Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20180215

Vote the presiding officer is there any senator in the chamber who wishes to vote or to change his or her vote . Seeing none, on this vote the yeas are 39. The nays are 60. Threefifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from North Carolina. Mr. Tillis mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Tillis mr. President , i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk should call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell well, mr. President , i think its safe to say its been a disappointing week. I kept my commitment and set aside the entire week for a broad, productive debate over daca, Border Security, and other important immigration issues. Everyone, my friend, the democratic leader, the assistant democratic leader, the congressional hispanic caucus, everyone agrees that i held up my end of the bargain. Back in december i stated that if a bill withstood a chance of becoming law or ready in january, i would bring it to the floor. No such proposal was produced. Then in january when democrats shut down the government over this issue, i offered to dedicate this week, this week that weve been in, to an immigration debate and a fair amendment process. I just did that. But the same democrats failed to produce a solution and instead spent the better part of the week objecting to any votes in the senate. I thought we may be able to resolve this. I was hoping we could reach a bipartisan solution that could pass the senate, pass the house, and earn President Trumps signature. But once again when the hour came to actually make law instead of just making political points, our friends across the aisle were either unable or unwilling to get something done. After all the talk, all the talk, they hardly came to the table at all. Now, i supported the plan introduced by chairman grassley and several other cosponsors. It flushed out the president s framework preparing a more than generous solution for 1. 8 million Illegal Immigrants with commonsense steps to reform legal immigration, secure the boarder, and help Law Enforcement keep americans safe. The president came, in my view, a very long way, clearly more than halfway, to meet the democrats on this issue. In exchange for a pathway to citizenship, not just legal status but a pathway to citizenship for nearly two million individuals, he sensibly wanted to reform pieces of our broken immigration system, secure our border, and make it harder for violent criminals and repeat offenders to prey on american citizens. Mr. President , thats more than a fair bargain. More than a fair bargain. I thought our friends across the aisle would jump at this opportunity to fulfill what they say is their top priority, but they just couldnt take yes for an answer. They turned away from a golden opportunity to solve the issue. They decided theyd rather come away emptyhanded with no resolution whatsoever for the 1. 8 million individuals they say they are championing, then accept a reasonable than accept a reasonable compromise with the president of the United States. Now, even though this week has been squandered, this does not have to be the end of our efforts to resolve these matters. I would encourage members to put away the talking points, to get serious about finding a solution that can actually become law. I remain eager to improve our immigration policy. If a solution is developed in the future that can pass both the house and the senate and be signed into law by the president , it should be considered. But for that to happen, democrats will need to take a second look at these core elements of necessary reform. Now, mr. President , i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 623, elizabeth branch. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report. The clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of elizabeth l. Branch of georgia to be United States circuit judge for the 11th circuit signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the namessen dispensed with names be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 153, russell vote. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to the clerk will report the nominati nomination. The clerk nomination, executive office of the president , rustle voght of virginia to be executive director of the office of budget and management. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk the clerk cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standings rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of russell voght to be director of the office of management and budget. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor, say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 437, marvin quattlebaum. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, a. Marvin quattlebaum , jr. , of South Carolina to be United States district judge for the district of South Carolina. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk cloture motion. We, the undersigned sniped, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of a. Marvin quattlebaum, jr. , of South Carolina to be United States district judge for the district of South Carolina, signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 438, karen scholer. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 438, karen scholer. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, Karen Gren Scholer of texas to be United States district judge for the Northern District of texas. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk cloture motion. We, the undersigned senators, in corns corns corns, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Karen Gren Scholer to be United States district judge for the Northern District of texas, signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 439, Tilman Eugene self. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, Tilman Eugene self, iii, of georgia to be United States district judge for the middle district of georgia. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk cloture motion. We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Tilman Eugene self, iii, of georgia to be United States district judge for the middle district of georgia, signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. Provided the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 536, terry doughty. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk the judiciary, terry a. Doughty of louisiana to be United States district judge for the Western District of louisiana. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk cloture motion. We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of terry a. Doughty of louisiana to be United States district judge for the Western District of louisiana, signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations executive calendar 617, 667. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report the nominations en bloc. The clerk nominations, department of state, joel daines of maryland to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of america to the gabonese republic and to the democratic republic of south tome and principe. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements relating to the nominations be principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomedz en bloc. Nominations en bloc. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nominations are confirmed en bloc. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations executive calendar 590, 591, 643, 644, 682, and 683. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report the nominations en bloc. The clerk nominations, department of justice, Norman Euell Arflack of kentucky to be United States marshal for the Eastern District of kentucky. Ted g. Kamatchus of iowa to be United States marshal for the Southern District of iowa, michael t. Baylous of West Virginia to be United States marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia, daniel r. Mckittrick of mississippi to be United States marshal for the Northern District of mississippi, david g. Jolley of tennessee to be United States marshal for the Eastern District of tennessee, thomas m. Griffin, jr. , of South Carolina to be United States marshal for the district of South Carolina. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, that the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements relating to the nominations be principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nominations en bloc. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nominations are confirmed en bloc. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination executive calendar 472. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of commerce, neil jacobs of North Carolina to be an assistant secretary. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, and no further motions be in order and that any statements related to the nomination be principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomination. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination executive calendar 661. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, Environmental Protection agency, holly w. Greaves of the district of columbia to be chief financial officer. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements related to the nomination be principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomination. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination executive calendar 465. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of justice, john c. Demers of virginia to be assistant attorney general. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the senate vote op the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements related to the nominations be principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomination. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination executive calendar 359. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of Homeland Security, John Marshall mitnick of virginia to be general counsel. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements related to the nomination be principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomination. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following nominations executive calendar 645, 646, 647, 648, 662, 684, 685, and 687. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report the nominations en bloc. The Clerk Department of justice, John Henderson department of defense, John Henderson of south dakota to be an assistant secretary of the air force, michael g. Griffin of alabama to be under secretary for research and engineering. William roper of georgia to be an assistant secretary of the air force. Phyllis l. Bayer of mississippi to be an assistant secretary of the navy. John h. Gibson, ii, of texas to be chief management officer. Department of energy, lisa gordonhagerty of virginia to be under secretary for nuclear security. Department of defense, kevin fahey of massachusetts to be an assistant secretary. Thomas e. Ayres of pennsylvania to be general counsel of the department of the air force. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening actions or debate, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no statements be in order, and any statements principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nominations en bloc. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nominations are confirmed en bloc. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination executive calendar 663. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of energy, melissa f. Burnison of kentucky to be an assistant secretary. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senates action, that no further motions be in order, and that any statements related to the nomination be principled in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomination. All in favor say aye. All opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate resume legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mr. Alexander thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , the senator there delaware from delaware is somewhere in the neighborhood. And he has a train to catch in a few minutes. So i ask consent that after i make a few remarks about todays events, the voting today, that the senator from delaware be recognized and following his speaking, that i be recognized again. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander i thank the president. Mr. President , today the senate voted on immigration. Immigration is a passionate issue. It affects the lives of people. It affects the american creed which involves the rule of law, which involves the fact that were a nation of immigrants. It goes to the heart of our country and we have very strong opinions about it. All of us know that. Of course, mr. President , thats the reason why we have a United States senate. This is not an issue that the Shreveport City Council or the National City council can solve. We cant we cant solve the problem of our nations borders. We cant solve the problem in our communities of what to do about people who were brought here as children illegally through no fault of their own. Thats our job. Thats the job of the president of the United States. Its the job of the United States senate. Its the job of the United States congress. We tried before. We tried in 2007 and we failed. We tried in 2013 and this body passed a bill with 68 or 69 votes. I voted for it. If we had, all the issues we debated today, we wouldnt have them anymore because we dealt with Border Security in 2013. We would have added 20,000 border agents, 700 miles of fencing, biometric detection at our ports of exit and entry, everify for all of the employers in the country. We would have dealt with the issue of legal status for people illegally here, people overstaying their visas, temporary workers. We would have done all of that in 2013. But we did not do it. So were left with this problem of a large number of People Living in this country, some for a long period of time, who were brought here as children through no fault of their own. Thats one problem. And weve got a problem on the border. The boarder isnt secure. And the people coming across the border is one problem. In my view, the drugs coming here across the border are the biggest problem. Weve had a lot of hearings in our Health Committee about the opioids addiction. A lot of the heroin, a lot of the Illegal Drugs that are just devastating our communities are coming a i cross are coming across our southern border. Its just a fact about that. And we need to deal with it. So were dealing with it and we voted today on what to do about the children brought here illegally by their parents through no fault of their own and what to do about Border Security. Now, the president of the United States did his job on this one. He did what a president is supposed to do. I read a book one time by george ready who was Lyndon Johnsons press secretary. He said the president s job the senator from delaware is a former governor so he knows about that. He and i had an executive job when we were governors. I did my job this way. A governors job, a president s job is to see an urgent need, develop a strategy and convince half of the people youre right. Thats what he said the president s job was and i think President Trump in this case has done his job. He saw an urgent need. He saw the need of the daca, the dreamers, the daca people who are here. He saw the urgent need to deal with the border. He saw an urgent need to deal with some other holes in our system of illegal immigration. He saw a need to deal with the fact that weve kind of slipped into a situation where the Million People a year who come here legally are come unlike most countries in the world. Theyre brought here by cousins just because theyre cousins. Theyre not brought here because theyre part of the immediate family or because they add Something Special to our country, either skilled or unskilled. And he sought to change that. He recognized the fact that once we give someone legal status in this country, once we say to you, weve decided we want you to be here permanently or nearly permanently, we want you at least one day to dream of becoming a citizen of the United States. I agree with the president on that. I dont want millions of People Living in this country permanently who are pledging their allegiance to afghanistan and russia and china and japan and every other country in the world. I want them to stand up in the federal court or wherever they have the naturalization ceremony or to be able to dream of standing there and take the same oath of allegiance to this country that George Washingtons soldiers took at valley forge which is the same allegiance today as it was then. When you renounced their allegiance to any other country and pledged your allegiance to the United States. I want anyone who we decided deserves legal status on a permanent basis to have that in the back of their minds, not their pledge of allegiance to korea or afghanistan or bangladesh or any other country in the world. So i think the president did his job. He made a reasonable proposal. He did something i think most democrats, many americans, maybe many republicans did not expect him to do. He said, lets take care permanently of these children who were brought here, 1. 