yield. The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin mr. President , first let me thank my colleague from south carolina. We have worked together for years mainly on this issue, and i just want to tell you, he has demonstrate extraordinary insight and extraordinary courage time and again. I know we wouldnt even be standing here in this conversation without him. Lindsey, thank you. I know that some of the challenges that ive put before you have made life more difficult, and i hope you understand that i always knew you wanted to come to yes. You always wanted to fix this problem. One of the things which he said which id like to share is the passion we feel on this side of the aisle for the security of america. This morning i was invited for breakfast with secretary mattis at the department of defense. I was happy to vote for his confirmation. Hes another patriot, a man who served as a fourstar general n the marine corps. I respect him very much. I want to help him, as the Ranking Member of the defense appropriations subcommittee, i we in these dollar figures mean. It isnt just numbers on a page. Were talking about what secretary mattis toiled toledos this morning. A declaration this fourth c. R. This year cost the pentagon millions of dollars to maintain the same spending level they had last year. Thats wasteful. How many families across america would say, im going to write exactly the same checks i wrote in january 20918 as i wrote in january 23017 . We toe tow to the department of defense and the men and women of the military and the people we represent to keep this nation safe. But i agree with senator graham. We cannot ignore there are other things that are priorities and important. In the nondefense asian to think that in the nondefense area, to think we would shortchange the department o department of n agency you have responsibility for in the Appropriations Committee is a shortsighted effort that even secretary mattis would be quick to say makes no sense at all. We should be giving our department of defense the resources and the people they need to make sure we are dealing at the area of diplomacy as topped to war. Thats just one example. Add the f. B. I. , add the department of Homeland Security. They all need to be properly funded. We cannot run the government of the United States of america, the strongest and biggest economy in the world, one of the most powerful nations in the world, lurching from week to week and month to month without a bucket. I plead with the republican leadership, give us something we can work on together. Look for bipartisan. There are democrats willing to sit down and work with you to solve the problems. But when were given a takeitorleaveit Budget Proposal for four weeks at a time, it is a terrible way to running a country. I hope the leaders come to the simple conclusion. Leet me zero in on the issue that brings most of us to the floor tonight which was addressed by senator graham. I have been at this for a while, a long while. My goal is to make sure that those who were brought to this country as children, who grew up in this country, and as bob menendez has said so forcefully and effectively, pledged allegiance to that flag every morning in the classrooms across america. I have been fighting for years to give them a chance to be part of america, the only many have ever known. It has been a struggle. When i couldnt pass the dream act or get 60 votes in the senate, i went to president obama and begged him to help. He did. Created daca. By president ial executive order he created an opportunity for ultimately 780,000 young people to step up and get protection from deportation and the right to legally work in america. Its been an amazing experience. As senator graham said, it is hard to pick any Large Population of this country and not end up with some people who will embarrass you or some bad apples. I will tell you cannotly over and over again, these young people, these dreamers, these young people protected by daca have shown us over and over again why they have earned our confidence and trust. They worked so hard to be part of this countr countryoforigi. Those of us who were lucky to be born here never went through what they have gone through learning that youre undocumented, realizing that doors are just closed automatically no hat how good you are and how hard you work and they kept at it. Mr. President , i want to tell you, we should be proud of them and we should embrace them as the future of america because they bring so many talents and skills and good values to our country. Well, with the daca program in place and all the people protected, the new president came in and said im going to end it. September 56 last year he announced it would end as of march 5 of this year. They would stop renewing daca protection. 16,000 of these dacaprotected people have fallening out of protected status. Luckily, a California Court last week said keep protecting them until we resolve some of the issues. So they have a temporary, momentarily protective order in their at least that they can turn to when it comes in this california decision. But there is he no certainty of what happens next. When i hear senator mcconnell and others come to the floor and say theres no huer i invite them to meet some of these young people. I met a group in new york. There were about 12 of them in college. Dacaprotected. Theyre working to get through college because they dont qualify for any federal assistance. As they went around the room, they said, senator, we want to each tell you something. 