[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 82 (Thursday, May 27, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4474-S4484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   MAKING EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume conversation H.R. 4899, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 4899) making emergency supplemental 
     appropriations for emergency disaster relief and summer jobs 
     for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other 
     purposes.

  Pending:

       Reid amendment No. 4174, to provide collective bargaining 
     rights for public safety officers employed by States or their 
     political subdivisions.
       Sessions/McCaskill amendment No. 4173, to establish 3-year 
     discretionary spending caps.
       Wyden/Grassley amendment No. 4183, to establish as a 
     standing order of the Senate that a Senator publicly disclose 
     a notice of intent to objecting to any measure or matter.
       Feingold amendment No. 4204, to require a plan for safe, 
     orderly, and expeditious redeployment of the United States 
     Armed Forces from Afghanistan.
       McCain amendment No. 4214, to provide for the National 
     Guard support to secure the southern land border of the 
     United States.
       Cornyn modified amendment No. 4202, to make appropriations 
     to improve border security, with an offset from unobligated 
     appropriations under division A of Public Law 111-5.

[[Page S4475]]

       Lautenberg modified amendment No. 4175, to provide that 
     parties responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oilspill in the 
     Gulf of Mexico shall reimburse the general fund of the 
     Treasury for costs incurred in responding to that oil spill.
       Cardin amendment No. 4191, to prohibit the use of funds for 
     leasing activities in certain areas of the Outer Continental 
     Shelf.
       Kyl/McCain modified amendment No. 4228 (to amendment No. 
     4202), to appropriate $200,000,000 to increase resources for 
     the Department of Justice and the Judiciary to address 
     illegal crossings of the Southwest border, with an offset.
       Coburn/McCain amendment No. 4232, to pay for the costs of 
     supplemental spending by reducing Congress's own budget and 
     disposing of unneeded Federal property and uncommitted 
     Federal funds.
       Coburn/McCain modified amendment No. 4231, to pay for the 
     costs of supplemental spending by reducing waste, 
     inefficiency, and unnecessary spending within the Federal 
     Government.
       Landrieu/Cochran amendment No. 4179, to allow the 
     Administrator of the Small Business Administration to create 
     or save jobs by providing interest relief on certain 
     outstanding disaster loans relating to damage caused by the 
     2005 gulf coast hurricanes or the 2008 gulf coast hurricanes.
       Landrieu amendment No. 4180, to defer payments of principal 
     and interest on disaster loans relating to the Deepwater 
     Horizon oilspill.
       Landrieu modified amendment No. 4184, to require the 
     Secretary of the Army to maximize the placement of dredged 
     material available from maintenance dredging of existing 
     navigation channels to mitigate the impacts of the Deepwater 
     Horizon oilspill in the Gulf of Mexico at full Federal 
     expense.
       Landrieu amendment No. 4213, to provide authority to the 
     Secretary of the Interior to immediately fund projects under 
     the Coastal Impact Assistance Program on an emergency basis.
       Landrieu amendment No. 4182, to require the Secretary of 
     the Army to use certain funds for the construction of 
     authorized restoration projects in the Louisiana coastal area 
     ecosystem restoration program.
       Landrieu amendment No. 4234, to establish a program, and to 
     make available funds, to provide technical assistance grants 
     for use by organizations in assisting individuals and 
     businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon oilspill in the 
     Gulf of Mexico.
       Ensign/Reid amendment No. 4229, to prohibit the transfer of 
     C-130 aircraft from the National Guard to a unit of the Air 
     Force in another State.
       Ensign/Reid modified amendment No. 4230, to establish 
     limitations on the transfer of C-130H aircraft from the 
     National Guard to a unit of the Air Force in another State.
       Isakson/Chambliss amendment No. 4221, to include the 2009 
     flooding in the Atlanta area as a disaster for which certain 
     disaster relief is available.
       Collins amendment No. 4253, to prohibit the imposition of 
     fines and liability under certain final rules of the 
     Environmental Protection Agency.
       Menendez amendment No. 4289 (to amendment No. 4174), to 
     require oil polluters to pay the full cost of oilspills.


                  Amendments Nos. 4214, 4288, and 4202

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, there 
will be 20 minutes of debate relating to the border security amendment.
  The Senator from Arizona is recognized.
  Mr. KYL. Madam President, I am going to take a couple minutes to 
describe the second-degree amendment I have. I appreciate the fact that 
there was an offer on the other side to simply accept my amendment. I 
appreciate that, but because it is attached to a first-degree 
amendment, I am not sure about the prospects for that. I thought it 
important that all of us have an opportunity to be recorded.
  This amendment is simple. It provides $200 million for extending the 
Operation Streamline Program to another border sector, in addition to 
the Yuma sector and the Del Rio, TX, sector, where it is already in 
operation--extend it to the Tucson sector. This could substantially 
reduce illegal immigration, because about half of all of illegal 
immigration goes through the Tucson sector.
  Operation Streamline is simple. It involves the Department of Justice 
accepting those who cross the border illegally into the court system 
and putting them in jail for about 2 weeks, and sometimes 30 days if 
there is an incident of repeated crossing or attempted crossing. What 
we have found is that there is a great deterrent effect. If people who 
are apprehended know they are going to jail for a couple weeks, they 
tend not to cross in that area anymore.
  In fact, in the Yuma sector where this has been in effect now for 
several years, illegal immigration has been cut by 94 percent, from 
118,500 apprehensions 5 years ago to about 5,000 this year. It is 
simply a fact that when people know they are going to go to jail or the 
prospects are very high they are going to go to jail, whether they are 
criminals crossing the border--that is about 17 percent of the people--
or the remainder who simply want to come here to work, they realize 
going to jail is going to obstruct their plans. They cannot make money 
and send it back to Mexico, El Salvador, or wherever their family might 
be if they are trying to cross for work purposes. What we found in the 
Yuma sector is they simply do not cross it anymore. They have now moved 
farther to the east in the Tucson sector.
  This amendment of mine simply provides $200 million, fully offset, of 
emergency funding to implement Operation Streamline--a combination 
Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security program--to 
ensure this deterrent can be in place in the Tucson sector just as it 
is in Del Rio, TX, and Yuma, AZ.
  I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. As I said, the money 
is offset. This is definitely an emergency. It will substantially help 
us to secure the border without the necessity of building permanent 
structures such as fencing or anything of that sort. It is a good 
amendment. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I also wish to speak to the amendments 
that have been offered by Senator McCain, Senator Kyl, myself, and 
Senator Hutchison with regard to border security.
  One thing we cannot lose sight of is that the failure of the Federal 
Government to deal seriously with border security leaves all of the 
border States basically on their own. We have heard a number of people 
who criticized the State of Arizona for dealing with this issue the 
best they can. But what are they supposed to do if the Federal 
Government does not step up and deal with its responsibility, which is 
a Federal responsibility?
  We talked about the violence, particularly relating to the cartels, 
with 23,000 Mexicans killed since 2006 in these drug wars. Right across 
from El Paso, 1,000 people have been killed in Ciudad Juarez, which is 
literally across the river, like Virginia is from Washington, DC. We 
have seen the spillover effect in American citizens being killed and 
living in fear on this side of the border.
  We cannot forget there is also an important war on terror issue here 
as well, something we have not talked about very much but something I 
was reminded of yesterday when the Department of Homeland Security 
issued an alert to police and sheriff's deputies in Houston asking them 
to keep their eyes open for a Somali man believed to be in Mexico 
preparing to make a crossing into Texas. The Department of Homeland 
Security in this announcement believes this man has a tie to an 
organization affiliated with al-Qaida. I say to my colleagues, maybe 
this individual is not coming to Houston to stay in Houston. Maybe he 
is coming to the State of one of my colleagues or their town where they 
live. It demonstrates again why this porous border represents a 
national security problem for the entire country.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at the 
conclusion of my remarks a list of other-than-Mexican illegal 
immigrants.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I have in my hand a list of the 
countries from which individuals who have been detained at the border 
have originated. In 2009, 2 people from Afghanistan were apprehended on 
the southern border; 10 from Iran, a state sponsor of international 
terrorism, as we know; 10 have come from Iraq; 19 from Pakistan; 12 
from Somalia; and 3 from Yemen. Out of a total of 45,000 other-than-
Mexican citizen immigrants apprehended at the border, these are just 
some examples of why our porous border represents a national security 
threat in the global war on terror.
  There is also another reminder in the news recently where two F-16s 
had been dispatched to intercept an ultralight aircraft flying across 
the border into Arizona. Some 200 ultralight aircraft have been 
detected in 2009 alone. These ultralight aircraft do not require