8 million he said, through no fault of their own, as long as they behaved, dont get in trouble, follow the law, law abiding, lets give them the dream of citizenship after 10 or 12 years. Lets deal with meritbased immigration. Lets make some changes in our legal system. Lets plug some of the holes in the boarder so these drugs dont come in. The president made a very strong proposal. Now, were doing what were supposed to do. Were supposed to react to that. Well, we did today. Senator grassley offered the president s proposal. He got 39 votes. A Bipartisan Group offered a narrower version of what the president wanted. It only included the Border Security part, 25 billion, and a permanent fix for the daca or dreamer those who are here because of that provision in the law. It got 54 votes. But neither got 60. Neither got to 60 which we need. Now, why do we need 60 votes . Because were the United States senate, mr. President. House of representatives only need a majority. We get 60. Because we want a consensus. Why do we need a consensus . When we take on a big, difficult, passionate issues like this, passionate issue like this, we want the people of this country to accept it. We dont want them to say, if that Many Democrats and that many republicans think that, maybe i should rethink my own view and think its a good idea. Thats why President Trump has a chance to he won his election because he promised a wall. He talked about immigration. Now hes saying heres a solution that has to do with Border Security and citizenship and for the daca children and people will Pay Attention to that. And theyll Pay Attention to us if we get more than a bear majority to vote for some version of what the president has recommended. Well, were up to 54. I can give you an example of what i just said. In the late 1960s, the debate was civil rights. Everett dirksen was the minority lead of the United States senate. He was the republican leader. Lynn don johnson was the president. He was the democratic president. They worked together to get 68 votes for the civil rights bill of 1968. It was opposed by senator Richard Russell of georgia. But when senator russell lost, he flew back to atlanta and said its the law. We should follow it. Thats what we did with civil rights. Thats what we did with social security. Thats what we did with medicare. Thats what we did more recently with fixing no child left behind with 21st century cures. When we take on a tough, complicated issue and we talk about it long enough and we get enough of us on both sides of the aisle to agree on it, we get a consensus. The country accepts it. You dont have to worry about the next congress coming in and passing, repealing it, and changing it. When we dont do that, its like obamacare. It passes with a partisan vote and then we have a permanent political battle trying to repeal it or replace it of the thats been going on for eight years. Were still not through it yet. Hope to be but were not through it yet. So we need 60 votes for a solution to the daca children who were brought here and to the Border Security position. Actually, mr. President , i would suggest our goal should be 70, not 60. Were not going to get there with a situation that has, you know, 45 47 or 48 democrats and eight or nine republicans. That doesnt make 60 in the Public Schools of tennessee. And we wont get it with almost all the republicans and just a few democrats. Thats not a majority. Thats not a consensus. Thats not going to persuade the people of this country that weve come up with something lasting that most people can accept. I have no doubt we can get there. There were 36 senators of both parties who came to a meeting three weeks ago at which we said to our two whips, durbin and cornyn on each side, wed like for the two of you help us find a consensus on this, 36 of us. There have been 20 or 25 meeting, about equal number of both parties trying to find some solution here. I think were making some pretty good progress. We just didnt get there today. So im glad the majority leader said this is not the end of it. It cant be the end of it. We cant just leave this here. I cant go back to tennessee and tell memphis or nashville or knoxville, sorry, we cant do it so the city council will now decide to do about these children illegally here and about the drugs coming across the southern border and about illegal immigration. I cant do that. I need to say im going to go back. The president s done his job. The senate worked on it for a week. We got up to 54 votes. We need 70. We need 70. So my hope is that the president will continue to advocate, do his job, see an urgent need. He did. Recommend a strategy to deal with the need. He did. And try to persuade at least half the people hes right. Hes a good persuader. Then well do our job. Thats not to stand in the corners and throw things at each other. Lets see where we can agree and do what we did on civil rights and fixing no child left behind. This is not any harder than those issues. We ought to be able to do it. Otherwise we shouldnt be here. I tell my colleagues often, this is pretty hard to be a United States senator. Its hard to get here. Its hard to stay here. And while youre here, you might as well amount to something. Amounting to something means getting a result. We didnt get a result today but im convinced that we can. In conclusion and then ill go to my friend from delaware, now how do we get to 70 . Well, i came up here years ago and worked for a senator named howard baker. He was very successful in this body. He ended up as the majority leader, stood right over there next to senator byrd when he was the democratic leader. They had great differences of opinion, but they ransom this body very well. Howard baker had a saying. He said, it helped to be an eloquent listener and he said, you know, you have to remember that sometimes the other fella might be right. Id like to say to my democratic friends and in this case, the other fella might be named trump, they might not like