[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16064-16065]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          DEADLINES FACING CONGRESS AND SANCTUARY CITIES BILL

  Mr. REID. Madam President, in the coming days and weeks, we as a 
Congress face a series of real and important deadlines. First, we must 
address the debt ceiling. Last week, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew let 
the American people know that in 2 weeks--November 3--the United States 
faces the threat of being unable to pay its bills. Unless we act, the 
Federal Government will default on its accrued debt--default on its 
accrued debt. A huge percentage of this debt is the result of unpaid 
tax cuts for the wealthy and two unpaid wars during the last Bush 
Presidential administration. If we allow the United States to default 
on this debt, the consequences to world markets would be catastrophic, 
but that is not all. It is not all this leadership has ignored.
  Congress must reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, which has basically 
gone out of business, causing the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs 
in the United States and hurting our economy in more ways than one. It 
is also important that we pass a long-term surface transportation bill 
and again avert another potential Republican shutdown of our government 
by December 11.
  Yet as the Senate reconvenes today, we are considering none of those 
vitally important matters. Instead--just as he did as the shutdown 
loomed last month--the Republican leader is spending the Senate's time 
on a partisan, ideological bill to placate the radicals within his own 
party.
  The senior Senator from Louisiana is the architect of this bill 
before the Senate, which targets the so-called sanctuary cities. 
Senator Vitter's legislation fails to match the family values rhetoric 
he so frequently touts. This vile legislation might as well be called 
``The Donald Trump Act.'' Similar to the disgusting and outrageous 
language championed by Donald Trump, this legislation paints all 
immigrants as criminals and rapists. At its core, Senator Vitter's bill 
undermines the ability of local law enforcement officials to police 
their own communities and ensure public safety. It is then no surprise 
that the Fraternal Order of Police and Major Cities Chiefs Police 
Association do not support the Vitter sanctuary cities legislation, and 
that is an understatement. If implemented, this bill would punish local 
jurisdictions by withholding Federal community grants that police 
departments use to enhance public safety and build community trust. 
Imagine that, holding hostage public safety funding for police as a 
result of this misguided, farfetched legislation that everyone knows 
will not pass.
  Senator Vitter's legislation would also withhold community 
development block grants that ensure affordable housing and provides 
services to the most vulnerable in our communities. The Donald Trump 
Act would establish new mandatory minimum sentences for those who enter 
the country illegally. Initial estimates show that new mandatory 
minimums in this bill would result in the need for nearly 20,000 new 
prison beds--20,000--requiring the construction of 12 or more huge new 
Federal prisons, costing billions and billions in taxpayer dollars.
  It seems Republicans don't care about the cost to public safety. They 
don't care about the cost of building new prisons. A few billion here, 
a few billion there of taxpayer dollars, that is OK. After all, 
Republicans are not proposing this bill to solve any problem within our 
immigration system; this Donald Trump Act was designed to demonize 
immigrants and spread the myth that they are criminals and threats to 
the public. It promotes discrimination and bias.
  Decades--decades--of research demonstrate that immigrants are less 
likely to commit serious crimes or be jailed than native-born 
individuals, and high rates of immigration are associated with lower 
rates of violent crime, not higher. So the notion that The Donald Trump 
Act is necessary to protect Americans from violent criminals is 
preposterous.
  Violent gun murders are a tragedy our Nation faces far too often. 
Every year--and it is getting worse, not better--32,000 people are 
killed by guns in this country. That is how many were killed last year. 
That is how many are going to be killed this year, but the number is 
going up. More Americans have been killed by guns since 1968 than in 
all the wars of our Nation's history--all the wars in our Nation's 
history. Republicans should direct their energy toward saving the lives 
of thousands through safer, smarter gun safety legislation instead of 
capitalizing on hateful political rhetoric to advance their radical 
agenda, even though almost 90 percent of the American public think 
there should be a background check for someone who is a criminal or has 
mental problems, even though over 50 percent of members of the National 
Rifle Association believe there should be background checks--but not 
congressional Republicans. No; they know better than 90 percent of the 
American people.

[[Page 16065]]

  Democrats believe local communities and local law enforcement are 
better judges of what will keep their communities safe than Donald 
Trump or Bill O'Reilly. The safety of our neighborhoods and local 
communities should not be a pawn for Republicans' latest gambit to hide 
their failure to act on comprehensive immigration reform. Local law 
enforcement officials, domestic violence groups, immigrants' rights 
groups, mayors, faith leaders, and labor groups all oppose The Donald 
Trump Act. This bill does nothing to keep Americans safe, and it 
certainly does nothing to address our broken immigration system.
  America is and always has been a nation of immigrants, and we are all 
the better for having hard-working immigrants as contributing members 
of our communities. This Nation deserves a commonsense immigration 
process that works, one that is tough on lawbreakers, fair to 
taxpayers, and practical to implement, but instead of joining Democrats 
in passing comprehensive immigration reform that unites families, 
strengthens communities, and boosts our economy, Republicans remain 
committed to their only approach to immigration policy: mass 
deportation. We all know this extreme rightwing approach would hurt our 
country and simply cannot work. The Donald Trump Act would shatter the 
trust between law enforcement and communities that keep our Nation 
safe. Republicans should abandon this shameless attempt to appease the 
base elements of their party. They should work with Democrats to pass 
comprehensive immigration reform, which is years overdue.
  Sadly, though, until Republicans get serious about immigration 
reform, the Republican leader shouldn't waste the Senate's time on 
legislation that he knows will not pass. This legislation is not going 
to pass. He knows it. We all know it. Instead, he is just treading 
water, waiting for time to go by. The Republican leader should focus 
the Senate's time and all of our efforts on the pressing matters we 
face--such as avoiding a catastrophic default and keeping our 
government open so we can do the people's business.
  Madam President, would the Chair announce the business before the 
Senate.

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