[[Page S4476]]

a license to fly. They typically fly so low to avoid any radar 
detection. It is estimated by the Department of Homeland Security that 
some 600 of them have flown into the United States, primarily 
transporting huge loads of illegal drugs, of course, being sold on 
America's streets to our children, among others.
  From these two facts--the fact that we have other than Mexican 
citizens who simply want to come to work using the porous border, both 
Mexico's porous southern border and our southern porous border, and to 
come into the United States for unknown purposes, perhaps to do us 
harm--it is obvious our current border security measures are inadequate 
to deal with this new phenomenon of ultralight aircraft transporting 
drugs into the United States and perhaps transporting back to Mexico 
the bulk cash that is generated from these drug sales, further funding 
illegal drug activity and the cartels that are causing so much mayhem 
on our southern border.
  The problem we have with our broken immigration system is that it is 
simply not perceived as credible by the American people. Until we deal 
with this broken border, we are not going to be able to deal with other 
aspects of our broken immigration system, and I would support an effort 
to do that. But it seems to be that our colleagues on the other side 
too often seem to view border security as leverage or a bargaining chip 
they are not willing to give up unless they get something else for it. 
But it is, in fact, the Federal Government's responsibility to deal 
with this situation, as the President himself has acknowledged in his 
recent announcement to send 1,200 additional National Guard to the 
border. I will tell you that it is a welcome gesture, but it is no more 
than that--a gesture. These 1,200 National Guard on a 2,000-mile 
border--you can imagine how many gaps in the effort of border security 
will still be left. That is why I support the McCain amendment and the 
Kyl amendment to provide additional National Guard on a temporary 
basis.
  Our National Guard is already severely stressed because of the 
conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, our all-volunteer military forces. 
What we need to do is provide a permanent solution, not a temporary 
solution, and that means more Border Patrol, more ATF, DEA----
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. CORNYN. All the boots on the ground that we need to make our 
border security efforts credible.
  I yield the floor.

                               Exhibit 1

 SOUTHWEST BORDER OTM APPREHENSIONS BY CITIZENSHIP--FY2009 AND FY2010TD
                            THROUGH APRIL 30
 [Data includes Deportable Aliens Only/Data Source: EID (unofficial) as
                              of  5/24/10]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Citizenship                        FY2009  FY2010TD
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFGHANISTAN..........................................        2  ........
ALBANIA..............................................       20         8
ALGERIA..............................................        4         1
ANTIGUA-BARBUDA......................................        1  ........
ARGENTINA............................................       45        24
ARMENIA..............................................        6         3
ARUBA................................................        1  ........
AUSTRALIA............................................        2  ........
AUSTRIA..............................................  .......         1
AZERBAIJAN...........................................        1  ........
BAHAMAS..............................................        1  ........
BANGLADESH...........................................       41        38
BARBADOS.............................................        2  ........
BELARUS..............................................        1  ........
BELIZE...............................................       59        26
BOLIVIA..............................................       26        33
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA...................................        1  ........
BRAZIL...............................................      575       356
BULGARIA.............................................        5         2
BURKINA FASO.........................................        1         1
BURMA................................................        1         3
CAMBODIA.............................................        4         4
CAMEROON.............................................        9         8
CANADA...............................................       10        16
CHILE................................................       35        12
CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF...........................    1,358       729
COLOMBIA.............................................      235       176
CONGO................................................        3         1
COSTA RICA...........................................      144        88
CUBA.................................................      105        48
CZECH REPUBLIC.......................................        3         4
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC...................................      487       631
ECUADOR..............................................    1,169       785
EGYPT................................................        1         2
EL SALVADOR..........................................   11,178     6,746
EQUATORIAL GUINEA....................................        1  ........
ERITREA..............................................      171        85
ESTONIA..............................................        1  ........
ETHIOPIA.............................................       80        28
FRANCE...............................................        1         4
GAMBIA...............................................        3  ........
GEORGIA..............................................       22         3
GERMANY..............................................        9         3
GHANA................................................       14         5
GREECE...............................................        1  ........
GUADELOUPE...........................................        1  ........
GUATEMALA............................................   14,118     7,474
GUINEA...............................................        1  ........
GUYANA...............................................  .......         1
HAITI................................................       78        49
HONDURAS.............................................   13,348     6,322
HONG KONG............................................        1  ........
HUNGARY..............................................        5         2
INDIA................................................       99       324
INDONESIA............................................       10         3
IRAN.................................................       10         7
IRAQ.................................................       10         3
IRELAND..............................................        3  ........
ISRAEL...............................................       15        13
ITALY................................................        7         3
IVORY COAST..........................................  .......         1
JAMAICA..............................................       42        36
JAPAN................................................        5         2
JORDAN...............................................        6         1
KAZAKHSTAN...........................................        1  ........
KENYA................................................        9         2
KOREA................................................        9  ........
KOSOVO...............................................        8         4
KUWAIT...............................................        2         1
KYRGYZSTAN...........................................        2         1
LAOS.................................................        7         3
LATVIA...............................................        2  ........
LEBANON..............................................        6         4
LIBERIA..............................................        2  ........
LITHUANIA............................................        1         1
MACEDONIA............................................       10  ........
MALAWI...............................................  .......         1
MALAYSIA.............................................  .......         1
MALI.................................................  .......         1
MARSHALL ISLANDS.....................................        2  ........
MOLDOVA..............................................        4         4
MONGOLIA.............................................        4         3
MOROCCO..............................................        1         1
NEPAL................................................       48        69
NETHERLANDS..........................................        1         3
NEW ZEALAND..........................................        2         3
NICARAGUA............................................      842       392
NIGER................................................  .......         1
NIGERIA..............................................       14         8
NORWAY...............................................        1  ........
PAKISTAN.............................................       19         9
PANAMA...............................................       21        10
PARAGUAY.............................................       11         4
PERU.................................................      242       121
PHILIPPINES..........................................       32        22
POLAND...............................................       11         4
PORTUGAL.............................................        1  ........
PUERTO RICO..........................................        2  ........
QATAR................................................  .......         1
ROMANIA..............................................       64       227
RUSSIA...............................................       14         6
RWANDA...............................................        1  ........
SAMOA................................................        1  ........
SAUDI ARABIA.........................................        1         1
SENEGAL..............................................        1  ........
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO................................        5         4
SIERRA LEONE.........................................        1         1
SINGAPORE............................................        1  ........
SLOVAKIA.............................................        1         2
SLOVENIA.............................................  .......         1
SOMALIA..............................................       12         2
SOUTH AFRICA.........................................        6         4
SOUTH KOREA..........................................       28        20
SPAIN................................................        8         2
SRI LANKA............................................       44        68
ST. LUCIA............................................  .......         2
ST. VINCENT-GRENADINES...............................        1  ........
SUDAN................................................        6         1
SWEDEN...............................................        1         1
SYRIA................................................  .......         2
TAIWAN...............................................        4         1
TANZANIA.............................................        1  ........
THAILAND.............................................        9         5
TOGO.................................................        1  ........
TONGA................................................        2         1
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO..................................        5         3
TUNISIA..............................................  .......         1
TURKEY...............................................       10        11
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.............................        1  ........
UKRAINE..............................................        4         4
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.................................        1         1
UNITED KINGDOM.......................................       18        12
UNKNOWN..............................................        9        13
URUGUAY..............................................       24        12
UZBEKISTAN...........................................        6         3
VENEZUELA............................................       32        20
VIETNAM..............................................       20         5
YEMEN................................................        3  ........
YUGOSLAVIA...........................................       15         3
ZIMBABWE.............................................        3         2
    SBO Total OTM Apprehensions......................   45,279    25,230
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, how much time do I have to discuss my 
amendment?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Five minutes.
  Mr. McCAIN. I thank my colleague from Texas and other Senators from 
border States who are deeply concerned about the issue of broken 
borders and the drug cartels and human smuggling that has put the lives 
and security of our American citizens in some danger.
  A fact: The kidnapping capital of the world is Mexico City. The city 
that ranks second in kidnapping to Mexico City is Phoenix, AZ, which is 
a long way from the border. It happens to be a place where drop houses 
exist where people are held for ransom, where unspeakable cruelties are 
inflicted upon those who are being smuggled, where they have become a 
distribution center for drugs coming up through the so-called central 
corridor. We are badly in need of assistance.
  Yesterday, May 26, 2010, 12:20 p.m.:

       Sierra Vista, Ariz.--Acting on a tip, Sierra Vista police 
     went to a drop house and recovered close to 2,000 pounds of 
     marijuana Tuesday.
       Police spokesman Sgt. Lawrence Boutte said officers found a 
     total of 83 bails weighing 2,054 pounds.
       The marijuana has an estimated street value of $821,000.
       Police arrested a 21-year-old Mexican citizen. Officers 
     said the man was expected to be charged with possession of 
     marijuana for sale. It's not known if the man was in the U.S. 
     illegally.
       Boutte said drug smugglers use stash houses to store drugs 
     coming from Mexico before transporting them elsewhere.

  ``Elsewhere'' means different parts of the country.
  By the way, there is an argument that this amendment may be 
unconstitutional. I remind my colleagues, the

[[Page S4477]]

Constitution--article I, section 8, clause 15--preserves to the 
Congress the power to call ``forth the Militia to execute the Laws of 
the Union,'' including the immigration laws. This is an independent 
constitutional power that does not rest on any power exercised by the 
President as the Chief Executive in article II.
  A recent example of Congress's power to task the executive branch in 
this area, even outside calling forth the militia, is the Secure Fence 
Act of 2006 in which the Congress tasked the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to secure the border. Even though Congress was not relying on 
its article I, section 8, clause 15 power, the Secure Fence Act of 2006 
was and is constitutional.
  The President announced he was sending 1,200 National Guard to the 
southwest border. This is one-fifth of what is needed. If the Congress 
will not heed the call of the Governors of Arizona and Texas, who have 
asked the President to send troops to the border, the Congress should 
do so now.
  During Operation Jump Start, the National Guard was deployed to the 
southwest border and provided logistical support, conducted 
surveillance, and built and repaired critical infrastructure. Until DHS 
has the technology and infrastructure in place to fully secure the 
border, at least 6,000 National Guard must be deployed to assist the 
Border Patrol in stopping the illegal immigration, drug smugglers, and 
human traffickers flowing across the border.
  The borders are broken. There has been improvement. We have shown in 
San Diego, in Texas, even in the Yuma sector of Arizona that we can 
secure our border, but we need manpower, surveillance, and fences. We 
can do it. We have an obligation to our citizens to secure our border 
and allow them to lead lives where they do not live in fear of home 
invasions, of property being destroyed, where well-armed, well-equipped 
drug smugglers, as well as human smugglers, operate with--if not with 
impunity, certainly with great latitude.
  There will be the statement made that the border is more secure. I am 
sure the Senator from New York will say that. The fact is the border is 
not secure. It is more secure; it is not secure. The citizens in the 
southern part of my State do not have a secure environment in which to 
live and raise their children.
  Every enforcement agent on the border with whom I have talked says we 
need additional National Guard and we need it now. I am sure that in 
New York City and other major cities in America there is a secure 
environment, frankly, thanks to Mayor Giuliani. This is not the case in 
parts of my State, including Phoenix, AZ, having the dubious 
distinction of being No. 2 as far as the kidnapping capital of the 
world is concerned.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time of the Senator has 
expired.
  Mr. McCAIN. I appreciate the involvement of Senators from other parts 
of the United States of America. I invite them to come to the border 
and talk with my citizens. I invite them to talk with the Border Patrol 
agents who are overwhelmed in their task in trying to stop the flow of 
goods and human beings across our border. I hope they will weigh in on 
behalf of the human rights of the people who are being terribly abused, 
kept in drop houses, held for ransom, and subjected to unspeakable 
atrocities. It is another human rights argument for getting our border 
secure. We can get it more secure by sending these National Guard 
troops to the border, as former Governor and now Secretary of Homeland 
Security called for in 2006.
  I urge a ``yea'' vote on this amendment.
  I yield the floor.
  (At the request of Mr. Reid, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)
 Mr. BYRD. Madam President, there are those in the Congress who 
like to just talk about the need to secure our borders. I have actually 
done something about securing the borders. In 2005, I authored an 
amendment with broad, bipartisan support, which initiated a 
comprehensive effort to secure our borders. Since I became chairman of 
the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee in 2007, I 
have continued that effort. As a result, there are more Border Patrol 
agents, more technology, more border infrastructure, more detention 
capacity, and more investigative capacity dedicated to securing our 
borders than ever before.
  This investment has produced results. The numbers of aliens being 
deported, especially aliens convicted of crimes, has grown 
significantly. The era of catch and release has ended. The recession 
and increased enforcement has resulted in a significant reduction in 
the number of illegal aliens coming into this country. Violence on the 
United States side of the border is down.
  There is more to be accomplished, particularly as drug violence in 
Mexico grows, but as a result of investments made over the last 5 
years, the Department of Homeland Security has received significant 
assets to address this problem.
  Deportations have greatly increased from 211,098 in 2003 to between 
230,000 and 390,000 annually for the past 3 years. Homeland Security is 
on track to remove 400,000 aliens this year, including 150,000 
convicted criminal aliens.
  The Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has more ``boots on the 
ground'' at the border than ever before. Today, the Border Patrol is 
better staffed than at any time in its 85-year history, having nearly 
doubled the number of agents from approximately 10,000 in 2004 to more 
than 20,000 today.
  In 2006, DHS opened the first Border Enforcement Security Task Force, 
BEST, in Laredo, TX. BESTs are law enforcement task forces that combine 
Federal, State, local, and international personnel to tackle border 
crime. The BEST model has proven extremely effective not only at 
interdicting illegal activity but also at building criminal cases that 
lead to high-value prosecutions. There currently are 17 BESTs, 
including 3 in Arizona, 1 in Mexico City, and the President's fiscal 
year 2011 budget requests funds to open 3 more. Over the past year, DHS 
doubled the number of agents working on the BESTs in the southwest 
border region.
  Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, Office of Investigations 
criminal arrests have increased from 14,077 in fiscal year 2002 to 
32,512 in fiscal year 2009. Customs and Border Protection Office of 
Field Operations criminal arrests--those apprehended at the ports of 
entry--have increased from 15,820 in fiscal year 2002 to 38,964 in 
fiscal year 2009.
  This year, DHS will finish constructing nearly all of the 652 miles 
of border fencing along the southwest border the Border Patrol has 
determined is required. As of March 2010, all 298.5 miles of vehicle 
fencing have been completed, and only 5.7 miles of pedestrian fencing 
remain to be constructed. This comes on top of $260 million the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided for border security 
technology and improved tactical communications equipment.
  According to the Border Patrol, the number of miles of the southwest 
border under effective control by the Border Patrol has increased from 
241 miles in October 2005 to 742 in October 2009.
  DHS Secretary Napolitano announced last month that DHS is redeploying 
$50 million of Recovery Act funding originally allocated for SBInet to 
other tested, commercially available security technology along the 
southwest Border, including mobile surveillance, thermal imaging 
devices, ultralight detection, backscatter units, mobile radios, 
cameras and laptops for pursuit vehicles, and remote video surveillance 
system enhancements.
  The level of detention beds for illegal aliens funded by Congress has 
steadily increased over the past 5 years from only 18,500 beds in 
fiscal year 2005 to 33,400 beds today. Since fiscal year 2009, Congress 
has mandated that ICE maintain 33,400 detention beds. And the average 
length of stay has dropped from 40.4 days in fiscal year 2004 to 31.2 
days in fiscal year 2009.
  The number of illegal aliens detained has increased from 256,842 in 
fiscal year 2006 to 383,524 in fiscal year 2009. The total number of 
illegal aliens removed has nearly doubled since fiscal year 2003 from 
211,098 to 405,662 in fiscal year 2009.
  The number of fugitive operations teams has been increased to 104 
this fiscal year from 51 in fiscal year 2007. On April 30, 2010, ICE 
announced it had apprehended 596 criminal aliens in a targeted 
operation in the southeastern