that. They may not like it but i think we should give the president credit for recommending seeing an urgent need, recommending a strategy, and doing his best to persuade half the americans that hes right about that. I think we need some members of the other side to do what eight of us on the republican side did this day which is move the other direction, recognize the other fellow might be right, come to a conclusion, do our job. I think we made a start this week but were not there yet. I look forward to the opportunity to finish the job and remembering that howard bakers advice, the other fellow might be right might be a good way to start with that. Mr. President , i yield the floor to my distinguished colleague, the senator from delaware. Mr. Carper mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Carper im grateful t to my colleague from tennessee for yielding to me. Hes didnt say this when he spoke but one of the reasons howard baker was one of the great leaders in this place is he had good staff. One of those folks was maybe the Senior Member of his staff all those many years ago was lamar alexander, senator alexander. Very proud of the kind of senator hes become, great governor, secretary of education, and someone who speaks more often than not his great wisdom. He and i agree not on everything but pretty much everything. Im my wife says to me that i need to be more of a realist. She said im too much of an optimist. Im not an optimist today. I feel like i leave here, go on a train, go home, feeling like weve not done our job. And i the senator from tennessee has said that the president did his job. I just dont agree. I just dont agree. He served as governor. I served as governor. We had an impasse on difficult issues in delaware. Were lucky we can pull people together and resolve just about anything and figure out overcome the four cs. One of those number one is communicate. Number two is compromise. Number three is collaborate. Number four is civility. Four cs. Im not sure we demonstrated enough of those today. Im not sure the president did as much as he could have done and should have done. Ive we have a bible study that meets here on thursdays, as the senator from tennessee knows. Seven or eight of us meet, democrats and republicans. We meet with the chaplain of the United States, senator barry black, form early in the naval marine corps. He mentioned the golden rule today. Treat other people as we want to be treated. Love our neighbor as ourselves. He asked who is our neighbor . He told the parable about the good samaritan. Oftentimes he mentions matthew 25 which deals with the least of these. When i was hungry, he fed me, when i was naked, did you clothe me . When i was in prison did you visit me . When i was a stranger in your land, did you welcome me . I think there is a moral imperative here in a case where young people, people brought here very young from another country by their parents who have grown up here, educated here, working here, all kinds of jobs, jobs that need to be filled, to say that by our actions today come, i think, sometime in march, maybe march 5 a lot of them are going to be basically, face the prospect of being rounded up and sent back to where they were born. I think theres a moral imperative that says thats not right. We have at Delaware State University any number of dreamers who are students there, they are the most impressive young people ive met in my life. And to say that theyre smart, they work hard, theyre good students, theyre going to go off are and be a great employee, theyre going to start businesses of their own, and for us to say theres a good chance that youre going to be sent back to where you were born doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me. I think its morally wrong. Its also, i think, economically wrong. Today i had a bunch of landscapers, folks who are in the landscaping business came to see me. And they wanted to talk about problems they have getting people to come to work and to work for their firms, work for their companies and do landscaping work. Its not easy work. Its hard to find people to do it. In many cases people who come in to do it day after day for a days pay are people who come from other countries. Landscapers today, i dont know if they are democrats or republicans, because they are frustrated. They have a good business. They have customers that need work to be done and they have a hard time getting americans born here, raised here, to do the work. Earlier this week, on monday i was in georgetown, delaware, we raise more chickens in sussex county, delaware, than any county in america. There are 400 chickens for every person who lives in my state. Poultry is a big business. We met with folks from the delmarva peninsula who are very much involved with the poultry industry. Basically what we heard today, so as the landscapers. Weve done a lot of things we can to enhance the pay, the benefits. We have bonuses. We provide opportunities for people who want to improve themselves, have a chance at the ladder of success. One lady said to me from a major poultry company, i think perdue. She said were trying to fill positions, we had 100 people come in. She said out of the 100, we had 20 reach the second step because they can pass the drug test and meet other challenges you have, obstacles in order to reach the next ladder, the next rung on the ladder for an interview. She said we start with 100, were down to 20 like that. Out of those 20, she said eventually five, five will be able to pass a drug test, have the work experience, the willingness to work. She said we end up with five to hire. And she said out of those five that we hire, a number of them ago month later stop coming to work. She said thats what we face. Thats reality. And she said please help us. All the people with whom we met on monday said please help us with this. As it turns out its not just landscaping businesses needing people to work, not just food processers, poultry in this case, when we receive the monthly jobs report earlier this month for the month of january, were told the Unemployment Rate is about 4. 