[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  DACA

  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, I rise today with increasing concern about 
the uncertain future facing DACA recipients. There are nearly 800,000 
DACA recipients. They are children who were brought across the border, 
through no fault of their own, years and years ago. There are nearly 
800,000 across the country and nearly 50,000 just in Arizona alone. 
They have protections now from deportation, but those protections will 
run out around the first of March.
  Despite the sense of urgency to solve the problem by the end of the 
year, there is very little legislative progress to show for it. The 
time has come for us to work together to deliver a real solution. We 
don't need partisan bills that send a message; we need bipartisan 
solutions that can pass the Senate.
  We have spent so much time operating under reconciliation that it is 
worth reminding people that this measure will need 60 votes in order to 
succeed. So much of the legislation we have been considering has been 
under reconciliation, with just a 51-vote margin being sufficient. That 
will not be the case with a fix for DACA. We need to get 60 votes. That 
means if we hope to protect DACA recipients, both sides will need to 
compromise.
  These individuals whom we seek to help are students, employees, 
colleagues, and friends. They don't know any other home but the United 
States. They have embraced the values of hard work and perseverance, 
and, in turn, their communities have embraced them as their own. Some 
of the most compelling pleas on behalf of these young people have come 
from those who know them best. These kids are not just Americans in 
their own eyes; they are Americans in the eyes of their friends, their 
classmates, their teachers, and their coworkers.
  We all recognize that these kids were brought here, as I mentioned, 
through no fault of their own. No one wants to see them deported. As 
leaders of a nation of immigrants, we need to work together and deliver 
a chance for them to have a bright future. We need workable legislation 
that can realistically be passed and signed into law. We don't need to 
make a statement; we need to make a law.
  There are many challenges facing us with regard to immigration, but 
protecting these young people should not be one of those challenges. 
This should be the easy lift.
  I hope we can all work together in a bipartisan way to find a 
solution for these kids who deserve a solution.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.