Congressional Record, Volume 158 Issue 144 (Tuesday, November 13, 2012)

[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 144 (Tuesday, November 13, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6715-S6721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

SPORTMEN'S ACT OF 2012--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed

Recognition of the Majority Leader

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.

Welcome to Everyone

Mr. REID. Mr. President, after our election, I welcome everyone back.
For some it was a nice break. For others it was a lot of hard work. We
welcome everyone back and look forward to a very productive next 6
weeks.

Schedule

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Senate is considering the motion to
proceed to S. 3525, the Sportsmen's Act, postcloture. At 5:30 p.m.,
there will be a rollcall vote on the motion to proceed to the
legislation.

Facing Great Challenges

Mr. REID. Mr. President, for the last year, the country has been
focused on the difference between Republicans and Democrats. And for
the last 2 years, this Congress has not accomplished nearly enough. But
as we close the 112th Congress, it is time to focus on our shared goals
and our common purpose.
We all agree, I hope, that today--now--great challenges face our
country and this Congress. Those challenges are large--too large to be
solved by Democrats alone. They are too large to be undertaken by
Republicans alone. And they are too grave for us to allow political
differences to stand in the way of success.
On the day Gerald Ford became President of the United States, at a
time of great national turmoil, he said:

There is no way we can go forward except together and no
way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent
needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go
forward now together.

So said Gerald Ford.
Mr. President, that is as true today as it was back then. Today the
American people have many urgent needs. They need more jobs. They need
economic certainty. They need opportunity and fairness.
It is within our power as a Congress to quickly address these urgent
needs.
It is within our power to forge an agreement that will give economic
certainty now to middle-class families who can least afford a tax hike.
It is within our power to forge an agreement that will ask the
richest of the rich--the most fortunate among us--to pay a little extra
to reduce the deficit and secure our economic future.
It is within our power to forge an agreement that will protect
important tax deductions for families and businesses still struggling.
It is within our power to forge an agreement that will take a
balanced approach to reduce spending.
In fact, we could avert the fiscal cliff for 98 percent of American
families and 97 percent of small businesses today. The House must only
consider the Senate-passed bill freezing tax rates for those making
less than $250,000 a year. This Congress is but one vote away from
avoiding the fiscal cliff for middle-class families and small
businesses.
As influential conservative Bill Kristol said this week:

Let's have a serious debate. . . . It won't kill the
country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires. It
really won't.

So said Bill Kristol.
So solutions are in our grasp. We only have to make the choice to
pull together instead of pulling apart.
The hands of the Democratic Caucus are reaching toward our Republican
friends, our Republican colleagues. I urge the Republicans to join us
to do the difficult but necessary work that is ahead.
If there is a message to take away from this year's election, it is
this: Americans are tired of the politics of

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division. They are tired of obstruction and distraction. The American
people--Democrats and Republicans--want cooperation and conciliation.
I urge any of my Republican colleagues who are considering the same
strategy of obstruction to turn away from the divisions of the past and
join in cooperation, compromise, and consensus.

Gridlock is not the solution. It is the problem.
How this Congress deals with the challenges ahead will be the test of
our character, both as individuals and as a body politic--the U.S.
Senate.
As the British playwright John Osborne said:

They spend their time mostly looking forward to the past.

We cannot look back. We must show the American people we are equal to
the challenges we now face. The challenges are here. We know the
challenges. We see the challenges. We can feel the challenges.
There are many reasons why--as we wind down this 112th Congress and
embark upon the 113th--we must succeed.
But the best illustration of our duty--our obligation--comes from the
words of Medal of Honor recipient Daniel Inouye. Senator Inouye's son
asked his dad why--after people were designated as enemy aliens, after
being put in internment camps--why did he and the members of the famed
442nd Regimental Combat Team fight heroically the way they did.
Asked why he fought, Senator Inouye told his son--many years after
the battle had ended and Lieutenant Inouye's wounds had healed--that he
fought ``for the children.'' Senator Inouye said that he fought for the
children. So I say to my colleagues--Democrats and Republicans--we must
legislate, legislate for our children. They deserve it. We owe them the
future.
It is time for Democrats and Republicans to go forward now together--
``go forward now together,'' as Gerald Ford said--and show the American
people that we are equal to the challenges we face. The challenges are
there. We must face them and face them together.

Recognition Of The Minority Leader

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is
recognized.