1 , steady where it was. Were still underway with the longest running economic expansion, i think were past eight years now. But when people went to work today, there were about two to three million jobs that were not filled. Ill say that again. When folks went to work in this country today across america, two million to three million jobs, nobody showed up to do the job. And it makes no sense to me that we face the prospect of 700,000 or 800,000 pipeline that were raised 800,000 people that were raised here, educated here, want to work here, could do those jobs and they may not get a chance to do it. Employers have risen up with one voice from the u. S. Chamber of commerce, the National Association of manufacturers, business roundtable, National Federation of independent businesses, farm bureau, you name it, to say we have a problem on the Human Resources side with getting people to come to work. I think its economic insanity for us to say, to say theres 700,000, 800,000 people, maybe a couple hundred thousand people who came here after the disaster in el salvador, were going to send you home. It makes no sense. I hope my friends right. I hope well leave here, come back in a week or so and say how do we get to an agreement. The last thing ill say is this, Border Security is real important. I was the chairman of the Homeland Security committee for awhile, still the senior democrat on the committee. But, you know, if you compare Border Security in this country today to what it it was 10, 20 years ago, it was a more secure border. Much more secure. It should be, we spent a fortune. Weve got 20,000 people down there at Border Security. Were doing a lot of smarter things. Ill conclude with this point, there was included in the proposal today i think that got the most votes, 54 votes, collinsking et. Al, included in that package were a number of what i call force multipliers that actually will make your Border Security. There are still places along the border that a wall makes sense. San diego, i think there are places there, some other places where a wall makes sense. But ive heard more than a few times if you build that 15foot wall, somebody will come along with an 18foot ladder and go over it or come with a tunnel and go under it. There are a lot of things we can do in terms of force multipliers to assist the Border Patrol men and women we have. Were having a hard time filling those 20,000 positions. We have those jobs that are vacant today as well. You know where we can put peel to work put people to work along the borders . Ports of entry, down into mexico and to mexico. There is a crying need for people to work as customs officers at the ports of entry. My colleague talked as he should about concern about drugs coming into our country. I think the biggest threat is from china. They are coming over here ordered over the internet. Stuff is coming here by the mail service and working with c. V. P. , senator portman to make sure we do a tighter job with that through the postal service. There are a bunch of things we can do on the border included in the legislation today, the bipartisan proposal. I just mentioned a couple of them. Its not just enough to have drones. Drones can fly. You have good surveillance, you have people that can maintain them. They dont fly 8 hours out of 24. They are able to be up in the sky throughout the day, throughout the week, with the kind of surveillances that are needed. Helicopters, its not enough to have a couple of helicopters that can fly every day or two. You have to have helicopters that can go 24 7. With aircraft, the same is true. I was a naval aircraft officer, we did a lot of surface surveillance all over the world. They would sometimes send you the out over the ocean to look for somebodys ship that has sunk or sailboat that sunk. Sometimes all we had in the middle of the ocean was a pair of binoculars. Good luck in finding anybody. We dont have to just use binoculars on the border with drones or fixed wing aircraft or helicopters and tker skwreubls that go up 5,000 feet. We have Surveillance Systems that enable us to see 15, 20, 25 miles into mexico. We should use them, have people trained to operate them. Boats, when you have hundreds of miles of river, have them build a wall along there doesnt make a lot of sense. Boats do. In places where the wall may not make sense, roads along there may make sense. Sometimes Border Patrol on horses make sense. Where the grasses are high, put a Border Patrol officer on a horse and you can see for miles and miles. That makes sense. This and more was included in the proposal that drew 54 votes. Its the kind of thing we ought to do. It doesnt cost 25 billion but it will be cost effective. It will make our border more secure. So i ist great affection for i have great affection for our colleague from tennessee, and i appreciate his encouraging tone that this is not the end. What did churchill say when he got bounced out of office at the end of world war ii . Six months after the war he carried britain through on his back. The war is over, he gets beaten, hes asked by a reporter after hes lost, and he said, mr. Churchill, is this the end . And he says not the end. Its not the beginning or the end. Its the end of the beginning. I hope this is the end of the beginning. Maybe with the help of god and maybe a little bit better leadership from folks down at 1600. The last thing is this, p. S. , department of Homeland Security, which i worked for years to strengthen, make something we can all be proud of, apparently has put out, i was asked to read it, put out a Statement Today