They will be american citizens. I have met so many of these beautiful children and their families. Now many have been grown up. They came to america as little kids and all they want to be is americans americans. They work hard. I met some of them during the covid crisis in new york, risking their lives to deal with the healthcare crisis we had. Ive seen enlist in the armed forces and go to college and some of our best colleges and law schools and climb that american ladder that has been around for so many years that some people want to rip away. So this is a wonderful, wonderful day for the daca kids, for their families, and for the american dream. Weve always believed in immigration in america. Weve had some dark forces oppose it in recent years, but we believe in it. It is part of our soul. Every one of us cares about immigrants and so many of us are descendants of immigrants. Wow, what a decision. And let me say this, in these very difficult times, the Supreme Court provided a bright ray of sunshine this week, with the decision on monday, preventing discrimination in employment against the Lgbtq Community and now with this daca decision. To me frankly the courts decisions were surprising but welcome and gives you some faith that the laws and rules of this country can be upheld. Wow. The decision is amazing. Im so happy. These kids, their families, i feel for them, and i think all of america does. Now on some other issues, but again, i cannot the Supreme Court, who would have thought would have so many good decisions in one week, who would have thought, wow. Okay. Now, lets get to some other very important issues as well. Two weeks ago the house and Senate Democrats introduced the bill, the justice and policing act, to bring Sweeping Change to the Nations Police departments. The bill would bring comprehensive and enduring reforms, the most forceful set of changes to policing in decades. The House Judiciary Committee approved the legislation yesterday. And it will pass the full house next week. Here in the senate, republicans put forward their own proposal yesterday led by the senator from South Carolina. We welcome our republican colleagues to this discussion. Its something they have resisted for so long, but merely writing a bill, any bill is not good enough at this moment in american history. Its too low a bar, to simply say well write any old bill, and thats good enough isnt good enough for so many people, many of whom are marching in the streets to get real justice. We dont just need any bill right now. We need a strong bill. We dont need some bipartisan talks. We need to save black lives and bring long overdue reforms to institutions that have resisted them, and the harsh fact of the matter is, the legislation my republican friends have put together is far too weak and will be ineffective at rooting out this problem. The republican bill does nothing to reform the legal standards that shield police from convictions for violating americas constitutional rights. It does nothing on qualified immunity, which shields even police who are guilty of violating civil rights from being sued for civil damages. The republican bill does nothing to encourage independent investigations of Police Departments that have patterns and practices that violate the constitution. The republican bill does nothing to reform the use of force standard, nothing on racial profiling, nothing on limiting the transfer of military equipment to local Police Departments. What the republican bill does propose does not go far enough. Unlike the justice and policing act, which bans no knock warrants in federal drug cases, the republican bill only requires data on no knock warrants. Breonna taylor, a First Responder in louisville, kentucky was asleep in her bed when she was killed by police who had no knock warrant. More data would not have saved Breonna Taylors life. Unlike the justice and policing act, which bans choke holds and other tactics that have killed black americans, the republican bill only purports to ban check holds by withholding funds from departments that voluntarily dont ban them themselves. But only those choke holds that resist air flow but not those choke holds that resist blood to flow to the brain, and the ban only applies unless the use of deadly force is required. Who determines when the use of deadly force is required . Usually the police themselves, and courts defer so their judgment. Defer to their judgment. I dont understand. If you want to ban choke holds and other brutal tactics that have killed black americans in police custody, why dont you just ban them . Now i like my friend from South Carolina senator scott. I know hes trying to do the right thing. But this is not about just doing any bill. This is not about finding the lowest common denominator between the two parties and then moving on. This is about bringing about needed change to Police Departments across the country, about stopping the killing of africanamericans at the hands of police and bringing accountability and transparency to Police Officers and departments that are guilty of misconduct. Unfortunately, the republican bill doesnt go nearly far enough on prevention. It doesnt go nearly far enough on transparency and hardly brings even one ounce of accountability, and that matters a great deal. We have to get this right. If we pass a