The Elections

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I want to begin by welcoming all the
new Members who are here today, Republican and Democrat.
Congratulations on your victories, and welcome to the Senate. I assure
you, it is not as terrible a job as some say it is. We welcome your
ideas, your energy, and your enthusiasm, and we wish you every success
in your time here.
I also want to congratulate the President and the Vice President on
their hard-fought victory last week. And I wish to say a brief word of
thanks to our own nominees as well, Governor Romney and Congressman
Ryan. They may not have won the race, but they earned our respect and
admiration in the effort. They fought valiantly--valiantly--for the
cause of limited government, free enterprise, opportunity for all, and
a stronger social safety net that is there when people need it most.
In short, they fought for the kind of constitutional conservatism so
many Americans believe in so very strongly. And their loss does nothing
to diminish the importance of these enduring principles or our
commitment to keep fighting for them. So we thank them, and we thank
their families, for making the sacrifices any Presidential campaign
demands. And I want to assure everyone: The cause goes on.
Now onto the task at hand.

Avoiding The Fiscal Cliff

In politics there is always a temptation among those who win office
to think they have a mandate to do what they will. But it is important
to remember that in this case the voters also reelected a Republican-
controlled House last week and a closely divided Senate. And in a
government of three equal branches, that is hardly irrelevant.
Most people may focus on the White House, but the fact is the
government is organized no differently today than it was after the
Republican wave of 2010.
Look out across the heartland and you will see vast regions of the
country wary of the President's vision for the future. The country is
sharply divided about the right path forward. If the President wants to
unite America, as he has always claimed to, if he truly realizes that
he was elected to represent all of its citizens, not just the ones who
voted to give him a second term last Tuesday, then he will seek the
common ground that he largely avoided so strenuously in his first term.
That is his task. That is the duty that comes with being President.
I hope that in this term he rises to the challenge. It starts by
realizing that he is the only man in America who can sign a piece of
legislation into law--the only one of the 306 million Americans--and
that while voters have given him a second term, they have also given
those of us in Congress the power and the duty to ensure that he uses
that power wisely. And that is, of course, what we intend to do.
The campaign is over. The time for slogans and pep rallies is past.
If the President is serious about solving current crises and avoiding
future ones, he has to step up and to lead.
So let me be clear: When it comes to the great economic challenges of
the moment, saying that you want a balanced approach is not a plan.
Saying people need to pay their fair share is not a plan. The tedious
repetition of poll-tested talking points is simply that. The longer the
President uses them as a substitute for leadership, the more difficult
it will be to solve our many problems.
The time for the President to lead is now, and that means offering a
concrete plan that takes into account the fact that half the Congress
opposes tax hikes--not because we are selfish, not because we are
stubborn, but we know it is the wrong thing to do, we know it will hurt
the economy, and we know it will destroy jobs. This is not partisan
politics. It is economics. As the President might say, it is math.
According to a recent independent, nonpartisan study, raising tax
rates on top earners, as the President has proposed, would destroy over
700,000 jobs. It would slow the economy, meaning less revenue would
come into the Treasury. As a result, it would not do much to reduce the
deficit, even if Democrats actually followed through and used it for
that purpose.
Think about it: The amount of revenue for which they are prepared to
push us over the fiscal cliff would not fund the government for a week.
Let me say that again. The amount of revenue for which they are
prepared to push us over the cliff would not fund the government for 1
week.
So why in the world would we want to do that? What is the point? To
make people feel good about whacking somebody else? That is not what we
were sent here to do.
That is certainly not what the people of Kentucky sent me here to do.
That is not how you set economic policy--because it makes you feel
good. You set economic policy because you think it will lead to
investment in America, create jobs, and give more people an opportunity
to lift themselves up, boosting middle-class incomes now and ensuring
security for the future. This is the kind of vision Speaker Boehner
laid out for the country last week. I cannot think of any good reason
the President would not embrace it.
Some on the other side have said we should just go off the cliff--
just go off the cliff--and hope for the best. I do not think that is
what the American people had in mind when they went to the polls last
week. I think what they had in mind was that we put the contest of the
past 2 years behind us and work it out.
The best way forward and the way that will lead to jobs and growth, a
smaller deficit, and fewer political fights is to keep everybody's tax
rates right where they are for now, to figure out a way to avoid the
automatic defense cuts scheduled to hit at the end of the year without
cutting a penny less than we promised and committing to the kind of
comprehensive tax and entitlement reform that we all claim we want.
A simpler Tax Code that lowers rates and clears out certain
deductions and special interest loopholes would trigger economic
growth, create jobs, and result in more revenue without raising
anyone's rates. We know this because we have seen it before. It
actually works.
Personally, I do not think Washington should get any of that extra