that im told by all kinds of people it is riddled with inaccuracies and falsehoods. Im going to read it tonight on the way going home. I hope that is not true. Because what we need to operate with here is the truth. Those are the words of thomas jefferson, people know the truth, we wont make a mistake. What i heard about what the department of Homeland Security put out today is not truthful. It is hard with that kind of information to do the right thing. I want to thank my colleague for giving me this much time and being so patient with me. Well be back here in ten days or so and well have a chance to reconnoiter and see if we pull some victory out of the jaws of defeat. Thank you for yielding. The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mr. Alexander i thank the senator from delaware for his remarks and his comments. I certainly hope that when we come back we can get a result. Thats what the job is about. I cosponsored and voted for the president s legislation. I cosponsored and voted for the bipartisan legislation. I hope i have a chance to vote for legislation that gets 65 or 70 votes that solves the problem. I would like to note the presence on the floor of the junior senator from alabama, senator jones, who has been waiting patiently. He and i are working together on something im about to speak about, a resolution that has to do with an event that happened 50 years ago. The memphis sanitation workers strike. He has plenty to say about it, but he has not yet what we call made what he called his maiden speech on the senate floor. We usually reserve that moment for a singular opportunity to speak, and so hes waiting until that time to speak. And i respect that. I told him a little story that happened to senator baker when he was in senator jones position. Bakers fatherinlaw everett dirksen, whom i mentioned was the leader and everybody assembled to hear bakers maiden speech. Baker spoke a little too long. Dirksen came over to congratulate him. Baker looked up and said to his fatherinlaw, senator dirksen, how did i do . And dirksen said, howard, perhaps you should occasionally enjoy the luxury of an unexpressed thought. So i congratulate senator jones on his sticking to tradition here, but i value his, the fact that were working together on civil rights, the fact that well be in memphis together on the civil rights pilgrimage which hes taking a part in leading in early next month. And i thank him for being on the floor today while i make these remarks. Mr. President , in 1968, was a tumultuous year. Both dr. Martin luther king injury and thensenator and president ial candidate robert f. Kennedy were assassinated and american soldiers were fighting in the vietnam war. And in memphis, tennessee, African American sanitation workers had been facing discrimination in pay and benefits. It would become a historic event in the civil rights movement. In january of 1968, they began to work with to work with the pay and working conditions. February 1, 1968, two sanitation workers sought shelter from the pouring rain and were crushed to death in their garbage truck when the exactor on compactor on the truck malfunctioned. It galvanized the sanitation workers who decided to begin their strike to protest working conditions on february 12, 1968. The workers demanded recognition of their union, increased pay, and safer working conditions. The mayor threatened to replace the striking workers unless they returned to work. Throughout february and early march, negotiations continued, and on march 28, 1968, reverend Martin Luther king jr. Led a march that ended with rioting, arrest, and the death of 16yearold larry payne. They vowed to march again, focusing on the principles of nonviolence. Doctor king addressed a rally of 10,000 African American workers and residents and Union Members at the mason temple. His speech included these lines. I have been to the mountain top and ive seen the promised land. I may not get there he said, with you, but i want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. That was dr. Martin luther king. The next day, april 4, 1968, dr. King was assassinated as he stood on the balcony at the loraine motel. Four days on april 8, 1968, 42,000 people marched in memphis. The strike was resolve on april 16. The 1,300 sanitation workers in memphis took a stand for freedom and displayed courage. In his april 3 speech, dr. King said, quote, now were going to march again and weve got to march again in order to put the issue where its supposed and force everybody to see that there are 1,300 of gods children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. Thats the issue and we have to say to the nation, dr. King said, we know how its coming out, for when people get caught up with that which is right and willing to sacrifice for it, theres no stopping point short of victory. End of quote. Now, 50 years later, this resolution that senator jones and i and senator cardin and senator corker introduced seeks to recognize their sacrifice and contributions to the civil rights movement. It is important that our children grow up learning about how these 1,300 memphis sanitation workers, and many others, struggled for Racial Justice in the mist of all of that chaos. On tuesday i introduced a Senate Resolution, to which i referred. I did it along with United States senators bob corker, my colleague from tennessee, senator doug jones from alabama, senator ben cardin of maryland to recognize the 50th anniversary of the 1968 memphis sanitation workers strike. Representative steve cohen has represented the same in the house of representatives. He recruited 76 cosponsors. I would like to thank representative cohen for taking the lead in my house and my tennessee colleagues inincluding flash marn and custoff and role for their support as well. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this resolution, mr. President. I yield the floor. I have been asked to make some concluding remarks. Mr. President , i have one request for a committee to meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer duly noted. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to to executive session for the en bloc consideration of the following nominations, executive calendar 588, 589, 642, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681. The presiding officer without objection. The clerk will report. The Clerk Department of justice, joseph d. Brown of texas to be United States attorney for the Eastern District of texas ; matthew d. Krueger of wisconsin to be United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of wisconsin, john h. Durham of connecticut to be United States District Attorney for connecticut, department of justice, john c. Anderson of new mexico to be United States District Attorney for new mexico, brandon c. , joseph p. Of p. Kelly of nebraska to be United States attorney for the district of nebraska, scott murray to be u. S. Attorney for the district of new hampshire. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate, if confirmed, the nominations be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc, that the president be immediately notified of the senates action, no further motions be in order and any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the record. The presiding officer without objection. The question occurs on the nominations en bloc. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nominations are confirmed en bloc. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent the senate resume legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. Res. 413 submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 413, celebrating black history month. The presiding officer without objection, the senate will proceed to the motion. Mr. Alexander i further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the committee on Veterans Affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 94 of 6 and the send a proceed to its immediate consideration. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. 946, a bill to require the secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire additional veterans justice outreach specialists. The presiding officer without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Alexander i ask unanimous consent that the flake substitute amendment be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent the committee on Veterans Affairs be discharged from further consideration of h. R. 1725, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk h. R. 1725, an act to direct the secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit certain reports relating to medical evidence and so forth. The presiding officer without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Alexander i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander i ask unanimous consent that the committee on Veterans Affairs be discharged from further consideration of h. R. 3122 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk h. R. 3122, an act to direct the secretary of Veterans Affairs to include on the internet website of the department of Veterans Affairs a warning regarding dishonest predatory or otherwise unlawful practices targeting at individuals who are eligible for increased pension based on need and for other purposes. The presiding officer without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Alexander i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. R. 4533 which was received from the house. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk h. R. 4533, an act to designate the Health Care System of the department of Veterans Affairs in lexington, kentucky, and to make certain other designations. The presiding officer without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Alexander i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming adjournment of the senate, the president of the senate, the president pro tempore and the majority and minority leaders make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferencings are, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, concurrent action of the two houses or by order of the senate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn and then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted on the following dates and times and following each pro formerra session the Senate Adjourn until the next pro forma session, friday, february 16 at 12 noon, tuesday february 20 at 5 00 p. M. , friday february 23 at 2 00 p. M. When the Senate Adjourns on friday, february 23, convene next on monday, february 26. Following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and morning business be closed. Further, following the closing of morning business, senator peters be recognized to deliver washingtons farewell address. Following the address, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the branch nomination. Finally, notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, the cloture vote on the branch nomination occur at 5 30 p. M. , monday, february 26. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander mr. President , if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. The presiding officer the Senate Stands adjourned until 12 objection. Mr. Mcconnell well, mr. President , i think its safe to say its been a disappointing week. I kept my commitment and set aside the entire week for a broad, productive debate over daca, Border Security, and other important immigration issues. Everyone, my friend, the democratic leader, the assistant democratic leader, the congressional hispanic caucus, everyone agrees that i held up my end of the bargain. Back in december i stated that if a bill withstood a chance of becoming law