[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 107 (Thursday, July 10, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4383-S4384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Unaccompanied Border Children

  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I rise today to discuss the growing 
crisis of unaccompanied alien children streaming across our southern 
border. It has been called a mounting crisis, including the security 
crisis it is. There are some 52,000 who have come across in the last 
several months, according to recent reports--up from just a few 
thousand 1 year ago--and the threat is that will grow significantly. It 
is continuing to grow.
  This has been called a humanitarian crisis, and it is. These are, in 
most cases, vulnerable children who were taken through by human 
smugglers, by drug cartels, by other folks who do not--absolutely do 
not--have their best interests in mind. These children are often 
mistreated in all sorts of despicable ways through that journey.
  How do we address this crisis? It seems to me we need to get our core 
response right, and the only way to stop this increasing flow is to 
make clear this activity will not be successful.
  The only way to do that is to detain these illegal aliens in our 
country and keep them under our supervision until we quickly deport 
them to their countries of origin.
  That is the only response, the only message, the only visual that 
will stop this mounting flow from continuing to grow. That is the most 
humanitarian response that will stop more and more of these Central and 
South American children from being put in this illegal trade and being 
victimized along the way.
  Now, unfortunately, so far, that is not the response President Obama 
has made.
  After speaking for weeks about the 2008 change in immigration law as 
a factor in this scenario, when President Obama presented a request to 
Congress on this issue, he did not request any change in that law. He 
talked about it. He pointed to that law for weeks saying this was the 
root cause of the problem. Yet in his request to Congress he is not 
proposing we change that law.
  Instead, all he is proposing is more money--a lot more money--$3.7 
billion. Now, some more response and some more resources are 
undoubtedly necessary, but the lion's share of that, again, doesn't go 
to enforcement, doesn't go to deportation, doesn't go to sending these 
illegals back to their home country quickly, humanely, and efficiently. 
It goes to feeding them and housing them in this country for an 
extended, indefinite period of time.
  That is not what we need again.
  What we need, instead, is whatever changes to the law are necessary 
to allow us to detain these folks in a proper, humane way and quickly 
move them back to their home countries. We need the will and the 
resources to get that done in a quick, efficient way. That is what I 
will be proposing with many others in both the House and the Senate.
  For this to work we also need the will and the cooperation of the 
administration, and I am concerned that there isn't that real focus, 
real determination, and real will. It is great to have the right law 
written down on a piece of paper, the right words on a page, but it is 
equally as important--perhaps more important--to have the right 
administration, the right spirit, the right execution, the right 
follow-through on those words on a page.
  Unfortunately, we haven't had that in the Obama administration 
either.
  The Los Angeles Times, not exactly a right-leaning publication, has 
noted that deportations of illegals has plummeted from the high in 
2008, plummeted every year since then, to an absolute low in 2013 of 
about 1,669--from a high of 8,100, down each and every year to 1,600.
  This first drop probably had a lot to do with the change in the law 
to which President Obama has alluded. We need to fix that. But these 
other drops have to do with the spirit, the focus, and the 
determination--or lack thereof--of the present administration.
  Similarly, about 600 minors--all illegals--were ordered deported each 
year from nonborder States a decade ago--a decade ago 600 and last year 
only 95. Again, this is the same plummeting trend, the same absolutely 
plummeting trend. That is what we need to fundamentally reverse.
  To reverse that I have joined with other Members, as I suggested, to 
get the right solution in Congress, both changes in the law we need to 
make and the resources we need to hold these illegal aliens and quickly 
turn around the flow and send them back to their home countries. That 
is why I have joined already with Senator Flake in his amendment, which 
he was trying to propose on the Senate floor this week, to repeal the 
troublesome part of the 2008 law.
  That is why I am going further and drafting additional legislation to 
give this administration the mandate, the ability, the directive it 
clearly needs to change that practice and to change that policy--not to 
allow these illegals to be released into the country simply on the 
honor system that they might show up for a court date--we know that 
well over 90 percent never show up--and not simply send more money to 
HHS to properly care for these illegal aliens with no end in sight.
  Of course, they need to be properly treated and cared for when they 
are in this country and beyond, but we should not just write a blank 
check to keep them here forever but change the law and have the 
procedure in place to detain them--not to release them--and to quickly, 
effectively, bring them back to their home country.
  That is what happens in a much more routine way for illegal aliens 
from border countries such as Mexico and Canada. That is what happens 
effectively in those situations. We need to mirror that. We need to 
copy that and make sure that happens effectively when the illegal alien 
is from a border State.
  I wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Johnson back in January of this 
year regarding this very issue, before it became the current crisis, 
regarding reports detailing actual DHS assistance in the completion of 
smuggling illegal alien minors.
  In that case, a smuggled child in many cases was transferred to 
illegal alien parents actually by DHS--by HHS's Office of Refugee 
Resettlement. So actually, in those cases, the Federal Government was 
not completing the object of the criminal conspiracy--was not stopping 
the smuggling, not punishing the smugglers, but completing the 
operation. Again, it is another classic case of sending the wrong 
message--a message that will increase the flow and increase the 
problem, not decrease it.
  Ultimately, that goes back to the humanitarian issue too, because 
encouraging human smuggling enriches drug cartels, allows them to 
continue using violence as a means to an end, and wages war on Mexican 
and American citizens alike as well as the folks involved from Central 
and South American countries.
  We need to change that basic message. We need to turn around those