[[Page S6717]]

revenue. I do not think we need it. As I have said many times before:
Washington's problem is not that it taxes too little but that it spends
too much. But in a good-faith effort to make progress on boosting the
economy and government's long-term solvency, Republicans like me have
said for more than a year now that we are open to new revenue in
exchange for meaningful reforms to the entitlement programs that are
the primary drivers of our debt, so that we can reduce the deficit,
protect these programs for today's seniors, and strengthen them for
future generations.
So new revenue must be tied to genuine entitlement changes that
strengthen these programs for the future and preserve them and also
address our long-term debt and deficit problems. In other words, we
would do it if we thought we could make progress in creating more
middle-class jobs and address what is by far the single biggest
obstacle to fiscal balance. This is the basic outline of a plan, and it
reflects our seriousness as a party.
So make no mistake, Republicans are offering bipartisan solutions.
Now it is the President's turn. It is his turn to demonstrate similar
seriousness, bring his party to the table, and take the lead. We are
ready to find common ground, ready to find common ground on revenue--
not as I said because any of us actually thinks the government needs
any more of it, but because Democrats, from the President on down, have
said they are willing to punish everyone if they do not get it. We are
not about to let that happen, but we are also not about to further
weaken the economy by raising tax rates and hurting jobs.
Look, this should not be that difficult. Recent history gives us two
examples of Presidents who solved big problems by finding common ground
with the other side. Ronald Reagan did it with a Democratic-led House
after a far more resounding second-term victory than President Obama's,
as did Bill Clinton with a Republican-controlled House and a
Republican-controlled Senate after a more resounding second-term
victory than President Obama's. Both examples, both of them, illustrate
the rare opportunity that divided government presents.
President Obama can follow suit or he can take the extremist view
that both Reagan and Clinton rejected by thumbing his nose at the other
side and insisting that if Republicans are not willing to do things his
way, he will not do anything at all. If the President is serious, he
will follow the lead of Presidents Reagan and Clinton. If he is really
serious, he will put the campaign rhetoric aside, propose a realistic
solution that can pass a Republican-controlled House and a divided
Senate, and work to get it done. And if the President acts in this
spirit, I have no doubt he will have the support of his own party and a
willing partner in ours.
The American people will breathe a sigh of relief knowing not only
that we have avoided a crisis but Washington can still serve their
interests. Unless we act in a few short weeks, Americans will face a
combination of defense cuts and automatic tax hikes that threaten to
plunge us into another recession and undermine at the same time our
national defense. This looming crisis is made worse by the backdrop of
a massive Federal debt that we will never be able to tackle as long as
Democrats refuse even the smallest of reforms to strengthen and protect
the entitlement programs that are driving that debt.
That is why Republicans have remained firm on this point: Any serious
solution, any serious solution, must include real spending cuts and
meaningful entitlement reforms to strengthen and protect these programs
for future generations. We got into this mess because we promised cuts
that never materialized and because we could not muster the will to
match entitlements with the changing demographics of our country.
We are not going to get out of it until we agree to do both, and
agree to do it together. Republicans have reached out, made offers
beyond our preferred approach in an effort to attract bipartisan
solutions. Meanwhile, all we get from Democrats is letters saying they
will not even consider reforming the very programs that lie at the
heart, the very heart of our fiscal imbalance.
Instead of showing faith and a willingness to solve the problem, we
get the same tired talking points that we cannot cut our way to
prosperity. Well, that may poll well, but it is not a plan. It is a
cliche that is meant to shut down debate and prevent a serious proposal
from ever taking shape.
So how do we get around the stalemate? That is simple. Presidential
leadership. Let me repeat. There is only one person in America out of
360 million Americans who can sign something into law and, even more
importantly, deliver the members of his party to support a deal that he
makes.
We will arrive at a plan when the President presents one or we will
not get anywhere at all. That is how we get out of a jam. That is what
the moment requires. It is the President's move. There is no way we can
avert these job-killing tax hikes before they strike and replace the
defense portion of the so-called sequester with cuts of equal size in
areas that both sides have already agreed to during last summer's debt
limit negotiations. We can do all of it in the weeks ahead with a
promise to do even bigger things next year.
That is exactly what we should do. This is one of those moments where
the only thing standing between success and failure is Presidential
leadership. That is why we are calling on the President to seize the
moment--seize the moment and do something he has not done before but
which successful predecessors have so often done before.
We are calling on him to lead, to take the initiative, propose a plan
that is actually designed to succeed. If he does, I am confident he
will find he has more Republican friends over here than he thought. I
am not asking the President to agree with us on the proper role of
government or the dangers of a creeping regulatory state. I am not
asking him to adopt our principles. I am simply asking him to respect
our principles by not insisting that we compromise them because I
assure you we will not. But we will be happy to work with him on a plan
to avert the coming crisis and lay the groundwork for further success
down the road.
Let's put the campaign behind us and get the job done.
I yield the floor.

Reservation of Leader Time

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
leadership time is reserved.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.