bill thats ineffective and the killings continue and the Police Departments resist change and theres no accountability, the wound in our society will not close. It will widen. This is not about making an effort or dipping our toes into the waters of reform. This is about solving a problem that is taking the lives of black americans. Let me say that again because its so important for my colleagues across the aisle to hear. This is not just about making an effort or dipping our toes into the water of reform. This is about solving a problem that is taking the lives of black americans. If the bill would not have prevented the death of george floyd or Breonna Taylor or ahmad arbery or Michael Brown or eric garner, it wont stop future deaths of black americans at the hands of the very people that are meant to protect and serve them, then it doesnt represent the change we need now. As drafted, the republican bill does not rise to the moment. The democratic bill, the justice and policing act does. And of course, while democrats are glad that leader mcconnell felt the pressure and heeded our call to put policing reform on the floor next week, it wont be before the republican leader asks us to confirm two more hard right wing judges to the federal bench. Today the senate will vote on justin walker, a 38yearold with less than a years worth of experience as a District Court judge, to sit on the highest court in the country for the rest of his life, the temerity of doing that, hes just on the court for a few months, but hes friends with leader mcconnell so he gets rushed to the very high court, without the necessary experience and maturity of judgment. The Republican Senate approved his nomination to the District Court on october 24, last year, after the aba rated him not qualified. Now eight months later, leader mcconnell wants to give justin walker, a former intern of his, a promotion to the d. C. Circuit. Even in his extremely limited time as a jurist, walker made news by calling the Supreme Courts decision to uphold our healthcare law catastrophic and indefensible decision. Id like leader mcconnell to go home to kentucky and tell the citizens of kentucky why he nominated someone who wants to repeal our healthcare law, when the covid crisis is hurting people there as it is everywhere else. In the middle of a National Health crisis, the Republican Senate majority is poised to confirm a judge who opposes our countrys healthcare law. Theres no reason to do this nomination now. There is no stunning number of vacancies on the d. C. Circuit. Were in the middle of a Global Pandemic and a National Conversation about Racial Justice and police reform. This is about the republican leader and his relentless pursuit of right wing judiciary. Usually my friends on the other side of the aisle voting lock step on these judges, so its an indication of mr. Walkers caliber or lack thereof that at least one Senate Republican has announced opposition to his nomination. After mr. Walker, again, before we begin to move to policing reform, leader mcconnell will put forward the nomination of mr. Walker to the fifth Circuit Court of appeals, even by the very low standards of trumps nominees to the federal bunch, mr. Wilson is appalling. He called our nations healthcare law illegitimate and perverse and advocated the repeal of roe v. Wade. He strongly supported voting measures including voter id laws and is opposed in this day and age towards minority voting rights. There will be a massive split screen in the senate next week, as we prepare to debate legislation to reduce racial bias and discrimination in law enforcement, Senate Republicans will push a judge who has a history of fighting against minority voting rights. The hypocrisy is glaring. Its amazing to me the temerity sometimes that the majority leader shows in talking about trying to bring Racial Justice and putting someone on the bench who has fought against Racial Justice in terms of voting rights, throughout his career. Again, the hypocrisy is glaring. And now on china. My colleagues know how long i pressed administrations of both parties to be tougher on chinas economic policies. For a time i even praised our current president for talking about going after chinas trade abuses, but like on so many other issues, President Trump talks a big game and then completely folds. After a few months of negotiation, President Trump announced phase one trade deal with china, which lifted tariffs on chinese imports, in exchange for a few shortterm agricultural purchases. It was clear at the time that President Trump sold out. I argued strenuously with the trade representative, mr. Lighthizer about the phase one deal, and now as excerpts from mr. Boltons book hits the press, we see why President Trump caved to china so completely. The president s former National Security advisor wrote that President Trump decided to drop all of our major demands on china, because he wanted agricultural purchases from states that would aid his reelection. Mr. Bolton alleges that the president wanted the support of farmers in key states, so he sold out the National Interest for his personal political interest. Sound familiar . My Senate Republican colleagues, sound familiar . Ironically, of course, American Farmers arent even getting the benefit because president xi has reneged on purchasing american