500 days, 420 days, each one of them was telling me how many days they had left of daca protection before they were subject to deportation and could no longer legally work in america. So to say there is know hurry is to overlook the obvious. These young people are tomorrow morning apart. Their families are torn apart because of our lack of action. Well, senator graham and i decided to do something about it and we invited some good friends to join us. On the democratic side, Michael Bennet of colorado and Robert Menendez of new jersey. Weve been through this war before. When we worked on comprehensive Immigration Reform. On the republican side, senator gardner of colorado, senator flake of arizona who is on the floors and senator graham. And we worked at it for a long, long time. We had moments that looked like we were going to fall apart and never reach a conclusion and we finally came together and last tuesday, a week ago, when the president invited 2 of to us the 26 of to us the white house and made his plea that we do something, we decided to sit down and do it and we did. In a matter of 24 to 48 hours we reached a final agreement on this bipartisan approach to deal with this issue of daca. And thats what we presented to the president. When we went to the white house last thursday. I couldnt agree with senator graham more. That president of last tuesday is the dawn we need again. That president that said this is an act of love that we are doing. That president to said to you send me bill and i will sign it and take the political heat. That president that agreed with us that you couldnt do everything in Immigration Reform in one bill but you had to divide it. He agreed with that. I agree with him. Thats the way we should move forward i i hope the president listens to senator graham and others in his own party and steps up and helps us finish this responsibility. Let me say a ward or two about a word or two about another effort. At that meeting eight days ago tuesday of last week in the white house, there was a suggestion that the leaders in the senate and house, both parts, should sit down and see if they can come up with an alternative that was headed up by Kevin Mccarthy of california. I like him i dont know him well. I will have toll you, he is a positive person, he is trying to come to a conclusion of something that might work and we met today in his office to talk about it. At the meeting was senator cornyn of texas, the whip of the republican senators, myself, and steny hoyer, the democratic whip of the house of representatives. With us general john kelly and secretary nielsen of the department of Homeland Security. We met for about an hour and a half, the first attempt at a substantive meeting weve had since this group started meeting five days ago. In the meantime our staff has met four or five times. But this was the first time that senators and congressmen set down across the table. Needless to say and no surprise to all of us because weve been through this so many times, we really couldnt agree on the basics of how we got started hear. I said to congressman mccar think, the republican leader in the house, this is hard work. This is heavy lifting. This takes time. People have to be convinced and have a chance to state their point of view. We dont have that much time. Were dealing with a deadline of january 19. That happens to be just around the corner, two days away. Were dealing with a deadline of march 5, which sadly could be a deadline where if we fail to meet it, you could see many, many peoples lives change. So i have agreed to continue to meet with this group, but i tell them over and over, we already have a bill here in the senate. We have a bipartisan bill. We address all the issues that the president raised when we had our meeting in the white house tuesday last week. This is a starting point. In fact, i think its a good end point for us to point at. Let me thank senator graham for expanding the number of republican sponsors. Mr. President , i do the math in the senate. I have said that as whip of the senate, i have learned all the skills i needed for this job in the first grade, how to count to 60. Thats what it takes many times in the senate to move controversial issues forward. Well, we have 49 democratic senators. I believe they are all prepared to vote for this compromise that we brought before us, this bipartisan compromise. As of today, we have added sevee seven republicans who have joined us in this effort. The math is simple. We have 56 senators ready to move forward on this issue. It will only take four more, and i believe they are there. I have spoken to republican senators who have said maybe i cant sponsor it, but i sure want to see it passed. So i think ultimately if we are given a chance to vote on this measure and move it forward, we can do it on a bipartisan basis, one of the few times, rare times that happens around this chamber. And in doing that, were going to solve a problem that the president challenged us with, to replace daca. Its a good approach, the one that we put together. I dont like all of it, but thats what compromise is all about. I hope that my colleagues will join me in a bipartisan effort to make sure that before we go home this week, we move forward on this daca issue so that we can say to these young people we hear you, we literally feel your pain, and we want to be there to make sure that you have a future in america. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Flake mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from arizona. Mr. Flake i appreciate this colloquy and appreciate my colleagues that have been through a lot on this proposal. Many of us worked in prior years on Immigration Reform measures. I think we have built up a level of trust between us that helps on these issues. Senator durbin is right. A couple of times that you just throw your hands up and say i dont know if we can get there, but our staff worked hard as well, and i do believe that we have a proposal that can get 60 votes. We have worked so long under rules of reconciliation that sometimes we forget we have got to get 60 votes around here. Thats what this bill is designed to do. In the end, thats what its going to take, 60 votes. I come from arizona. We have a lot of dreamers there, obviously. Some 50,000. I have met so many of them over the years. And to say that they deserve this is an understatement. They have waited so long. Some of them delaying education, not knowing whats on the other side, not being able to get the kind of job that they need because of uncertainty moving ahead. These are people that senator graham said that we want here. We ought to roll out the red carpet and say please stay here and help build your country. This is the only country they know. They have everything but the papers. So i hope that we can move forward on this. Let me just talk about a few aspects of the proposal. There are some who have said that the democrats are unwilling to give on this. I hear that on my side of the aisle. I can tell you, any compromise proposal, anything that is a bipartisan proposal, both sides are going to give. All sides are going to give. And on this one, the dream act, which im a sponsor of, would have a faster path to citizenship for kids. This is a slower path here. That was a big gift on the democratic side. Some five years to 12. Thats not easy. Thats not easy to tell people you have to wait a little longer, a lot longer than you expected, but its part of the legislative process. I know a lot of people arent keen on on some of the construction that will go along the border, whether its called a wall or whatever, but those of us in border states realize that we need better infrastructure, we need better security, we need better technology, we need more manpower, and its all its all a compromise. Thats what its about. And thats why i appreciate this process, and i know that if we allow this to come to the floor and are able to present this proposal to our colleagues, well have a lot more support than we have already on the republican side. Its said by some on our side today that the only way we can move forward is if we get an okay from the white house. We know what they want and what the president will sign. Im not sure that well ever get there unless we actually put a proposal on the floor of the senate and debate it and vote on it. At that point, then well know. Then the white house will come and say yes, i can support that, or we can support that with this change or that change, but if were waiting for the white house to come to us with a proposal that they can support, well likely be waiting a long time. Many of us met starting six weeks ago with the white house asking for proposals on the border. Tell us, we said, what the white house can live with, what is needed, what is a musthave. We waited and waited and waited for weeks and then got a big proposal with just about everything thrown in. I would submit that we have got to put something on the floor, and this proposals ready. I think we ought to continue over the next couple of days to build support, add republican and democratic cosponsors, and then i would ask our leadership put this on the floor. Lets see where the votes are. We have a short period of time. We dont have much runway. The last thing we want to do is come right up against the deadline, right up against marc. We have the administration has asked the high court to rule on whether or not there can be any further extensions or if march 5 is the deadline deadline. Its my opinion the court will come back and say yes, thats it. We have got to be ready for that. We cant afford to wait anymore. Its time with this proposal to put it on the floor. Again, i thank my colleagues for their work on this. I thank the white house, those who have sat down, the president s comments the other day that this needs to be a bill of love. I think that it is. And its also, as senator durbin said, its also a bill that is tough and has Border Security elements. We want to make sure were not in this situation a few years from now. But we have got to have a bill first and foremost that has support to pass the house and the senate. Thats what this is. This is, make no mistake, this is the bipartisan approach. This is the only game in town. As much as others want to say that theyre going to reach an agreement, they are basically where we were a few months ago. They have got a long way to go. We have a proposal here that can garner enough support to pass the senate. So lets move on with it, mr. President. And with that, i will yield baci guess, to senator menendez. Mr. Menendez mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from new jersey. Mr. Menendez thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , let me first start off thanking my colleague from colorado who got here a little earlier than me, for giving me the opportunity to move ahead. My daughter is in town, and id like to see her, but this is important, so i appreciate your courtesy. I am thankful for senator durbin, as someone who has been involved in Immigration Reform for the better part of the 26 years that i have been in the house and the senate, his passion on this singular issue within the overall immigration question is unquestionable about how we take care of these young people, young people who in every respect except for birth are americans, and its been extraordinary. So we couldnt have a better champion than dick, and i appreciate that. To my friend and colleague, lindsey graham, i appreciate your courage because its not not one of those things you have to adapt. And i appreciate your understanding of the institution as to how to get there and your knowledge about bringing people together. I dont always like what i hear from you, but by the same or most likely what you hear from me, particularly on this issue, but nonetheless, youre just an extraordinary american. And to the rest of my colleagues , certainly senator bennet who is part of the gang of eight, we went through this a couple of years ago and were trying and passed in this very same body with 68 votes, you know, comprehensive Immigration Reform that unfortunately just languished in the house of representatives, we wouldnt be talking about any of this largely today. We would be well on our path to Border Security, well on our path to future flows, well on our path to what immigration would look like in the future, and of course a pea for all of those who have worked hard in this country, obeyed the law in every other respect, and find a pea forward. A pathway forward. And senator flake, we dont always agree on everything. In foreign policy, we have a disagreement or two, but on this we have been looked in laser like. And i appreciate his willingness, especially in the final year that he has decided to serve here to take on this challenge, and i appreciate that as well. Look, were about working on finding Common Ground on some of the most pressing immigration issues that really go to so many things the National Security, the national economy. I cant secure america if i dont know who is here to pursue the American Dream versus who is here to do it harm. For that, you have to bring people out of the shadows, into the light, and have them go through a criminal background check and know. I cant thrust that economy even beyond into warp drive unless we have everybody fully participating in an open, above the ground economy contributing. One of the most urgent of these is the uncertainty faced by 800,000 dreamers across america who qualify for a protected status under the deferred action for Childhood Arrivals Program we call daca. Its no secret that i deeply disagree with the president s decision to end daca. In my view, nothing good could come out of a decision that jeopardized the lives of 800,000 Daca Recipients, including 22,000 in my home state of new jersey, living lawfully under daca, working, studying across our country. This is a program that i advocated with the previous administration, with president obama, congressman gutierrez and i, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were there. Actually gave him legal memos by attorneys from across the country, experts in this field, why we thought he had the power to do what he had, and i still think thats true. But regardless of that point, were beyond that. Daca was never a Perfect Program nor was it a Replacement Program for a truly comprehensive Immigration Reform, an effort i remain committed to today as i was in 2013 when we passed that historic reforms to our immigration systems, the greatest pass in the senate since the days of president ronald reagan. But daca still did tremendous good for this country. It allowed 800,000 upstanding, undocumented, bright young people who came to this country as children through no decision of their own to come out of the shadows, step into the light, pursue their dreams without fear of deportation, without fear that the knock at the door was not a member of their family coming back home from work or their neighbor, but an immigration agent. Now, when we talk about dreamers, were talking about young men and women who have grown up american in every sense of the word. The only country they know as home is the United States of america. The only flag they pledge allegiance to is that red, white, and blue with the stars, the flag of the United States. The only National Anthem they know and want to sing is the starspangled banner. The only country they know is america. They are un not undocumented immigrants. They are undocumented americans who have proven themselves to be a great asset to this nation. Dreamers are studying in our colleges. Theyre playing on our sports teams. Theyre teaching in our schools. And theyre wearing, senator graham talked about our military, the need to, you know, respond to the economics of our military needs. Many of these young people are wearing the uniform of the United States, putting themselves at risk to defend the only country they know. Theyre innovating in our economy, enriching our kphraoupbts communities and otherwise obeying our laws and most of