Election Results

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today is November 13. I think what strikes
me about this date is it has only been 7 days since the election. It
seems like a lot longer. Maybe it is because the election campaign
itself felt so long. But it has been 7 days since the American people
went out and voted.
I have to say this: It was not just because of the victory of the
President which was important to many of us, but it was quite a
validation of this country and this democracy that millions of
Americans made the personal sacrifice, took the time, and went to the
polling places and actually cast a vote. When it was all over, thank
the Lord, it was decisive. The President won a majority of the popular
vote as well as a strong majority of electoral votes. The outcome was
not in suspense or in doubt when it was all over. That was good for the
process, it was good for our country, and, quite frankly, it is time
for us to move forward.
During the course of the campaign, I was actively working in my State
of Illinois, around the Midwest, on behalf of the President. I was at
one of these spin rooms, which is kind of hard to describe. You will
not find it in the Constitution. It is hard to describe. After the
debates there was this scrum of politicians and spokesmen who stood
together under little signs with their names on them waiting for the
press to come up to them and say: What did you see? What do you think?
I was in one of those. I can't remember where it was. I think it
might have been New York at Hofstra after one of the Presidential
debates. One of the reporters said to me: So, Mr. Durbin, I know you
are here supporting President Obama. What are you going to do

[[Page S6718]]

if Governor Romney wins and becomes President?
I said: Well, I am going to respect him, do everything I can to work
with him to solve the problems of this country.
Do you know what he said? He said: I am going to hold you to that.
Well, he should. That is the responsibility we all have regardless of
party, to work with the President to solve our Nation's problems.
Now, there were some who said 4 years ago that when they viewed the
new President, President Obama, their goal was to make sure, above all,
that he was a one-term President. That was an unfortunate statement
because it suggested that solving problems and dealing with our
challenges was secondary to a political victory. I hope that in the
second term the President can turn to both sides of the aisle in
Congress and find support for solving our Nation's problems. They are
many.
The first one is this fiscal cliff which Americans are hearing more
and more about. On December 31 of this year laws will expire and things
are going to happen. What will happen is taxes will go up across the
board, not just on the wealthy but on everyone. There will be cutbacks
in unemployment compensation, cutbacks in the payroll tax, 2-percent
cuts. There will be a lot of different changes that affect a lot of
people. We are going to see automatic cuts in spending, sequestration
as we call it, both on the defense side and nondefense side.
Many people have said: Well, who dreamed this up? And the honest
answer is all of us in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, together
with the President created this so-called fiscal cliff, and we voted
for it. The Republican leader of the Senate was here a few minutes ago.
He voted in favor of it. I did too.
The idea was to have a December 31 deadline that was so imposing and
so threatening that we would do something to avoid it. We created a
supercommittee to reduce the deficit, with equal numbers of Democrats
and Republicans, and said: Find a way out of this deficit mess so we
can avoid this cliff.
They could not. They were unable to reach an agreement. So now this
December 31 deadline is looming. It is one that ought to sharpen our
senses and our attention on solving the problems that face this
country. They are substantial.
First, we need to get out of this recession. We are moving forward
but slowly. We need to make sure that whatever we do in Congress it
moves us in the direction of creating more jobs and strengthening
business and making us more competitive in the 21st-century economy.
But secondly, as important, we need to deal with the deficit, a
deficit which requires us to borrow 40 cents for every dollar we spend
in Washington. That is unsustainable. I say that as a Democrat.
Republicans say it as well. We have got to balance the two, keep the
economy moving forward and yet make a serious commitment to deficit
reduction.
I was on the Bowles-Simpson Presidential commission which President
Obama created. There were 18 of us. Eleven of us voted for the
commission report, a bipartisan report, and I still believe that it
contains the basic ingredients for finding our way through this
challenge. I hope we could have support from the other side of the
aisle.
I listened carefully to the speech just given by the Senator from
Kentucky, and he said repeatedly that the election is behind us, we
need to work together. That is exactly the right thing to say. It means
we have to ask the Republican side that they join us in finding
revenue. We know we need more in tax revenue to deal with this deficit.
The President has proposed that those making over $250,000 a year pay a
little more. I don't think that is unreasonable. Those who have been
blessed with success and comfort in life and doubly blessed by being
part of this great Nation should be wanting to pay back a little to
help us get through this economic challenge, and I think they will. I
genuinely think they will. I also believe those who are in the middle-
income categories, working families, need to be spared a tax increase.
Many of them are struggling paycheck to paycheck. It isn't an easy
economy in which to raise a child, put a child through college or keep
your home or make plans for the future. We need to give those working
families a helping hand to make sure they don't face a tax rise.
The President said the other day that we have a bill pending before
the House that would spare those families making $250,000 or less a
year from seeing a tax increase, and he asked the House to pass it. I
hope they will. That means we can focus on taxes only for those in
higher income categories. The Senator from Kentucky said, well, it
doesn't raise that much money. I beg to differ. If we impose a tax on
those making over $250,000 a year, and if we go back pre-Bush tax cuts,
it raises $800 billion over 10 years. That is not insubstantial. It is
an important sum that we need to have to move toward a budget that is
closer to being in balance. We have to include it. We need to look at
entitlement programs in an honest fashion. We need to make sure that at
the end of the day the Social Security system is there for generations
to come, and Medicare, which is so important to 40 or 50 million
Americans, will be there for many years to come as well. That is part
of our responsibility.
I welcome the statement by the Senator from Kentucky. I take him at
his word that he is willing to work with the President. He has called
on the President to lead, and that is only right; the President is the
leader of our Nation.
I might also add that we need leadership in Congress as well,
Democrats and Republicans willing to sit down at a table and reasonably
work out our differences. It is not easy, but we can do it and we
should do it.

