[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 4, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S741-S744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2015--MOTION TO
PROCEED
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to H.R. 240.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 5, H.R. 240, a bill
making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other
purposes.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, it was good to see the new Senate come
together and pass another bipartisan bill yesterday. It was a win for
our Nation's heroes. It was yet another win for the American people.
But that was only one of the votes we took because just hours after
joining Republicans to do something good for our veterans, Democrats
voted to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security. It was
enough to give anyone whiplash.
Now Americans are wondering, what could possibly lead Democrats to
filibuster Homeland Security funding? The legislation Democrats are
filibustering would fund the Department of Homeland Security. It would
also protect American democracy from overreach, described by President
Obama as ``unwise and unfair.'' That is it. You would think that a bill
such as this would pass overwhelmingly. You would think that at least
the Democrats would allow the Senate an opportunity to improve the bill
if it needs to be improved. But Democrats voted to filibuster the bill
outright. They prevented the legislation from even being debated.
Today's Democratic Party seems willing to go to any extreme to
protect the kind of Executive overreach President Obama once described
as ``not how our democracy functions.'' It would go so far as to block
Homeland Security funding and to give the President the opportunity to
continue to do what he is doing.
The whole situation is a bit perplexing given what some of our
colleagues said just a few weeks ago, given what they said about the
overreach President Obama referred to as ``ignoring the law.'' One
Democratic Senator said that ``the President shouldn't make such
significant policy changes on his own.'' Another Senator claimed he was
``concerned about the constitutional separation of powers.'' He said,
``The Constitution doesn't say if the Congress fails to act then the
President can do x, y, and z. It just doesn't.'' A third Democratic
Senator had this to say of the President's plan for overreach: ``It
makes me uncomfortable.'' Yet all of these Senators voted to shut down
debate and block funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Every
last Democrat voted to filibuster rather than work across the aisle to
address the very issue they claim to be concerned about.
Perhaps today's Democratic Party is so devoted to the right of
politicians to engage in action that would, as the President seemed to
imply, ``violate the law,'' that it cannot tolerate dissent. But that
is no reason to shut down the Department of Homeland Security. That is
no reason to prevent the Senate from even debating whether to fund the
Department.
So the Democrats' Homeland Security filibuster needs to end now.
Democratic Senators who say they are serious about keeping our Nation
safe and addressing what President Obama acknowledged as ``unwise and
unfair'' overreach need to prove it.
Recognition Of The Acting Minority Leader
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader is recognized.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, yesterday we were informed of another
barbaric act by ISIS--literally burning a Jordanian pilot to death in a
cage. This follows news reports of beheadings of Japanese citizens,
Americans, and so many others. It is an indication of the threat not
just to the Middle East but to the world of terrorism in its extreme,
as ISIS demonstrates on a regular basis.
It was ironic that the same day we learned this, I visited the
Department of Homeland Security and met with the Secretary, Jeh
Johnson, and talked about the political strategy of the Republicans
when it comes to funding the
[[Page S742]]
Department of Homeland Security--the same Department that is
responsible for keeping America safe from the threat of terrorism.
You see, the Presiding Officer knows well that when we were here in
December passing an omnibus appropriations bill, the House Republicans
insisted that one agency be singled out and not properly funded, one
agency of our government: the Department of Homeland Security. They
funded every other agency of the government to September 30 of this
year in a regular appropriations process but refused--the Republicans
refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Why? They wanted
to reserve the right to fight with the President over the issue of
immigration. They wanted to reserve the right to object to any
Executive action taken by the President related to immigration. Their
forum for this objection? The appropriations for the Department of
Homeland Security.
Yesterday Secretary Johnson came to our Democratic caucus lunch to
explain what it was like to manage a department of our government under
a continuing resolution. That is the technical name in our Budget Act
for temporary funding. He said it was like driving a car with a gas
tank that only held 5 gallons of gasoline and not being sure where the
next service station was going to turn up. He said: That is how I am
called on now to run the Department of Homeland Security--the
Department that we entrust more than any other to keep us safe from
terrorism.