soybeans and wheat, when President Trump was so craven to bring this up, it was a signal to xi, you can stand strong, and the president wont do anything, wont do anything, and thats what happened. So no one won. American manufacturing and american jobs were lost out in a weakkneed deal to china. And then even the farmers who were supposed to get benefit of course for trumps political interest didnt get any benefit. While i would preferred mr. Bolton to have told these stories under oath at the impeachment trial, they are quite illuminating nonetheless. It seems he should have titled his book the real art of the deal. President trumps ridiculous praise of how xi handled the coronavirus is now explained. President trumps silence on human rights abuses and the protests in hong kong is now explained. Even more revolting, mr. Bolton alleges that the president approved of president xis plan to place up to a million uighurs in concentration camps. China is americas competitor for this generation and the next, and this president s insecurity and weakness and vanity and obsessive selfinterest is a threat, a threat, a real threat to our Economic Security and our National Security. President trump cannot be trusted to deal with china policy any longer. And before i yield the floor, i spoke earlier about the daca decision. And i thought first of those wonderful kids and their families and the burden that is off their shoulders, but after a few minutes, i dialled 217836 i wont give the last fur the last four numbers of my dear friend senator durbin who has waged this fight since 2000. He has been passionate and unrelenting in fighting for the daca kids and their families. He talked about it in our caucus every week. He did just this past week, and now while our work is still not done, we must all work so these kids can eventually become american citizens. At least they are free, free at last, and in good part, thats because of the work of the senior senator from illinois who met them, got to know them and love them and took his amazing legislative abilities to help them. I believe that in part the decision across the street occurred because of senator durbins effective and unrelenting passionate advocacy for the daca kids. I yield the floor to my dear friend and happy man this morning the senator the senior senator from illinois. Madame president . Senator from illinois. Madame president , i want to thank my friend, colleague, in both the house and the senate, senator chuck schumer, the democratic leader for his kind words. He has been such a valuable ally in this battle, and as leader on the senate side, chuck, i just cant thank you enough. The thanks go to you. The thanks go to you. Time and again, we did things here to fight for these young people that were difficult politically, difficult politically. I just want to thank all the senators on both sides of the aisle who were part of moving this issue forward. They did it at great political risk. I can remember as sure as im standing here watching one of my Democratic Senate colleagues walk down and vote for the dream act, return to her desk in the corner, put her head down and sobbed, realizing she probably cost her own reelection with that vote. Over and over again, people stood up for these young people. This morning minutes ago, the Supreme Court brought a smile and a sigh of relief to more than 700,000 young people in the United States of america. This morning the Supreme Court ruled that the september 2017 rescission of the daca program by the Trump Administration was to be stricken as arbitrary and capricious. So what does it mean . It means for these 700,000 daca protected individuals, they can continue to live, to work, and to study in america without fear of deportation, for the moment. Daca of course is a program created by president obama in 2012. It was a program that frankly was our answer to the failure to enact the dream act as the law of the land. The president used his executive authority to create the daca program, and heres what it said, just basically mirroring the standards of the dream act, which i introduced 20 years ago. It basically said if you were brought to america as a child, if you lived in this country, gone to school, dont have a serious problem with the law, you should have a chance to live here without fear of deportation. Now, the dream act said you should have a chance to become a citizen of the United States, which is of course our ultimate goal. But the daca program opened up eligibility and almost 800,000 came forward and applied. They had to pay a filing fee of 5 or 600 dollars, go through a criminal background check, but for many of these young people, it was a turning point in their lives. At that point, finally, finally, there was a chance they could stay in the country they called home, the United States of america. They seized that opportunity and did remarkable things. They enlisted in our military. They went to schools and colleges to pursue an education. They took up jobs, as teachers. They finished medical school. They did things that were unimaginable before daca. And of course when the administration changed and a new president came in, there was a real question as to whether he would continue the daca program. The very first time i ever spoke to President Donald Trump was the day of his inauguration. Within