[[Page S4478]]

United States. On April 15, 2010, ICE arrested 47 individuals charged 
with operating shuttle bus services in southern Arizona which brought 
aliens who had recently entered the country illegally from border towns 
to Phoenix for further transport to the interior of the United States.
  Since March 2009, Customs and Border Protection--CBP--and ICE have 
seized $85.7 million in illicit cash along the southwest border, an 
increase of 14 percent over the same period during the previous year. 
This includes more than $29.7 million in illicit cash seized heading 
southbound into Mexico--a 39-percent increase over the same period 
during the previous year.
  During the same period, CPB and ICE together seized 1,425 illegal 
firearms, which represents a 29 percent rise over the same period in 
the previous year. At the same time, CBP and ICE seized 1.65 million 
kilograms of drugs along the southwest border, an overall increase of 
15 percent.
  The Department of Homeland Security estimates that in Arizona, the 
number of illegal immigrants in that State declined to 460,000 last 
year from a high of 550,000 and continues to drop.
  Contrary to popular perception, suggestions of spillover violence 
from Mexico have been exaggerated. While violence and drug trafficking 
organization-related murders are up in Juarez, Mexico, El Paso, TX--
directly across the border--was ranked the second safest major city in 
the United States by CQ Press in November 2009. The assistant police 
chief of Nogales, AZ, recently stated, ``We have not, thank God, 
witnessed any spillover violence from Mexico. You can look at the crime 
stats. I think Nogales, Arizona, is one of the safest places to live in 
all of America.'' FBI Uniform Crime Reports and statistics provided by 
police agencies show that the crime rates in Nogales, Douglas, Yuma, 
and other Arizona border towns have remained essentially flat for the 
past decade. A May 2, 2010, article from www.azcentral.com actually was 
headlined ``Violence is not up on Arizona border despite Mexican drug 
war.'' The Border Patrol has reported that the March 2010 murder of 
Arizona rancher Robert Krentz is the only American murdered by a 
suspected illegal immigrant in at least a decade within the agency's 
Tucson sector, the busiest smuggling route among the Border Patrol's 
nine coverage regions along the U.S.-Mexican border.
  There is still more to be accomplished. I am pleased that this week 
the President announced his intention to deploy up to 1,200 National 
Guardsmen on the southwest border. However, I oppose the amendments to 
add over $2 billion for border security, given that the amendments are 
offset with significant cuts in stimulus funding that will continue to 
create jobs in America. I will continue my efforts to further secure 
our borders.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, we need to improve our border 
security, and I have worked to do just that by supporting efforts to 
crack down on Mexican drug cartels and to increase the number of 
Federal agents and Homeland Security personnel on the ground in the 
Southwest border region. Unfortunately, the three amendments the Senate 
considered today that were intended to enhance border security would 
have redirected funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 
It doesn't make sense to cut funding from a program CBO says boosted 
employment by as many as 2.8 million jobs in the first quarter of 2010, 
while raising GDP somewhere between 1.7 and 4.2 percent. We face 
serious fiscal challenges, and we need to cut wasteful spending, but 
the American people should not have to choose between saving jobs and 
protecting our border.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I rise in opposition to the three 
amendments that have been spoken about--the McCain amendment, the 
Cornyn amendment, and the McCain-Kyl amendment. I will get into some 
detail in a few minutes about the opposition, but it relates to three 
points.
  First, President Obama has a tough, smart, targeted $500 million 
package that will greatly increase resources at the border, and we need 
it. Crime has increased, as my friend from Arizona has said. We need 
it. So, No. 1, there is a very good plan in place.
  No. 2, this is a huge amount of money--$2.5 billion--that my 
colleagues, who talk about fiscal moderation, are requesting, and much 
of it will not go to securing the border. It is sort of throwing an 
enormous amount of money at the problem that is not as carefully 
thought out, not as targeted, and not as effective, quite frankly, as 
President Obama's program.
  No. 3, it takes the money out of the stimulus bill. Well, there is a 
border problem in Texas and Arizona that affects all of us, and we want 
to solve it. The President and we are working to do that. But we have a 
jobs problem in this country, too, and this is the worst kind of 
robbing Peter to pay Paul. The stimulus money will go to creating jobs. 
If we ask the people in, say, Michigan or Ohio or Rhode Island or New 
York what is the No. 1 issue? Jobs. This money is being taken away from 
job creation and used, as I say, in a not effective, overmagnified way. 
It is too much money to stop what is going on at the border.
  So let me elaborate. First, as I mentioned, President Obama is 
sending a package to the Congress next week. It includes 1,200 National 
Guard, funding programs for DEA, ATF, FBI, and ICE that are proven to 
work. The three amendments offered by the Senators from Texas and 
Arizona are a grab bag of enormous spending. If all of the $2.5 billion 
they are proposing just to go to the border would double the amount, it 
wouldn't be well spent. The President's money is thoughtful and 
targeted and has been in the works for a while. Let me give some 
examples.
  The amendment calls for $300 million for funding for any State or 
local enforcement agency so long as it is within 100 miles of the U.S.-
Mexican border. Almost none of this money will be used for border 
enforcement. Border enforcement is needed at the actual border.
  Second, the Cornyn amendment also calls for $100 million for 
construction of new land ports of entry. But the problem at our ports 
of entry is not lack of funding from the taxpayers, it is that we need 
an adequate fee system to make sure the users of those ports of entry 
pay for things rather than taking the money away from job creation in 
our States.
  Third, the amendment Senator Kyl has offered as a second-degree 
amendment would spend about $200 million on a program known as 
Operation Streamline. In reality, this program requires taxpayers to 
foot the bill at the cost of more than $120 per day, per inmate, to 
house border crossers and give them three free meals a day, free health 
care, medicines, and surgeries for all manner of illnesses, et cetera.
  Couldn't we better spend this $200 million and pass a comprehensive 
immigration reform program which is so much needed? By the way, it is 
my view that while we have to tighten up the border, people are coming 
for jobs. The only way we will stop the flow of illegal immigration 
into this country is to tell those who hire them they no longer can. 
The only way to do that is our Secure Social Security Card that Senator 
Graham and I have put forward so that papers can't be forged and 
illegal immigrants can't be hired. Comprehensive reform does that; 
these measures don't.
  We have heard talk about needing to bolster the border for years. It 
clearly hasn't stopped the problem, as the Senator from Arizona admits. 
We need a comprehensive approach that will include border security but 
is not only border security. If my colleagues would join us in that 
approach, we could have a tough, fair-minded proposal that would do the 
job.
  Let me make some other points against the amendments while I have 
more time. The McCain amendment seeks $250 million for 6,000 National 
Guard to be sent to the border. They can't use that number of National 
Guard so quickly. The 1,200 that President Obama has requested is 
right.
  When President Bush sent 6,000 National Guard to the border in 2006, 
there were 10,000 Border Patrol agents in the entire force. That means 
a total of 16,000 after the Guard was deployed. Now, we already have 
more than 20,000 Border Patrol agents--double the number of Border 
Patrol agents. Those and the 1,200 National Guard will do the job. We 
cannot just throw money at this problem and take it away from job 
creation. We have to be focused and smart. The President does that.