Why? Why would the Republicans choose this Department to single out
and not properly fund? At a time when we are facing threats of ghastly
terrorism in this world that we have not seen, why would the
Republicans insist on making the appropriations for the Department of
Homeland Security the forum for their debate with President Obama?
Now the Senator from Kentucky, our majority leader, comes to the
floor and says: Well, yesterday the Democrats refused to vote to fund
the Department of Homeland Security.
I will make a point for the record here that when the majority leader
turns to page 12 of the publication sitting on his desk, the Calendar
of Business of the Senate, when he turns to page 12, he should look at
line 7 on page 12 of the Calendar of Business of the Senate, and there
he will find S. 272, introduced by Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New
Hampshire and Senator Mikulski of Maryland.
Let me read what S. 272 is:
A bill making appropriations for the Department of Homeland
Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and
for other purposes.
Read the second time and placed on the calendar on January 28.
This bill will fund the Department of Homeland Security. This bill is
a clean appropriations bill.
If you look at the bill Senator McConnell and others have brought to
the floor for funding the Department of Homeland Security--I invite the
Senator from Kentucky and those who are interested in debate to turn to
page 55. Start reading on page 55 the general provisions that were sent
to us by the House of Representatives--page after page of riders and
restrictions on the appropriations for the Department of Homeland
Security.
You see, the House of Representatives said: We will only fund the
Department of Homeland Security if we can have our way when it comes to
these restrictions on how they spend money.
Well, what is it that is so important to the House Republicans and
Senate Republicans that they are willing to risk funding of the
Department of Homeland Security? What is it that is holding them up
from putting the resources in the hands of Secretary Johnson and this
Department that they need to keep America safe? It must be something
that is momentous, historic. What is the reason they are taking a stand
and leaving America vulnerable? Well, the Republicans clearly must have
something that they think is even more threatening to the United States
than terrorism. What could it be? Well, it turns out we know, because
of riders attached by the House of Representatives. The Republicans in
Congress are more fearful of a group known as the DREAMers than they
obviously are of the threat of terrorism from these extreme groups.
Who are these DREAMers? Well, I know this issue better than some.
Fourteen years ago it came to my attention that there was a serious
miscarriage of justice taking place in the United States. It turns out
that children brought to our country by their parents who were
undocumented literally had no country. They grew up in America. They
went to school in America. They lived in America. They considered
themselves Americans. They pledged allegiance to our flag in their
classrooms. They sang our national anthem. They dreamed of their
future, only to learn when they were still children that that
opportunity was not there for them. You see, they were undocumented.
Their parents brought them to America, never filed any papers, and they
were undocumented.
It did not seem right to me at the time that a young person--a
toddler, an infant--brought to this country would be paying this heavy
price with their lives because of any wrongdoing by their parents. So I
introduced a bill, the DREAM Act, at the time cosponsored by Senator
Hatch of Utah. We said in that bill: If you were brought to America as
a child and your parents brought you here and did not file the papers
or left you in an undocumented state, but you lived in America, did
nothing wrong in America, graduated from high school in America, we
would give you a chance. We would give you a chance to step forward if
you were willing to either serve in our military or go to college and
put you on a path to legalization. That was the DREAM Act. It was
introduced 14 years ago. It has never become the law of the land.
In that period of time, of course, thousands of young people have
found themselves in this predicament. It was 2\1/2\ years ago when I
joined 20 other Senators and wrote to President Obama and said: Can you
consider an Executive order that would protect these DREAMers from
deportation so that they can live in America? And the President, 2\1/2\
years ago, did. It was known as DACA, and this program said to these
young people, this is your chance. Come forward, register, go through a
criminal background check, prove you graduated from high school, and
the President, 2\1/2\ years ago, said: We won't deport you.
We estimate 2 million young people would be eligible. Six hundred
thousand have stepped forward and have been given this protection from
deportation.