Veterans Day 2012

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we have heard a lot about the wealthiest 1
percent of Americans, and on this session after Veterans Day I wish to
talk about another 1 percent, the 1 percent who have volunteered to
defend us. I want to say a few words about veterans in earlier wars.
Thirty years ago, thousands of veterans of the Vietnam war came home.
They gave themselves a homecoming parade that they deserved but almost
none had ever received. The Presiding Officer here from Virginia, I
know as a Senator and as an ace Vietnam veteran, knows of what I speak.
With wounded veterans in wheelchairs leading the parade, they marched
up Constitution Avenue to dedicate the National Vietnam Veterans
Memorial, on whose polished granite walls were etched the names of
nearly 58,000 dead and missing comrades-in-arms.
Here is a photograph that was taken that day. This is Joseph Ambrose
of Joliet, IL. Mr. Ambrose was 86 years old then. He is wearing the
same uniform he wore as a 19-year-old U.S. Army private in France in
World War I. In his arms he carries a flag, the flag that covered the
coffin of his son who gave his life for our country in Korea.
Joseph Ambrose wore his old Army ``doughboy'' uniform and carried his
son's flag often to Veterans Day parades and VFW conventions. He
confessed that some years he had to go on a crash diet to get back into
the uniform, but he did it to honor the veterans of Vietnam and Korean
wars that he believed Americans needed to remember, and he wanted to
remind us of an important truth, that no matter the outcome of the war,
those who answer the call of duty and risk everything to defend our
country deserve the respect of a grateful nation.
In the 30 years since its dedication, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
has become an almost sacred place of remembering, reconciliation, and
healing. It has a special impact on visitors. I was one. As you walk
down that incline and this polished granite monument starts to loom
higher and higher, and the names grow until you are engulfed by them,
you have a feeling of the immensity of sacrifice that was involved in
that war.
This past weekend in Chicago and Quincy, IL, big cities and small
alike across America communities held Veterans Day parades. Volunteers
assembled and sent thank-you packages to the troops serving overseas. I
was at Union Station in Chicago yesterday. Fifth Third Bank sponsored
the sending of these packages to those who are currently serving. It is
all good and it is important, but it is only a fraction of what we owe
to veterans.
Mr. President, I want to give special thanks to you and a special
shout-out