[[Page S4479]]

  I urge my colleagues to defeat this amendment and join us in 
supporting a smart program that will do the job and, furthermore, join 
us in supporting comprehensive immigration reform, which is the only 
real way to stop the flow of illegal immigration across the border.
  Madam President, I make a point of order that the pending amendment 
violates section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. A motion to waive the applicable 
provisions of the Budget Act and budget resolutions is considered made.
  Mr. McCAIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) 
and the Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. Hagan) are necessarily 
absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss).
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 51, nays 46, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 165 Leg.]

                                YEAS--51

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Tester
     Thune
     Vitter
     Webb
     Wicker

                                NAYS--46

     Akaka
     Begich
     Bingaman
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Byrd
     Chambliss
     Hagan
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The yeas are 51, the nays are 46. 
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. Pursuant to the previous 
order, the amendment is withdrawn.


                           Amendment No. 4228

  There will now be 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote 
in relation to amendment No. 4228 offered by the Senator from Arizona, 
Mr. Kyl. Who yields time?
  Mr. KYL. Madam President, this amendment is fully offset. It is $200 
million. It simply provides the funding for the Department of Justice 
and the Department of Homeland Security to extend a program that has 
worked very well in two sections of the border to a third section.
  It is called Operation Streamline. It permits the Department of 
Justice to try cases, put people in jail, rather than catch and release 
where they are simply put on a bus and returned to the border.
  Everybody wants to secure the border. This is a program that has had 
a 94-percent success rate, a 94-percent reduction in apprehensions in 
the Yuma border sector and almost that much in the Del Rio sector.
  So if we can extend that to the sector where half of the illegal 
immigration in the country comes across, I think we can substantially 
reduce illegal immigration. Then, for everyone who wants to pursue 
other legislation, I think there will be a better state of mind in 
which to do that.
  So I urge my colleagues to support this $200 million fully offset 
amendment.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Who yields time in opposition?
  The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I rise against the second-degree 
amendment by Senator Kyl. It would actually take $200 million that is 
not going to secure the border any. It will incarcerate illegal 
immigrants. It will pay for their food, their health care, their 
recreation time, their reading material, for long periods of time.
  If we want to secure the border, which we do, we have to be smart 
about this. We cannot just keep doing the same thing again and again. 
Furthermore, it takes the money out of the stimulus, which is jobs. So 
we are doing something that is ineffective, we are doing something that 
has not worked in the past, and now we are taking away jobs from the 
other 48 States.
  That does not make any sense. So I would urge that this amendment be 
defeated. I would urge we start doing what is needed and what is smart 
to stop the flow of illegal immigration. We all know what we have to 
do, and that is a comprehensive proposal. This will not work and takes 
money way from jobs in the other 48 States. I urge its defeat.
  I raise a point of order on the pending amendment pursuant to section 
403 of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution on the budget for 
fiscal year 2010.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The motion to waive the applicable 
provisions of the Budget Act and the budget resolution is considered 
made.
  Mr. KYL. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second. There 
appears to be a sufficient second. The question is on agreeing to the 
motion. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) 
is necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss).
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 54, nays 44, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 166 Leg.]

                                YEAS--54

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennett
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Klobuchar
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     LeMieux
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Merkley
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Webb
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--44

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Whitehouse

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Byrd
     Chambliss
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. On this vote, the yeas are 54, the 
nays are 44. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not 
having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. Pursuant 
to previous order, the amendment is withdrawn.


                Amendment No. 4202, as Further Modified

  There will be 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in 
relation to amendment No. 4202 offered by the Senator from Texas, Mr. 
Cornyn.
  The amendment, as further modified, is as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. BORDER SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS.

