[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1038-S1041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDING
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, by calculation, we have today and 3 more
days before the Department of Homeland Security is shut down.
Think about what happened this last weekend all across America. It
was disclosed publicly that an extremist group, a terrorist group--Al-
Shabab--had some communication among their membership targeting malls
in America for extremism and terrorism. God forbid that ever happens.
I know those who are managing these malls look at the terrible
situation that occurred in Africa and want to make certain it is never
repeated anywhere, let alone in the United States. They are making
extraordinary efforts to protect people across America, not only as
they are shopping in malls but in other places, as they should.
What is the lead agency to protect America against terrorism? What is
the lead agency to make sure we never ever again in our history
experience 9/11? The Department of Homeland Security. That Department
was created after 9/11, because we felt the way we were protecting
America wasn't good enough. We took 22 different Federal agencies and
put them under the roof of the Department of Homeland Security and said
to that Department: Now focus; focus all your time and efforts to keep
us safe. They have done a good job. I am sure they have made some
mistakes along the way, but they have really dedicated themselves--all
the men and women who work there--to keeping America safe.
Now what has Congress done for the Department of Homeland Security?
Last December, when we considered the appropriations--the budget--for
the Department of Homeland Security, the Republicans insisted we take
that Department out of the regular budget process and give it only
temporary funding, a continuing resolution--temporary funding--which
limits the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to do his
best job to keep America safe. Why would the Republicans pick this
appropriation, the single appropriation to keep America safe from
terrorism and decide they don't want to properly fund it? They are only
giving it temporary funding and a continuing resolution because they
disagree with President Obama's position on immigration. That is it.
They want this issue of immigration, separate and apart from the
budget of the Homeland Security, to be debated, and they insist they
will not fund the Department of Homeland Security until it is debated.
So come February
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27, in just a few days, this Department of Homeland Security is going
to shut down. It is going to shut down.
Many of the employees are essential. They will be asked to come to
work even though there is only a promise of a paycheck, and they will
show up because they are loyal to this country and they want to do
their job to keep it safe. Why won't the Senate and the House do its
job?
Why can't we pass a clean appropriations bill for the Department of
Homeland Security? Before we took a break last week for President's
week I made a unanimous consent request on the floor to do just that--
pass a clean appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland
Security. The majority leader, Senator McConnell of Kentucky, objected.
He objected to funding the Department of Homeland Security. I don't
understand it. It doesn't make sense for us to put in jeopardy the
security of America over a political debate on immigration.
What is ironic is that now that the Republicans have the majority
control of the House and the Senate they can call any bill they wish.
After funding the Department of Homeland Security, they can turn
immediately to a debate on immigration. It is their right. They pick
the topics, they dictate the calendar, and those of us in the minority
have to accede to their wishes. They are in the majority. They are
controlling, but still Speaker Boehner and Senator McConnell, the
Republican majority leader, refuse to pass a clean appropriations bill
to the Department of Homeland Security.
Luckily some Republicans are stepping up and saying this is wrong. I
commend the following Senators on the Republican side who have publicly
stated that Congress should pass a clean Homeland Security bill and
stop this tactic that came from the House of Representatives. Those
Senators include: Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, Senator Mark Kirk of
Illinois, Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, Senator
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
We need eight more Republican Senators to come forward and say we need
a clean appropriations bill and we need to pass it now. If eight
Republican Senators today will say that, then we can move forward and
pass this bill. We can fund this Department and stop this gamesmanship.
Then, if the leaders want to move to a debate on immigration, so be it.
But let's have eight more Republicans step forward and join us to make
this a reality.
I don't understand, frankly, the thinking of many of the Republicans
who oppose the President's approach to immigration. Here is what it
comes down to. If the President used every penny given to him by
Congress to deport those who are undocumented in the United States, he
could reach about 4 percent of those who are eligible for deportation--
4 percent. What the President has said is: Let me focus then on
deporting those who are most dangerous to the United States.