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for what you have accomplished in your service in the Senate. I
remember the first time we ever sat down and had any serious
conversation about your service in the Senate for the State of
Virginia, and you told me your No. 1 priority was a new GI bill. You
were brandnew to this place, but you sure knew that subject inside and
out. I respected you so much for it and respect you even more for
sticking with it. Your determination led to the creation of a new GI
bill. Thousands--thousands--of veterans are going to have better lives
and their families as well because you were determined to make it
happen.
I know you are retiring and nearing the end of your term here in the
Senate, but it is a lasting contribution to this country, and I am glad
that since it was at the top of your list when you arrived that you got
it done. Some Senators spend a lifetime around here and never get No. 1
on the list accomplished, but you did it, and I thank you very much for
your leadership in that regard.
It was 2\1/2\ years ago that we also created the family caregivers
act to help veterans who survived catastrophic and disabling injuries
in Iraq and Afghanistan and the family members who sacrificed so much
to help them. I introduced this bill after Senator Hillary Clinton
moved on to the State Department 4 years ago. I thought it was a good
idea and it was recommended to me by the family of wounded veteran Eric
Edmundson. His mom and dad and sister came to me, and we talked about
the caregivers act. Traumatic brain injuries, as we know, are one of
the signature casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2005, Eric Edmundson was a 26-year-old Army sergeant. He survived
a roadside blast but then went into cardiac arrest while awaiting
transport to a military hospital. His brain was deprived of oxygen for
almost 30 minutes. Doctors told his parents that Eric would spend the
rest of his life in a vegetative state, and they should choose a
nursing home for their 26-year-old son. But Eric's mom and dad said,
no, we are not giving up on this young man. They fought for Eric to be
transferred to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, one of the
best--in fact, the same hospital that my colleague Senator Mark Kirk
has been returning to time and time again for rehabilitation from his
stroke.
I visited Eric at that hospital several times. He worked so hard to
heal and to make progress and his family was with him every day. I will
never forget the time I visited Eric in his hospital room in Chicago
and his mom said, Eric has a gift for you. I thought, wait a minute,
Eric is giving me a gift, at which point his mom and dad walked over on
each side of his wheelchair, grabbed one of his elbows each, lifted him
up, and Eric took three steps. It was amazing. There wasn't a dry eye
in that hospital room, tears of joy that this young man finally could
take a few steps.
His dad said at that time, In about a month Eric is going to walk out
of the front door of this hospital. Can you be there? Of course I was.
It was a proud day not only for Eric and his family but for all of us
to see the dramatic progress he made.
Today Eric lives in North Carolina with his wife and two young
children. His mom and dad are there by his side every day. They have
moved in today to be full-time caregivers for their son, and the family
caregivers act helps their family and so many others make sure that
Eric is home with his family where he wants to be, receiving the kind
of care he deserves for service to our country. So far more than 130
families in Illinois and more than 5,000 nationwide are part of the
caregivers program. I am proud of that program. I thank Senator Clinton
for a great idea. I thank Senator Danny Akaka, who was chairman of the
Veterans' Affairs Committee when it passed as part of larger
legislation.
Posttraumatic stress syndrome is another signature wound of these
wars that we recently engaged in. These wounds aren't visible, but they
are wounds to the spirit. They can be just as debilitating and deadly
as a visible wound. We know that active-duty servicemembers are taking
their own lives at alarming rates, and the suicide rate among veterans
is even higher. The VA estimates that 18 veterans a day take their own
lives. The VA has made heroic efforts to keep up with the surge of
mental health needs in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Yet despite those
efforts only a fraction of veterans with PTSD are receiving timely,
effective care.
President Obama recently issued an Executive order to improve mental
health care for servicemembers and veterans. The order will expand by
50 percent the capacity of the VA on their crisis line to make sure
that any veteran facing a crisis can get professional help within 24
hours.
There is a bill pending in the Senate that would do even more. The
Mental Health ACCESS Act introduced by Senator Patty Murray, who has
been an amazing champion of veterans--she is the daughter of a severely
wounded veteran, and a fierce champion for veterans and their
families--the Mental Health ACCESS Act, which I am proud to cosponsor,
would make comprehensive improvements in VA suicide prevention
counseling and mental health staffing. It would also expand eligibility
for a variety of VA health and mental health services to family
members, which are so important. We also need to step forward as well
and make sure that we go beyond welcoming home parades for veterans and
find them a job. Parades are just fine, but if you really want to
support a veteran, hire that veteran. Give that veteran a job.
America's military today is the best trained, best educated in the
history of the world. They have done an enormously good job for our
country, and they can do the same for businesses across America.
I hope the bipartisan plan which we are working on with Senator Bill
Nelson of Florida to pass will be enacted soon and become part of the
law of the land to help these veterans. The President is prepared to
sign it, and the sooner we do it the better.
Let me salute some of the veterans in the Senate who are here:
Senator Frank Lautenberg, who served in World War II; Senator Danny
Inouye, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II; Senator John
McCain, Senator Tom Carper, Senator Kerry, and the Presiding Officer,
Senator Jim Webb, both of whom served with honor in Vietnam, as well as
Senator Lindsey Graham, who continues to serve as a colonel in the Air
Force Reserve; and my colleague Senator Mark Kirk, who is a commander
in the Navy Reserve. And not to leave out Senators Akaka, Bingaman,
Blumenthal, Scott Brown, Carper, Coats, Cochran, Enzi, Harkin, Inhofe,
Isakson, Tim Johnson, Kohl, Lugar, Bill Nelson, Reed, Roberts,
Sessions, and Wicker.
The elections earlier this month saw at least 9 new veterans of Iraq
and Afghanistan elected to Congress, bringing the total of new veterans
in the next Congress to at least 16. They are still counting the
ballots in some States.
The people of Illinois are proud that 3 of those 16 veterans are from
our State: Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran of Iraq and
Afghanistan, and two exceptional leaders who will join the next
Congress, Bill Enyart, a new Congressman from downstate Illinois, a
veteran of Vietnam and former adjutant general of the Illinois National
Guard. Then, of course, my friend, my ``sheroe,'' Tammy Duckworth. She
is the daughter of a Vietnam vet and one of the first women to ever fly
a combat mission in Iraq. She was copiloting a Black Hawk helicopter
when an RPG struck her helicopter. She lost both her legs and the use
of her right arm. She has worked in both State and Federal Government
on behalf of veterans. What a proud day it will be for America when
Tammy stands to take the oath of office in just a few weeks as the
newest member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
I want to say a word about my first boss in the Senate, another
veteran by the name of Paul Douglas, a man who at the age of 50
enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942, went through Parris Island
training, talked himself into combat, where he was wounded at Peliliu
and then more seriously wounded at Okinawa and lost the use of his left
arm. He was an extraordinary man who refused to take his veterans'
disability pay. He sent his checks back to the government every single
month. He joked that you could do the work of a Senator with one arm
tied behind your back, so it wasn't really fair for him to