       (a) Additional Amount for Counterdrug Enforcement.--For an 
     additional amount for ``Salaries and Expenses'' of the Drug 
     Enforcement Administration, $30,440,000, of which--
       (1) $15,640,000 shall be available for 180 intelligence 
     analysts and technical support personnel;

[[Page S4480]]

       (2) $10,800,000 shall be available for equipment and 
     operational costs of Special Investigative Units to target 
     Mexican cartels; and
       (3) $4,000,000 shall be available for equipment and 
     technology for investigators on the Southwest border.
       (b) Firearms Trafficking Enforcement.--For an additional 
     amount for ``Salaries and Expenses'' of the Bureau of 
     Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, $72,000,000, of 
     which--
       (1) $68,000,000 shall be available for 281 special agents, 
     investigators, and officers along the Southwest border; and
       (2) $4,000,000 shall be available for equipment and 
     technology necessary to support border enforcement and 
     investigations.
       (c) National Guard Counterdrug Activities.--For an 
     additional amount for ``Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug 
     Activities, Defense'' for high priority National Guard 
     Counterdrug Programs in Southwest border states, $44,700,000.
       (d) High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program.--For an 
     additional amount for Federal Drug Control Programs, ``High 
     Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program'' for Southwest 
     border states, $140,000,000.
       (e) Land Ports of Entry.--For an additional amount to be 
     deposited in the Federal Buildings Fund, for construction, 
     infrastructure improvements and expansion at high-volume land 
     ports of entry located on the Southwest border, $100,000,000.
       (f) Border Enforcement Personnel.--For an additional amount 
     for ``Salaries and Expenses'' of U.S. Customs and Border 
     Protection, $334,000,000, of which--
       (1) $100,000,000 shall be available for 500 U.S. Customs 
     and Border Protection officers at Southwest land ports of 
     entry for northbound and southbound inspections;
       (2) $180,000,000 shall be available for equipment and 
     technology to support border enforcement, surveillance, and 
     investigations;
       (3) $24,000,000 shall be available for 120 pilots, vessel 
     commanders, and support staff for Air and Marine Operations; 
     and
       (4) $30,000,000 shall be available for additional unmanned 
     aircraft systems pilots and support staff.
       (g) Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Helicopters.--For an 
     additional amount for ``Air and Marine Interdiction, 
     Operations, Maintenance, and Procurement'' of U.S. Customs 
     and Border Protection, $169,400,000, of which--
       (1) $120,000,000 shall be available for the procurement, 
     operations, and maintenance of at least 6 unmanned aircraft 
     systems; and
       (2) $49,400,000 shall be available for helicopters.
       (h) Immigration Enforcement Personnel.--For an additional 
     amount for ``Salaries and Expenses'' of U.S. Immigration and 
     Customs Enforcement, $795,000,000, of which--
       (1) $175,000,000 shall be available for 500 investigator 
     positions;
       (2) $75,000,000 shall be available for 400 intelligence 
     analyst positions;
       (3) $125,000,000 shall be available for 500 detention and 
     deportation positions;
       (4) $151,000,000 shall be available for 3,300 detention 
     beds;
       (5) $180,000,000 shall be available for equipment and 
     technology to support border enforcement; and
       (6) $89,000,000 shall be available for expansion of 
     interior repatriation programs.
       (i) State and Local Grants.--For an additional amount for 
     ``State and Local Programs'' administered by the Federal 
     Emergency Management Agency, $300,000,000, which shall be 
     used to establish a border grant program that provides 
     financial assistance--
       (1) to State and local law enforcement agencies or entities 
     operating within 100 miles of the Southwest border; and
       (2) for additional detectives, criminal investigators, law 
     enforcement personnel, equipment, salaries, and technology in 
     counties in the Southwest border region.
       (j) Emergency Designation.--Each amount in this section is 
     designated as an emergency requirement and necessary to meet 
     emergency needs pursuant to sections 403(a) and 403(b) of S. 
     Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 
     the budget for fiscal year 2010.
       (k) Offsetting Rescission.--On the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the unobligated balance of each amount appropriated 
     or made available under division A of the American Recovery 
     and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), other than 
     under titles III, VI, and X of such division, is hereby 
     rescinded pro rata such that the aggregate amount of such 
     rescissions equals $2,250,000,000.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas is 
recognized.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, yesterday the Department of Homeland 
Security told local law enforcement to keep their eyes peeled for a 
Somali man believed to be in Mexico for a period in order to make an 
illegal crossing into Texas. DHS believes this man has ties to an 
organization affiliated with al-Qaida. Maybe he will not come to 
Houston. Maybe he will go to some other city in this great country of 
ours. We simply don't know whether this individual or the 45,000 other-
than-Mexican citizens who have immigrated illegally across our border 
represent a national security threat.
  If we look at the countries they come from--Pakistan, Iran, a state 
sponsor of terrorism, Somalia, Yemen--it could mean something very bad 
will happen as a result of our dereliction of duty to secure the 
border. It is unfair to criticize States for trying to protect 
themselves when the Federal Government will not do the job instead as 
it should.
  I urge colleagues to support this fully paid-for amendment to help 
beef up border security. The point of order that will be raised is 
simply an effort to deny the fact that we are in a state of emergency 
and we need to act now to secure the border.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time of the Senator has 
expired.
  The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I rise to oppose this $2.2 billion 
spending amendment. It puts money in just about every program, needed 
or not. Then it takes that money out of the stimulus, the Recovery Act, 
taking it away from jobs. We must secure the border, absolutely. The 
President's plan is smart and focused. But for all of the voices on 
both sides of the aisle who have talked about jobs and all of the 
voices who have talked about fiscal moderation, to throw caution to the 
wind, to put $2.2 billion into programs whether they are needed or not 
makes no sense at all.
  We must stop illegal immigration as it comes across the border. This 
will not do it. My colleagues know it, and I know it. This is what is 
called a symbolic amendment to show where one stands in many ways. It 
is $2.2 billion. We can find amendments that will do the job, that cost 
a lot less, and that will not take away the jobs we want to create and 
preserve.
  This amendment, in my judgment, is the least responsible of the three 
to, again, take every program and say: More money, more money, more 
money, without a plan on how to spend it. It makes no sense. I urge its 
defeat.
  Madam President, I raise a point of order against this amendment 
pursuant to section 403 of S. Con. Res. 13, the concurrent resolution 
on the budget for fiscal year 2010.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The motion to waive the applicable 
provisions of the Budget Act and the budget resolution is considered 
made.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) 
and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily 
absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from New 
Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) would vote ``no.''
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss).
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 54, nays 43, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 167 Leg.]

                                YEAS--54

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Tester
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Webb
     Wicker

                                NAYS--43

     Akaka
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders

[[Page S4481]]


     Schumer
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Byrd
     Chambliss
     Shaheen
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. On this vote, the yeas are 54, the 
nays are 43. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not 
having voted in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
  Pursuant to the previous order, the amendment is withdrawn.


                           Amendment No. 4204

  There will now be 15 minutes of debate equally divided among the 
Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. Feingold, the Senator from Oklahoma, Mr. 
Coburn, and the Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Inouye.
  Who yields time?
  The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, my amendment is cosponsored by 
Senators Boxer, Durbin, Merkley, Sherrod Brown, Sanders, Udall of New 
Mexico, and Harkin, and would require the President to provide a 
flexible, nonbinding timetable for the responsible drawdown of U.S. 
troops from Afghanistan. It does not set a specific date for the 
withdrawal of such troops. It does not require the President to 
actually redeploy troops. It does not place any restrictions on 
funding.
  The President has already indicated his surge strategy in Afghanistan 
is time limited and that he will begin redeploying troops in July 2011. 
All we are asking in this amendment is that the President provide 
further details on how long this redeployment is expected to take.
  Our brave servicemembers and the American taxpayers deserve to know 
what is being asked of them as they risk their lives and spend their 
money to continue this war.
  My amendment is not about whether we support the President or the 
troops. All of us support the troops, and I hope we all wish the 
President success in Afghanistan. Nor is it about whether we agree with 
the President's strategy. I, for one, happen to have serious doubts 
about the administration's approach. But in light of our deficit and 
domestic needs and in light of rising casualty rates in Afghanistan and 
in light of the growing al-Qaida threat around the world, an expensive, 
troop-intensive, nation-building campaign doesn't add up for me. We 
should be focusing on Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and other terrorist 
safe havens.