This is the program that has led the Republicans in the House and
Senate to threaten funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The
very thought that these young people could stay in America, live in
America without fear of deportation, work in America, go to school in
America, is so reprehensible to the Republicans in the House and
Senate, they are prepared to jeopardize the funding for the Department
of Homeland Security, which protects America.
I have come to the floor on more than 50 occasions to tell the story
of these DREAMers, which I will do again this morning.
I ask my Republican colleagues in the House and the Senate to listen
to the story of a DREAMer and tell me: Do you believe the person I am
about to describe should be deported from America?
His name is Pablo da Silva. He was brought here from Brazil in 2001
when he was 13 years old. Pablo grew up in New Jersey. This is what he
said about his childhood:
The same as every other kid growing up in the U.S., I
attended middle school, pledged allegiance to the American
flag, and sang the National Anthem. As I grew older, I came
to understand that one thing about me differed from my
classmates. I was undocumented. However, my parents always
taught me to see barriers as a measure of perseverance and an
opportunity to thrive.
Pablo's dream was to become a doctor. During high school and college,
he volunteered at nursing homes every week. He was a member of a group
called Doctor Red Nose. That is where he and others would dress up like
clowns visiting hospitals and nursing homes to cheer up the patients
and health care providers.
Pablo was accepted at Rutgers University, one of our Nation's best.
But because Pablo was undocumented, he didn't qualify for any financial
assistance. He would have had to pay out-of-State tuition. So he
couldn't afford Rutgers. Pablo enrolled in a community college. Because
he had taken
[[Page S743]]
community college courses when he was in high school, Pablo was able to
complete a 2-year associate's degree in only 1 year.
With an associate's degree in hand, Pablo was able to transfer to
Kean University in New Jersey. In 2011, Pablo da Silva graduated at the
top of his class with a major in biology, summa cum laude. He received
an award for the highest grade point average in the biology department.
He was on the dean's list every semester of college and a member of the
honor society Phi Kappa Phi.
Remember, this is the person whom the Republicans in the House and
the Senate want to deport from the United States and refuse to fund the
Department of Homeland Security until this DREAMer is deported.
After graduating from college, Pablo da Silva was unable to pursue
his dream of becoming a doctor. He couldn't go to medical school as an
undocumented person, so he worked in a variety of manual labor jobs.
In 2012, President Obama established DACA, and then Pablo heard
something amazing. Loyola University of Chicago was prepared to accept
students who had received DACA into its medical school.
Like many States across the country, Illinois has a shortage of
physicians in inner city and rural areas. Loyola University's DACA
Program is an opportunity to address this problem.
The State of Illinois has created a DACA loan program. Under this
program, Loyola's DACA medical students can receive loans to help cover
the cost of medical education. For every year of loans, every year they
get loans to go to medical school, these students must work for 1 year
in a medically underserved area in my State of Illinois.
It is quite a tradeoff--1 year of medical school for 1 year of
professional life as a doctor helping people who have no access to
doctors. As a result, an amazing thing happened. Some of the best and
brightest students in America have come to Loyola to get a medical
education, and they have signed up to stay in Illinois to serve the
parts of our State where the people I represent are desperate for a
doctor.
Last fall, Pablo da Silva began medical school at Loyola where he is
pursuing his dream of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon. He wrote me a
letter and this is what he said about the DACA Program:
DACA has allowed me to fulfill my long-lasting aspiration
to pursue a career in medicine. It has truly changed my
future and for that I'm truly grateful. I'm eager to
contribute my share to the country I call my own.
When you read this letter, you stop and think, how can the
Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate have made
this man their enemy? How can they look at this young man, who has
struggled throughout his life to obtain an education--who has overcome
the odds, who has volunteered time and again in his community, who is
willing to work in underserved medical areas--how can they look at this
man and say he is the enemy?
The Republicans in the House and Senate fear Pablo da Silva more than
they fear the extremist terrorist groups. They fear this DREAMer, and
they are willing to give short-term funding to a Federal agency to make
their point.
If the House Republicans and some in the Senate have their way, Pablo
da Silva won't be able to finish medical school. He won't become a
doctor. And if they have their way and deport him--which is what the
House bill calls on us to do--my State is going to be denied a doctor
in a medically underserved area.
