Through the glass doors you can almost see the Supreme Court building across the street. The Supreme Court is many times the last stop when it comes to c human rights, civil rights, after all the work thats been done by the congress but by ther president many times is the Supreme Court that has the last word. In the case of plessy versus ferguson when the supreme fecou held segregation was constitutional the last word was a disappointment. In abversus United States and the Supreme Court upheld the tournament of japanese americans during world war ii it was another disappointment. But other times the court has risen to the challenge the famous case of brown versus board of education which finally struck down the concept of separate but equal where the Supreme Court recognized the right to marriage equality. Today the Supreme Court faced another humans right issue involving another group. Now its become standard and defines a group of americans. People living in america. In their case they came to the United States brought here by their parents when they were children. They may have had legal entry into the United States but some point in their lives they no longer were legal. They became undocumented in the sewords of the law. Most of these young people never do that status until they reach their teenage years and the parents family told them the truth of their legal condition. They had no control over the decision to come to this country or file necessary papers. Many of them were shocked to learn that they were undocumented. They went to school with our kids, they grew up in our. Communities and played on the sports teams. They probably attended the same churches and temples and synagogues as our own kids. They were just part of the group. What they knew they privately kknew they werent. They knew that they were one knock on the door away from being deported to the United States. It was because of one of these young people that i decided to introduce the legislation 19 years ago her name is teresa lee. Brought to the United States at the age of two from korea by her parents to chicago she grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet. Her father wanted to be a mistake minister that never quite put the church together. Her mother worked in a drycleaning establishment to feed the family. She went to public schools, as luck would have it there was a program at one of the schools called the Music Program mccabe her a chance to play the piano. When she finished Public High School she was offered an opportunity to go on for a Music Education at the manhattan conservatory of music. When she filled out her application and reach the point where she asked her nationality and citizenship she said to her mom, what am i supposed to put here . Her mom said, im not sure. We better call senator durbins office. They did and we checked the log and the log was very harsh. Atfor teresa lee who had lived or 16 years in the United States beat the odds by finishing high school in developing this great talent at piano the law told her that she had to leave the United States for 10 years and apply to return. Thats the itlaw. It seemed unfair to me that a young woman brought here at the age of two should face that as her only legal choice. I introduced the dream act and said if you brought here as a child, raised in the United States, went to school, had no criminal record of any significance, but you should be given a chance. A chance to make it in the United States to earn your way to legal status and citizenship. Thats what the dream act was all about. We passed it several times in the house, several times in the senate but never the same congress. His still not the law of the land. Who is it years ago i appealed to my former colleague in the Senate Barack Obama as president , to try to help and he did. By executive order he rdcreated this daca program which said young people like teresa lee could apply go through criminal background check, fill out the necessary forms, pay the filing fee and be allowed to stay in the United States for two years at a time renewable not to be deported and be able to legally work. As president obama came up with this program over 780,000 young people came forward and became protected by daca. It really change their lives. For the first time in their lives they had some government recognized status they were no longer just undocumented. Amazing things happened, they went on and pursued education, career, life, future they osstarted realizing their dream. It was a good and positive lthing all around. Then President Trump came into office initially he was very complementary of dreamers. Saying positive things about them. But unfortunately over a period of time he changed his attitude about this issue. And on september 5, 2017 President Trump announced that he was going to end the Delco Program pushed up the protection for these young people. It was a sad day and a challenge for us to decide what to do to try to pass legislation in the congress that will protect these young people we rolled up our sleeves and put together several bipartisan measures in the senate President Trump rejected every single one of them. He wasnt going to have it. Use opposed to our enacting legislation that dealt with it. That repeal of the dream act probably repeal of daca has created uncertainty for hundreds of thousands. The lawsuit was filed in an effort to try to protect them in the court said that their protection would continue while the case is being argued. The case worked its way to the courts and ended up this morning at the u. S. Supreme court across the street. I was proud to leave 172 current former members of congress on a bipartisan amicus brief in support of daca. And reject what i consider to be President Trumps illegal repeal of daca. Only congress can provide permanent solution for dreamers the u. S. House of representatives have responded to President Trumps cruel decision to appeal daca a bypassing the dream and promise act of a strong bipartisan vote of 237 to 187. This legislation is based on the dream act i originally introduced 19 years ago. This Bipartisan Legislation would give dreamers a chance to earn their citizenship the bill passed the house its here. Its now up to senator Mitch Mcconnell of kentucky the republican leader to call the dream and promise act for a vote in the United States senate. Mr. President , i want reto make unanimous consent request in relation to that measure and ask for consent after we ftdeba like you see the request to complete my remarks. I see a senator on the floor who i believe is here to object and i want to be courteous to her because shes been in the chair for a while. Can i have unanimous consent to return to the bait after i make my unanimous consent request . Is their objection . No. Observing the right to object. I do object. Mr. President , and making unanimous consent request for clarity. That would bring to the floor the