[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 10, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S114-S115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Funding the Government

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we have barely over a week to negotiate a 
broad package of must-pass items, including an extension of government 
funding, a deal to lift the spending caps for both defense and urgent 
domestic priorities, a healthcare package, disaster aid, an agreement 
to protect the Dreamers, and to provide additional border security.
  The path forward on some of these issues is very clear. There are 
significant bipartisan majorities that would vote to extend CHIP, or 
the Children's Health Insurance Program, and community health centers. 
There seems to be a growing consensus on how we can pass the 702 FISA 
Court program.
  I am also confident that we could assemble a disaster aid package 
that addresses the needs of all of the States and Territories--Texas, 
Florida, Louisiana, California, the Western States that have been 
plagued by fires, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands--as well as 
modifying what the Forest Service does so they don't spend all of their 
money simply fighting forest fires and not do the job they are intended 
to do, which is to prevent future forest fires by careful forestry 
programs.
  Even where the path is murkier, the outlines of a deal exist. If we 
don't lift the spending caps in short order, the sharp ax of 
sequestration will fall on the military side of the budget and on the 
domestic side of the budget. That is a scenario everyone wants to 
avoid.
  The majority leader continues to insist that we should raise the 
budget caps unequally, sparing our military but not critical domestic 
programs that create jobs, grow our economy, and help the middle class. 
We Democrats believe we absolutely must provide the resources our men 
and women overseas need to protect our country. We believe that 
strongly, but we also know that there are many important issues here at 
home--combating the opioid crisis, improving veterans' healthcare, 
shoring up pensions for millions of hard-working Americans who are 
approaching retirement, and dealing with rural development and rural 
broadband. These items are all crucial to the middle class.
  The deadly scourge of opioid addiction has contributed to the first 
consecutive-year decline in life expectancy in the great United States 
of America since the early 1960s. That is an astounding and alarming 
fact that should rouse everyone in this Chamber to action. It is not 
occurring in most of our Western country allies.
  Some of our veterans have been waiting in line for healthcare at 
veterans hospitals for over a year. These men and women served our 
country bravely. We have a solemn responsibility to serve them when 
they come home, and we are not living up to that responsibility right 
now.
  Over a million Americans paid into pension plans with the expectation 
that they could retire with basic dignity. For so many of them--
teamsters, miners, food workers--pensions have fallen short, and a 
lifetime of careful savings may be ripped away from pensioners at the 
last moment. We could make progress on each of these issues through a 
budget that lifts the spending caps equally for defense and nondefense.
  The Republican majority, which conveniently forgot its long history 
of opposing deficits when passing a $1.5 trillion tax bill, cannot, in 
good conscience, turn around and complain about deficits here. So let's 
make the investments we all know are essential in both our military and 
in our middle class.
  Even on the most challenging issue we face, the fate of the Dreamers, 
there appears to be a path forward. Yesterday's immigration meeting at 
the White House was encouraging for two reasons. First, practically 
everyone at the table--including some of the most conservative voices 
on immigration, like the Senator from Iowa--agreed that we must resolve 
the future of Dreamers by passing DACA protections into law. That is a 
very positive development.
  Second, President Trump appeared to endorse a narrow deal to protect 
the Dreamers, leaving the thornier issues for a later debate on 
comprehensive immigration reform--a debate that, personally, I would 
welcome, the sooner the better.
  But first, we have to do this narrow deal. President Trump also 
backed off his demand that a DACA deal include an expensive and 
ineffective border wall across the entire length of the southern 
border. Of course, the devil is in the details. We Democrats have 
repeated time and again that we are ready, willing, and eager to 
support an effective, practical border security measure in a deal that 
enshrines DACA into law. The President yesterday seemed to agree with 
that. We agree with that. For these reasons, the meeting was 
encouraging.
  Last night, a Federal judge ruled against the Trump administration's 
handling of the termination of the DACA Program. Let me be very clear. 
The ruling last night in no way diminishes the urgency of resolving the 
DACA issue. On this we agree with the White House, which says the 
ruling doesn't do anything to reduce Congress's obligation to address 
this problem now. A court case, of course, is no guarantee of lasting 
security. A higher court can quickly overturn it. Unsurprisingly, the 
Department of Justice responded to the ruling last night by saying that 
it ``will continue to vigorously defend [this] position, and looks 
forward to vindicating its position in further legislation.'' So the 
fact remains that the only way to guarantee the legal status for 
Dreamers is to pass DACA protections into law and to do it now. For 
that reason, a resolution to the DACA issue must be part of a global 
deal on the budget.
  We cannot tolerate delay. Delay is a tactic employed by those who do 
not wish to see a deal. Let me just say, promises that maybe in the 
future we will do it--particularly on immigration--have vanished by the 
wayside.

[[Page S115]]

Unless DACA is on a must-pass deal--a must-pass bill--in terms of a 
global agreement, people are rightfully skeptical that it will ever 
happen. Somehow, somewhere, someone will say: I can't do it.
  Let's not forget that the House has been a graveyard even for 
immigration proposals that have had bipartisan consensus here in the 
Senate. So it must be on a must-pass bill. Otherwise, we are not going 
to get it.
  Congressional negotiators and the valiant group here in the Senate 
led by Senators Durbin and Graham are focused on this issue right now. 
The meeting they had yesterday--I talked to both Senators Durbin and 
Graham last night and this morning--provides a clearer picture of the 
parameters of the deal. The iron is hot. We should strike now. Delay 
will snuff out the hope of getting an agreement that both sides can 
live with. Let us press forward. Each side is going to have to give.

  I am confident, though, that both sides can come to an agreement on 
border security. I am convinced now both sides want to find a consensus 
on DACA. Some will support a deal enthusiastically, others reluctantly, 
but, nonetheless, an agreement is within reach. We ought to get it done 
through the Senate, through the House, and onto the President's desk 
for signature now. So let's get the job done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.