all loving this country because its their country too. Yet the administration slapped an arbitrary Expiration Date on their dream, and in doing so the president created a national emergency, one that only congress can solve. So thats what we and the gang of six set out to do. Now is this proposal ideal for me, the son of immigrants, representing one of the most diverse states in the nation . I can tell you absolutely not. Is it ideal for my friend, lindsey, or senator flake . I would expect to say, they would say no. But thats the reality of compromise. Thats what governing is all about. Its about making tough decisions in order to advance the greater good. This deal is not ideal to any of us, but its acceptable to all of us. And if more of our colleagues more of our colleagues join us, i believe it will be ultimately acceptable to the president as well. Despite the messages sent by the administration, i have to believe in order to keep on going, i have to believe that the president meant what he said when he called our dreamers remarkable kids. I have to believe the many times ive heard him speak about dreamers with compassion, about treating these bright young people with heart, i have to believe that when i sat around that conference table with my colleagues at the white house, the president meant what he said when he spoke of an immigration system that encourages people to do a good job and to have a resolution that is one of love. Well, i will tell all of my colleagues what i told President Trump that day once the cameras turned off and we had the room to ourselves. I told him he had the Political Capital to spend. President nixon was the ultimate anticommunity and yet he was the one who opened up china. President reagan was the most ultimate antitax but saw the need to open up rates. This is precisely why the president has the opportunity to do something big. During last weeks bipartisan summit, the president said that if democrats and republicans reached a deal, he would sign it. He told us to develop a proposal, one that resolved the daca challenge and protected americas dreamers and addressed tough issues like Border Security, family reunification and diversity visas. He gave us that charge, and we came together and ran with it. A lot of hours were spent, many more by our staffs, hashing out the issues in search of Common Ground. And finally we arrived at an agreement that i believe congress can and must send to the president s desk before its too late. Now let me be clear, striking this deal was no picnic. To my republican colleagues who say this bill isnt tough enough, i encourage you to take a closer look. Look at the hard choices that i had to make as the most senior hispanic american in the United States congress. As the son of immigrants whose parents thirst for freedom brought them to these shores. As the senior senator from new jersey, one of the most ethnically and racially diverse states in the nation. Never could i have imagined for instance accepting diversity changes to the visa program because diversity, in my view, is one of americas great strengths, and new jersey is living proof. My states hard to find any community that hasnt been touched in a positive way by the diversity visa program. And i remind my colleagues that every night in the darkest corners of the world, there are people who pray with all of their might for the opportunity to win a diversity visa, which, by the way, you have to pass all of the background checks, criminal and otherwise, in order to still come to this country. It isnt a grab bag. You still have to go through a series of metrics and a series of backgrounds. And, no, theyre not looking even to win 1 million. They want to win a one in a million chance to come to america. Nor have i ever supported building a wall at our southern border, any type, even when the president told us that mexico was going to pay for it. The president must know that this proposal includes billions of dollars for his Border Security priorities. Barrier construction, development, to southwest Border Technology acquisition. Then of course there are the restrictions on family reunification. I dont believe in this chain migration. You want to dehealth and Human Services people, you you want to dehumanize people you talk about chain migration. However you call it, the restrictions on family reunification that our republican counterparts insisted, new limits on what some divisively call chain migrants. Legal immigrants will no longer be able to call their children. Thats a bill deal. It imposes a limitation on our legal system of family reunification, one i got after restreamlined reunification for supposes and young children. Thats not the only choice we had to make when it came to families. This legislation gives dreamers the opportunity to earn a 12year path to citizenship. But the price we pay for that earned pathway to citizenship is that we provide no such path for the parents who brought the dreamers here illegally. As a result, dreamers will not be able to petition for their parents, but their parents will be eligible for temporary legal status and work permits. Thats an incredibly difficult choice for me, but we did it. Ultimately i accepted it because it keeps families together, which i have always thought both parties were always about. Family values, the family unit, the family as the center of american life. And so this proposal protects parents