an hour or two after he was sworn in, at a luncheon, and i said to him then, my first words were, mr. President , i hope that youre going to help those young people, those dreamers, those protected by daca. He looked at me and he said, senator, dont worry. Well take care of those kids. Well, sadly that didnt happen. In september of 2017, there was a decision made by this administration to eliminate the daca program. And at that point, were it not for a Court Challenge and a protective order by the court, those young people might have been subject to deportation, but many, myself included, believe that the process used by President Trump was flawed and if challenged it would fall in court. It took from september of 2017 until today, just minutes ago, when the Supreme Court ruled that the administrations approach to eliminating daca was wrong and would be stricken. I want to say for a moment who these young people are because many people dont know them. They dont wear badges or uniforms to proclaim that they are daca protected. But this is who they are of the 700,000, 200,000 of them are essential employees. You may see them every day in many many callings across america as we face this National Health emergency. Over 40,000 of them are healthcare workers, so if youre a patient at a clinic or a hospital today, fighting covid19, and your doctor or nurse just walked in the room with a big smile, its because the Supreme Court said to that healthcare worker, that healthcare hero, you can stay in america. We need you. But of course that could change, and i want to raise this issue because its an important one, the Trump Administration can decide that they are going to reinitiate this effort to rescind daca, try to do it right this time by the Supreme Court standards. That would be a terrible tragedy, if they made that decision. Not just for those 700,000 but for their families as well. The front page story on the Chicago Tribune this morning was about just such a family. Both husband and wife protected by daca, both of them working in america, trying to buy a little home in aurora, illinois. She works in a cancer clinic. He has a job as well. They have two beautiful little kids. They are both daca protected. Because of the Supreme Court decision, they have another day in america. They have a sigh of relief this morning. But what about next week . What will the Trump Administration do to them next week . Im calling on the president and those around him, i beg them, give these daca protectees the rest of this year until next year at least before anything is considered. Lets protect them now, through the election. Let the next president , whoever it may be, make a decision, and i hope before that happens, we will do our part here in the United States senate, the second part of what we can and should be doing, calling on the president not to rescind daca again, not to put these young people and their families through this all over again. But secondly, that we do our job in the senate. I listened to senator mcconnell earlier talking about bipartisanship, talking about our legislative accomplishments, and hes correct. The bill we passed yesterday was historic. Im glad we did it. The Coronavirus Relief bills that weve passed are historic. Im certainly we did it on a bipartisan basis. I sincerely hope when it comes to justice and policing, we can do the same, a bipartisan effort to enact good law, but let me add to that list, which unfortunately does include a lot of legislation, something that is now critically important, the house of representatives months ago passed the dream and promise act, which would take care of the daca issue once and for all. We could enact that law and say to these young people now you have your chance to stay and earn your path to citizenship in america. Thats what we ought to be saying. Everyone knows that our immigration laws are a mess hard to explain, impossible to defend. We have a chance to do something about that on a bipartisan basis. Im calling on senator mcconnell and all the leaders on his side of the aisle, lets join together and do that. Lets have a hearing in the Senate Judiciary committee. Lets bring this bill to the floor of the senate, this year, so that once and for all we can deal with the problem that weve been looking at for 20 years and approaching in so many different ways. But in the meantime, for today, at least for this weekend, and i hope for long beyond that, we will be celebrating a Supreme Court decision which gives a new lease on life to 700,000 young people who have one goal in mind, to be part of americas future. They were educated in our schools. They stood in those classrooms and pledged allegiance to the same flag that we pledge allegiance to. They have their children, families, hopes and their future, and they are making a good thing of their life in america. Thanks to the Supreme Court, they have some more time, and now it is up to the president and up to us to solve this problem once and for all, to do the right thing for them and the future of america. Madame president , i yield the floor and suggest the absence of quorum. Mr. President , todays decision from the u. S. Supreme court, the department of Homeland Security versus regions of the university of california is disgraceful. Judging is not a game. Its not supposed to be a game. But sa