dream and promise act for a vote in the senate a measure which would address the issue that was before the Supreme Court today. Im making this on behalf of senator schumer, senator leahy, senator rosen, senator tim kaine, senator menendez, senator carton, as if in legislative session i asked unanimous consent of the senate proceed to immediate consideration of calendar number 112 hr 6 for the bill to be read a third time passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening mraction or debate. Is their objection . And reserving the right to object, i will object. Senator from tennessee. Thank you mr. President. I would like to articulate the reason for the objection to the legislation that is brought forward by my friend the senator from illinois. Once again, i found it necessary for the good of the order to object to unanimous consent request brought by our friends and majority. Once again, they are attempting to bypass the senate rules on behalf of a piece of legislation that this body has not had the time to debate to deliberate or to consider in committee. The American Dream and promise act passed the house of representatives by a near partyline vote. Unsurprising considering the bill addresses the contentious issue of Immigration Law this bill supported by the senator from illinois were offered temporary legal status to 2. 5 million undocumented immigrants those affected immigrants have tried to remain in the u. S. Under the deferred action for childhood arrivals or the daca program. Pr at that stop made possible by nothing more than an executive memo that was signed by former president barack obama. Mr. President , i think it worked for us to realize it was an executive memo that put this program in place. Its not a federal law. President trump ended the daca program in 2017. Arguing that the obama administrations attempt to subvert Immigration Law in such a massive scale was unlawful. And possibly unconstitutional. Soon after President Trump offered a path to legalization for Daca Recipients but our friends and the minority refused to take him up on that offer and we have to remember this, there was a path to legalization for Daca Recipients that was offered by president donald trump. Our friends in the minority said no. We do not want that. They continued with the issue. I will tell you, every dreamer in the country should be outraged by the minorities refusal to come to the table and negotiate on an offer that was on the table. I encourage my friends on the other side of the aisle to remember that the Supreme Court affirmed a Lower Court Decision to maintain an injunction on the nationwide daca program. A scheme similar to daca but aimed at parents as opposed to children. Although that decision nset no legal precedent to rebuild various fixes in our immigration system without running afoul of existing legal barriers. Senators from both sides of the aisle have been working on this issue. Its been with us for syears. Its imperative that we find a consensus solution. If the minority wishes to offer peace of mind and path forward to dreamers they should do it in such a way that allows the American People to hold each and every one of us accountable. For repercussions we should do this through regular order, i reiterate my objection to the minority fits motion and i yield the floor. Does the senator object . Yes term abyes mr. President , i object. Mr. President , for the record, how many pieces of legislation did we consider in the Senate Last Week . None. The week before, none. How many months has this measurement sitting here in the senate . The republicancontrolled senate. Four months. For four months the leader republican leader has not considered it worthy to even come before the senate for debate. I dont control the agenda, senator mcconnell does. Hes decided this measure is not worth debating on the floor. Of the United States senate. Im considering request to tbring the measure to the floo it isnt as if we are taking away an option which the minority leader, pardon me, the republican leader is using. He is not. When we look back to the debate in the effort to find compromise with President Trump on this issue. Every time the president leads toward Daca Dreamers these people intervene and stop and negotiations come to an end. Its time for us in the senate not to wait for permission slip from President Trump to pass legislation. Im prepared to bring this matter to the floor and except the decision on the amendments on the floor. And we are in the lminority. We will lose some of these, so be it. Let the senate be the senate and deliver these measures. To argue that i should be asking to bring it to the floor because he has to go through regular order the obvious gh question is, when is senator mcconnell going to pursue regular order on a measure thats been sitting here for four months . Let me say a word if i can while were on the subject about the people involved, we can talk about Senate Procedure and law all we wish but what we should do is discuss the real people who were involved in a thousand days in office this president has issued 11,000 tweets. No surprise is it . Five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 a day. He issued one this morning. Qabout the young people in question here. I like to read president Donald Trumps tweet this morning as the case was headed to the Supreme Court, heres what he tweeted and i many of the people in daca no longer very young are far from angels. Some are very tough hardened criminals. President obama said he had no legal right to sign order but we do it anyway. Ifif Supreme Court awith overturned a deal will be made for them to stay. May i address one particular aspect of the president of the United States tweet on this subject affecting the fate of 780,000 young People Living in the United States. Probably the best thing is not do it generically but to talk about specifics. Let me tell you a story about two Daca Recipients both attending Loyola University in chicago a city im honored to represent, they both came to washington dc today and sat in the Supreme Court during the argument. Im going to leave it up to my members and colleagues here in the senate as well as those who are following this debate to reach their own conclusion about these two that im about to tell the story of. You decide whether this man is a tough and hardened criminal. His name is caesar mutombo. He grew up in the state of new mexico. He was a pretty good student. In fact, excellent. Graduated from high school with the grade point average of 4. 0 ranked third in his class. He went on to New Mexico State University where he was a triple major, biology, microbiology in spanish, two majors athat she graduated with 3. 