from deportation. It leaves open the possibility to fight another day, to provide a pathway to parents to earn citizenship. Now the president spoke of taking heat for a compromise on dreamers, but let me tell you this. As the most senior hispanic american in congress, i will get a whole lot, and have already, a lot of heat on these concessions. But i will gladly take that heat in order to protect dreamers who deserve to stay in the only home, the only home and the only country they have ever known. Look, we all know that there will be voices on the far left and voices on the far right that say this deal makes too many compromises. To my friends in the immigration Advocacy Community as well as to my democratic colleagues, i remind you that legislating is the art of the possible, something i know we dont necessarily always get into our psyche, but hopefully it wont be for much longer. But we are in the minority in both chambers of congress. The opposing party occupies the white house. We may not enskwro i that reality enjoy that reality. I certainly dont. But it is the reality nonetheless. And in this reality, sometimes stopping something bad from happening is our best shot at making something good happen. The best we can do is to stop something bad from happening in order to try to make something happen. But eventually to make that something happen, were going to have to have a compromise that brings others to this effort as well as we have here tonight. Without it, we fail the 800,000 dreamers counting on us to reach the finish line. To my republican colleagues, i ask you to remember that tough concessions we had to make so that dreamers have a chance to earn citizenship in the country they know and love. In short, this deal was negotiated in good faith with both sides making tough decisions in service of the greater good. And what good could be greater than keeping American Families together . Consider the fact that 25 of Daca Recipients are the parent of a United Statesborn child. So i refuse to believe that we are a country that tears Young Mothers and fathers away from American Children and send them back to countries they dont even know. Let me close by reminding us we all, im sure at celebrations on monday for the life, remembering the life of dr. Martin luther king, what it was he who said q, we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. My friends, the fierce urgency of now, as my colleagues have talked about, is confronting us yet again. We cannot let the clock run out on the American Dream. We cannot keep tearing families apart. And we cannot pass up this opportunity to make history right. Lets honor dr. Kings legacy by treating this crisis with the urgency it deserves. Join us, and together we can send this bill to the president s desk without delay. Theres no time left to spare. If we want americas dreamers to have a future in this country, we must act as if tomorrow were today. Thank you, mr. President. I thank my colleagues. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Bennet in my typically classy fashion, i dropped the microphone when i was trying to speak. I was glad to yield to my friend from new jersey when he told me the reason why, because i have three daughters at home. And if one of them if i were have fortunate to have one of them here in washington, id want to be having dinner with her too instead of being here. But i am here tonight for them and for families, just like the other senators who talked about my family has an interesting immigration history that people are surprised by sometimes when i talk about it. My mom and her parents were polish jews when world war ii broke out. And miraculously they survived the holocaust. They and one other member of the family survived. And they actually lived for two years behind the iron curtain that descended in eastern europe. They were able finally to get to sweden where they lived for a year. Then they came to mexico, of all places. Mexico city, where they lived for a year. And then they finally made it to america, a country they believed was the only place on the planet they could rebuild their shattered lives. And thats what they did. And they contributed mightily to this country. They contributed mightily to me, to my brother and to my sister. And whats, when i hear the stories that i hear from my colleagues tonight, what it makes me realize is that my familys story is not unique. But it is what makes america unique. Because you cant say you cant tell my familys story in almost any other country but this country. I had the chance when i was first in this job to go to fort carson in colorado to a naturalization ceremony there. And there were 30 people from every corner of the globe in our uniform because they were fighting for america. But they werent yet citizens. And they took the oath to that flag, and i used to carry around the list of the countries they came from because out of 30, only two came from the same country. 