[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 38 (Monday, March 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TRAVEL BAN

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the second issue I would like to discuss 
is the travel ban, the recently issued Executive order on immigrants 
and refugees. Now that we have the details, it is clear that while the 
administration has made some very minor changes, it has done nothing to 
alter the core thrust of the order, which I believe is terribly 
misguided and does nothing to address the core concerns of the Ninth 
Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled the original order was 
potentially unconstitutional.
  Moreover, we know that the administration delayed its announcement 
and implementation so President Trump could bask in the aftermath of 
his joint address. That should be all the proof Americans need to know 
that this Executive order has everything to do with optics and nothing 
to do with national security. If national security were at stake, it 
should not have been delayed a single day.
  The truth is, there is very little new or improved about this 
Executive order. It is barely a fresh coat of paint on the same car 
that doesn't drive. It is still a travel ban. It is still a refugee 
ban. It still makes us less safe, not safer, according to not just me 
but to Republicans like Senator McCain. It still attempts to turn 
innocent immigrants and refugees into scapegoats and still does not do 
the things that would actually make us safer, like going after lone 
wolves and closing the loopholes in the Visa Waiver Program.
  The new Executive order is still mean-spirited, misguided, and, in my 
judgment, goes against what America is all about, being a country that 
accepts and cherishes immigrants, not disdains them. I fully expect the 
President's new Executive order will have the same uphill climb in the 
courts that the previous version had.

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