President Obama has said there are people who have been here for
years. They are part of our communities. They have good jobs. They have
raised families. They go to our churches. We see them every day. They
are no threat to us. Let's focus on deporting those who are dangerous--
the felons, the criminals. The President has basically said we
shouldn't set out to deport families, we ought to deport felons. We
shouldn't set out to deport children, we ought to deport criminals. So
his priority is deportation of those most dangerous to the United
States, and the Republicans have opposed that. Why? Primarily because
the President supports it. It has reached that point in the debate. It
is so divisive.
The President doesn't want to waste any resources in deporting those
who are not dangerous. He wants to get those who are dangerous out of
the United States first, and Republicans object to that.
There is something else they want to do too. The House of
Representatives wants to challenge the President's right to Executive
orders when it comes to prioritizing those who can stay in the United
States.
Several years ago at the request of 20 or more Senators, the
President initiated an Executive action known as DACA. This Executive
action said that if someone qualified as a DREAMer, they would be
allowed to stay without threat of deportation. We estimate that 2
million young people in America would qualify as DREAMers, and 600,000
have this protection now. What the Republicans want to do in the House
of Representatives is to eliminate this.
Who are these young people? They are young folks in America brought
to this country as toddlers and infants, young boys and girls who grew
up in this country, went to school in this country, have no problems in
their criminal record and want to be part of America. That is it.
What the Republicans have said in the House is we want to deport
these people--deport them because they are here undocumented, despite
the fact that we have educated them and many of them are successes in
life and want to be part of our future. The Republicans have said
deport them.
The senior Senator from Maine has authored a bill to address this
subject, but as much as I respect her and count her as a friend, it
falls short of protecting the DREAMers who are in this country under
DACA. I have to say that as one learns the stories of those who are
protected by the President's Executive order, we wonder what are the
Republicans thinking.
I have tried to tell these stories in light of individuals, not
statistics, and here is one I wish to tell everyone today. It is about
a young man who came to America when he was 9 years old from Thailand.
His name is Jirayut New. He was brought here at the age of 9 from
Thailand by his parents.
He grew up in San Francisco and he said:
I forced myself to read mystery novels, dictionary in hand,
in order to expand my vocabulary, one word at a time. I
mispronounced words, even in the face of ridicule, until I
mastered the English language.
It is amazing. These stories have happened many times in the past,
but it is incredible to think of a 9-year-old facing that ridicule but
learning the English language in San Francisco.
This young man became an excellent student and his dream was to be a
doctor. Throughout high school New worked 30 hours a week in his
family's Thai restaurant. Here is what he said about that experience:
I spent most of my time in the restaurant working as a
waiter, cashier and chef, scrubbing toilets, washing dishes,
and mopping floors. It taught me to have faith, work hard,
and persevere.
His work paid off. He graduated salutatorian of his high school class
with a 4.3 grade point average. He was admitted to the University of
California at Berkeley, one of the top schools in California and the
Nation. He won a scholarship that would have covered most of his
tuition, but he couldn't accept it because he was undocumented.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 2 additional
minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DURBIN. Despite this setback, New persevered. In May of 2012 he
graduated with honors from Berkeley with a 3.7 grade point average and
a major in molecular and cellular biology. One month after he
graduated, President Obama issued his Executive order, DACA, and now
New was protected from deportation. As a result he was able to pursue
his dream to become a doctor.
Last fall New went to medical school at the University of California
in San Francisco. Now what does he do in his spare time as a medical
student? He volunteers at a homeless clinic run by students at the
University of California in San Francisco. He has cofounded Pre-Health
Dreamers, a national network of more than 400 DREAMers who are pursuing
careers in health care.
New and other similar DREAMers have so much to contribute to America.
But if the Republicans have their way, this man is going to be
deported. Instead of being able to stay in the United States as a
doctor, to realize his life's dream and make this a better and stronger
nation, he will be deported. Will America be better or worse if this
young man leaves? I think the answer is obvious.
So why do the Republicans persist? Why are they determined to take
this amazing young man and deport him? They have forgotten our legacy
in
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America. We are a nation of immigrants, and our immigrants have come to
this country from all over the world because they appreciate the values
and opportunity of America. I am lucky. My mother was an immigrant to
this country, and I stand on the Senate floor representing the great
State of Illinois. It is my story, my family's story, and it is
America's story.