9 gpa. This hardened criminal then went on to earn a masters degree in biology with a minor in molecular biology while working as a teaching assistant. Then daca came along and for the first time in his life he had a chance to apply for medical school. He never thought there was going to happen. He applied and was accepted at Loyola University chicago Stritch School of medicine. Quite an achievement. The presiding officer also a medical doctor, im sure understands that. But he did one better, he enrolled in the Md Phd Program at Loyola University. He was just in my office upstairs and he told me that in a matter of two or three years he will have completed his phd in microbiology and then he can go on to complete his medical degree. And his residency. This tough hardened criminal, according to the president , has designs on becoming a medical researcher in the United States of america. When he completes this highly Competitive Program he will have a medical degree and a doctorate degree in science. He is one of dozens of doctor recipients at the Stritch School, my hats off to Loyola University. They have admitted more daca students for their medical school than any other medical school in the United States. They are amazing students i have met them. In many if not all of them have promised to come back to my state of illinois having had this chance to go to medical school in chicago can save and underserved areas after they become practicing doctors. Loyola does give many special treatment in the selection process, they are not eligible for any federal financial assistance. I just want to thank dethem and say to the president of the United States, before you put out a tweet calling cesar and monta longo and people like him a hardened criminal, take a minute and meet these young people. While youre at it, meet this young lady too. She was just in my office, her name is Fernanda Herrera pharaoh, when she was two years old her family brought her from neck to go to the United States. When she was seven years old her family was forced to leave huntersville alabama when her father lost his job due to his immigration status. The family settled in destin alabama where fernanda attended a private Catholic School and scholarship. When she was 10 years old her parents open a restaurant every day after school she went to the restaurant to wait tables and help run the restaurant doing her homework and spare time. During fernandas junior year of high school she passed the meharshest alabama past the harshest antiImmigration Law of the country which forced her family to close down there restaurant. Alabama bar dreamers from attending even public colleges but thanks to Daca Fernando was able to attend the private school Samford University in birmingham alabama. Her parents worked hard to pay tuition she qualified for no federal financial assistance. Her dad worked 80 hours a week at a chicken plant so that she could go to college. She graduated samford in 2017 and her experiences drove her to become immigration activists. She worked at the Alabama Coalition for immigrant justice after the President Trump repealed daca and 2017 fernanda came to washington for four day hunger fest with other recipients on the r. Last year fernanda was admitted to the Loyola University in Chicago School of law. But this mspring her mother wa pulled over in georgia for driving with a broken tail light, her mother is now in deportation proceedings. Its tough enough to go to School Without federal financial help, its tough enough to work your way through it, its tough enough not to know how the Supreme Court is going to rule tomorrow or the day after and whether it will change your fate, its tough enough to know that any knock on the door could mean deportation for members of your family and yet she is persevered a hardened criminal mr. President . Fernandos dream has become an Immigration Lawyer, she wants to help people just like her mom. Without daca, caesar monta longo will not become a doctor. Fernanda herrero will not become an attorney. Will america be a better country if they are forced to leave . If they are deported . I dont think so. Cesar, fernanda, and hundreds eyof thousands of other dreamer are counting on Supreme Court to do the right thing and reject President Trumps repeal of daca. M there also counting on those of us who serve in the senate to stop making excuses and solve this crisis, a bill has passed the house i tried to bring it to the floor of the senate and there was an objection today. It is because we are overwhelmed with work, as you can see, we spent a lot of time making speeches. Senator mcconnell refuses to take action to address the plight of the t dreamers. Im going to continue to make this unanimous consent request. I dont know what the excuse will be next week that we are not following regular order but in the meantime, i hope the Senate Judiciary committee will take up this measure as they have so many times over the last 15 years or so bring it to the floor of the senate for once and for all can we be the United States senate for a week . Can we actually consider a piece of legislation here that addresses an issue that is critically important to hundreds of thousands of People Living in the United States of america. What a relief it would be to see the senate actually as a senate to see members of the floor debating over issues. Im not going to win every debate every amendment i want is not going to pass but im prepared to accept the outcome. Lets do with the senate was elected to im sorry there was an objection today, as long as im United States senator and going to continue to come to the floor of the senate to advocate for cesar, fernando, and all the dreamers. It would be an american tragedy to deport these two promising young people, now its in the hands of senator Mitch Mcconnell the republican majority leader to give the dream and promised act of vote and to say to those 780,000 who do not know what the future will be just days or weeks from now there is an answer. We want you to be part of america. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Watch the house impeachment inquiry hearing live wednesday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan 3 with testimony from top u. S. Diplomat in ukraine William Taylor and Deputy Assistant secretary of state george kent. Find the procedures for the hearing at her website cspan. Org impeachment and watch our live all the coverage on cspan3, cspan. Org on your computer or mobile device or listen live wherever you are on the free cspan radio app. For 40 years cspan has been providing america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court, and Public Policy events from washington dc and around the country. So you can make up your own mind, created by cable in 1979 the cspan is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Coming up tonight on cspan2, House Homeland Security chair Betty Thompson holds a hearing in this state of mississippi. To examine immigration rates that took place august 7 of this year. Then fcc chair achieved by discusses the need for the United States to lead the world in the development of 5g technology. [backgro s