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take disability pay for too long. In too many issues we in the Senate
have tied our own hands with excessive rancor and bipartisanship.
I hope in this lameduck session and beyond, that at least on the
issue of helping our veterans, we can come together on a bipartisan
basis.

Immigration Reform

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it was 101 years ago when my grandmother
came to this country with three small children and landed in Baltimore
from Lithuania, and came down the steps into America for the first
time. The year was 1911. I don't know how my grandmother managed to
navigate her way to East Saint Louis, IL, to meet my grandfather with
those three little kids and not speaking a word of English, but she
did. So it is with some pride that I have displayed in my office right
behind my desk my mother's naturalization certificate when she became a
citizen of the United States.
I think the fact that her son became a U.S. Senator tells a great
story about our Nation and the opportunity that is available.
I have always had a soft spot in my heart for immigrants because I am
the proud son of an immigrant who came to this country and worked her
way into citizenship and raised a good family. Our story is not unique.
It is, in fact, the American story. And this election has really
brought to the attention of many the need for us to deal with
immigration reform. There are more than 10 million Americans out there
who are undocumented, uncertain of their future. Some people mistakenly
believe they live in homes full of undocumented people. In most cases,
we find that four out of the five in a family are legally here in
America and the fifth--maybe even mom--is undocumented. So it is a
challenge for us to deal with these folks who have been here for so
long in a fair and honest way. We can't turn our backs on them.
One can go into a restaurant or hotel in Chicago and by and large
find many of these individuals working to clean the rooms and clear the
tables. A family who has someone in a nursing home probably has an
undocumented worker who is making sure their mother or father or
someone they love has the basics they need every single day. So we need
a realistic and reasonable approach to address the millions of
undocumented immigrants living in America today.
In this year's election, the Republican Presidential nominee
advocated what he called ``self-deportation.'' It doesn't make any
sense. It would be wrong to force millions of hard-working immigrants
who are contributing to our country to leave. Instead, we need a better
solution--a path to citizenship for immigrants who will earn their way
into that status by working hard, paying their taxes, learning English,
and being a part of America's future. The American people agree.
According to exit polls from last week's election, 65 percent of
Americans--64 percent of Independents, 51 percent of Republicans--said
that most undocumented immigrants working in the United States should
be given a chance to apply for legal status, and 29 percent disagreed.
In my time in the Senate, I have had the opportunity to be involved
in several bipartisan efforts to pass immigration reform. On the
Democratic side, the late Senator Ted Kennedy was our leader, and
Senator John McCain took the lead on the Republican side. President
Barack Obama, then a Senator, was part of that effort. Unfortunately,
we haven't moved forward since those days.
There is one part of immigration reform that is very important to me
personally. It is known as the DREAM Act. Eleven years ago I introduced
this legislation for the first time. It would allow a select group of
immigrant students with great potential to contribute to this country.
The DREAM Act would give these students a chance to earn their way to
citizenship if they came to the United States as children, have good
moral character, graduate from high school, and complete at least 2
years of college or serve in our military. Now, these young people grew
up in America, and they have overcome great obstacles. They went to
school with many of our own kids, and they are valedictorians, star
athletes, and leaders in the ROTC. They are our future doctors,
engineers, and teachers who will make America stronger. Why would we
want to educate them and then lose their talents for the future of our
country?
Last month a new report from the Center for American Progress and the
bipartisan Partnership for a New American Economy concluded that
passage of the DREAM Act would add $329 billion to our economy and
create 1.4 million new jobs by 2030. In my home State of Illinois, by
2030 the DREAM Act would contribute $14 billion to the economy and
DREAMers would create up to 58,000 new jobs, generating $461 million in
tax revenue.
The young people who would be eligible for the DREAM Act call
themselves DREAMers. Like the civil rights activists of past
generations, they speak out. Now they are telling us their stories. I
have been coming to the floor almost every week in the Senate to tell
the story of another DREAM Act student. It is the best way for people
to understand who they are.
I want to talk about Carlos Martinez today. Carlos and his brother
were brought to the United States in 1991 when Carlos was 9 years old.
When Carlos came to this country, he didn't speak a word of English.
His father told him, ``Estudien para que no batallen en la vida como
yo.'' Translated, it means, ``Study, so you don't struggle in life like
I have.'' That was the advice he received from his dad, and Carlos took
it to heart. At Cholla High School in Tucson, AZ, Carlos graduated
ninth in his class. He enrolled at the University of Arizona. He had
never owned a computer before he went to school, but he loved math and
dreamed of being a computer engineer. Four years later, in 2003, Carlos
graduated with a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering,
with minors in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics,
and Spanish. He was named the top Hispanic graduate in his class at the
University of Arizona.
After Carlos graduated, reality set in. He received job offers from
Intel, IBM, and a lot of top tech companies, but he couldn't work for
them because he is undocumented. But Carlos didn't give up. He enrolled
in a master's program for software systems engineering at the
University of Arizona. He completed the 2\1/2\-year program in just a
year and a half. He was nominated for the University of Arizona
Graduate School Centennial Award, given to the school's top graduate
student.
This is a hopeful time for DREAMers like Carlos. The Obama
administration has granted temporary legal status to young people who
would be eligible for the DREAM Act. The status--known as deferred
action for childhood arrivals--will allow DREAMers to live and work
legally in America, and they can renew it every 2 years. This will give
these young immigrants the chance to come out of the shadows and be
part of the only country they have ever really known. It is a historic
moment in the long struggle for equal justice in America.
The administration's new deportation policy will make America
stronger by giving the DREAMers a chance to be part of it. Carlos
Martinez submitted his application on August 15, the very first day
forms were available, and he was one of the first to receive deferred
action for childhood arrivals. Thanks to President Obama's new policy,
Carlos will finally be able to use his bachelor's and master's degree
in computer engineering. He had to wait 7 years after receiving his
master's degree, but the day has finally come when he will get his
chance.
As soon as he received the notification, Carlos went to a career fair
at his alma mater and handed out resumes to IBM, Intel, and the other
tech companies that had tried to hire him years earlier. In a letter he
wrote to me, Carlos said:

It was the best news of my life. Finally I would be able to
work as a software engineer or own a business and create
jobs.

According to recent polls, the American people clearly support the
new DREAM Act policy. For example, a Bloomberg poll found that 64
percent of likely voters--including 66 percent of Independents--support
the policy, compared to only 30 percent who oppose it. The American
people understand it makes no sense to deport these talented young
people. They grew up in America, and they can make us a better nation.
As America learns more about the DREAMers in our midst, such as
Carlos

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Martinez, who are ready to contribute their talents to getting our
economy back on track, support will build for passing the DREAM Act and
comprehensive immigration reform. President Obama has given temporary
protection to DREAMers. Now let's pass the law. Let's do the right
thing for people just like Carlos all over the United States.
Mr. President, I have listened carefully to some of the statements
made after the elections by those on the other side of the aisle, many
of whom have opposed the DREAM Act from the start, and I have been
heartened and encouraged that so many are now speaking out in favorable
terms about doing something finally for young people like Carlos. Let's
get this done. This used to be a very bipartisan measure, but
filibusters have stopped it year after year. We can pass it, and we
should pass it. In 2007, the first time the DREAM Act came to a vote on
the floor of the Senate, 52 Senators--a bipartisan majority--voted for
it, but still the Republican filibuster stopped us. We didn't get the
60 votes we needed. Three years later, in December of 2010, the DREAM
Act was again considered on the floor of the Senate. The gallery was
filled with DREAMers in their caps and gowns. It was an inspiring sight
to look up and see them in those seats. That day 55 Senators voted for
the DREAM Act. It was a majority but not enough; we needed 60 to
overcome another Republican filibuster. The President and the vast
majority of Democrats continue to support the DREAM Act and
comprehensive immigration reform.
Let me add that the DREAM Act is very important to me, but equally if
not more important is comprehensive immigration reform to help not only
Carlos but many like him--their parents and members of their family--
who may not qualify under the DREAM Act but deserve a chance as well.
I believe most of my Republican colleagues understand that
immigration is good for America. Immigration is America. We are all
immigrants but for the Native Americans who welcomed to the shores the
occupants of the Mayflower. Former President George W. Bush led the
attempt to reform legislation, and he said, ``Family values don't stop
at the Rio Grande.'' I disagree with George W. Bush on many things, but
on the issue of immigration, he was genuine and committed, and I agree
with what he said. I have been heartened by comments from Speaker
Boehner and others in the last week. I believe Democrats and
Republicans of good will can come together across the aisle, roll up
our sleeves, and do something good for America and fix our broken
immigration system so that it is true to our American values as a
nation of immigrants.

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