The time is clearly upon us to fund the appropriations of the
Department of Homeland Security but not at the expense of this amazing
young man. Let us fund this Department to keep America safe but also
let us dedicate ourselves to passing legislation which fixes our broken
immigration system and helps this young man and others like him to be a
part of America's future.
I yield the floor.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I may speak
for 15 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, before the Senator from Illinois leaves
the floor, I just want to thank him for his amazing leadership on this
whole issue of immigration.
The Senator and I share a similar background because my mother also
was an immigrant, and the thought of our moms being ripped out of our
lives is just untenable. We are not going to let it happen.
I wish to thank him so much because he has been, I would say, the
grandfather of the whole DREAMer movement. So thank you, Senator.
We all know Republicans won in huge numbers in the 2014 election and
they took over the Senate and they run it. They run it--or at least
they are trying to run it.
Let's be clear. Less than 8 weeks after they took over the Senate we
are facing a shutdown, a shutdown of the very agency that protects the
health, the safety, the lives of the American people--the Department of
Homeland Security.
We are 4 days away, and even if they come up with a continuing
resolution, a small little patch, they are shutting down the programs
that fund our firefighters and our first responders back home. So any
way we look at it, this is a national disgrace.
Think about what our friends abroad and those who are not our friends
are thinking about this. Republicans say we are in danger. We have to
go to war, put combat troops on the ground. But they are willing to
shut down the Department that protects Americans in the homeland from a
terrorist attack.
This is a self-inflicted crisis made up by the Republicans. It is
dangerous. It is the height of irresponsibility and it is unnecessary.
Let me tell you, how does it make sense in the very same week that
terrorists are threatening our shopping malls that we would shut down
the very agency charged with protecting those malls?
How does it make sense at a time when we are facing serious threats
to our national security to furlough 30,000 Department of Homeland
Security workers and to force more than 100,000 frontline Homeland
Security personnel to work without pay? Why don't these Senators go
without their pay? Give up your pay. Do you want to come to work every
day and stand there and look for threats to our homeland and worry
about how you are going to pay the bills for your kids? Go without pay
before you do this. You tell me how that makes sense not to pay people
who are in charge of our security. It is a disgrace.
Give up your pay--give up your pay, give up your health care, give up
your benefits, if this is so important to you.
Oh, no. They will collect their pay. Tell me, how does it make sense
to shut off the grants that protect our cities, our ports from
terrorist attacks, and how does it make sense to stop local communities
from being able to hire police officers and firefighters?
The Department of Homeland Security is very large. When it was
created I was troubled by that because it includes so many important
things in one department, including FEMA. So when we have a natural
disaster such as an earthquake, fire or flood, that is the Department
that deals with it. How does it make sense to disrupt disaster recovery
operations such as the efforts in California to recover from our
devastating Napa Earthquake and the Rim Fire in Yosemite?
So not only are they disrupting Homeland Security and the protections
of our perhaps most-targeted places in America, but they are disrupting
recovery from natural disasters, and God forbid if we have another
one. And the reason they are throwing a hissy fit is because the
President stepped in and has a policy to take care of immigration. Why
did the President step in? Because Republicans refused to take up a
bipartisan bill, pass it, and take care of the immigration problem the
way they are supposed to. They are paralyzed on that point. They cannot
do it.
We had a bill that garnered 68 votes in the last Congress. All they
have to do is bring it up, pass it here, and then pass it in the House.
It will pass with overwhelming majorities. The President will sign it,
and that would make his Executive order unnecessary. The only reason he
issued an Executive order is that we are facing a crisis in this
country. There are 11 million undocumented folks. Some of those
undocumented folks are DREAMers. To me, that is the most important
category. They are young people who were brought here when they were
children. They know no other home. All they want to do is stay here and
give back to America. Republicans want to deport them and their
parents. They want to deport the parents of American citizens. I thank
God these people were not in charge of Congress when I was growing up
or else they might have deported my mother. It took her awhile to get
through her naturalization. What if they passed something such as what
the Republicans are proposing?
