[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 20, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S99-S100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           AMERICAN SAFE ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Republican leader has said that he is 
going to bring and, in fact, has brought to the floor the House-passed 
refugee bill, as he calls it. It is, of course, an immigration bill. 
Yesterday he said that the debate over the bill should be based on 
``facts and common sense.'' I agree with that. The facts speak for 
themselves. Our enemy is clearly defined. ISIS is the defined 
organization. It is a terrorist organization that poses a threat to the 
United States, women, children, and families fleeing persecution. They 
are not the enemy; ISIS is the enemy. We should be focusing all of our 
efforts on defeating our real enemy, the brutal, evil ISIS. Yet the 
bill the Republican leader is bringing to the floor scapegoats refugees 
who are fleeing war and torture instead of creating real solutions to 
keep Americans safe.
  You don't have to take my word for it. The junior Senator from 
Arizona has said he will oppose the bill because it is ``intended to 
knock out all refugee entrants and I'm not there.'' So says the junior 
Senator from Arizona.
  National security experts from Democratic and Republican 
administrations have warned against advancing bills such as this.
  Former Secretary Gates is such a good person. I enjoyed working with 
him very much. Yesterday he said--in words much stronger than I am 
going to say right now--that the Republicans running for President 
don't understand the issue. He is much stronger and more firm in saying 
that what they are talking about is ridiculous. By the way, he is a 
Republican.
  President Obama has already made it very clear that he will veto this 
legislation. As written, this bill will not be signed into law. Some 
say it is a waste of our time. By advancing this bill, Republicans are 
creating a terrible distraction for the sake of embracing the hateful 
rhetoric, vitriol of the Republican Party's standard bearers, Donald 
Trump and Ted Cruz.
  I guess this should come as no surprise to anyone. Over and over 
again Republicans remain committed to

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pledging loyalty to the divisive platform that has been built by the 
Republican people running for President, led by, at this stage, Donald 
Trump.
  We believe we must destroy ISIS. Everyone on this side of the aisle 
believes we should destroy ISIS and defend our Nation, but we believe 
we can accomplish this goal without compromising Americans' core 
principles. Sadly, many leading Republicans have proposed policies that 
compromise our fundamental values and threaten the identity of our 
great Nation. Democrats are committed to opposing the violent views of 
Donald Trump and providing the American people with solutions that make 
our Nation safer. We think it is way past time for the Senate to vote 
on these policies.
  My friend, the Republican leader, has pledged over and over again 
that when the Republicans lead the Senate, they will thrive under an 
open amendment process. For example, he said the following: ``I said at 
the beginning of my time as majority leader that the open amendment 
process was going to be the rule rather than the exception.''
  My friend continued to say that tough votes should be expected, and I 
quote: ``We'll just take our chances. You know, we're big men and 
women. We're prepared to vote on proposals that are offered from both 
sides.''
  If Senate Republicans are prepared to abide by this, Senate Democrats 
will seek to advance a limited number of amendments on this bill that 
is before this body. I am not talking about tons of amendments or 
scores of amendments, but four or five amendments. For example, we 
could have one that dramatically increases the funding for local police 
anti-terrorist efforts and airport security. That is one that we want. 
They are overworked and underresourced. We could close the terror gun 
loophole to prevent those on the no-fly list from being able to buy 
firearms, explosives, or radiological materials, as has been attempted. 
We would offer an amendment to denounce Donald Trump's reprehensible 
proposal to impose a religious test on admission to the United States.
  The Democratic ISIS security bill has been filed. It is a very 
important piece of legislation. It includes keeping guns out of the 
hands of terrorists and stopping radicalization here in the United 
States. It includes active shooter training. As I have already 
indicated, we are going to move our airport security substitute forward 
so we can prevent dirty bombs and work abroad to take care of refugees 
who are over there.
  These are the amendments we feel confident about, based on the 
statements my friend has made. We are not asking for unlimited 
amendments. I have listed four amendments here.
  The Republican leader here in the Senate and the Republican Speaker 
have pledged their loyalty to Donald Trump and his disgraced policies. 
They have said that if he is the nominee, they will, of course, support 
him.
  As a frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump and his 
proposals are leading the public debate in our country. Republicans who 
support these illogical plans should be prepared for the next logical 
step: voting on his vision of America.
  Over here, we believe that all of these measures are deserving of a 
vote. I talked about four of them. We are ready to vote on the 
proposals now--this week. If for any reason the Republican leader needs 
more time to discuss the proposals with his caucus, we are happy to 
reschedule the vote.
  Now, I know it is a big day in the Senate because during my news 
briefing on the way to work, I heard that the junior Senator from 
Florida is going to be here to vote--and the junior Senator from Texas. 
They will actually be in the Senate to vote. It is a big day. I know we 
have a tight schedule because they are going to be here for only an 
hour or two, but perhaps we could have a debate on the amendments we 
have suggested. I am sure that if we offer these amendments, the 
Republicans will offer amendments, and we could have some time here to 
deal with these amendments. But we will not allow Republicans to hijack 
the Senate floor to play politics with our Nation's security. The 
American people deserve better. I look forward to offering these 
amendments.
  I publicly want everyone to know that I did not try to jump ahead of 
my friend the Republican leader. I was told by staff that I should go 
first. If I had known the Senator was going to be here so quickly, I 
would have waited, so I am sorry about that.

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