We are a nation of immigrants. My mother was an immigrant to this
country. I believe immigrants have brought so much to America, not just
in hard work--and they take the toughest jobs--but also this risk
taking that is involved in immigration. They are willing to put it all
on the line.
In my case, my grandparents came here with my mom, when she was a
little girl, to a country where they barely spoke the language and knew
a handful of people. They made a life, raised a family, and I was lucky
to be part of it. And I am honored to stand on the floor of the Senate
today.
That is my story, that is my family's story, and that is America's
story. That is the story of Pablo da Silva.
Why are the Republicans at war with this young man? Why do they think
that stopping his opportunity to go to medical school and serve America
is in the best interests of our Nation? It certainly isn't.
Yesterday the Senate assistant majority leader said on the floor that
DACA ``kicked the people who played by the rules to the back of the
line and the people who did not to the front of the line.''
Here is the reality: The President's immigration action simply puts a
temporary hold on the deportation of low-priority cases like immigrant
students such as Pablo da Silva. It doesn't put the DREAMers or any
other undocumented immigrants in the same line as legal immigrants, and
it doesn't put any legal immigrants at the back of the line. Only
Congress can do that.
Speaking of Congress, it is important to note that in 2013 this
Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform with a strong vote of 68
to 32. Republicans and Democrats voted for it.
For the remainder of that Congress, the year 2013 and 2014--more than
1\1/2\ years--the Republican House of Representatives refused to allow
a vote on the Senate's immigration reform bill, refused to call their
own bill, refused to take any action. It was at that moment when the
President stepped forward and said: I have to do something with this
broken immigration system.
Instead of slowing down the appropriations to the Department of
Homeland Security, I wish to remind the majority leader and the Speaker
of the obvious. They are in control. They have the majority. They can
call immigration issues before the Senate and the House at a moment's
notice. We are prepared--prepared--to debate those immigration issues,
but we are not prepared to do that, engage in that important debate, at
the expense of funding the Department of Homeland Security.
Now we are going to waste a week of the Senate's time--a week when we
could pass the Shaheen-Mikulski bill and fund this Department, a week
when we could initiate the debate on immigration, a week when the
Republicans can come forward with their own immigration ideas, if they
have any, other than deporting Pablo da Silva. They can come forward
now, but they refuse to.
They want to make this political point with the President, but they
do it at the expense of the safety and security of America, and they do
it at the expense of DREAMers such as Pablo da Silva.
Every time we have tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform,
the Republicans have said no.
Every student of American history can tell us that anti-immigration
parties eventually wither and die. We are a nation of immigrants.
There are some on the Republican side who understand that, and they
can't really explain why the Grand Old Party, the Republican Party, is
turning its back on immigrants in a nation of immigrants. That is their
policy. They are so determined to pursue it they are willing to
jeopardize the appropriations for one of the most important agencies of
our government, the Department of Homeland Security.
The President has used his legal authority to bring some fairness to
our broken immigration system. If the Republicans think they can do it
better, they have every right as the majority party in the House and
the Senate to offer legislation.
But with the Homeland Security Department facing a shutdown in just 3
weeks, we don't have time for these symbolic votes in the House bill on
the floor. Turn to page 15, I say to the majority leader, of the
Calendar of Business of the Senate, and you will find the answer to
your question. You will find the way to fund the Department of Homeland
Security in a responsible way.
What the majority leader should do is to swallow his pride, call Mr.
Boehner and say: Your idea is not going to fly in the Senate. It is
time for us to fund this agency. It is time to understand that as
resolute as the terrorists are in harming innocent people and
threatening America, America should be as resolute in fighting them
back.
The first line of defense is the Department of Homeland Security. It
is time to fund it. We could do it in a
[[Page S744]]
matter of minutes this morning if the majority leader would simply call
to the floor this clean appropriations bill.
I yield the floor.
Reservation Of Leader Time
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the leadership time
is reserved.
____________________