I thought they were the party of family values. Show me where that is
true--ripping families apart. I thought they were the party of economic
prosperity. Show me how that is true when we know from study after
study that one of the greatest things we can do for our economy and job
creation is to get people out of the shadows so they can go and buy a
home and hold a good job. They can't or won't pass an immigration bill.
They will not do their job.
So when the President steps in and does his job, they say: Oh, this
is terrible. Let's shut down a totally unrelated department, the
Department of Homeland Security.
Again I say, let's look at fiscal responsibility. According to the
Center for American Progress, it would cost more than $50 billion to
deport the entire population that the President is protecting. And here
is the deal: I never heard a Republican--and I will stand corrected if
any Republican corrects me--complain when President Eisenhower used his
Executive power to help immigrants or when President Nixon did the same
thing to protect immigrants or when President Ronald Reagan, their
hero, protected immigrants or when George Bush, Sr., protected
immigrants or when George W. Bush protected immigrants. They all used
their authority. Show me one Republican who stood up and said: This is
outrageous. Let's impeach the President. But they are annoyed because
it is President Obama, and he won twice. Sorry. Wake up and smell the
roses. He is the President, and he is doing the right thing for America
because he loves America and he understands that these people, who the
Republicans want to deport, are going to help America move on to an era
of greatness and keep us going.
Let's look at some of the young people Republicans want to deport.
Alexis Bux is a 21-year-old student from central California. He is the
oldest of three siblings. His younger two siblings were born in the
United States, but he was not. So these great family-value Republicans
want to rip away the oldest child from this family. His parents were
farm workers in the fields of San Joaquin Valley. Alexis received
immigration relief under DACA in 2012, and he will transfer to UC San
Diego this fall where he will pursue his dream of a career in
biomedical engineering.
Tell me, Republicans, how our country is better off when you deport a
young man such as him. He hopes to use his education to develop a
sophisticated medical application and tools that will help cure deadly
diseases. All he wants to do is contribute to the Nation he loves.
If the Republicans had their way, they would deport people such as
Ana Albarran, who left Mexico at age 8. She came to this country with
her younger
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brother and sister to join her parents. Her parents worked 11 hours a
day as trimmers for a landscaping company in downtown Los Angeles.
After Ana received immigration relief, she felt confident enough to
begin applying for jobs, and now she is finishing her final year at UC
Merced so she can begin her career as a bilingual first grade teacher.
Tell me, Republicans, how does it make sense to deport people such as
Ana and split her up from her parents when all they want to do is
contribute to the country they love? How does it make sense just
because you are too incompetent to hold a vote on your immigration
plan? If you want to kick people out of the country, put it to a vote.
Let's go. If you want to deport 11 million people, then put it to a
vote. Don't hide behind the Homeland Security bill and hold the
President's work hostage. You never did it to the other Presidents.
Don't do it to this President. How does it make sense to deport these
moms, these dads, and these young kids?
I mentioned before that I am the daughter of an immigrant mother. I
tried to think of what my life would have been like without my mother.
She gave me my conscience. She gave me my values. She gave me all the
love and support I needed to pursue my dreams. I am the daughter of an
immigrant mother who never graduated from high school. I am a Senator
in the U.S. Senate. But they would have deported my mother. I would not
be here today if it were not for my mom. So tell me how it makes sense
to deport moms and dads and rip apart the lives of children.
Our national security is at stake, our family values are at stake,
and our economy is at stake here. So get over the fact that you don't
like the President. We get it. You couldn't beat him. It is too bad for
you. You are in charge here in the Senate. Do your job. Bring an
immigration bill to the floor. Let's let this Homeland Security bill
go. It is a bipartisan bill. It is funding for the most important issue
we are dealing with today. Let's get to it. Don't hold it hostage
because of your hatred of this President--and I use that word because
that is what I think. That is what I think.
In California alone, the President's Executive actions could boost
California's economy by as much as $27.5 billion. The President's
action will aid our economy. It will raise the Nation's gross domestic
product by up to $90 billion over the next 10 years by expanding the
labor force and allowing immigrant workers the flexibility to seek new
jobs.