  Frankly, I am disappointed we are about to pass a bill providing tens 
of billions of dollars to keep this war going with so little public 
debate about whether this approach even makes any sense. But no matter 
how we feel about the President or his approach in Afghanistan, I hope 
we can agree on the need for an exit strategy as we approach the 9-year 
anniversary of a war that is showing no signs of winding down. That is 
all my amendment would require--a nonbinding plan to bring this war 
eventually to a close.
  We have lost 1,000 servicemembers in this war. We have spent $300 
billion. I hope my colleagues will agree that the American people 
deserve an answer to the question: How much longer?
  I reserve the remainder of my time, and I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to be yielded 3 
minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I oppose the Feingold amendment. Section 
1019 of the Feingold amendment specifically requires the President, by 
December 31, 2010, to submit a timetable for the completion of 
redeployment of our troops out of Afghanistan.
  The message our military presence in Afghanistan is not open-ended 
was delivered by President Obama at West Point last December when he 
set the date of July 2011 to begin a reduction of U.S. forces in 
Afghanistan. It was an important message of reassurance to the American 
people, and it was an important message for the Afghan leaders to hear: 
that while we intend to help Afghanistan succeed in its battle with the 
Taliban, our troop presence is not open-ended, and they must build up 
their own army and their police force to take responsibility for their 
own security.
  If we adopt the Feingold amendment, we will be sending a very 
different message to the government and to the people of Afghanistan. 
It would reinforce the fear if we adopt this amendment--an already 
deep-seated fear in Afghanistan--that the United States will abandon 
the region. That is a message we can ill-afford to send regarding the 
future stability of Afghanistan, and it is a particularly unwise 
message to send while our forces are still deploying to Afghanistan and 
while the Taliban is doing everything it can to convince the Afghan 
people that U.S., NATO, and Afghan forces are unable to protect them 
from the violence and the intimidation that is their hallmark.
  The President's decision to set the beginning point to begin the 
reduction of our forces in Afghanistan in July of 2011 was a wise 
decision. It was supported by our senior civilian and military leaders. 
They supported the decision, provided that the pace and the location of 
the reductions would be determined by the conditions on the ground at 
the time in Afghanistan.
  The Feingold amendment is totally different. It requires the setting 
of a timetable for completion of redeployment of our troops from 
Afghanistan, and it requires that timetable to be set by this December. 
It is an unwise move, and I hope we do not adopt it.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, how much time do I have remaining?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has 2\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. I thank the Chair. I appreciate the comments of the 
Senator from Michigan, but I feel very strongly that my amendment has 
to be properly characterized. This is not a specific timetable. It 
merely asks the President to give us a vision of a timetable of when he 
intends for this to be over.
  The Senator from Michigan tries to reassure us that the President has 
announced a start date for us to get out of Afghanistan. Well, that 
doesn't work because how do we think the people of that area of the 
world will be reassured if we are going to only start to withdraw the 
troops in 2011? You take one troop out, that starts it. That is not a 
vision of when we intend to complete it.
  The Senator suggests that somehow this sends the wrong message in the 
region. Well, actually, the wrong message is that we intend to be there 
forever. We don't intend to be there forever. But you know what. After 
9 years, people start wondering--9 years; 9 years with no vision of 
when we might depart. In fact, I think the absolute worst message in 
the region is an open-ended commitment. The worst thing we can do is 
not give some sense to the people of that region and to the American 
people and to our troops that there is some end to this thing. All we 
ask for in this amendment is some vision from the President about when 
he thinks we might complete this task.
  So when this amendment is properly characterized, it is actually a 
way to help us make sure the Taliban and al-Qaida and others do not win 
the hearts and minds of the Afghan people because they need to be 
reassured that we intend to make sure their country comes back to them 
and that it will not be occupied indefinitely.
  I reserve the remainder of my time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I yield myself 10 seconds to read the 
amendment:

       Not later than December 31, 2010, the President shall 
     submit to Congress a report, together with a timetable for 
     the completion of that redeployment.

  Completion of that redeployment, obviously, from Afghanistan. That is 
a ``shall;'' it is a report; it is a completion of the redeployment.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, how much time do I have remaining?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. No time.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. I ask unanimous consent for 10 seconds to respond to 
the Senator from Michigan.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has 1 minute.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. I thank the Chair. I thought I had a little more.
  Madam President, the Senator is trying to read the amendment in a way 
that is simply not accurate.
  The amendment simply asks the President to provide his vision of a

[[Page S4482]]

timetable by which he would intend to withdraw the troops. It is 
entirely nonbinding. Any suggestion that this is binding in any way on 
the President or the U.S. Government is completely false and a 
mischaracterization of the amendment. It is not binding. In fact, it 
allows the President specifically to identify variables that would 
cause him on his own to change the timetable. So how anyone can say 
this is a binding timetable in any way, shape, or form is beyond me.
  It is merely a request that the President give us his vision of when 
he might withdraw from Afghanistan. It is the only fair way to 
characterize this amendment.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, President Obama has articulated a sound 
strategy for surging our force in Afghanistan, a well-defined mission 
to enable them to succeed, and a clear plan to begin to bring those 
troops home starting next July. His plan honors the service of the 100 
Nevadans in Afghanistan today and those of every American fighting 
terrorists abroad to keep us safer at home.
  I have always believed that our commitment in Afghanistan should not 
be open-ended, which is why I continue to support the President's plan. 
We have begun to reverse the Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan and 
weakened al-Qaeda's operations, safe havens and leadership in the 
region. Our troops will continue to defeat those terrorist networks and 
others like it and we will continue to press the Afghan government to 
end corruption and take responsibility for governing the country. But, 
as the President's plan makes clear, these troops have a clear task in 
place: to reverse the Taliban's momentum and to begin returning home 
next July.
  In light of the President's strategy and the recent progress, now is 
not the time to change course.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. Madam President, I yield myself 2 minutes from Senator 
Levin's time or Senator Inouye's time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is recognized.
  Mr. REED. Madam President, this legislation clearly calls for a 
report to be submitted by the President of the United States to 
establish a timetable, and I think the suggestion that will not have 
incredible consequences in the real world is somewhat naive.
  If the President of the United States is forced to give Congress a 
timetable stating dates, even if those dates have some variables 
attached to them, that sets in motion a train of events that is 
anything but a simple statement of vision. That statement of vision was 
given by the President at West Point. In fact, he was criticized for 
specifically indicating that there would be a point at which American 
forces begin the withdrawal, but he did that. I think anyone 
questioning the President's not only willingness to do this, but 
understanding the need to redeploy our forces, should look at today's 
headlines in the Washington Post where the Vice President has, once 
again, reiterated that we are coming out of Iraq; that the timetables 
the President talked about, the vision he talked about, all of those 
things he is following through on, and he will do the same thing in 
Afghanistan.
  In Afghanistan, the President's strategy is clear: to provide 
military resources to reseize the momentum; to provide the opportunity 
to build civilian capacity; and starting, as the Senator from Wisconsin 
indicated, at a fixed date will begin a drawdown and will begin 
changing our mission from combat operations to more counterterrorism 
operations, more training of Afghani forces.
  Frankly, what I think the President--and I will presume to speak at 
this moment, at last in my view--sees in the future is a significant 
drawdown of our military presence while we build up our civilian 
presence. That civilian presence might include some trainers, police 
trainers. It might include a lot of folks. Indeed, this vision is tied 
directly to the concern we all have. There are active al-Qaida cells in 
Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Yemen, and one of the advantages of a 
presence in Afghanistan is effectively cooperating with and encouraging 
the Pakistanis.
  I urge rejection of the amendment.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second? There 
appears to be a sufficient second.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, all time is yielded back on this side.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the 
amendment.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) 
is necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss).
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 18, nays 80, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 168 Leg.]