28 came from places all over the earth. And i sat there thinking to myself, how lucky we are to live in a place where that can be true. Its not true in any other country on the planet. I want my children to grow up in the country i grew up in. A country that is a nation of immigrants committed to the rule of law. Thats why i was grateful to have a chance to be a member of the gang of eight. I was sorry when it didnt get a vote in the house because i think it would have passed had it been voted on in the house. And that bill, which contained 40 billion of Border Security, would be well on its way to implementation today. And i think our political debate as a country would be very different than the political debate weve been having now, which would be good for our country and remind us of the values that we share, but unfortunately were not in that position today and were left with a problem trying to deal with the fact that the executive order that president obama wrote for the daca population has been set aside by this president who then said Congress Needs to figure out what to do about it and thats why were here tonight. And we have had a negotiation now for more than four months with what has evolved into the gang of eight. I am very pleased that in that effort we were joined by the presiding officer who is my colleague from colorado. We are the only state that has two senators on this gang of six, and ones a democrat and ones a republican, and i thank my colleague for his courage and for his leadership at a moment when there are a lot of reasons why this isnt a comfortable place to occupy. But i think it says something about colorado that at a moment when we have all of this craziness going on in washington and at a moment when the country cant see any sign of a bipartisan pulse here, when our Approval Ratings hove between nine and 15 , there is a reason that there is a democrat and a republican from colorado who actually tried to solve a problem on the floor of the senate with our colleagues, and thats because colorado is an excellent place to live and an excellent place to be from. The citizens of colorado have watched the train wreck over the last ten years in this congress from a state that is onethird democratic, onethird republican, and onethird independent. They have to Work Together to get anything done. Nobody gets their way all the time. In the state of colorado, and they expect this place to work like that as well and it doesnt work like that enough. So i want to thank again my colleague from colorado. I want to thank senator durbin who is here and senator menendez and i want to say to senator flake and senator graham, thank you for your courage. When you put together a compromise like this, which i think is a good compromise. Its not the bill i would have written if it were my decision. I would have had a fiveyear path for the dreamers, not a 12year path or a 10 conscious ternyear path in some cases, i would have had a fiveyear path. If i wrote it, i wouldnt have sorry. Dreamers not be able to sponsor their parents. The hour is late. Its actually not that late. We should be working. But i understand why the republicans who negotiated this in good faith needed those concessions. I understand it. Im not thrilled with the president s idea that we need to build a wall to secure the southern border. I do believe strongly we need to secure our southern border just as i know the republicans that are have been in this negotiation believe, as i believe, that there should be a pathway for citizenship for a population of people in our country who know no other country other than the United States of america any more than my children know any other country than the United States of america. And there isnt, unfortunately, anybody else to do this work except for the 100 members of the United States senate and our friends in the house of representatives. So our tendency has been to just avoid it and to put it off and we dont have that luxury anymore because they are no longer protected. Every day in my state theres another family broken up because of the deportation thats going on, and i dont think theres anybody virtually nobody who is a member of this body who believes the answer for the dreamers is that they should be deported. or that families should be split up. We may have disagreements about how to get there, but thats what the last four months of negotiations have been meant to sort out, to find a middle spot where we could land and where we could get not every vote in the senate but more than 60 votes in the senate and where we could get a bill passed in the house of representatives, and i think weve found it. One of the things weve done is meet the four requirements that the president said he wanted when he when he when he had us over to the white house. One was daca, thats the modified dream act, one was Border Security, we have 2. 7 billion of Border Security in this bill, one was ending chain migration which for the daca population we do saying that no parent can be sponsored by any child and he said he wants to get rid of the diversity lottery, which we do. He may not love every part of it. I dont expect anybody to, but i do think this is the way we can move this forward and i think we should move it forward. Bob menendez talked about the fierce urgency of now. We treat the lives that are affected by the decisions we make, or in most cases the decisions we dont make, as Collateral Damage that somehow we shouldnt concern ourselves with. I dont think we should go home until we address this. I dont think we should leave washington until we address this. And i actually will say i agree with something senator graham said. Because of these crazy continuing resolutions and let me just say in case there is the unlikely event that there is anybody watching this on television right now, a continuing resolution is no different than