Why is that the case? Why does every independent study show us this
is the case? The reason is simple. When workers come out of the
shadows, their wages rise, they open bank accounts, buy homes, start
businesses, and spend money in their communities.
So I say this to my Republican friends. There is a Presidential race
coming up. Forget the last one. Get over it. Let's work together.
Listen, I served with five Presidents. I am a strong Democrat.
Everyone will tell you that. But I have respect for the office of the
Presidency. If I didn't agree with Ronald Reagan, I came down here and
said it. We had respect back and forth. If we lost, we lost, and we
moved on. That went both ways.
I know how it feels not to like the policies of a President. I get
it. But don't overdo it and make it so personal. Get on with it. Grow
up. Do your job. Have respect for the Office of the President. Don't
suddenly say Executive orders are bad when the President you don't like
does it, but you don't say one word when a Republican President does
the same thing. It doesn't pass the smell test.
Three things could not be more important in this battle. We need to
fund our Department of Homeland Security--especially when we are facing
serious threats to our security. We need to uphold our family values
and not split up loving families, and we need to protect and grow our
economy.
We can do this in the simplest way. First, I say to House Speaker
Boehner--because under the Constitution all funding bills start in the
House: Send us a clean bill. Send us the bill that everybody supported
before you took it hostage on this immigration issue. Send it over
clean. Let's fund everything in that bill to protect our shopping
malls, to give grants to our first responders, and to give grants to
our local fire departments. Send it over. We will pass it, and
immediately following that, we will bring up an immigration bill.
We have it all ready for you. It passed with 68 votes. There is not
much work to do. If you do that, the President's Executive order will
not be necessary because we will have taken the steps ourselves to fix
our broken immigration system.
Let's stop the lawsuits. We have one judge who said there was
overreach, but the next judge may say there is no overreach. Let's keep
this out of the courts. Let's do our job. Let's stop the self-inflicted
crisis. Let's stop the shadow that is hanging over the Nation. Let's do
the right thing here.
We can protect the American people from threats to our national
security. We can protect and grow our economy, and we can treat hard-
working immigrants and their families with the dignity and respect they
deserve. It all lies in the hands of Speaker Boehner and Leader
McConnell.
When you took over the Senate, you said: no more threats of
shutdowns. Eight weeks later--not even 8 weeks--we are facing a
shutdown of one of the most important departments. This is a disgrace,
and it is self-inflicted. All you have to do is talk to Speaker
Boehner. Send over a clean bill so we can vote on it. Then we will take
up immigration, and you can show us all your great ideas on
immigration.
Let's hear it. Do you want to deport the DREAMers? Come on with it,
and we will have a vote. You want to deport the parents? Come on with
it, and we will have a vote. You want to kick 11 million people out of
this country? Come on with it, and we will have a vote and debate on
it. But don't hold the Department of Homeland Security hostage because
of this issue.
If there is one thing the American people hate more than anything
else, it is attaching unrelated matters to spending bills. I don't care
if they are conservative Republicans or liberal Democrats or
Independent voters. They think it is the dumbest idea. They really do.
They don't understand it.
Pass your funding bills. Then battle your ideological issues
separately and apart from that. Don't hold these departments hostage to
your decision that President Obama did the wrong thing. If you don't
like what he did, put forward your own bill. You have not even done
that.
I have been here a long time. I will tell you something. I have never
seen anything like this. It is a self-inflicted wound. Who gets hurt?
Not the Republicans--they will keep getting their pay. They are fine.
The people who will be hurt are those whom we trust and count on and
the families that thought they could stay together. They are on the
verge of that. That is what this party--the Grand Old Party, the GOP--
have brought to us, but they can get out of it in 5 minutes.
Speaker Boehner can pass a funding bill that will pass in a
heartbeat. Send it over here, and we will pass it, turn to immigration,
and then we can have it out on that subject. I think it is worthy of a
debate. But don't hold an important funding bill hostage to that
debate. It is ridiculous, unnecessary, destructive, and cruel.
With that, I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Flake). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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