                                YEAS--18

     Baucus
     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     Cantwell
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Gillibrand
     Harkin
     Leahy
     Merkley
     Murray
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Specter
     Tester
     Udall (NM)
     Wyden

                                NAYS--80

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Brown (MA)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burris
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagan
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     LeMieux
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Thune
     Udall (CO)
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Byrd
     Chambliss
      
  The amendment (No. 4204) was rejected.
  Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. COCHRAN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 4231

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, there 
will be 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation 
to amendment No. 4321, as modified, offered by the Senator from 
Oklahoma.
  The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, the Senator from Oklahoma feels we have 
had enough debate, so we will not debate this further.
  I move to table amendment No. 4231, as modified.
  I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) 
is necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss).
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 53, nays 45, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 169 Leg.]

                                YEAS--53

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

[[Page S4483]]



                                NAYS--45

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brown (MA)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Kohl
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Tester
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Byrd
     Chambliss
      
  The motion was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 4232

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, there 
will be 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation 
to amendment No. 4232 offered by the Senator from Oklahoma.
  The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I have been advised by the Senator from 
Oklahoma that we have had enough debate. Therefore, I move to table 
amendment No. 4232 and ask for the yeas and nays.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Akaka) and 
the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Hagan). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 50, nays 47, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 170 Leg.]

                                YEAS--50

     Baucus
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Voinovich
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--47

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brown (MA)
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Klobuchar
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Tester
     Thune
     Vitter
     Warner
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Akaka
     Byrd
     Chambliss
  The motion was agreed to.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. COCHRAN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will now be 2 
minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on the motion to 
invoke cloture on the committee-reported substitute amendment.
  If all time is yielded back, pursuant to rule XXII, the clerk will 
report the motion to invoke cloture.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the committee-
     reported substitute amendment to H.R. 4899, an act making 
     emergency supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and 
     summer jobs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010.
         Harry Reid, Richard J. Durbin, John D. Rockefeller, IV, 
           Patty Murray, Debbie Stabenow, Benjamin L. Cardin, 
           Sherrod Brown, Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Mark Begich, 
           Robert P. Casey, Jr., Jack Reed, Patrick J. Leahy, Carl 
           Levin, Amy Klobuchar, Kay R. Hagan, Roland W. Burris, 
           Charles E. Schumer.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call is waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
committee-reported substitute amendment to H.R. 4899, the Supplemental 
Appropriations Act of 2010, shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call 
the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) 
is necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: The Senator 
from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 69, nays 29, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 171 Leg.]

                                YEAS--69

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Burris
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johanns
     Johnson
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--29

     Barrasso
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Coburn
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     McCain
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Thune
     Voinovich
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Byrd
     Chambliss
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas are 69, the nays are 29. Three-fifths 
of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, 
the motion is agreed to.
  The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. BURRIS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                              Summer Jobs

  Mr. BURRIS. I thank the Chair.
  Madam President, this past Monday evening, as dusk fell on my 
hometown of Chicago, a handful of young people took to the streets with 
violent intentions.
  By the time the sun came up on Tuesday, no fewer than seven people 
had been shot, in a series of unrelated incidents.
  This wave of violent crime continued into Tuesday afternoon, when 
three more Chicagoans were shot and killed in broad daylight.
  These incidents came right on the heels of another shocking murder. 
Last week, a police officer and Iraq War veteran named Thomas Wortham 
IV was shot to death only a few blocks from my home.
  These events do not occur in a vacuum. They are part of a clear and 
consistent pattern, a pandemic of gun violence that holds communities 
in a vice grip. Every year, with the advent of the long, hot summer, 
gang activity spikes. The line between good and bad neighborhoods 
evaporates. In essence, our streets become a war zone. This is not a 
passing concern; it is an emergency. This kind of violence should be 
shocking. It should spark outrage and indignation. Yet too many of us 
turn a blind eye. We are paralyzed by the destructive political process 
and numb to the consequences of our failure to take action.
  This problem can't simply be passed on to someone else. This violence 
is happening in our cities and towns, where we live and where we work, 
where we send our children to school. It is happening in our backyards. 
So it

[[Page S4484]]

is up to us to raise the alarm. It is our responsibility to stem this 
rising tide and take back our communities, our homes, our schools, and 
our places of worship. We have seen that this is a pattern. We have 
witnessed the terrible outcomes and measured the tragic human cost. Now 
it is time to take action.
  Certainly, we can make progress by increasing gun control and making 
it more difficult for weapons to fall into the hands of criminals. This 
effort must be a part of any comprehensive solution, and it is an issue 
I have fought for throughout my career. But the reality is, a debate 
about gun control will quickly turn into a pitched partisan battle. It 
will consume time and political will, and in the end, we may not get 
very far.
  I believe we need to take a more practical, more immediate approach. 
It is time to give our young people an alternative to destructive 
behavior so they can spend their summers working to get ahead instead 
of getting involved in criminal activities. Today, more than half of 
Black men between the ages of 16 and 19 are unemployed. This number is 
growing rapidly. In fact, the New York Times predicts that this summer 
will be one of the bleakest on record. So if we would like to cut down 
on violent crime, this is exactly where we need to start.
  It is no accident that last year's landmark American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act included a major summer jobs component. It created 
more than 300,000 summer jobs for youth across the country, including 
some 17,000 in Illinois alone.
  This year, we need to do even more. That is why I am proud to 
cosponsor S. 2923, the Youth Jobs Act of 2010, introduced by the 
distinguished Senator from Washington, Mrs. Murray. This legislation 
would build on the success of the Recovery Act, setting aside $1.5 
billion for youth employment opportunities through the Workforce 
Investment Act. It would infuse money directly into the local economy 
and give young people the chance to gain paid work experience, what 
Senator Reid spoke about the other day, the gentleman who set up a work 
opportunity and found out that the youth don't even have the work 
experience or they don't even know how to work. We have to get them 
some paid work experience. This will keep them off the streets in the 
short term and give them better employment options down the road. It 
would create half a million summer jobs from coast to coast and put a 
serious dent in the youth unemployment rate. It will spur young people 
to invest in their future and help foster a better community.
  I urge my colleagues to pass this bill without delay. We can do this 
right now. It will cut down on violent crime and have a real effect on 
people's lives across America. There is no reason to wait another day 
or another moment. That is why I am so frustrated by the obstructionism 
that has afflicted this legislation for the past 6 months.
  It is time to make a commitment to the next generation, give them the 
opportunity to start down the right path because if we don't, then 
every summer, when the school year ends and children seek new ways to 
occupy their time, more and more of them will find fellowship with the 
criminal element. This cycle of violence will continue.
  I urge colleagues to pass the Youth Jobs Act before we adjourn for 
the Memorial Day recess. Let's provide our young people with the 
opportunity to turn away from violence. Let's give them a chance to 
build a constructive future. Let's take back our communities. Let's do 
it now. Let's do it today.

                          ____________________