a temporary budget. Thats all it is. And now weve gotten to the place where we were running the government on continuing resolutions for the last ten years or so. We passed 30 continuing resolutions. We department get our work done at the end of the year for some reason and so now were going to do the work we should have done at the end of the year with a continuing resolution. They are now talking about another twoweek continuing resolution. Every time you hear the word continuing resolution, you think of it as a temporary budget. Thats what it is. It might be hard to understand it because not a Single School district in our state or a single municipality in our state or not a single state among the 50 states would ever run their affairs this way, but for the last ten years thats the way weve run the government, in a game of chicken, of fiscal cliffs and government shutdowns and continuing resolutions. We are now enacting laws, mr. President , that reflect the priorities of whoever was in the senate ten years ago because thats the last time we had a real appropriations process around here and a real budgeting process around here. So senator graham is right when he said what he said about the defense of this country. Because of continuing resolutions, we have aircraft that are grounded for lack of parts because the budgets make it impossible for them to plan, than means and that means we cant train folks to fly those aircraft to defend us if we have to do something on the Korean Peninsula or somewhere else. On the other hand on the domestic side of things, since 1980, we have cut domestic Discretionary Spending in this country by 35 , as a percentage of our g. D. P. The presiding officer knows as i do that if you were in rural colorado ten years ago you didnt hear much about opioids but now when you have a town hall in rural colorado, or when you live there as the presiding officer does, you know that people actually have less access to treatment today than they did tern years ten years ago, and i think thats a consequence of our inability to budget properly around here and the inability to deal responsibly with our fiscal matters. Its like we have a perpetual head cold around here that robs us of our ambition to actually do anything or our energy to actually do anything, and im afraid thats infected this discussion about daca as well. So i want to close just by saying this is the moment when we need to do this. Theres not going to be another alternative that can be supported by 60 senators here, potentially by the president , and by the dreamers. And were not going to succeed at passing a piece of legislation if the dreamers feel like were doing something to their parents that we would never accept for our own families. Thats their bottom line. Ive been amazed by the young people that i met over the years and most recently in this debate who are saying to me, dont sacrifice my parents for me. I would rather deal with the uncertainty of my position than know that a trade was made that i cant live with for the rest of my life. And thats at the heart of this compromise here. And i think its entirely consistent with our traditions and values as americans, entirely consistent with that. So my hope is that all of us hear the voices of these dreamers that are contributing at their universities and in our workplaces all over the country, just like our own sons and daughters, and we actually do something around here for once thats not predictable and that the American People will cheer for just as the people in colorado are glad not every single one, but by and large the people in colorado are glad that the presiding officer and i are working on this, and the only way that will happen is if we find a way to come together over the next couple of days and do something other than what people say we are fated to do which is to have another interruption in the activities of our government over a political disagreement when the parties are actually much closer than they have been in a long time. We have a compromise. We have a good piece of legislation. We have a legislation a piece of legislation that if it were put on the floor could get 60 votes. And i want to just close by, again, thanking my colleagues. Theres a lot around this place that i feel embarrassed about but i think that if the American People could have seen the negotiations that went on for four months, they would have been proud of what they saw because they would have seen republicans and democrats coming together, not to have one more political fight, but to actually solve a real challenge facing our country and to do it in a way that is consistent with our traditions as americans. And so i hope in the next couple of days we have a chance to pass this bill. I thank my republican colleagues who signed on to the bill today forgiving us the momentum we need to november into the next we need to move into the next day or two, and i look forward i look forward to succeeding around here for once. Once again, i want to thank my colleague from colorado, the presiding officer, for his partnership on this legislation. I think its made a great its meant a great deal to the people he and i represent and i, as a coloradan and as a subsequent of his, constituent of his, i want to thank him for the position he has taken. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding offir
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