[[Page S4384]]

basic incentives. The only way to do that is to have a law and the 
execution of the law that is reversing that flow, that is apprehending 
these folks, that is treating them humanely, that is not releasing them 
out into American society, and that is quickly and effectively 
returning them to their home countries.
  That is the only message, that is the only visual, that will stop 
this mounting wave and will address the horrible humanitarian problems 
that flow directly from it.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the floor for the last minute 
of this debate to support Sean Donovan's nomination to be Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget.
  I have worked very closely with Secretary Donovan over the last 5 
years, and I know he has the skills and experience to work with 
Congress on creating jobs and tackling our long-term budget challenges 
fairly and responsibly.
  In his role as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary 
Donovan has proven time and again that he is focused first and foremost 
on strengthening our middle class by expanding opportunities for 
families and communities.
  From his work on stabilizing the housing market following the 
financial crisis, to reinforcing the agency's role in providing access 
to affordable housing and building strong, sustainable neighborhoods, 
to ensuring communities hit hard by natural disasters have the 
resources they need to get back on their feet, Secretary Donovan has 
been a highly effective and responsive leader and a great partner to us 
in Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike.
  Secretary Donovan's nomination passed through the Budget Committee 
with bipartisan support. I am confident he will bring these strengths 
and many more to the OMB. His leadership will be critical, because 
while we have made progress on our budget challenges, there is a lot of 
work yet to be done.
  I look forward to working with Secretary Donovan to strengthen our 
fiscal outlook over the long term and ensure we can make critical 
investments in jobs and opportunities to support our families, workers, 
and the economy. I know Secretary Donovan will be a great partner in 
addressing these challenges, and I urge my colleagues to support his 
nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Shaun L.S. Donovan, of New York, to be 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget?
  Ms. COLLINS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller), and the Senator from 
Hawaii (Mr. Schatz) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 75, nays 22, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 221 Ex.]

                                YEAS--75

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Begich
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Crapo
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Flake
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Kaine
     King
     Klobuchar
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Vitter
     Walsh
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                                NAYS--22

     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Cornyn
     Cruz
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Heller
     Inhofe
     Johnson (WI)
     Kirk
     Lee
     McConnell
     Moran
     Paul
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Scott
     Sessions
     Thune
     Toomey

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Boxer
     Rockefeller
     Schatz
  The nomination was confirmed.